Mariano Rivera’s career path can teach us about our trading. I remember when Mo was not Mo, the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball, and with One Good Pitch: the cutter. If you are not as good of a trader as your ambition Mo’s journey could inspire you. My dad and I were sitting behind home plate, right next to the scouts, their radar guns, and top Yankees officials (like former GM Gene Michael), during a Spring Training game in Tampa, Florida. My dad and I are huge baseball fans, huge Yankees fans. So much so that watching future prospects during an exhibition is as interesting to us as a playoff game for most. A prospect was on the mound for the Yanks, one with no particular hype.

As a former college pitcher, I could not help but notice this prospect’s impossibly athletic delivery. His mechanics were flawless, with each movement seemingly as effortless to him as a breath of air to us. He was noticeably the best athlete on the field. And man did he throw hard: 95mph according to the guns around us. This young gun threw a four seam fastball, a sinker, a slider, and a change-up said the pro’s around us. Though impressively athletic, with a live arm, the kid got smacked around during this start. His fastball didn’t move much, his slider broke too early, and his change-up should have been kept in the bullpen. A top Yankee official commented, “Yeah he is a great kid but doesn’t have the stuff for this level.” That kid was Mariano Rivera. As legend will record Mo discovered the cutter accidentally while playing catch with Ramiro Mendoza. He would spend the next 15plus years dominating MLB with One Good Pitch. Mo was so commanding in the post season that if he gave up 21 straight runs without recording an out his ERA would still be under 2.00. Yet there he was a rehabbing prospect, being analyzed in the wrong roll as a starter, getting bombed during a Spring Training game. For the trader not YETachieving your potential, Mo’s career might lead you to think:

Am I trading the wrong time frame? Am I trading the wrong product? Is there a trade that I can master, and just have not YET, to consistently pull money out of the market?

And maybe if you do one day like David Einhorn, Greenlight Capital, who made most of his money on one trading pattern, you may be inline to buy a baseball team. Mike Bellafiore The PlayBook One Good Trade