Earning your Spot in the Lineup

By James Brown Jr.

Reb was drafted by the Braves in the 11-12 year old Mooresville Baseball League (MBL).  He will be wearing #10, which is the same number worn by our all-time favorite Atlanta Brave Larry "Chipper" Jones.

We will be updating the blog with a new look and chronicle Reb's progression during Spring Training and the 2014 season.  He is expecting to play second and pitch but will have to earn his spot in the lineup as he is playing for a new team in a new league.

It is always difficult to be the new guy having to prove yourself to get into the lineup.  Everyone at different times in their playing career, either amateur or professional, will find themselves in this situation.  Here are some suggestions to help you in these transitions.

Attitude

Attitude is one of the most overlooked elements of the game and life in general.  No one wants to deal with a kid, a co-worker or a teammate who has a bad attitude.  A right attitude will win a lot of respect from your coach, teammates and fans.

Wade Boggs, the former Major League third baseman for the Boston Red Sox, said, “A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.”

Albert Einstein said, “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.”

If you have a bad attitude it shows the coach, your teammates and the fans that you lack character.  Every good coach is not simply looking for natural talent but character first.  While natural ability is a luxury, without character that ability can never be developed or molded into the team.

Therefore, how you approach the game will determine how the game will reward you.

Writing in the Atlanta Magazine in 2006, Richard Daigle observed, “Baseball is a lot more like life than life is. It's nine or more innings of struggle, against the game itself as much as the opponent. Take good swings at the right pitches and hits will come. Command the corners with quality pitches and you'll get hitters out. Good mechanics and good decisions, along with a little luck, produce victory. The obstacle is not the other team, not the problems in life, but how you approach the game.”

Respectful

A respectful attitude will earn you respect.  A kid who pay attention to his coaches and communicate with respectful words and body language will earn him favor.  You can improve ability but you cannot teach a kid who will not listen.

Nothing is more disrespectful than a kid who will not listen.  Listening is one of the easiest things to do.  Respect will carry you farther than the kid with a high level of natural ability who refuses to show respect.  This begins by listening with the purpose of executing the wishes of your coach.

Make sure your coach knows you are respectfully listening by giving him your undivided attention.  Look him in the eyes and respond with “yes sir” and “no sir.”

Tradition

Baseball is a game of fundamentals and tradition.  Learn the universal traditions of baseball in all aspects of the game.  This includes the way you celebrate, wear your uniform, play your position and even represent your team.

               

Former MLB player and manager, Leo Ernest Durocher, said, “Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.”

Baseball is a game of tradition in the way it is to be played.  It is not a freelance sport and those who approach it in such a way will not be successful.

Therefore, learn and understand the game as it is to be played and lived. 

“The other sports are just sports.  Baseball is a love.”  –Bryant Gumbel

If you love baseball give it the respect the game deserves.  If you do not love it you will never respect and honor it.

Team First

Curt Schilling said, “Baseball is not a sport you can achieve individually.”

               

In Making the Team, Timothy Morris wrote, “Baseball is a team sport, encoding in its formula for success social and intellectual abilities that individual sports do not require.”

Our society has become a selfish and individualistic.  While individual achievements are recognized in baseball, these honors cannot be attained by one who is only concerned about individual stats.  In baseball, the team must always come first.

"Coming into the year, my goal was to be the best player and to make the most impact on the field. To be in the MVP talk with guys like Cabrera, it's an incredible feeling, a hard one to explain. When I made the All-Star team, that was a really a big moment of my career, and that's when all the rookie-of-the-year talk started. It really came on fast. I was having so much fun during the year, I didn't really think of the awards or the individual stuff. I was just trying to help the team win." –Mike Trout

Desire to Prepare to Win

“Baseball, it is said, is only a game.  True.  And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona.”  –George F. Will, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, 1990

Hall of Fame football coach said, “If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?”  If this is true of football it is even more true of baseball.  Baseball is not a game that allows for ties.  One team must win and this should be the goal of every team.

However, the desire to win is not the most important attribute.  Most people do not like to lose no matter how much they regurgitate the politically correct lie.  What sets teams apart is the desire to prepare to win.

“The key is not the will to win... everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” –Coach Bob Knight

Failure

While baseball players must have the desire to win and to prepare in order to win, baseball is a game of failure.  Even the greatest of hitters fail 70% of the time.

“Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.”  –Ted Williams

This is why a proper attitude is important.  However, it is important that we do not take a careless attitude as a virtue.

Baseball players must be able to handle failure but with the additional baseball virtues of determination, perseverance and hard work.

Peter G. Doumit, in the book, What I Know about Baseball is What I Know about Life, wrote, “Baseball is a game of long-suffering, and if one doesn't have the endurance to get over the hard times, bad hops, bad luck, failure-at-the-rate-of-70%-or-better hitting, and all the other things that happen that try one's patience, they won't last long in the game.”

Being able to put the last failure behind you but yet learn from your mistakes is critical to being a good baseball player.

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.” –Bob Feller, Now Pitching

“During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times.  I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times.  You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season.  That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.”  –Mickey Mantle, 1970

Fundamentals

“It ain't like football.  You can't make up no trick plays.”  –Yogi Berra

"If you don't think baseball is a big deal, don't do it. But if you do, do it right." –Tom Seaver

Baseball is a game about fundamentals, which is why if you are not willing to learn and work to play the game correctly, baseball is not for you.

Work Ethic

Baseball does not reward laziness.  Today, that is a big obstacle for many kids.

Just being athletic and showing up is not enough.  As you continue to advance this lack of will to be in top physical and mental condition will become obvious.  The time to develop this work ethic is when you are young.

Putting in extra time in the batting cage, developing a throwing program if you are a pitcher or fielding sessions to develop proper mechanics and footwork is invaluable.  Every player should work on some aspect of his game every day.

“In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without one-hundred percent dedication, you won't be able to do this.” -Willie Mays

Mechanics

It does not matter if you are a batter, pitcher or fielder, the proper mechanics will make you a good player.  Too many focus upon natural talent and lose sight of the nature of baseball.

With a right attitude, a good work ethic and correct mechanics you can become a great baseball player.  Baseball gives you the opportunity but it is up to you to give the game its proper respect.  If you do, your coach will notice and put you in the lineup.

In order to truly enjoy the game and get anything out of it, you must put everything into it.

"I don't think I can play any other way but all out. I enjoy the game so much because I'm putting so much into it." –George Brett

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might….” – Ecclesiastes 9:10