Baseball is about parents taking their children to local fields and teaching
them the sport. Baseball is about the bonding of parents and children in the
context of 150 years of history and the excitement of the infinite possibilities
of summer. Baseball is about preseason practices, with everyone playing a variety
of positions, no one keeping score, everyone energized, yelling, and engaged.
Baseball is passing down an American legacy, reinforcing family love, teaching
values and a way of life, sharing joy and triumph, sorrow and defeat. Baseball
can illustrate and enhance the meaning in our lives. Baseball is only a distant
cousin to organized games, all star tournaments, or names appearing in the local
sports pages.
My Sicilian parents taught me values about life that are applicable to playing
baseball. My father made it clear: if I acted inappropriately on a baseball
field, no umpire, no coach, no league official would have to intervene. He would
run onto the field himself and physically drag me off. He was not in attendance
to be embarrassed by a son who had not learned proper values. The most important
rule: approach any task with great enthusiasm, a positive attitude, and with
appreciation for the opportunity to participate. My 9 principles of baseball
are more fundamentally 9 principles of living a rewarding life.
1. NO EXCUSES.
Do not blame teammates, umpires, coaches, fans, or the position of the moon
for your performance. Take responsibility for what happens on the field. Stand
up, make no excuses, refuse the excuses that others might offer you. Excuses
get in the way of learning because mistakes are denied. Be accountable. Remember
you are not expected to be a perfect performer. No one is. Baseball is not an
easy game to play.
2. PLAY WITH HONOR.
Always hustle, run out every ground ball and pop up, encourage your teammates,
especially after an error, bad pitch, or a strike out, carry yourself with pride
and dignity. Do not in frustration throw equipment. Do not ridicule another
team or an opposing player's name, physical appearance, skill. Do not taunt.
Do not distract an opposing player with low-level antics. Be positive with teammates.
Never ridicule or criticize your teammates. They need your encouragement the
most immediately after they have made a mistake. Show your teammates, your opponents,
the entire world the values you hold dear by how you play.
3. BE RELENTLESS.
Never Yield. Never Yield. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, you are
never defeated unless you give up, unless you go belly up. No opponent can make
you do this. Giving up is something you do. Regardless of what the scoreboard
says, no opponent can extinguish the flame in your heart or crush the intensity
of your will without your consent. Never surrender.
4. SLAY YOUR OWN DEMONS, THEN SLAY DRAGONS.
Ignore those things outside your control: the judgments of umpires, the conduct
and ability of other teams, the weather, your amount of playing time, the final
score (this is a tough one). Do not show frustration or disappointment. Do not
allow your opponents to gain joy from your inability to cope with self-pity.
Do not throw equipment or whine in anger or slump your shoulders. Such behavior
impresses no one. Maintain your poise. Learn, prepare, and focus on the next
event. We cannot change the past. Instead, we should focus on the next action
with determination, joy, and resolve.
5. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THOSE THINGS UNDER YOUR CONTROL.
Your effort, your attitude, your commitment, and your approach to the game are
under your control. Be enthusiastic, play with great effort, conduct yourself
appropriately, meet this opportunity with great joy. Listen to your coaches.
Be alert, play smartly, know the signs. You are always accountable. How you
react to situations and circumstances reveals the person you are and the person
you might become.
6. PLAY THE GAME ONE PITCH AT A TIME.
Focus on the current pitch. If you are a pitcher, what are you throwing now
and where? If you are a fielder, what are you going to do if the ball is hit
to you? If you are a base-runner, what are you going to do on a fly ball, line
drive, ground ball, to the right side, to the left side? If you are a batter,
what are you trying to accomplish on this pitch? If you are on the bench, how
are you helping your team be successful?
7. FOCUS ON BEHAVIOR, NOT OUTCOMES.
The results of your performance are not fully under your control. The other
team may be very good, or very bad. The bounces may go your way, or not. But
your behavior and approach are under your control. At the end of the game, you,
perhaps only, know whether you gave 100%, whether you did all you could to help
your team. Those players who did are winners, those players who did not are
losers, regardless of what the scoreboard says. Winners take care of the things
within their control, enjoy their participation, and are justifiable proud of
their effort. Losers make excuses, lose their poise readily, wallow in self-pity,
and surrender at the slightest sign of adversity.
8. THE BEST PLAYERS ARE THE BEST LEARNERS.
Players who are coach-able are always trying to learn more about being successful
ballplayers and people. They listen and apply what their coaches and teachers
suggest. Are you coach-able? If you are, you are a winner. If you are not, you
are a loser, regardless of what the scoreboard says.
9. BE A JOYOUS WARRIOR!
Be enthusiastic, positive, give 100%, understand that relentless effort in
the pursuit of excellence is its own reward. The joyous warrior exemplifies
the slogan "No Retreat & No Surrender." Win with humility, lose
with dignity.
This article was written by Raymond Angelo Belliotti and remains his property.
We appreciate him allowing us to reprint his article here. Raymond Angelo Belliotti
is the Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the
State University of New York/Fredonia. He can be reached at belliott@fredonia.edu.