The Game of Life

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“Strong people don’t put others down. They lift them up.” – Michael P. Watson

The other night at Mr D’s baseball practice, the 7 year old boy playing third base made a mistake. They were practicing forced outs versus tagged outs. The third baseman got the ball and instead of tagging third, he threw it to second base.

When he started putting his glove over his face, pacing, and chewing himself out, the coach told him not to worry about it. He said, “Don’t worry about it. Baseball is hard. If it was easy, we wouldn’t play it!”

While the players were getting their stuff together in the dugout after practice, I told the coach later how much I liked his baseball is hard speech. He laughed. In his warm and engaging tone, he told me more about his coaching philosophy:

“Getting practice reps is key to developing the fine motor and gross motor physical skills. Then there is the mental aspect. Learning the rules so you can play without thinking too much.

“Then of course the hardest part, learning how to deal with your emotions when things don’t go well. It’s a lot but also why baseball is such a great sport for kids who like the game. We can not only learn the game but learn how to be a great teammate and learn how to manage ourselves. “

Getting the practice reps in, learning the rules so you don’t have to think too much, managing our emotions, and learning to be great teammates. Sounds like the game of life to me.

When the boy who got upset moved on to practicing catching fly balls, he made up a chant to encourage others. If someone missed, he’d yell, “Great try, [player name]!”

I think he’s going to do fine in baseball…and life.

(featured photo is mine)

You can find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wynneleon/ and Instagram @wynneleon

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39 thoughts on “The Game of Life”

  1. The coach sounds like the Dalai Lama! What luck for his young players.

    Baseball is a wonderful game, with the space for players who are not 7 feet tall and not 300 pounds. For me, it is full of wonderful memories and relationships.

    Mr. D is in the right place. Thanks, Wynne.

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  9. Great lesson through great teaching Wynn. Learning to win well and lose well… I went back to Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’ especially

    If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

        And treat those two impostors just the same…

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  10. So uplifting Wynne, “Great try,” it’s all everyone can do. It is heartwarming to screw something up and then someone says, it’s okay, how can we do better next time. Most people I encounter are kind hearted and when they are not, it’s often that they lack support and love. Hugs, C

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      1. We did have all sorts of coaches with my kids swimming from kindergarten through college in the PAC 12 (my daughter.)We had examples from excellent to needs improvement! I was supportive of coaches in my weekly column on swimswam.com. A select few parents caused coaches’ headaches.

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  17. That is a special coach working with Mr D and the kids, Wynne. Such wisdom packed into the game and practice. I love that baseball is more than just about the game but about inner and outer connections. The kid, the kids, are going to be all right.

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  18. This is such inspiration! Came like a breath of fresh air for me. It’s so important that we practice well, maybe fail, but most importantly get back up and not be judged which is quite rare nowadays. Most leaders and coaches want result right away, like NOW! They fail to take a step back to understand the support their team or team members need. Thanks for sharing 🤍

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  19. A good coach is valuable at all levels, but especially at that age. I coached little league two years and basketball for one. It was a good experience. The ironic thing is that sometimes the parents were more difficult to deal with than the kids. I’m sure the coach appreciated your supportive comments.

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  20. This felt oddly comforting, Wynne. life is messy and unpredictable and not really something you win at, you just keep showing up and playing your part. I kept thinking while reading this that how we spend so much time trying to control outcomes, when half the time it’s just reacting to what comes next.

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