Your Life's Footprint

The greatest legacy is that which benefits the widest number of people for the longest period without limit to value.  Cat Stevens

Baseball lost a great man today. Gary Carter succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 57. Best remembered for his contributions to the 1986 New York Mets and their World Series championship, he was a leader. But that is not why I write today. I write not to eulogize him. Instead I write because I am thinking of the legacy of life and the footprint we leave during our time on this terra firma.

Gary Carter had no impact on my life. However there are those that he did impact - friends, family, and teammates alike.

It can be quite humbling to think of one's impact on the world. Who will remember you when you are gone? What will they say? Some will have more influence on other people's lives than others, but no one leaves this world without making some sort of impact. To be a leader is to not only get people to follow you, but to understand the impact you have. You may not be aware of it, but it is happening. And this impact can last long after your respective lives have charted different courses. And this was the impact of Gary Carter. He was a man who did not participate in the wild living of his teammates, but instead walked the straight and narrow. It was years after that many of his teammates realized he was a man ahead of his time. They looked back fondly on the time they spent with him and realized the impact he had on their lives.

Three years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to begin coaching baseball. It was, in fact, my main motivation for beginning this blog. I've documented what I've learned a long the way and some of the experiences I've had. I've had the chance to teach and learn all at once. It can be somewhat humbling knowing that years down the road something I said or did may be remembered by one of the kids. I have no way of knowing if it will positively impact their lives the way Gary Carter did with the people he shared his life with, but I can only hope.

tryout day

"There are three things you can do in a baseball game. You can win, you can lose, or it can rain."       Casey Stengel

I find Casey Stengel's quote funny. Funny because it's not that it can rain on the day of tryouts, it's that it will rain. Anyone who has ever been around little league baseball knows this. You might be soaking up the early spring sun in the days leading up to it, but come that fateful day soaking is all you will be doing. And this year was no different. Sun. Then rain. Lots of it.

I can remember many such tryouts as a kid. There I sat shivering in the cold, barely able to feel the ball, and begging for this hour to be over.  And now that I'm a little older I can assure this mindset does not change - for parents, kids, or coaches. The difference being I now have a coffee in hand to provide me brief moments of comfort.

Such is spring in Canada. Short, cold days of baseball tryouts and long nerve racking nights of watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

                                                                                     

Leading. Learning along the way.

The 2011 season baseball season is upon us. Kind of. This Thursday marked our first winter workouts. The faces were different. The team, as yet, undefined. Nonetheless it was good to be back at it.

This also begins my third year with Ancaster Little League, second as a coach with the Major rep team. I think back to a few years ago when I decided to join the coaching ranks. I was new to the area and knew I wanted to get involved, but not really certain where. Going just by memory of my little league days I sent out emails to teams in the area. Some responded, others didn't. Somewhat blindly, I chose Ancaster. If only all the decisions I've made in my life could have turned out so well as this one!

In my time with the league I have been blessed to be around some great people - coaches, parents, and kids alike. I've learned from them and hopefully they've been able to take something from me.

Coaching is a definitely growing passion of mine. Years ago, all I wanted to do was play the game. That desire has faded - somewhat. While it's nice to step between the white lines every so often, the reward I get in coaching far surpasses that of any inning I may pitch. I learn as they learn and therein lies the great reward of it all. While they are learning and bettering themselves as players I'm doing much the same in my role as a leader.

Being a leader of these kids is not a responsibility I take lightly. I have more memories of my coaches than I do my teachers at that age I think. (my teachers just have nightmares of me). It's humbling to think that years down the road some of these kids will remember me and our time together whether it was something I said or something I did. But that, I suppose, is the weighty responsibility of leadership. I am always being watched. I may not always do or say the right thing, but I'm learning.

a new Motley Crue

Out with the old and in with the new. And in the case of the 2011 Ancaster Cardinals it will be lots of new. With only two returning players we will be a different team with a different identity. Wednesday night was our second workout of hopefuls for next year.

Sitting there watching the kids play in an intrasquad game, I was reminded of last year when we began this exact same process in very similar weather conditions (re: COLD). We alternated between trying to keep warm and biting our nails wondering how things would evolve for the (then) coming Canadian Championships. Needless to say that version of the Cardinals did their coaches, their parents, and their community proud with a berth in the finals.

Last week, for a brief moment, I was taken back to that week in August when one of the boys hit a homerun in practice. I've said before that nothing tops the experience of a homerun in Little League. Of course there wasn't the people on the surrounding hill applauding or the crowd of teammates waiting for him at home plate, but it was still drew "oohs," "aahs," and smiles all around. That is what separates Little League baseball from all other levels of baseball - the way every achievement is lauded by onlookers.

What 2011 holds remains to be seen, but I'm confident that next summer will be filled with its own collection of unforgettable moments just as this summer was.

thank you

All good things must come to an end. Why does it have to be this way? Whoever came up with this idiom must have been a glass-half-empty type. Sunday was the end of our season. In the end we fell one victory short of our ultimate goal, but the collective feeling is that the memories we will carry with us from the summer of 2010 far outweigh that one loss. As was said by a parent, if we could rewind the clock back to April I'm sure we all would. We were a family - parents, players, and coaches alike. So to all of this family I would like to say thank you.

Thank you to:

Brandon Chong - For making me believe that it is possible for a 12 yr old to chop down a tree with one swing of a bat.

Liam Gallagher - Thanks for striking out and letting the pink hat die with you. (for those not in the know, anytime some struck out looking they had to wear a pink hat for the next practice and during warmups for the next game. pictured is Matthew Grabstas). And thanks for all the seeds you're going to supply me with next year.

Caleb Radley - For this look...enough said. You owe me seeds too - the kind humans eat. Not like the 7lbs of birdseed I left in your bag.

Anthony Marzenek - For breaking the hearts of the Turtle Club. Seeds too please, next year. Thief!

Justin Stephenson -  For some of the hardest hit balls I have ever seen come off a bat. Parents of opposing players thank you to that none of their sons were hit by these missiles.

Ben Miller - For being a leader in your own quiet way. All of us were at ease when you came to the plate because we knew you would make something happen. And for reminding all our pitchers not to suck.

Simon Ranger - You are a future coach in the making. I have thought that since I first had you on my team two years ago.

Mark Szostak - For offering hugs. No I don't need one, but thank you.

Riley Gray - Fellow lefty. For being our vocal leader in the dugout and on the field. You hit what may have been our longest homerun of the season but for a silly wire. As it is, you hit the weirdest triple ever.

Adam Del Frabbro - For dashing the hopes of anyone who hit the ball to the right side of the infield. You were where basehits went to die.

Matthew Grabstas - Tide Laundry Detergent thanks you for keeping them in business.

Justin Mignardi - For reminding me that you hit more homeruns than me in Little League and that without you I haven't won any district championships or made it to any national finals.

the coaching staff - For the friendships we forged along the way. The stories we shared. And the lessons I learned in coaching, teaching, and parenting I took from this summer.

the parents - For welcoming an ex-Erindale player into your midst. And entrusting your boys to me and us coaches for the summer. They (and you) made me look forward to every practice, game, and party. I was blessed to be around such fine young men for one summer.

I truly was blessed this summer. Thank you to one and all.