What Defines Character

Crazy as it seems, I think about this a lot –what defines character. I really want to be that person who people think of as having great character. I know I fail, sometimes miserably, but I still try. I think having great character means different things to different people. To me, it means rising above your circumstances, showing courage and the determination to become more than is expected of you. If you have the quality in your personality to make a person want to be more than they are, they are lucky to know you. I remember watching a movie years ago and hearing Jack Nicolson say “you make me want to be a better man” I thought wow I want to be that girl, or boss, or coach. I just want to do that one small thing that makes a person say I can do better because I know someone expects me to. Character is the one thing we do for ourselves, doesn’t matter who our parents are, doesn’t matter how much money we have, doesn’t matter where we live or what we drive, we own our character and we can have as much or as little as we choose. It’s not something we can tell people we have; we demonstrate it in our actions. This weekend I saw character beyond explanation. A group of young men made me want to be a better person because I saw in them the determination and courage it takes to win things in life and overcome obstacles. We didn’t win and it broke my heart for them but we showed tremendous character.

 
I know I say a lot about Matt Leeds in this blog but for real the kid is going to be an awesome man.  He could barely walk after hurting his knee this weekend and I never knew if he was hit by a pitch or if he fouled a ball off his leg but it was obvious he could hardly make it to first base. They kept him in the lineup and every time he came to bat I said a selfish prayer that he get a homerun so he wouldn’t have to struggle to get around the bases. It was just too hard to watch. He never gave up though, he never stopped competing and he was the one that kept us in the last game. We were down by two and I know it had to hurt him just to swing the bat but he crushed one over the fence to tie the game, hobbled around the bases and fired the team up and back into the game. I don’t think there is a greater thing in life to watch than when a player approaches the plate after a home run but this one was particularly sweet. He showed a lot of character.

All the pitchers worked hard to keep us in the game but when Josh Salay snagged the drive back up the middle and came charging off the mound he showed great character.

So while we may not have won the series this weekend I know I am a better person for having witnessed such great displays of courage and determination. I know if those young men can stay in a game for thirteen innings and keep me believing that they were one hit away from victory it will help us all one day when we are facing a challenge. I believe there are many life lessons in the game of baseball and while we watch these young men compete we can become better people by trying to have better character. Because, at the end of the day, every outfielder is trying to make the best possible outfield catch, every in fielder is trying to make the best throw and every hitter is trying to make the best hit they can and our job is to remember that and be a fan with character. We probably don’t have to tell the pitcher he has to throw strikes because I’m pretty sure that’s what he went out there to do.

I’m sure Georgia Southern will test our character next weekend so come out to the field for our home stand and show our boys you stand behind this team. They are good and tough and deserve to have a great audience watch them

See you at the field.

The Competitive Edge

When my kids were small we played a lot of games and everyone always played to win. A short time after Ted and I started dating he posed the question “don’t you guys do anything for fun?” I didn’t really get it; play a game just for fun-what’s the point. My mother is in her seventies and to this day she gets mad and goes home if she loses two games of Upwords in a row. We had to put an end to our post Thanksgiving football game because we almost had to carry my sister to the hospital when a rocketing pass hit her in the face. We once had a kick ball game that was so intense the ball ended up deflated by a limb in pursuit of the homerun. The worst family competition though was the year my brother was nearly impaled by a plastic lawn chair over a friendly game of musical chairs. These are true stories, if there is one thing we know how to do in this family it is compete. Some of us are fiercer than others but none of us like losing.

I was thinking about ‘the competitive edge’ on Wednesday as player after player came across the plate in our game against Charleston Southern. I don’t even think it was about the game after a while; it was about each individual player competing within himself. At least that is the way it looked to me. Why swing for the fence when you are ahead by ten runs? Why-because you can-and I’m pretty sure a homerun feels good no matter what the score is. And does the third homerun in a single game feel any less significant than the second? I’m going to say I don’t think so but you will have to ask Rob Kral. I’d be willing to guess that now he is going to be trying to get four homeruns in one game because he, like most of the CofC players, is a competitor. They play to win and not just the game; they want it all, the records, the stats, and the retired jersey.

