From Start to Finish: Being a Real McCoy

 I always knew I would be a coach one day. I wasn't sure how, why or with whom but I knew it was something I would do. My sport is baseball. I call it mine because I love it. I am energized by it. I have a healthy romance with it. To some my coaching may mirror crazy. That's okay. I think my kids' parents approve. It's better than mirroring inept, poor and half-hearted coaching. I'll take crazy all day, every day. My players and their parents do too.

 I have played baseball since I was a youngster, probably around six or seven. I remember the day it all changed for me. My Little League Minor's team was playing Lindy's Smoke Shop. Yes, they had those back in the day. I came to the plate searching for my first hit of the season. The bases were loaded as I approached the plate with my Little League wooden bat. One ball and one strike was the count. The next pitch was grooved right down the middle. I took a swing and thwack, the ball took off for left center field. My first grand slam was now in the books and the fire, which still burns today for the game of baseball, was lit.

 I remember being in the garage of my colonial-style home the late afternoon before that life-changing, evening game. I was swinging my bat and visualizing hitting. As a kid I was just dreaming about what could be. Looking back now I figured out what I was really doing. I was preparing to tell my young men today what it means to be mentally prepared to play. I was preparing for my time as a coach as innocent as what I then-called dreaming. I had no idea what would be thirty-plus years later.

 Usually I can't remember where I put my keys, wallet, and phone. However, there are certain things I just don't forget. The romance with my game became real on that spring day in Long Island, NY. It was the day I knew I was born to play the game. It was where win or lose I was going to be part of something special for a very long time. It was the beginning of where I would honor, love and respect something which would teach me so much about life. Positively, one-hundred percent, I fell in love with baseball.

 As someone who is passionate about baseball I hold myself to a very high standard. I did as a player and I do as a coach. I could never take enough swings or fly balls. I can never stop teaching or motivating. Every fly ball and swing represented something I'd do in a game. Every moment with my guys is critical. I expected excellence from myself as a player and I do today as a coach. Nothing less is acceptable.

 There are some who coach baseball (and other sports) just for a paycheck and/or for an ego boost but lack passion for it. Nothing could be worse for the players. I coach baseball because deep down to the core of my being I was made for it. When I step onto the field everything in the world seems right. I love the smell of the freshly cut grass on a hot, July day, the hot dogs cooking at the concession stand and the umpire yelling, "Play ball". My players and families are all gathered together with the same goal. Yeah, all is well. As a player and coach it feels like home.

 For the pretenders, coaching my sport is just a means to an end. They are out there and closer then you think. They wear a hat, swing a bat and will one day judge your kid. They will give useless feedback which is contradicted by their inability to judge all talent properly. They will make excuses for their laziness and confuse humility with ineptness. They have neither passion or heart for the game. When you see the pretenders move on to Plan B. The status of playing for a pretender-coach is not worth it. Your child's future is worth more. Pretenders are only concerned with the present.

 People may think my baseball love is an obsession or I've made baseball an idol. Reading this you may think it is over the top. Not so. Trust me, I haven't arrived and am not every player's coach. History would dictate such. I am always learning. However, in over 30 years of playing or coaching baseball one thing remains true: You can't teach heart and passion. I know I possess both. Without those two ingredients you can't improve. Talent only gets us so far. Stay strong and go wherever your passion leads you. Stoke the fire once you've discovered yours. Your dash is all about it!