The joys of coaching!!

I have had the first four weeks of my summer filled with baseball, and I must admit it has been awesome!!  Sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I have been to be able to spend virtually every day of my adult life around baseball, around baseball players, and around other baseball coaches.  I couldn't ask for anything more.

It isn't just the sport of baseball that I am grateful for; it is the people I get to be around because of baseball that provide me with a life full of blessings.  Every day I get to work with kids who have a love for the game and who desire to get better every day.  Whether the kids are under ten years old, are teenagers or college guys, they constantly fill me up with positive feedback and I benefit so much from these relationships.  Most of these relationships last a lifetime, even though there may be hundreds of miles and many years that separate me from such inspirational people!!

Doing lessons with kids, coaching teams, and working at baseball camps give me so many opportunities to help kids plant positive seeds about themselves in their own minds.  I can't claim to always say the right things or the best things, but I sure enjoy it when I can feel as though I can enhance a day for a kid or two.

The networking and relationships that develop with other coaches is another thing that never fails to add happiness to my own days, and for that I am always grateful.  Working with other coaches in the dugout, on the field during practices and games, at camps, etc., provides me a sense of belonging to a special group of people who are of high character.  Other coaches regularly exhibit quality behaviors that I can try to emulate and that remind me of the many great reasons we choose to teach a kid's game.

As usual, I couldn't ask for a better way to live my life!!

Positive progress is pleasing to witness

This morning as I walked onto the baseball field at Adrian College for our first game in this weekend's American Legion tournament, I called my son Eric to tell him that it is so awesome to be able to get up in the morning and head out the the ball park.  I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be able to do that almost every day of my adult life!!  At the time I called him, Eric was getting ready for his morning workout before heading to East Lansing to watch some tournament baseball games for recruiting purposes.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and I know he is as grateful as I am!!

As for the Adrian American Legion team, we are indeed a work in progress, and the squad continues to play competitive games and win more games than what was expected from them prior to the season.  The team's record is now 16-9 and though there have been a few poorly played games, the players seem to bounce back after those games and play pretty well in subsequent games.  That is an example of a group of players who have the ability to leave a poor outing in the past, who have the ability to have a short memory when necessary, and can come to the park and compete, no matter what happened in the previous game.

In today's first two games of this weekend's tournament, we won the morning game 3-1 and lost the afternoon game 2-1.  Gage Lolley pitched a two-hitter for the win this morning and Mike Reitz battled and certainly pitched well enough for the win this afternoon.  The defense was solid and the entire team competed from the first pitch to the last.

One of the things that this group has improved on this season is their dugout demeanor.  Early in the season it was easy to tell what the scoreboard said simply by watching the body language and listening to the team and self-talk in the dugout.  They were negative and tight when losing, and they were happy and loose when winning.  We have discussed the importance of having a more even demeanor and they have responded by being much more consistent in the way they approach the game, about the way they act and talk in the dugout.  I tip my hat to the players for making that progress!!

In general, the players as individuals are also getting better at controlling their emotions, as opposed to allowing their emotions to control them.  Some of them have more work to do than others, but they are making strides which will enhance their future athletic experiences in baseball and in the other sports that they play.

I remember when Eric played baseball as a teenager.  He had one summer coach who did very little teaching of the game, and he explained that he thought at the age of 16-18 the players should already know how to play the game.  I have found that players at this age need a tremendous amount of instruction about the game of baseball and need to learn more about hitting, pitching, fielding mechanics as well as all of the different situational circumstances that take place throughout a game and a baseball season.  Just as college players tend to do a bit better than their high school counterparts, these guys need to allow coaches to fill their cups with as much knowledge as possible so that they can take it and run with it.  Some players are better than others about letting new things into their cups, and as they allow more in, they tend to soak it up and make steady improvements.

So in saying all that, I am grateful for the opportunity to be in the dugout with these guys who gradually allow more and more into their cups.  It is a win-win scenario, as I get to learn, benefit, and have fun along with them.