Themes
Theme is what the book is all about. In the book, Born to Play: My Life in the Game, there are two themes. One theme deals with having perseverance. Growing up, Dustin Pedroia always dreamed of being in the major leagues. His parents knew right away he would make it because he had the skills and he never quit. His family and friends were very supportive of him, but there were many people that never thought he would make it. Dustin has many good qualities which helped him get through the struggles of becoming a major league player. Dustin is athletic, hardworking and is not a quitter. He is good at thinking of positive thoughts and releasing all the negative ones. In order to achieve in life, “You have to stay positive.” (149). When he was playing in the Triple A league, “People would be coming up to me and getting up in my face and saying Dude, you just suck!” (148). These thoughts that other people were thinking never got in his head. He kept his eye on the prize and focused on his game. His motto was “I always play to win and I couldn't care less what people thought of me.” (38). This is a great attitude to have because nothing can ever stop you or get in your way. Dustin has had many injuries like breaking his leg, popping out his shoulder, breaking fingers, hands and ribs and injuring his knee, but he remained positive and recovered and was able to pursue his dream. Dustin also had his height and weight against him. He isn't the biggest guy out there, but he is a phenomenal player and can hit home runs, despite his weight. He is baseball strong, not lifting weights strong. Perseverance is a great quality to have because nothing ever interferes with your dreams and you control your life the way you want it to be.
The last theme deals with appearances. Dustin has always been short and a light weight. When people looked at him they all thought be will never make it anywhere. Even his baseball coach saw how short he was and said “We really don’t need a bat boy.” (39). Dustin knew that because of his body he had to prove everyone wrong. Dustin and his college coach, who he had to make a believer out of, felt he was good enough for the major leagues, but when the managers saw him, “My size always seemed to come down to it. There was this idea that I didn't look like a big-league ballplayer. Some people would ask if I wished I were big. I never did. I always wanted to be a miniature badass.” (78). They all thought he wasn't good enough until they saw him play. This proves the theme of looks can be deceiving. His positive attitude about his ability to play helped him get passed the fact that they only reason why he wasn't getting drafted was because of his size and he was ready to do something about it, “No one believed I’d ever have the body to play major league baseball. No one must have seriously thought I could play in the big leagues. It was kind of a shock, but it didn't change my goal. I wanted to make baseball my work, and I was just going to have to prove everyone wrong.” (53). This is exactly what he did. He proved everyone wrong and let everyone know not to judge a person just on their looks because deep down inside there is a different person just looking for a way out. Dustin put his heart and soul into getting into the major leagues and showed everyone height and weight do not matter.
The last theme deals with appearances. Dustin has always been short and a light weight. When people looked at him they all thought be will never make it anywhere. Even his baseball coach saw how short he was and said “We really don’t need a bat boy.” (39). Dustin knew that because of his body he had to prove everyone wrong. Dustin and his college coach, who he had to make a believer out of, felt he was good enough for the major leagues, but when the managers saw him, “My size always seemed to come down to it. There was this idea that I didn't look like a big-league ballplayer. Some people would ask if I wished I were big. I never did. I always wanted to be a miniature badass.” (78). They all thought he wasn't good enough until they saw him play. This proves the theme of looks can be deceiving. His positive attitude about his ability to play helped him get passed the fact that they only reason why he wasn't getting drafted was because of his size and he was ready to do something about it, “No one believed I’d ever have the body to play major league baseball. No one must have seriously thought I could play in the big leagues. It was kind of a shock, but it didn't change my goal. I wanted to make baseball my work, and I was just going to have to prove everyone wrong.” (53). This is exactly what he did. He proved everyone wrong and let everyone know not to judge a person just on their looks because deep down inside there is a different person just looking for a way out. Dustin put his heart and soul into getting into the major leagues and showed everyone height and weight do not matter.