Preparing for Opportunity

Thanks Coach...I will be "borrowing" this nugget and pass it on to my boys.

This is so true. Son was a Junior on Varsity and not getting much playing time early in the season. Working hard but not too frustrated. 

Coach is big on players knowing the signs and gets upset if a player misses a sign. Had happened in several games. The player ahead of my son is up to bat and coach gives a sign. Player completely misses it. Coach calls time. Pulls the player and puts my son in to finish the at Bat. He preforms well the rest of the game, at bat and in the field. Starts the next couple of games in Right field. 

Center fielder is also a pitcher. Son starts in Center field one game, when CF is pitching. Makes some really good plays, does well at the plate. He becomes the new CF. CF moves to right. 

Few of the players are upset. Many saw the work he put in during the off season and practice. He was ready for his opportunity. 

This is also good advice for a kid that for whatever reason loses his spot. He needs to continue to work hard, so that he is ready when called upon, because he will most likely be needed sometime during the season.  Sulking and making excuses are not productive and will only lead you down a dark path.

rynoattack posted:

This is also good advice for a kid that for whatever reason loses his spot. He needs to continue to work hard, so that he is ready when called upon, because he will most likely be needed sometime during the season.  Sulking and making excuses are not productive and will only lead you down a dark path.

Great post and reminder. 

Great post, Coach May.  

The player at any level who stops working hard gets passed by eventually.  One scenario I'm seeing unfold fairly frequently are the early D1 commits relaxing a bit in their Junior & Senior years of high school.  They are in for a rude awakening when they get to college, and an even ruder awakening if they think that getting a Power 5 commit as a freshman or sophomore somehow guarantees them being picked in the MLB Draft!

To be honest I believe that some people just believe it's coach speak. Twice this season already I have made out the last name on the line up card based on pre game work ethic, and pre game approach. I am talking about the last 1:15 minutes before the game. I want to reward those who do things the right way. I am looking for that guy. I have had a couple of blow outs this year and will have a few more. If during the course of the practices leading up to that game, the time before the game, during the game that player or players have not properly prepared and been properly engaged I will not reward that. The last thing I want to do is tell them one thing but do another.

Because one guy got a shot that means one guy had to lose his shot. Now I am waiting to see how he responds today. I am waiting to see how hungry he is. I am waiting to see how bad he wants it back. I am also waiting to see how bad that other guy wants to build on what he did. It's  not only about creating a culture it's about creating a winning mentality for the individual as well. If you sulk or pout you are digging a hole for yourself. I simply do not tolerate negative energy. Those players who bring negative energy either learn to bring positive energy or find another place to spend their time.

The sad thing is many times those who should be assisting the player with bringing positive energy are the one's concocting the potion of failure. But it's all good. I got a great group of young men who will fight and bring it. Those players your talking about 3and2 will soon find out that a 10 lb bass is indeed a monster in the farm pond. But's its a freaking minnow in the Atlantic.

I like what you are saying but not all coaches coach that way. Even if you get a shot and prove yourself, as we've seen the varying opinions, sometimes it's still the older player.

baseballhs posted:

I like what you are saying but not all coaches coach that way. Even if you get a shot and prove yourself, as we've seen the varying opinions, sometimes it's still the older player.

So what?  That has nothing to do with continuing to prepare yourself, work hard, stay positive and be ready for your opportunity.

And in today's world, if you don't get the opportunity on the high school team, you will get it in Travel Ball, or in a Showcase.  Any way you slice it, it still requires preparation & hard work.  

3and2Fastball posted:

baseballhs posted:

I like what you are saying but not all coaches coach that way. Even if you get a shot and prove yourself, as we've seen the varying opinions, sometimes it's still the older player.

So what?  That has nothing to do with continuing to prepare yourself, work hard, stay positive and be ready for your opportunity.

And in today's world, if you don't get the opportunity on the high school team, you will get it in Travel Ball, or in a Showcase.  Any way you slice it, it still requires preparation & hard work.  

Not arguing that, I was responding to Coach May saying it might be seen as coach speak and that he bases decisions on who puts in the work and is ready for the opportunity.  I am a firm believer in always working hard.  Your spot is never safe and there can always be someone better or who works harder.

baseballhs posted:

3and2Fastball posted:

baseballhs posted:

I like what you are saying but not all coaches coach that way. Even if you get a shot and prove yourself, as we've seen the varying opinions, sometimes it's still the older player.

So what?  That has nothing to do with continuing to prepare yourself, work hard, stay positive and be ready for your opportunity.

And in today's world, if you don't get the opportunity on the high school team, you will get it in Travel Ball, or in a Showcase.  Any way you slice it, it still requires preparation & hard work.  

Not arguing that, I was responding to Coach May saying it might be seen as coach speak and that he bases decisions on who puts in the work and is ready for the opportunity.  I am a firm believer in always working hard.  Your spot is never safe and there can always be someone better or who works harder.

