8th Inning-Go "All In"

"Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

Joshua J. Marine

"To all you kids out there, just remember one thing from today.  There are no shortcuts to success.  Hard work, dedication, commitment--stay true to who you are."

-Frank Thomas (conclusion of HOF induction speech, 7/27/14)

How often do we have the chance to interact with true greatness?

In addition to coaching high school baseball for 15 years, I spent a few years running youth baseball camps for the Chicago White Sox.  Aside from the usual hitting, fielding, and throwing instruction, I also tried to instill in these young players the importance of hard work and, of even greater consequence, a true love for the game.

I would frequently refer to the "baseball pyramid", an analogy I borrowed from a coach of mine, to illustrate how crucial it was to work to get better.  Essentially the message was that, as the years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to continue playing the game.  Every baseball player wants to play until someone tells him he can't any more--the only question is when that conversation takes place.


The following numbers, from recent research, best represent this point:

In the average baseball season:

• 2.2 million boys (ages 11-12) play little league baseball
• 455,000 (20%) of those 2.2 million make their high school freshman team
• 130,100 (6%) play on their high school varsity team
• 5,700 (0.2%) play in an NCAA program as seniors
• 600 (0.02%) are drafted by a major league organization and play in the minor leagues
• around 50 (0.002%) make the major leagues

And that's just making it there...once a player is a major leaguer, what are the odds that he makes it to the top of the mountain---the Hall of Fame?

There are 211 players enshrined in Cooperstown.  It's estimated that more than 18,000 different players have played in the Major Leagues at some point.  This is a rough estimate, but the percentage chance that a boy grows up and becomes a Hall of Famer is:

0.0000009%

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In January, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced that Frank Thomas, a player I had grown up watching and cheering for, had been elected to become a member of this elite group, making it in on the first ballot.  Immediately, plans were set in motion to get to Cooperstown for the induction ceremony in July.  My father and I hopped in the car, drove the 12 hours to central New York, and were fortunate enough to be among the 50,000 baseball fans in attendance for the festivities that weekend.

Cooperstown is a mythical place.  The town itself has a population of less than 2000 people, but for one weekend every year, it is hopping with baseball fever.  Fans from all over the world descend upon this baseball mecca to (almost) literally eat, sleep, and drink baseball.  Over the course of our 3-day stay, we had the chance to talk baseball with a myriad of fans, media members, and baseball immortals themselves.  It was, at times, almost hard to believe.  For those of you who know me and my love for the game, it was the closest place to heaven I can imagine.

243-game winner Juan Marichal

Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson

Fergie Jenkins

My idol growing up-Carlton Fisk

The weekend culminated on Sunday at the induction ceremony itself.  Thomas gave an extremely emotional speech filled with raw joy, relief, and satisfaction.  Throughout the entirety of his 16-minute address, "The Big Hurt" was either in tears, or close to it.  This was a man who had clearly laid it all on the field as a competitor, both physically and emotionally--and it was clear that this moment was one he had been dreaming of since he, himself, had been a young boy.

Unfortunately, we did have to leave and head back to Chicago.  During the 12 hours I was driving back west, I had a chance to reflect upon the trip itself and, of more importance, what I would take away from it.  In the front of my mind was the fact that I am currently writing a blog relating to  lessons I've learned from baseball; clearly, there must be something I could use from this once-in-a-lifetime journey.

I realized that the most striking part of the weekend was the volume of greatness in our presence in one small town.  Having the chance to talk pitching with some of the greatest who have ever taken the mound was phenomenal in its own right.  I began wondering about what all of these elite athletes had in common, which took me back to Thomas's emotional speech on Sunday.

What I concluded was that each and every one of them had gone "all in".  They had all bet on themselves at an early age, and determined that they were going to be great at what they did--no matter what.  For some, this meant overcoming racial prejudices and bigotry.  For others, there were financial hardships at home.  For a few, there was a lack of family guidance.  The issues that these players dealt with at a young age sounded awfully familiar to a lot of the students we all come across on a daily basis.

That was the take-away.

How often do we truly bet on ourselves and go all in?  Sure, it sounds cliche, but I know there are many times where I have simply settled for "getting the job done", instead of pushing myself to do it differently, and better, than anyone else has conceived.

Along those lines, what message are we then giving to our students?  Are we challenging them to be not just good, but great?  Are we allowing them to accept their shortfalls and obstacles as stumbling blocks, or are we reminding them of the endless achievements which lie in front of them?  Are we encouraging our students to go all in?

This trip couldn't have come at a better time.  As I write this, I'm sitting in a new office, at a new school, in a new position, and meeting new students who are peeking their heads in to see who the new dean is.  On Tuesday, a new journey begins for me here at Niles West...one which I will go "all in" on, and hope to bring my students along with me.

Forget the odds for once.  Just be great.