We once had a youth coach that wouldn’t take the field to accept a second place tournament trophy. While that may be excessive he truly made his players believe they could be more than they were. I remember a night when one of Cole’s early teams lost and his coach was reassuring them and saying it was ok and Cole’s dad pulled him aside and said ‘never get comfortable with losing’. At that moment it made me a little mad but I now realize if you are comfortable with losing you are not competing. I know someone who works for a company that only hires retired baseball players for their sales staff. Why-because they never stop competing.

So, in case you are wondering why the score was 28-9 on Wednesday it is because we have a team of competitors. In reality they probably stopped watching the score after we went ahead in the second and were playing to beat their own records.

We’re packed and heading to Western Carolina tomorrow for another weekend of conference play.

Oh yeah and don’t talk to me about basketball right now because I picked a bunch of non-competitors in my bracket and I’m a little testy.

See you at the field.

Variables

Have you ever considered the variables involved in doing your job? The variables in my job are minimal: will I show up to work, will our staff show up to work and will we be able to accomplish the things we need done.

I started thinking about ALL the variables Coach Lee deals with. I haven’t spoken with him about them but these are the variables from ‘my’ perspective:

A player is recruited-variable- does he want to play, are his parents on board. He makes a commitment. The coach checks his position off the list then the player decides to go to another school. Back to zero and start recruiting process over for next player.

All players signed and ready to go-finds out one is academically ineligible. Out for at least one semester-get the line-up card back out.

Got a new line up filled out getting ready to start first game everyone shows up but one guy-uh oh trouble in paradise-player suspended indefinitely because he had a little too much fun on Thursday night. Get the lineup card back out.

Ok, this time everything should be good a new line up on board. Flu runs through entire infield. Get the lineup card back out.

For Real, line up is submitted. Player breaks his leg in wind sprints. Get the lineup card back out.

See where this is going………

Coaching is really not that tough, if you can first, get the player, keep him, maintain his academic eligibility, keep him out of jail, keep him healthy and uninjured, and THEN see if he is coachable.

Once you have all those variables solved you just have to depend on the weather and the umpires.

There are days when I don’t like my job but I sure as heck don’t ever want to be a college coach and I have the utmost respect for them. Coaching isn’t for the weak at heart that is for sure. I just want to say that I think our coaches are doing a great job.

We had three big wins this weekend in Greensboro. I really never got comfortable or felt like we had the game in the bag even though the score seemed a little one sided at times. Rob Kral was firing rockets on Friday night, three homeruns to tie the school record with Jose Rodriguez adding a pair of his own. Every time I looked up it seemed like a Cougar was coming across the plate and we took that game 14-10. Matt Leeds led the way to the victory on Saturday with four RBI’s and a score of 9-2. (For the record, Saturday was a beautiful day in Greensboro and at one point I said to Ted that I couldn’t imagine being any happier than I was at that moment. I truly feel sorry for the people who haven’t experienced a green grassy hill with kids rolling down it at a ball park.) Sunday we squeaked out another victory at 6-5. Peterson looked good on the mound for his first outing after taking a line drive to his leg a couple of weeks ago.

No home games this week as we travel to Charleston Southern mid-week and then to Western Carolina for the weekend.

See you at the field.

I couldn't resist including this picture of what I hope is a future Cougar.  This kid has an arm coach, I'm just saying you might want to keep your eye on him.

Sitting at the Feet of Greatness

One of my favorite assignments is to give my nephews a ride to the ball field.  You never know where the conversation is going to take you but it is always cool to see things from the perspective of a nine and eleven year old.  They are batboys for the Cougars.  They have different favorite players for different reasons but there is no question that in their minds they are sitting at the feet of greatness.  They feel so special and so important and such a 'part of the team'.  I watch for them to run out and retrieve the bats and wonder how long they will be able to do this and still feel 'cool'.  I love that they choose to spend their evenings off of their own baseball practices at our field.  I wonder if our players know that these young boys think they are sitting at the feet of greatness or if the coaches know that if they acknowledge them they feel like giants.  Tuesday night when Luke ran out to first base to give Holler back his bat after the contested call I would have given a thousand dollars to have a picture of him passing off that bat.  In my mind it symbolized 'enough of this bickering let's play ball'.  I hope these players understand that they are impacting the worlds of these boys in a very 'big' way because whether they accept it or not they are 'greatness' in their small eyes.  Maybe one of them will feel compelled to go out to the youth field where Zane or Luke are playing this season and show them the Cougars appreciate what they do and truly demonstrate what it means to be 'great' in the eyes of a kid, because just by watching they will have made a difference.

