Baseball: The Game of Fathers and Sons

If there is one movie scene that can make a grown man cry, especially those of us who lost our fathers at an early age, it is the one at the very end of “Field of Dreams.”

Ray, the character played by Kevin Kostner, meets the young catcher John Kinsella, his long dead father brought back to youthful glory by the power of dreams and Hollywood special effects.

Uncertain as to what to do, Ray says to his father, “You wanna have a catch?” A tear in his eye, John answers, “I’d like that.”

“They throw the ball back and forth,” read the director’s notes at movie’s end. “And as we pull up higher and higher we see a father and son bathed by white floodlights and car headlights on the silent satiny green of a baseball diamond at the edge of a cornfield.”

Pass those hankies!

This scene works so well because baseball, unlike any other American sport, is a game of fathers and sons. This has always been true, but it is even more true today.

Unless a father inspires his son to play baseball he is unlikely to pick it up on his own. Except in Latin America and maybe a few odd pockets here in the U.S., sandlot baseball no longer exists.

I find myself ruminating on this subject because I have watched more baseball in the last month than I have in the last 30 years.

The reason is simple enough. My homies – the Kansas City Royals – made it to Game 7 of the World Series.

The Royals’ emergence has seemed here in KC very nearly miraculous. The team had not been in a playoff game since 1985. From 1995 through 2012, the Royals had but one winning season.

From 2004 through 2012, the Royals lost at least 90 games eight times. Then late in the 2014 season – they had a losing record through the first 100 games – it all came together.

I, like just about everyone else in town, will have watched at least 15 games, most in their entirety, just in the month of October. Doing so, I have noticed things that I had all but forgotten.

Jack Cashill’s investigative-reporting skills shine in his many books — see them now in WND’s Superstore

Baseball is a wonderfully communal game. In Kansas City at least, women follow the game as intensely as men. I watched the final game of the American League Championship series in a bar and everyone in the bar oohed and aahed in exactly the same way.

In that baseball is not really a contact sport, fans tend to hate the opposition less than they do in football or basketball. There is also no equivalent of the end zone dance and much less physical taunting. As a result, opposition fans are better tolerated.

At the ballpark, the fans tend to behave better as well. There is less violence than at other sporting events and much less profanity. This likely has something to do with the number of fathers who bring their children.

New Yorkers, of course, are something of an exception to the rule. “Nowhere else in the country,” said now retired pitcher John Rocker, “do people spit at
 you, throw bottles at you, throw quarters at you, throw 
batteries at you, and say, ‘Hey, I did your mother last
night – she’s a whore.’”

Although basketball and football are generally more interesting to watch, for those who really care who wins, baseball retains its emotional energy until the very last out, regardless of the score.

In timed sports, the outcome is often sealed minutes before the final horn, and endings are anti-climactic. In baseball, with the opposition’s final out – or the home team’s walk-off hit – there is huge collective moment of pure joy unrivaled in any other sport.

With the possible exception of soccer, baseball has also become the most spontaneously diverse of all major sports. Baseball has the advantage, though, in that its diverse players actually get to score.

The Royals’ game-six starting lineup featured four white Americans, one African-American, three guys from Venezuela, one guy from Japan, and a starting pitcher from the Dominican Republic.

Despite the sport’s diversity, the media have worked hard to inject their inevitable racial angle into their reporting. The one controversy they have fixed on is the decline in participation by African-Americans in Major League Baseball.

A generation ago, roughly 20 percent of big-league players were black Americans. Today, that number is roughly 8 percent.

The San Francisco Giants – the team that gave us Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds – did not have a single African-American player on its World Series roster.

Sports reporters, who think quite like their newsroom colleagues, fan the issue’s flames, failing to understand why the issue exists.

True to form, they will cite any number of reasons beyond the obvious. Racism being an unlikely explanation, they lean now toward classism.

“The evolution of travel teams and pay-to-play leagues have instinctively turned youth baseball into a corporation that weeds out the under-privileged and promotes the privileged,” opined Steven Wetherill recently in USA Today.

“It’s quite simple,” Wetherill concluded, “if you don’t have the money, you don’t get the exposure.”

In reality it is simpler than that, Steve. If you don’t have anyone to ask, “You wanna have a catch?” you will never learn to love the game.


