“There is no crying in baseball” Jimmy Dugan
The smell of fresh cut grass, the dust from freshly chalked lines, the taste of salty sunflower seeds tucked tightly in my cheek…and the sounds of swings and misses. This was the summation of spring.
To say we struggled at times is stating in lightly. We were no hit twice. Struggled to score on many nights.
Tom Hanks character from “A League of Their Own” is famously quoted on diamonds across the globe for these words “there is no crying in baseball.” Well this is not true in the realm of coaching young boys ages 9-12. In truth, there is a lot of crying in baseball.
Tears from the sting of fastball taken to the backside. Tears from one more swing and miss. Tears from a loss that was a win within reach.
But here are the lessons from a spring spent hollering for fielding shifts and taking pitches:
1) Keep swinging, eventually you make contact
I would like to take credit as the guru of hitting, but it is probably more the law of probability, yet everyone of our kids this season got a base hit. To their credit, I could not be happier with their efforts in the batting cages. They worked to make adjustments and learn and grow. But it took swinging the games to get a hit. And they kept swinging.
Life will keep throwing fastballs and changes ups. There are many days you feel over matched. But you have to keep swinging. The only way to get a hit is to keep swinging.
2) Never, ever give up.
In a league where the age ranges from 9 to 12 years old, what you typically don’t want is half your team being 9 years old. Yet, that is what we had. And our record reflected it. In fact in our first game of tournament pool play we were shelled 20-1. Yes 20 to 1.
Yet the resolve of these young boys did not waiver. Less than 24 hours after being beat like a drum they came back and played the best baseball of the year with a huge win. Three days later matched that effort with another big win. Two nights later, while we lost the final game of the year, played with more resolve and fight than they showed all year.
It is the simple reminder that while at 9 years old your are only 4’2″ and your opposition is 12 years old and 6′, you still keep fighting. You never give up. You face the giant, stand in the box and keep swinging.
3) Have fun.
Nothing in life replaces pure joy. You cannot replace the elation of unexpected double play turned in the eyes of young boys. No smile is ever as big as the one on the face of young man who just got his first hit or made a big catch in the outfield.
While we are counting wins and losses, what really counts is keeping the game enjoyable. When the “game” quits being fun, evaluate why you are playing and if you still need to be. That becomes an important life lesson. As adults, our “games” often quit being fun and we muddle through life without joy. The game of baseball serves as simple reminder that any moment joy can happen.
So Coach Jeff will hang up his hat one final time today. My oldest ages out of the league and we are unsure if he will play the next level. In the words of Roberto Clemente “baseballs been very, very good to me”.