 I know I keep saying this but really is winter EVER going to leave the Lowcountry.  I feel like I went to bed one night and they moved Charleston to Seattle.  I don't want to make this blog about the weather but for real I am over it.  I have never gone in the press box in my life to watch a game and I did on Wednesday night I couldn't stand it anymore.  I always say if the players can stand it I can stand it, not anymore.  Let the record show I can no longer stand the cold. 

This was the week of sacrifices-flies that is. Two games decided by one run each, both sacrifice flies, one in the bottom of the ninth after a three hour rain delay.  You never know who is going to step up and make a difference.  This week I have three shout outs.  First one goes to Justin Brewer for the big win over Coastal.  He hit the sacrifice fly.  The second shout out has to go to Cole he made one catch on the center field fence that was near impossible and none of us thought he could make it but he did and he robbed Coastal of at least a double maybe more.  The last one goes to Rob Kral for the beautiful fly ball he hit Wednesday night in the bottom of the ninth to beat Jacksonville.  I was so happy his mom was there to see it.  Those special moments just don't look quite the same on game tracker. 

Ted and I are packed and ready to hit the road to Greensboro in the morning.  Enjoy the 70 degree weather that I will be missing this weekend and keep our Cougars in your good thoughts and hopefully we will bring home three conference wins.

See you at the field.

I’m Going to do a Better Job

There is a man who has been coming to our ball games for a couple of years now. He isn’t related to anyone on the team and wasn’t personal friends with any of us until recently. He drives past another college field on the way here but likes the College of Charleston so he says it’s worth it. I have sat next to him many times and we chat about the games, stats and sometimes my son. We have talked a little about what he does for a living but we have never talked about his personal life. Yesterday we became friends on facebook and I now know so much more. I feel like I should have done a better job being a friend to him because I learned that he lost his daughter a few years ago and she would have been college age now. She was beautiful and I know she must have been a great kid and I bet he would like to talk about her but I never opened that door. Today I am going to start doing a better job being kind to the folks I meet at the field. There is a reason God is bringing them to Patriots Point and who knows what it is, but I know I can do better.

I hope John, another friend,  makes it safely back to Indiana today. He winters on Sullivan’s Island and comes to every home game until he returns to Indiana to coach his own team. He is a great fan and he left yesterday to go back. I’m going to stay in touch with him this season and keep him apprised of how the team is doing. I am going to reach out to the new guy from Seattle who has just started attending our games because he was transferred here for the Boeing plant and loves baseball.

Baseball is a great game and it brings us together for a few hours on the weekend to enjoy the game and cheer on our team and so much more. So I am going to do a better job reaching out because you never know what the person sitting next to you is dealing with and maybe, just maybe, they need a friend.

Baseball this weekend was tough.  Friday was another game I would like to erase. Our starting pitcher, Peterson, got drilled in the leg with a line drive and had to be taken to the hospital for x-rays and of course in a situation like that you lose more than your starting pitrcher.  The team's focus is affected and they are somewhat distracted.  Not to mention the delay and loss of momentum.  I don't really know if it affected us that much or we just didn't play very well after that but it just didn't feel like we had it in us to win.  Peterson is going to be ok, he was badly bruised and will be out for a brief period but will be back this season. Saturday we looked better and were playing like we know we can.  We had several hits by many batters including Epley, Knox, and Blake.  We were able to pull out the win on Saturday.  Sunday was a repeat of Friday night.  Samford does a great job with the small ball logic, they love to bunt and it worked for them-more than once but what can you do?  I did see two things this weekend that I have never witnessed in my long bleacher career (1) Shulze (Samford) went 11 for 15 with 3 homeruns, 2 of them in one game.  He hit off numerous pitchers and hit various styles of pitches but he was hitting the ball solidly his every at bat and I cannot, not give him a shout out.  He was amazing. (2) The second thing I saw was not quite so impressive but has to be listed as the weirdest.  Samford's first baseman was sick, it was obvious he was struggling, then he started throwing up, yep right there on first base where the players dive back down in the dirt on the throw back.  Not once, not twice, but three times. By the second time the crowd was supplying sound effects.  It was crazy I tell you.  But here is the craziest part, they sent back out for another inning.  Yep, never seen that before and never want to see it again.  Crazy.  It did remind us of a great story about a kid that played with Cole when they were about 14 and the kid was getting ready on the mound to throw a pitch and just started peeing all over himself-craziest thing you ever saw but our coach handled it very well when he explained that it happened to him all the time. Great coach, kid no longer plays ball. (I'm just sayin, I'm pretty sure the coach never peed his pants in his life)

