Pictures from First Two Games

Here are some pictures - courtesy of Caden's Dad Dan and Devin's Mom Alicia (thanks to both of them) - from our first two games of the 8 and Under Alaskan National Baseball Team.

First Practice a Cold One

The Rockies held their first practice, and although not everyone was able to attend on such short notice and on a Saturday, it still was a lot of fun.

In attendance on this cold morning were Brad Hellerstedt, Devin Kramer, Grady Lewis, Jack Rozza, Jason Becht, Liam Smith, and Noah Holcomb. The boys started to get to know each other by introducing themselves, how old they were, how long they’ve been playing, their favorite teams, what positions they liked or wanted to play, and other things about themselves (we learned that Jack read the book “The Wizard of Oz” – very impressive!).

Before taking the field for some drills, we talked about what was going to be important to us as a team.

1. The first thing was a promise from me to the players that I would never yell at them for making a mistake on the field. I don’t want them worrying about making mistakes, as we learn from our mistakes, and if we’re afraid to make them, then we’re not going to learn. There has only been one being on the planet that has been perfect and did not make mistakes, and we are not him. So, I want everyone to relax, make an effort, and not be afraid to make a mistake.
2. What is very important to me is that as individuals and as a team we show respect. I expect us to respect our teammates. I will not tolerate any disrespect towards a teammate. We will respect coaches, and any parent that is on the field during practices or games assisting is a coach. I expect us to respect the other team, even if they do not return the same courtesy to us. We cannot control what someone else does, but we can control how we react to it. And finally, we will respect the umpires, and we will respect any calls they make on the field. Like us, they are not perfect, and it is not fair for us to expect them to be.
3. The most important star given out at the end of each game is the White star for Christlike behavior. This is a difficult star for many coaches, because what does this mean? We teach our children that to be Christlike is to be the best teammate that you can possibly be. Imagine you have just struck out, what kind of teammate would you like to sit down next to? Now, go be that teammate to the rest of your team. Christ is a teammate that we can turn to when times are tough AND when times are good. It would not upset me to give out twelve white stars after a game, as I think that is the most important message to get across. You can still be a star, and have other players do well and feel good about themselves.

Becoming a good teammate is an important topic for me. We’ve seen examples in the big leagues where a star player, say Barry Bonds, has a reputation of not being a good teammate. Once his usefulness on the playing field is done or diminished, he no longer has a place on that team or any other. Once Barry Bonds was no longer hitting home runs at a record pace or there wasn’t a record to be chased, no team wanted him. No team was willing to have that cancer in their clubhouse for a guy that would hit 20 home runs a season. They could get any number of players that could hit that many home runs that would cause less disruption to their team.

Then there are players such as Kevin Millar. For most accounts, Millar is a journeyman player with average major league numbers. What has kept Millar in the big leagues past his production on the field is what he means to his teams off the field. Millar is the guy you want to be around, he makes you laugh, he pats you on the back when you’re in a slump, he makes your team a better team just by sitting on the bench. Millar started his career off as a replacement player during the 1994 strike season, which to most players in that role, was career suicide. Millar’s personality helped him into the majors, and to a Red Sox team that won the World Series. Through Spring Training this year he still is hooking on with teams, with the Cubs this spring.

This goes to show, the better teammate you are, the more welcome you will be on any team. I would love to have more personalities like Kevin Millar rather than Barry Bonds on our team.

Waiting for Baseball to Begin

The team name "Rockies" is certainly appropriate for us so far this year. It took three weeks for baseball evaluations to finish because of snow and cold weather, it felt like we were in the Rocky Mountains. The picture above is one from Friday, Feb 12th, the day before the 2nd time we didn't have evaluations.

This is a spot where I want all the parents and family to be able to go and read stories about how their son or grandson or nephew played in the game on Saturday. We can post pictures we all take, share stories. I was an assistant coach in a fall league Devin played in last year and the coach did this, and it was very nice for me to go back and read about a great play he made, or read a funny story about what he did on the field (on particularly bad days, it was nice to read about my son instead of whiny e-mails from co-workers).

This will be my third year coaching baseball at Johnson Ferry.

When my son was six years old, I checked the box on his registration form that said I would be willing to volunteer as an assistant coach. Two days before practices started I was informed that I was now a head coach. After spending a season as a assistant coach/dad in a little league that was the poster child for poor sportsmanship and all-around un-Christian behaviour - I was terrified! I think I was more afraid of the thoughts of dealing wtih the parents than I was the kids.

However, my experiences at Johnson Ferry have been nothing short of great and positive. The staff is great. The coaches care of the kids. The parents were looking for the same positive experience that I was.

And there were no fights in the stands. No bats being swung at the umpires. In three years I could count the number of obscene words I've heard on two fingers.

So, I'm looking forward to a fun season ahead of us here.