To start this off: thanks, Coach Mark (of Smuckers) and Coach Rose (of the Bulldogs). You two, and your assistant coaches, were excellent teachers of baseball, teamwork and good work ethics.
But you had to go and make it seem like what we learned would be useful in life.
Nope, not useful.
Idealistic, wonderfully so, but is there room for that in this world?
Maybe only room where people are in the world, not of it, but even still we're human and prone to mistakes (or laziness). So now, when I think of work, I think of those days in Little League where a missed throw meant we'd all run a 1/4 mile. A missed catch, the same. If we came across a situation play, and didn't play the situation, then the gloves stayed on, and we'd all take off for the distant fence for our lap.
We all ran, because both sets of coaches knew that we needed to strive against something, to fight for perfection. And we did, we fought hard, and succeeded at being undefeated in our district both years.
As much as we hated it, we ran hard, because it was asked of us, and we knew it made us better. We all ran because coach said, and no one was going to let one of his teammates get away with not pulling his weight. Those same feelings are seemingly no longer applicable, in fact, someone that would live like that is considered "extreme", "not a team player", someone of "too high expectations".
A world of apathy has no room for the baseball players of Salinas Little League.
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1 comments:
And yet it's the "extreme" people with "high expectations" that change the world around them. Some will rebel against such lofty expectations leveled against them, yet others will strive to attain an improved level of achievement.
What was likely missing among your coaches was a healthy dose of forgiveness and encouragement - that you were accepted and loved even if baseball wasn't your bag. Why? It wasn't in their "job description" to invest in the overall character - just the characteristics that produce good baseball players.
You make a very good point about laziness in our culture. It is fostered in the workplace and the pressure to "stick it to the man" has invaded us - even into high levels of management, meaning even managers/supervisors only require a low-level commitment from their employees in the name of "keeping the peace" on the floor.
Don't lose the high expectations. Just be sure to package it in gentleness and encouragement if you desire positive results. And though this is very unpopular these days, keep your patience. You can't change the attitude of a whole team all at once, but you can change one member at a time. Wow - that last sentence sounded kinda cheesy, but you get the point. :)
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