Hope you can make it out to the Coastal Game tomorrow at 5:00.  Always a great game and we need mid-week fans.

See you at the field.

No Rain On Our Parade

Sometimes you work for a year coordinating all the tiny pieces and parts that make an event great and everything changes in a day.  You send out hundreds of emails, make dozens of phone calls, run a thousand errands and on that final day, everything you have worked for becomes something different.  Yes, it rained yesterday, all day, for our golf event but that didn't dampen our spirits.  It just made the event different.  Some folks played golf in the rain, some folks hung out all day in the tent drinking beer and eating, and some folks competed in the first ever(which I think will now become an annual) corn hole tournament.  I think we all had a GREAT time and this just proves you Can't Rain On Our Parade.  I wish I had taken some pictures but I was so busy running around recreating the event that I hardly had time to pick up my camera.  Please know that if you sign up next year this event happens rain or shine and is great fun either way.

Now I need to thank a few people, who without their help, this tournament would not have happened.  Our sponsors, Brian Fisher of Davis Garvin Insurance, John Rhodes of Diamond Devil Baseball,  Heather Hardwick of Outback Steakhouse, Jake Morgan and Nick Short of Patriots Point Links.  Everything you did for us raises the bar for other events.  You are the best. 

I'm not sure what I can say about Mike Bennett that hasn't been said before but let me start by saying he fooled me.  When I first met Mike and we started negotiating this tournament I walked away thinking, this is a 'big money' man who wants to own this tournament so he can splash his name all around.  I will be the first to admit I was completely wrong about him.  This guy TRULY loves College of Charleston Baseball, he has a passion that is so infectious that I walked away feeling giddy about a program I already believed in and loved.  Mike Bennett is a stand up guy, who doesn't own a computer so this blog will be lost on him but I hope when you see him you will thank him for what he does for us, not only for this baseball program but for this city.  Eat at his restaurants, Virginia's on King, Rue De Jean, and Coast and stay in his hotels because I guarantee you the money comes back to us ten fold.

While there is no way I could have produced this event myself for some reason I get the public recognition.  If you truly know me you know I am very uncomfortable with that.  Every year I want to go to the bathroom and hide when Coach Lee gets to that part of his speech.  I apologize to my son for drawing attention to us because I know he too is uncomfortable.  Please know this, I have been given the gift of leadership, that is what I do.  I lead a cast of people this year to make this event happen and without each and every one of them it wouldn't have happened.  They got the raffle items, they sold hole sponsorships, they carried beer and loaded coolers and cleaned up.  I wish I could thank each of you individually but you know who you are and know this, you are my heroes and my warriors and without you this event would be a lot less. 

With that said, there are a couple of people who go WAY beyond the call of duty and have to be singled out. Tracy, thanks for saying that you would follow me off a cliff but the truth is I would hold your hand and we would jump together because we are a great team and without you I am only half the effort.  Chris (Soupy) Campbell you make this event so much fun every year.  You work hard but more than that you truly have a Heart for CofC baseball.  I want to rig the raffle just so I can watch you win.  Thanks for being such a great fan.  I love you man.  Rob Fowler, your voice is smooth as silk and your friendship great.  You definitely raised the bar yesterday and I am so proud to call you my friend.  Tim Rakar, you stayed with me until the bitter end last night literally helping me turn off the lights.  You trudged drinks to the truck until you were completely soaked but even more than that you are always there.  You are Cole's rock and really there is no way to define what that means to me except to say without you he would be less of a man.  You are the best.

