Integrity
Matt has been filling in for the head coach of Eli's Little League team.
It has been stressful for me.
I feel the eyes of all the parents on Matt. With this group, I know they are eyes of judgement. Every call he makes, every line up and every batting order, is under scrutiny from the parents. I suppose that is how it always is but I don't like it.
Then there are the eyes of the head coach on Matt. He is not one to sit back and really let go of the team. He had neck surgery on a Wednesday and sure enough he showed up on Saturday in a neck brace hollering on the sidelines. A few times he actually yelled to Matt from the sidelines telling him what to do. Matt stuck to his plan and played it out, but he has been a little frustrated with the task of coaching a team that isn't his to coach and trying to balance coaching the way he wants to and the way the coach would want him to.
To add to the stress of this little team, there was some serious drama during a game last week. Matt put in a courtesy runner on first ( the guy on first took a casual walk to first base and Matt wanted someone who was going to run to be in the game). This is normal for the big leagues but apparently not so much for little league. The opposing team's coach said that was fine only if the guy being replaced on first was going to be catcher. Matt didn't really think this could be a rule but agreed. Once the player was back in the dugout, Matt told him to get on the catcher gear and the player announced he didn't have a cup on. Problemo! No cup. No catching. So he didn't play the guy as catcher and the other coach got really really mad. Matt said "show me the rule" the coach said "I can't find it but when I do I'll file a protest". Bla bla bla, bla bla bla. I'll spare you the rest of the details.
So a meeting was called between Matt, the head coach, the coach of the other team and the league president. Prior to the meeting Matt had a very strong feeling that the head coach would like him to say that he replaced the runner because he thought he was hurt. Matt tossed and turned the night before the meeting. It wasn't an option. He was not going to lie.
Meeting day came, Matt spoke the truth. Matt listened to the other coach blow a lot of hot air and then he finally interrupted him and said "did it really matter? the courtesy runner got out at 2nd. It made no difference in the outcome, this is baseball for kids, lets move on". Apparently, the other coach felt like it did matter (his team lost) and the president of the league agreed. The head coach of our team was all fired up and Matt was just done with the whole thing.
A few hours after the meeting (sorry it took me so long but this is the point of this whole rambling) the head coach of our team called Matt. He did something that I think is kind of rare. He apologized to Matt. He knew he was putting pressure on Matt to cloud the truth, and after all was said and done that night the head coach realized his error. He called to tell Matt that honesty was the right call and apologized for hinting that he should be anything other than a man of integrity.
Most of the time you make a stand for something and nobody calls to say "well done" but every once in a while they do. I think Matt's integrity spoke volumes to the head coach and I'm really proud of him for doing the right thing when doing the wrong would have been so much easier. And I'm also very impressed that our coach had the humility to call and apologize.
Matt's short tenure as coach has given him a great opportunity to show the kids, the family members, and the opposing team that baseball is hard work, but is supposed to be fun, you want to play to win, but not at all costs, and that above all, at the end of the day you decide what actions you will be remembered by. I do believe that the parents and team will remember Matt in a very positive way.
It has been stressful for me.
I feel the eyes of all the parents on Matt. With this group, I know they are eyes of judgement. Every call he makes, every line up and every batting order, is under scrutiny from the parents. I suppose that is how it always is but I don't like it.
Then there are the eyes of the head coach on Matt. He is not one to sit back and really let go of the team. He had neck surgery on a Wednesday and sure enough he showed up on Saturday in a neck brace hollering on the sidelines. A few times he actually yelled to Matt from the sidelines telling him what to do. Matt stuck to his plan and played it out, but he has been a little frustrated with the task of coaching a team that isn't his to coach and trying to balance coaching the way he wants to and the way the coach would want him to.
To add to the stress of this little team, there was some serious drama during a game last week. Matt put in a courtesy runner on first ( the guy on first took a casual walk to first base and Matt wanted someone who was going to run to be in the game). This is normal for the big leagues but apparently not so much for little league. The opposing team's coach said that was fine only if the guy being replaced on first was going to be catcher. Matt didn't really think this could be a rule but agreed. Once the player was back in the dugout, Matt told him to get on the catcher gear and the player announced he didn't have a cup on. Problemo! No cup. No catching. So he didn't play the guy as catcher and the other coach got really really mad. Matt said "show me the rule" the coach said "I can't find it but when I do I'll file a protest". Bla bla bla, bla bla bla. I'll spare you the rest of the details.
So a meeting was called between Matt, the head coach, the coach of the other team and the league president. Prior to the meeting Matt had a very strong feeling that the head coach would like him to say that he replaced the runner because he thought he was hurt. Matt tossed and turned the night before the meeting. It wasn't an option. He was not going to lie.
Meeting day came, Matt spoke the truth. Matt listened to the other coach blow a lot of hot air and then he finally interrupted him and said "did it really matter? the courtesy runner got out at 2nd. It made no difference in the outcome, this is baseball for kids, lets move on". Apparently, the other coach felt like it did matter (his team lost) and the president of the league agreed. The head coach of our team was all fired up and Matt was just done with the whole thing.
A few hours after the meeting (sorry it took me so long but this is the point of this whole rambling) the head coach of our team called Matt. He did something that I think is kind of rare. He apologized to Matt. He knew he was putting pressure on Matt to cloud the truth, and after all was said and done that night the head coach realized his error. He called to tell Matt that honesty was the right call and apologized for hinting that he should be anything other than a man of integrity.
Most of the time you make a stand for something and nobody calls to say "well done" but every once in a while they do. I think Matt's integrity spoke volumes to the head coach and I'm really proud of him for doing the right thing when doing the wrong would have been so much easier. And I'm also very impressed that our coach had the humility to call and apologize.
Matt's short tenure as coach has given him a great opportunity to show the kids, the family members, and the opposing team that baseball is hard work, but is supposed to be fun, you want to play to win, but not at all costs, and that above all, at the end of the day you decide what actions you will be remembered by. I do believe that the parents and team will remember Matt in a very positive way.
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