November 2, 2016, Game 7 of the World Series, Cubs vs Indians. A right fielder by the name of Jason Heyward stepped up to lead the cubs to their first championship in 108 years. He did not do it in the way you might think. It was not with his bat or glove or anything that made the highlight reel. It happened behind closed doors during the 17-minute rain delay before the 10th inning with the score tied 6-6. With heads and spirits down, the Cubs made their way under the stadium when J-Hey called a meeting. This was his “Man Among Boys” moment. In a short speech, he instilled confidence, enthusiasm, and life back into his despondent teammates. In a few words, he reminded them who they were and what got them there. These Cubs made it to the World Series by not hard work alone, but by having fun, a lot of fun. These Cubs had ridiculous work ethic, but also understood the importance of living lighthearted with each other. When the Cubs walked back onto the field for that 10th and final inning, they remembered why they were there; to have a good time. After a sequence of amazing events (obvious Cubby here) the score was 8-7. Cubs Win!
June 12, 1988, my grandma took me to my first Cubs game. There were a few players I could not wait to see with my own eyes. My favorite player of all time, Ryne Sandberg, was at 2nd base, Mark Grace on 1st and of course, in right field, the one and only Andre “The Hawk” Dawson. These were the big 3 for me back then. My eyes were glued to them the whole game. I wish I would have paid more attention to the young rookie on the mound, Greg Maddux! Our seats were in the outfield, and I could not believe how close I was to, the now hall of famer, Andre Dawson! He went 2-4 at the plate, scored a run, and the Cubs dodged a sweep by the Cardinals with a 4-3 victory. Andre did his part, and…Cubs Win!
June 14, 2021, my mind was blown yet again by another lighthearted, carefree right fielder. He is 7 years old, and if you have ever been to one of his games you would know his name. It is the name yelled most often.
“Zane, pay attention!” “Zane, hurry up!” Zane, turn around!” “Zane, stand up!” “Zane, put your hat on!” “Zane, take your glove off of your head!” “Zane, quit dancing!” “Where is Zane?”
On this night, there was a moment of dad pride as a hard grounder was hit between 1st and 2nd base. I could not believe my eyes; Zane was charging the ball just like he had been coached. He ran with a mission and purpose right toward the ball. Here he was, just like “Awesome Dawson” “The Hawk” hunting down that ball. I could see it now. The headline read,
“Zane “The Cobra” Kemp strikes again as his 9th inning throw to homeplate stops the tying score and the Chicago Cubs win the pennant!
As he got close to the ball that moment of pride I felt quickly turned to confusion as I heard a mom behind me say, “What the hell?” Zane never looked at the ball but just kept running toward the infield. As the ball made its way toward the right field fence, Zane trotted past the pitcher’s mound, and almost ran into one of the three RBI’s that was heading toward home. The third RBI was also the batter who celebrated a home run because our 2nd baseman had to chase down the ball. I met him near the 3rd base line, and I asked, “What the heck are you doing?” With the most carefree look, he replied, “Oh nothing, I just have to pee.”
It takes a special person to play right field. Right field is no less important than any other position but there is just a sense of much needed lightheartedness that comes with the territory. Maybe that is because right field is the position in little league that the coach uses to rotate the “Zanes” of the world. Zane rotated at right field with another teammate this season. This little boy didn’t always want to be there but when he did, he had so much fun. His smile was contagious, and I sure couldn’t keep from smiling back at him, even when he also watched balls go right past him. One evening we kept hearing strange sounds coming from the outfield. At one point, the umpire asked our head coach, “What is that noise?” The coach replied with a smile, “Oh, our right fielder is a dinosaur tonight.” I looked over at the boy and he put his hands up like T-Rex and roared at me. I laughed and gave him a thumbs up! He was having a blast. My biggest goal as a youth coach is to make sure those kids find a love for the game and want to play again the next year.
This should be every coach’s goal at that level. Yes, I fully understand how important teaching the fundamentals are, but what does that matter if the kid doesn’t ever play again? I will get into my youth coaching philosophy in a future post, but just a quick note: baseball for young kids should be fun. Sitting the bench all season, watching your teammates win the league championship at 7 years old does not foster a love for the game, nor does it develop the skills that player needs. You never know who that right fielder will become one day. Coach, that trophy or ring may have been at the expense of a future great that never was. I would much rather hear the words one day, “I would like to thank my little league coach who never gave up on me,” than to have that championship hardware in a box in the attic. One year, after much frustration, I told some other coaches in the league, “Next year, you guys just pick all the players you want. When your done, I’ll coach the ones leftover.” I would be just fine to take all the right fielders! Don’t misunderstand me, winning at the youth level does not mean that you are doing it wrong. I have many friends who bring home the hardware every weekend and are doing it the right way. They are loving on those boys and developing each and every one. Kudos to you guys.
My true intent for writing this was to encourage the dads and moms of these little right fielders. You see, Zane is actually my third right fielder to raise. My older two boys were the same way at that age and have turned out to be some pretty exceptional boys. I know it is embarrassing at times when your kid is the one being yelled at to pay attention, but don’t give up on him. He will turn out just fine. Let him have fun for now while he is learning the game. If you do it right and give him space to grow, one day he will “flip the switch.”
You never know, he may one day be giving the game winning inspirational speech in the locker room at the World Series, telling his teammates to, “Lighten up and just have fun out there.” Probably not, but the lessons he learned developing on that baseball team will be used to lead his family one day.
Don’t worry about your right fielder. His lightheartedness is a much needed attribute to those around him!
