The right things at the right time

The weather was warm and sunny on Saturday and Sunday -  one obvious bright spot of this year’s Mountville 12U baseball tournament. There were other bright spots too. Okay – maybe not as many as we would have hoped for the Indians, but they were there all the same.

Admittedly, the Indians didn’t have one of their best tournaments ever. But hey, we did see some good Indian hits, defensive plays, and pitching. Right things were done at the right times – just not enough of them in the same game. This will come. 

Athletes like basketball great Kareem Adul-Jabbar’s know the importance of doing the right things at the right times. Adul-Jabbar’s career success may have looked like it came easily, from natural talent alone. But he recognized that his athletic ability was not enough. To be the best he could be, he had to be mentally focused too. “I try to do the right things at the right times,” he said. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing.”

So give the Indians the high-fives and kudos they deserve for everything done well this past weekend. Take a look at the stars on their hats too. They’re good reminders of the many things the players have done well so far.

Then take heart! With encouragement, and the good coaching they get as Indians (not that I’m the least bit biased or anything), many more good things will happen this season. As the players get more game experience and learn to focus on the little things that make a difference – on doing more of the right things at the right times – they’ll gain confidence. And that, combined with the talent this team has, is a winning combination!

Long story, short

In many ways, this baseball season has been, shall we say – unique. Mid-March snow piles necessitating indoor, single-day player evaluations; countless heavy spring rainfalls and days of sub-normal temperatures resulting in an unusual number of practice cancellations and game postponements; a roster bearing not even one returning player’s name; an umpire passing out at the plate; the new tedious (but important), league-mandated recording and limiting of pitches. The all too familiar rhythm of the Indians’ baseball season has been punctuated with so many oddities that it reads like a story composed of incomplete sentences.

I wonder if the players and their families feel that same herky-jerkiness, or if to them it feels like we’re simply flipping the pages of an “interesting” season’s story.

Either way, hold onto your black and gold baseball caps, because this story is about to pick up some serious steam! In the span of a just few short weeks, the Indians are scheduled to play twelve league games – twice as many as they’ve played so far this season – thanks to the weather.

So just like a good book that you can’t put down once you really get into the heart of it, the rest of the season will suddenly fly by and then be over before you know it. Here’s hoping for an ending that leaves us all smiling because we decided to be part of this story in the first place.