It’s baseball season again and I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I love baseball, but specifically, I really love little league baseball. Few things are as rewarding as getting out on the diamond and teaching a group of kids how to play baseball. Probably what drives me to want to be a good coach was my own experience with baseball. You hear famous people like Jeff Foxworthy talk about how his Dad left when he was really young and he didn’t want to be that Dad when he grew up. When I was a kid my coaches were TERRIBLE. They didn’t know the game, or how to teach it, and if you didn’t know it you were out of luck.
It wasn’t a lot of fun. Years later, I would refer to baseball as the cow game, you were just cattle standing around in a field. Where’s the sport in that?
Today I have a very different perspective. I’ve been studying the game of baseball for nearly a decade now and a few things have been revealed to me that I just didn’t see when I was younger. If I can “not be that coach”” – the one who just threw kids into games without teaching them anything – Maybe I can help a few of them learn the same love of the game that has enveloped me.
Basically, my philosophy is, if I can teach the players how to play baseball then baseball can teach them about life. Okay, maybe it won’t be that profound but if I can teach them some skills, maybe they can have some fun, enjoy the game and make a few wry observations of their own.
Besides, learning can be fun.
Time to Think:
What I really like about baseball is that strange balance between inactivity and action. Baseball gives the players time to think about what is going to happen. It gives them time to ask themselves, what am I going to do if they hit the ball to me?
Time in the Spot Light:
Another great thing in baseball, is that virtually everyone gets a turn in the spotlight. Whether it happens when the players come to bat, or in the field, like it or not, everyone will get a chance to be the focus of attention. Unlike football where only some players can handle the ball, the baseball can be hit to anyone on the diamond – and when that ball is hit to you, the spot light is on. It’s your chance to perform. And that’s maybe one of the best life lessons of baseball. In my experience opportunity does come to everyone eventually, but not all the time, and not always when we expect it. The question is are we prepared? Are we paying attention? Have we already thought about what we’re going to do when the opportunity reaches us? Did we imagine the play through before hand? Or are we sitting around kicking the dirt?
Opportunity Knocks:
Because that bouncing, unpredictable ball when it comes our way usually also brings with it attention (wanted or unwanted) and people will judge us on how well we respond to it. And how we respond to a baseball can be very symbolic of how we react to other opportunities in our lives:
- Do we charge it? Go out to meet it, scooping it up and turning it into something positive (a put out, or maybe even a double play?)
- Do we wait for it, hoping it comes right to where we are standing without deviating or causing us too much grief?
- Or are we afraid of it, backing away or trying to protect ourselves from getting hurt because we don’t trust our glove or our skill?
Some balls are hit too hard to field. Sometimes players make mistakes and they misplay a ball, or they try to get a ball meant for someone else. None of those mistakes matter. None of them are terribly important. What really matters is that they try to make the most of the opportunities that come their way. And I for one think that is a great life lesson.
It’s what you make of it:
Because while things might go wrong, they can also go very very right. And a player can not turn a ground ball into an out unless they make a play. And when they do, when they put it all together, when they charge that ball, step up and throw a line drive to first to get the out, it is one of the most rewarding experiences in a young person (or any persons) life. People cheer, your team mates give you the high five and then the most amazing thing happens, everyone expects you to do it again. Your esteem in the world rises.
And that’s just one of the many reasons I love baseball so much. Over the course of the season I’ll post some notes and links, and maybe even a few tools for how I run baseball teams. There’s a zillion websites out there talking baseball but what’s great about the internet is that there’s always room for one more.
Scott
Comments are closed.