More than anyone, I have to thank Ted, my husband.  The guy is a saint.  I couldn't do half the things I do in my life if I didn't know he was standing by quietly figuring out how he was going to pick up the details of the things I get us into.  He does ALL the heavy lifting, all the behind the scenes work to make an event more than just an event. Ted, you are truly the best partner a girl could have!

Thanks for indulging me on the notes of gratitude because these folks truly need to know how much they mean both to me and to this program.

In closing I will share with you the most valuable lesson I learned yesterday, MY DAUGHTERS WILL NOT GET MARRIED OUTSIDE.

Conference play starts this weekend.

See you at the field.

Butt Slapping and Baseball

Imagine walking into a local establishment and standing at the bar is a great looking 6'4", 200 pound guy in skin tight white pants.  Along comes another great looking guy in tight white  pants and he immediately reaches out and gives his buddy a nice whack on the butt.  What would you think?  I know what I would think.  How does that change when you throw in four bases and bright green grass?  I did a little survey of the girls sitting around me last night and we couldn't think of any other sport where butt tapping is so readily accepted and dished out.  Imagine a doubles tennis match and after every ace there was a nice butt grab going on, or Tiger Woods makes a great drive and his caddy comes running over for the double cheek pat down.  I watched a lot of basketball this winter and it seems they do the high fives and pretty much avoid the rear side of their teammates.  Football players do the helmet slams and chest bumps but baseball players (and coaches) consistently tap their teammates' butts.  I don't really know how it started, maybe the tight white pants are just too much to resist.

There was a lot of butt slapping going on at last night's game because we won 14-5.  Kevin Decker pitched phenomenally.  I mean really-he retired 17 batters in a row.  I would have patted him on the butt too if it wouldn't be considered weird.  I think you have to be wearing the white pants to get away with that so I won't try and neither should you. 

Suffice it to say, I hope there is a lot more butt slapping this season.

See you at the field.

Two Rules of Baseball

RULE #1 RESPECT THE SUPERSTITION

I have always prided myself in believing that our baseball team was bigger than the superstition. I watched as pitchers jumped over the foul line and thought do you really think not touching the line is going to help you throw strikes? Somtimes the gyrations at the plate make me laugh as the batters dig around the plate with their feet and then tap it three times with the bat just before sending up a signal thanking God for their at bat. They do the same thing with every swing, if they step out of the box we have to start all over. I sometimes want to stand up and shout, You're bigger than the superstition. I remember when Cole was pitching as a twelve year old and it occurred to me that he hadn't given up a hit. I turned to the guys sitting around me and said wow he hasn't given up a hit yet has he. You would have thought I had just run out on the field and committed harey carey. I was accused of ruining his game, told that I should never, ever speak of the no hitter until the game was complete. I should have learned my lesson but I guess I am a little slow. I did the unspeakable this week. I jinxed my own son's hitting abilities. Single handedly I made him hitless Friday night. I own it, guilty as charged, stike me dead if you find it necessary. That's right I told someone that Cole was leading the SoCon in batting average going into Friday night's game so I own it. It's my fault, never again will I speak of stats, hitting streaks,or batting averages. I will respect the superstition and understand that it is a big part of baseball. I will stand in reverance as the batters go through their motions at the plate and will never laugh again when the pitcher jumps over the foul line. I WILL follow rule #1 and respect the superstition.

RULE #2 IT AIN'T OVER TIL IT'S OVER

It was an interesting weekend against Alabama. They looked good but really no better than we did. We out hit them but couldn't manufacture the runs. If they got on base you were guaranteed that they were going to score. They were running machines but our pitchers did a great job of keeping them off the bases. We went in to Sunday down two games before great audiences but Sunday felt different. There was a lot of Cougar Pride in the stands and if the tide rolled over us the third time it wasn't going to be because our hearts weren't in it. We went ahead early but didn't stay ahead and then they came back and were winning as we went into the bottom of the ninth. With a runner on second and two outs Baker Knox had an incredible hit and drove in the tying run only to be sent on to the plate himself when their outfielder made a bad throw. I thought Coach Lee's arm was going to fly off his body as he tried to propel Knox to safety.

