In his book, Relentless Success: 9-Point System for Major League Achievement, Todd Stottlemyre shares his personal story of "Taking the Quit Option Off the Table."

In the 1987 off-season he put in a lot of extra work and effort in his attempt to live his dream to become a major league pitcher.

When spring training rolled around, it paid off and he was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays.

But by August he was sent back down to the teams AAA team.

Todd dominated in AAA and was brought back up to the Blue Jays in September of 1988. He finally thought he was set, he was now a major league pitcher!

But at the end of the season, he was ready for some time to rest and recuperate, but the teams General Manager informed him that he would need to spend the winter of 1988 playing in Venezuela to learn how to throw a slider, or he wouldn't make the major league club in 1989.

So for the second year in a row, he gave up his time off to work on his game and become a better pitcher.

In 1989 he was on the Blue Jays roster. He was feeling good, confident in himself, and living his dream.