I wanted to also take a moment this week to hit on a couple of subjects that I think are really important for the culture we’ve built, and want to continue to build upon, in the Saxon Baseball program. They both fall under one umbrella: Relentless Positivity.
The first is how we treat umpires. Currently, we’re in a major shortage of umpires. The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club hit on this subject in a recent post on Facebook. It read, in part: “In the current circumstance this will soon bleed over to summer baseball and softball as many of the same officials working high school games are those working summer games. We have to get more people involved. We are at a crisis point. Please spread the word and help our associations recruit umpires. Our diamond sports are in trouble. In the meantime, the next time you have an urge to criticize that person in blue who allows the games to actually happen, take a moment. Be kind.”
We cannot play without umpires, and as you probably know, the average age of our umpires is a pretty high number. I want to thank parents and fans so far in how we’ve treated umpires. There will always be opportunities to get upset at a bad call, but the right thing to do is treat other humans kindly, and I’m proud that our program is known for doing so, both at home and on the road.
The second is how we react to things that go poorly on the field. It’s a completely natural internal reaction to see a player make a mistake, like a defensive error, on the field. Whether it’s our own son or not, let’s make a concerted effort to be relentlessly positive in how we react to that play. We can choose to say something negative (i.e., “Come on!!”), we can choose to say nothing, or we can choose to say something positive (.e. “Go get the next one!” “Ask for another!” “We’re alright! Let’s attack here!”).
There’s a popular phrase amongst baseball coaches: “The game knows.”
As players, we fall into this same negative mentality sometimes. A great example is making a great pitch, getting weak contact, and then one of your defenders makes an error on what we know should have been an easy play. The negative mentality is to get on that teammate, to embarrass him on the field. But, as we all know, that dude knows he made the error; he knows that he should have made the play. The only thing that negative comment does is create hostility between teammates. And “the game knows.” So rest assured, you’re going to make an error at some point in that game or later in the season. And what do you think that teammate is going to want to say to you now that the roles are reversed?
Relentless positivity. Let’s be about it.