Two of my kids have had game winning experiences. One of them was given the basketball to make the winning shot at the buzzer and Cole was put in his freshmen year to drive in the winning run in extra innings against Coastal. Some of us live our entire lives and never know what it feels like to have twenty of our teammates come charging off the bench in celebration. To be held up for one brief moment as the hero of the day. Today as the players piled on Baker Knox at the plate I said a silent prayer that he be living in this moment so he can return to it in times when he needs to feel like a hero. Today, Baker Knox was our hero.
Rule #2 in baseball, it ain't over til it's over.

The Cost of Doing Business

The first ball my son ever threw was a plastic baseball and he kept throwing it until he could throw a rubber ball and then a tennis ball, then a real baseball. He hit balls with a plastic bat and then a wooden bat and then a metal bat. He had an infielder's glove, an outfielder's glove, a brief stint catching, and with every step up it got more expensive but we found a way to keep making it happen. It wasn't easy but we knew it was the right investment.  When something went missing or was left at the field there would be a drive back at midnight and a search of everything to find it because he knew there surely wasn't money in the budget for a replacement.  It didn't come easy for us but it came.

When Cole played travel ball I was involved on the money end from the start.  I watched from the outside for a season and knew if they wanted to do the things they aspired to it was going to take money and a lot of it. We started a baseball business because the cost of taking a team of 12 year old ball players on the road coached by a real coach (not their daddy) was expensive.  Since that first team I have looked at the programs as we have moved up and considered how I could help them financially, more to some than others.

I thought when Cole got to college they would have this big whopping budget.  They would pay all my son's school expenses and then fly the boys all over the country playing ball and eating at fine restaurants.  I was in for a rude awakening.  College programs are only different from good travel programs in that everything they do costs more and they do it more frequently.  There are so many aspects of the typical athlete's costs that the average fan never considers.

People think the College of Charleston is a big time program when the reality is they barely get by.  They have two full time assistants, one who works for camp money.  He does it for the love of the game and to build a career.  None of them have gotten to the top of coaching without working another full time job and dressing in the parking lot of a field to put in another ten hour day.  Baseball is the only game based on failure, where you have a play called a sacrifice to help the team win and where stealing is a good thing.  It's hard to understand why these guys are willing to do so much for so little but Pete Rose probably said it best when he said, "I would walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball", I guess that sums up the love of the game.

At a typical away game a big first baseman ambles down the steps of a chartered bus carrying a bucket of baseballs and an equipment bag filled with bats.  He steps in line and collects his meal stipend from the coach and heads in to an average hotel to share a room with one of his teammates.  This is how it breaks down.  His uniform probably cost $300.00 with his cleats, each bat in the equipment bag costs $300.00 and there are at least 20-30, the balls are $5.00 each and they average two dozen per game.  The cost of the bus and rooms runs around $7,000.00 a trip and this is before we even consider a dollar of scholarship funding.  The budgets are big and they have shortfalls and the shortfalls are big.  The most conservative programs are falling short. 

This is the way I see Coach Lee's program. They work hard, long hours, they get their guys the best equipement they can for the money.  They work the sponsors for donations.  They work their donors and then they are at the end of the rope and still have a shortfall. That's when we step up and say we want to invest in your success.  A steak dinner from Outback usually costs you what-$25.00?  Next Thursday you can have a steak dinner and all the beer you can drink after our golf tournament at Patriots Point Links for only twenty bucks.  This meal will buy four baseballs, numerous batting gloves, and contribute to other pieces of equipment.  Come out, have dinner, meet Coach Lee and the players you are investing in because you never know, one day you might be able to say "I bought that major league player a baseball".  Remember it was only a few seasons ago that Brett Gardner was playing at this field.   Really, come and join us.  We will have dinner at 5:00 call me (437-7332) or see me this weekend at the field for a ticket. 

And the next time you see a kid chase a foul ball, help him retrieve it, that's five bucks.

CofC beat both Holy Cross and Charleston Southern yesterday in the frigid cold.

Please come out this weekend for the Alabama Series.  Friday at 6:00 and Saturday and Sunday at 1:00

See you at the field.