I come to all of you with a smile on my face and one in my heart today. I just poured a hot cup of Door County Chocolate Caramel Truffle Coffee and I am ready to write.
Many years ago I coached Little League Baseball and to say the least it was very competitive. I can honestly say that I never coached a kid that wasn't likable and despite the strain on my time, the coaching was a very enjoyable time. My coaching style was more like Vince Lombardi and probably wouldn't be as effective now as it was back then.
When we played our games it was my goal to get every team member into the game for a minimum of two innings. The skill level of the players differed greatly. Some were stars and natural ball players. Some wanted to be better players but their skill level was mediocre at best. Then there were the boys, who were there because their parents signed them up and to be frank the kid just did not want to be there and had about 15 other things they would rather be doing than playing baseball.
Our job as coaches was to engage them all and get the best team on the field at all times by rotating the non stars in throughout the game so they had some playing time. We had one boy who didn't mind practicing but just never wanted to play in the game. We actually had to force him into the game and he was just plain miserable while out there. But while he was playing he did pretty well and actually contributed to the wins of our team. He was needed to spell some of the better players on a hot night and could do it. He just didn't want to engage and I believe his attitude robbed him from .being a good ballplayer . Then there was this one kid who was built like a fire hydrant who just wanted to play every position but his best attributes and talents were to be a catcher. He really excelled behind the plate. Before practices would start, I would see this kid throwing pitches to one of his friends and that ball was traveling fast, but it was going to other counties instead of to the glove of his friend. Our little fire plug would always tell me that if we ever needed another pitcher, he was ready to go. I would just tell him that I would keep that in mind but the two pitchers we had were sufficient and we really needed him behind the plate. He always gave us 110%.
Then it happened. One of our pitchers couldn't play because of a funeral in his family. We were down to one pitcher for the whole game. Later into the game I could see that our young pitching ace was coming up with a tired and sore arm. We were in a dog fight of a game. I told the ace to just throw easy and get it across the plate. Our defense will have to step up and save the game. In the next inning it was obvious that he was done and I did not want to hurt that young arm. I looked over at our catcher and he said "I am ready coach". In my mind I conceded the game as lost because I thought we would be retrieving wild pitches until dark and we would walk in about 40 runs for the other team.
Much to my surprise, our fire hydrant of a kid went to the mound. Our pitcher went to play as the catcher. I witnessed a wind up that would have made Dizzy Dean proud and then one of the fastest pitches I ever witnessed in Little League baseball went screaming into the glove of our catcher. The pitch spun the batter around like a drill bit going into balsa wood.
To the end of the story. We won the game. The fire hydrant pitched two scoreless innings and struck out several batters. I can still see the smile on his face at the end as I shook his hand and said "great job Buddy". He only pitched one more time for us, and he returned back to throwing fast, but we just never could get him to throw straight and controlled again. He had his one moment of fame as a pitcher in that league.
What can we learn from this? As humans many of us like to sit on the bench of life watching it go by and never engage with others. Others however are in the game making the world around them a better place. Others are waiting for that one time when the are called upon and needed. They will rise to the occasion, star in their role and then return to the bench waiting to be called again. But they are always ready to help. We all have been given talents as gifts. Not all talents are needed 24/7. But we all possess them and to not use them when needed would be wrong.
God has wired us all differently, yet we do possess these gifts and they should be used with a smile and enthusiasm when needed. We need to respond to the call, perform with gusto and the Coach will respond.
Matthew 25:21 New King James Version (NKJV)
21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Enjoy your day!
Marty
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