Tournament Update

The Warriors will participate in its first tournament of the 2010 season on May 28th through May 31st. This is the Chicagoland Metro League 14U tournament. The site has not yet been announced, but past locations have included Midlothian and Frankfort.

Hickory Hills announced its tournament dates as June 29th through July 7th. I have not yet registered our team for that tournament. Hickory Hills has just one Pony field without lights, so the tournament extends over several days. If a team does not proceed through pool play, it will be idle for a week in July (prime tournament season). Lombard is also hosting a tournament within this time frame--and that tournament looks very promising.

After two decades, Orland Park stopped hosting a tournament last season. Now, two other towns that hosted some of my favorite tournaments over the past several years have decided not to continue: Oak Lawn Baseball for Boys and Homer Athletic Club. They point towards the decimation of their recreational in-house programs from full-time travel baseball as the reason for ending their tournament involvement. I talked with the tournament director from Homer and he pointed out that it didn't make sense to coordinate a tournament in which the host town does not have a team participating!

Now, I'm searching for replacement tournaments. I've called the Chicagoland Metro League director for assistance. Most towns will not announce tournaments until March. I'm expecting to see Lockport, Palos and New Lenox host tournaments--just to name a few. I've also placed a call to an OYA Board member to see if it's possible for us to host a 14U eight team tournament at Centennial Park. If that happens, I'll be looking for some volunteers to help me run it.

Another strong possibility is that our Warriors team will end up playing in at least one tournament with full-time travel teams. Tournaments with full-time travel teams will generally be more competitive--and the field dimensions increase (to 90 feet bases and 60' 6" pitching). Maybe that's a good thing as it would really stretch our players and force us to step up our level of play to remain competitive. Until our tournament schedule is set, I plan to practice the team at both the 80 and 90 feet field dimensions.

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

Jim Robley Wins Fielding Competition

For the second consecutive week, Jim Robley was the last player standing in the team's ground ball fielding elimination contest at the Megaplex. This morning, Jim beat Jason Waner in the finals. Last time, Jack Lebert was the runner-up. Winning this competition requires making some outstanding plays and consistently accurate throws.

For the Love of the Game: Andre Dawson

Major League Baseball recently announced that Andre "The Hawk" Dawson will be the next player to enter the Hall of Fame. Dawson was just one of three players in baseball history to record over 400 homers while stealing over 300 bases (along with Willie Mays and Barry Bonds).

People sometimes wonder how great Dawson might have been if it wasn't for his bad knees. He had 11 knee surgeries and two knee replacements. For years, he played in constant pain.

Dawson believed that getting away from the articifical turf in Montreal would prolong his career. He always had a desire to play for the Chicago Cubs. After the 1986 season, Dawson became a free agent and expressed his desire to play for the Cubs. Dallas Green, the Cubs' General Manager, did not wish to spend the money on Dawson--thinking that it was going to take a lot more than an expensive free agent signing to turn the Cubs around (the team had lost 91 games in 1986).

So, Dawson did something very unusual to make his wish to play for the Cubs come true. He handed the Cubs a blank contract--and asked the Cubs to fill in the amount! Eventually, the Cubs decided to pay Dawson $500k--an amount far below market value for the future Hall of Famer. Dawson went on to win a MVP with the Cubs--but the team still finished last that season.

Dawson declared that he loved the game so much that a major league team would have to "tear the uniform from his body" before he would quit. But, increasing pain from his knees forced him to reconsider while he was with the Boston Red Sox. Dawson said, "It's best that I walk away from the game while I can still walk myself."

Coaching Clinic with Sandburg Coaches

I was fortunate enough to attend a baseball clinic conducted by the Sandburg coaching staff earlier this evening. The Sandburg coaches did an outstanding job presenting the materials and were very patient in answering questions. They were more than willing to respond to all of my questions afterwards as well. I greatly appreciate that the Sandburg coaches volunteered to spend a couple of hours interacting with coaches from all of the OYA Warriors teams.

Despite having coached for a long time now, I almost always walk away from a baseball clinic having learned some new things. Even when familiar concepts are explained during a clinic, often times these concepts are communicated in a different way--using different terms--which can be very useful when trying to determine the best way of teaching the idea to a variety of players who have different learning styles.

I found it very interesting that much of the pitching fundamentals originate from Tom House--one of the premiere pitching coaches in the Major Leagues who worked closely with Nolan Ryan for a number of years. In the early 1990's, House conducted a similar clinic for the league that I was coaching in back then. And, most everything that I know about pitching originates from House's teachings.

After the clinic, I thought once again about the value of education. When one isn't educated, things tends to be viewed in black & white. That is, things can be usually be explained simply and easily. Baseball is particularly susceptible to this--as nearly every American man assumes that he is an expert in all aspects of the national past-time. Yet, those that make their living coaching the game have a greater appreciation for its complexity--and soon begin to specialize in just one aspect (pitching, hitting, etc.) as assuming much more than that becomes overwhelming!

The value of education isn't so much what we learn. It's real value is teaching us how much we don't yet understand--and still need to learn! And, that realization is what then prompts us to seek more knowledge--which leads to development.

"Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know." -- Daniel Boorstin, Historian

"Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -- Will Durant, Author