The truth is, unfortunately, some coaches don't do it. They are not looking out for the guys who are putting the work in preparing for that opportunity.  We had a new coach.  During the voluntary winter workouts a couple of kids where always there.  AM, PM, and even doing their travel ball stuff as well.  Busting arse.  Season came around, and who gets the nod.  The lazy kid who never showed up.  Not because he was better, but he was taller.  Guess what happened to off season participation the next year -- it dropped considerably.  The message had been set.  

Bob Knight had a principle.  Many coaches during his playing days would start one kid and then sub the other in who out played the starter.  Come the second half, the original 5 starters would go back in.  Bob never did that.  If the kid earned playing time in the first half, he started the second half.  

The good coaches are always looking for situation Coach May describes.  How can I get that kid in the game?  It's how everyone gets better.  

I think one thing to always remember in all of this, is that  you never know who is watching!

I’ve heard three cliches/coach speak I’ve never forgotten ...

1) If you’re happy where you are it doesn’t matter what happened to you along the way.

2) If you’re happy where you are keeping moving ahead. Otherwise you will get caught from behind. 

“By 1957 Oklahoma has won 47 straight games. They were the greatest college football team ever. Any D1 team today (1983) would bury them.”

3) Never confuse activity with results. Sometimes working hard is just spinning your wheels. Work hard and smart.

This stuff fits whether it’s baseball or life. It’s why quality coaching can impact a kid’s life so much.

How do you find the excuse makers? Whether is the high school locker room or an office find the water cooler and find the complainers. Stay away. 

Spot on Coach and something that I have seen with my son as well.  He set a goal of making JV as a Freshman...which he did, good; now what?  His answer was to keep working hard and maybe get to play varsity, well this is where being prepared was met by an opportunity.  One of the two Varsity catchers wasn't showing the work ethic the Head Coach was wanting to see, so my son (who is one of three catchers on JV) was asked to dress out for varsity as the bullpen catcher.  No guarantees of anything, but an opportunity just the same.

 This is such a great topic and the timing is perfect, kids into the season and possibly doing some self reflecting or parents wondering why this and why that. Was having this conversation Monday night at a game with a former professional player who is now a father of 3 boys: a former D1 Power 5 utility player, current D1 Power 5 starting catcher and a current REALLY good HS player. He said he did not care what those boys did in baseball, as long as they worked as hard as they possibly could with the understanding that there are 2 player mindsets that a coach is looking for: The starter who has earned the position and works to keep it and the back up that is working and proving he should take the starter's position. Just be 1 of those guys.

We just played our 14th game of the season. I have been using 3 different guys in LF waiting for one of them to lock it down. Basically one is very good defensively out there. The other two are solid not liabilities. All three have struggled offensively. One of my best hitters goes down with a sprained ankle. I need to insert some additional offense into the line up. I am willing to forego some defense in LF if I can get some better production out of the LF spot.

I have been watching this Sr who has yet to start a game. He has only played a couple of innings all year and a couple of at bats. I have been watching him work and I like what I see in his swing. He is working hard defensively but he scares me a little defensively.

Our last game I finally give him a start against a quality opponent. I emphasize to him I need him to produce quality at bats and just make the routine play. He draws a BB in an 8 pitch ab in his first plate appearance. He works another BB in his next at bat. In his final at bat he gets a single up the middle on a 3-2 count. He gets one play in LF a fairly deep fly ball that he makes the play on.

So now I have decided to leave him in LF and it's his job to keep as long as he continues to earn it with his performance and work ethic. There is no way I even give him a shot if he doesn't keep working hard and continue to buy in to what we are preaching. There is no way I even give him a shot if I don't see that he is preparing for an opportunity not waiting for one. This is a Sr who has never started a HS varsity game. And he gets his first start in the 14th game of his Sr year. All three of the other guys are JR's.

I posted this because this is a perfect example of what I was talking about in the original post. I don't know what he will do tonight when we play. But one thing's for sure he has earned another opportunity and I am hoping he earns it all over again tonight. If he had developed a negative attitude he never gets that shot. If he succumbs to the never voices that many times are present in these situations he never gets his shot or is not prepared when he does.

KM,

Love that post. DKs best pitcher went down and now out for the rest of the season. Then came the speech about stepping up and if you want innings you have to fight for it. Some are freshman, some are seniors. The offense is going through the same, if you produce, you get at bats. If you dont, you understand what happens.

Thats how it works on every level, dont ever forget it.

Coach May- good on you and good on that kid. Like that he was working and like that you were noticing, but even if he never got the opportunity-he had worked, that's the rub. Why put forth the effort with no guarantee of being rewarded? Simply put, JUST BECAUSE. Just because that's life, do your best- not for the reward, do it for yourself in everything you do, funny how many successful things will work out- then it's chicken and egg stuff. Kid saw at least 18 pitches over those 3 AB's, impressive.

Sometimes in baseball, you only get one shot.  I am proud of Coach May for looking for reasons to give kids their shot and to allow them to keep their spot as their performance and work ethic continue.