Prepare, Practice, and then you’ll be ready.

“We throw to the bases every day,” Cruz said. “We take flyballs every day, make sure we know the ballpark, we know any situation we can be involved in during the game. When you prepare, everything comes more easy.”  (Rangers Beat Tigers 7-3 In Game 4: Nelson Cruz Leads Texas To 3-1 Lead In ALCS)

“When you prepare, everything comes more easy.”  The more prepared you are, the more likely you are to succeed.  The more you practice – and practice every conceivable scenario — the more you put and keep your head in the game, the more prepared you are.

This was seen so very clearly in the Rangers win over the Tigers last night.  Nelson Cruz hit another 11^th inning home run, but it was his throw from right field that kept the Rangers in the game, and sent it into extra innings.

With Detroit runners at the corners in the eighth and the score 3-all, Cruz caught Delmon Young’s flyball to right field and made a strong peg to Napoli to nail Miguel Cabrera. The Detroit slugger bowled over Napoli, but the catcher held on to the ball and Cabrera never touched the plate.

For Rangers fans (that includes me) it was a terrific game.  For all of us, it is a reminder of the most basic of business and life success lessons:  prepare and practice, and you will be ready for the challenge.

Here’s the video of his walk-off Grand Slam to win game two against Detroit:

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Mike Napoli can also add to our appreciation for solid preparation.

Napoli said it comes from preparation and taking time to learn his pitcher’s tendencies, something that has improved with each outing.  (Mike Napoli does it all in Game 4).