Source:  http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/10/baseball-the-game-of-fathers-and-sons/#q0X4YKse6ulxjJ04.99

Why Do So Many Lefties Play Baseball? It's Built for Them

Anyone who has watched their fair share of baseball games has heard TV analysts, and probably other fans, wax ad naseum about strategic match-ups between righties and lefties. No truly complete lineup, they say, lacks at least one left-handed power hitter. No bullpen is complete without at least one left-handed relief pitcher to oppose those left-handed hitters.

But why are there so many lefties in baseball in the first place? Twenty-five percent of baseball players are left-handed, as opposed to only 10 percent of the general public. Are lefties naturally more athletic?


No, says David Peters from Washington University in St. Louis. Rather, he argues, the science of the game, right down to the dimensions of the diamond, favors left-handed people. Consider the following:

1. When a right-handed batter swings, his momentum takes him toward third base. He has to stop, and then re-start toward first base. But a lefty’s swing takes him toward first base, and Peters says that an average lefty reaches first base one-sixth of a second faster than an average righty, which could make the difference between a hit and an out.

2. It’s not just the infield, either. Because of the preponderance of right-handed people, who can’t hit the ball as far to right field, the outfield fences in historic ballparks like Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park were built notoriously close to the plate.

3. Left-handed hitters fair better against righty pitchers, who are the majority, because they pick up the ball easier. If you’re a right-handed hitter, the pitch looks like it starts out behind your shoulder. But a lefty sees it in front of him the whole way.

4. Lefty pitchers stay in demand because they can reverse that visual effect—left-handed hitters see the ball start out behind them. But lefty-against-lefty is additionally troubling for the hitter—because there are fewer total left-handed people in the world, lefty hitters have less experience against lefty pitchers, and end up taking some goofy-looking swings.

5. Left-handed pitchers face first base, making it easier to hold runners close to the bag or pick them off.

Overall, the odds of any one person making it to the Major Leagues are remote. But if you’re born left-handed, consider it a leg up. That is, unless you want to play catcher. Then forget it.

Source: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2008/07/08/why-do-so-many-lefties-play-baseball-its-built-for-them/#.VLQCNCvF9jA

Mixed Martial Arts Makes Inroads in Baseball Training

Mixed martial arts may be illegal as a competitive sport in some states, but several baseball players are incorporating its fighting methods into their training routines.

Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, Brad Penny of the Detroit Tigers and Russell Martin of the Yankees have used the sport’s punches and kicks to improve their throwing and swinging. In addition to improving overall fitness, Martin said, mixed martial arts can make an athlete mentally tougher.

“You tolerate the pain and get through it,” he said. “Mentally, I know I’m in a good place because I worked hard.”

Mixed martial arts is a combination of karate, judo, jujitsu, boxing, wrestling and tae kwon do. The sport is also popular in Brazil and Japan. Pay-per-view telecasts in the United States began in 1993, with the Ultimate Fighting Championship staging the most lucrative matches.

Unlike Martin, Dunn and Penny guard the secrets of their workouts as if they were team signs.

Penny acknowledged training with Dan Henderson, a star M.M.A. competitor, but he declined through a Tigers spokesman to discuss his training. Dunn declined through the White Sox media-relations office.

Henderson said that he had had Penny practice the kicks and punches used in M.M.A., but there was no sparring.

“We use focus mitts,” Henderson said, referring to the oversize padded gloves that he wears while athletes kick and punch them. “Physically, it works different muscles than players tend to use in their own sport. The training gives them something different to push themselves through.”

Henderson said the workouts could indirectly help Penny’s strategy on the mound.

“It might give Brad a little more confidence when he’s pitching inside,” Henderson said. “And he’s prepared in case anyone rushes the mound.”

Jay Glazer, a football analyst for Fox Sports who runs MMAthletics with Randy Couture, a mixed martial arts star, has trained N.F.L. players in the sport. Glazer said his clients included Ryan Grant, Jared Allen, Clay Matthews and the Atlanta Falcons team.

While the workouts for the football players emphasize wrestling and hand-fighting techniques, Glazer said the routine for baseball players concentrated on emulating the movements of their sport.

Ryan Rowland-Smith, a left-handed pitcher in the Houston Astros organization who battled arm and back injuries the last couple of years with the Seattle Mariners, worked with Glazer in the winter. “I’m in the best shape of my life, for sure,” said Rowland-Smith, a surfer while growing up in Australia.

Glazer said: “In the case of Ryan, we look at film and break it down frame by frame and come up with a combination that mirrors his pitching delivery. A knee, a punch, followed by a kick. We have him do a ton of that for his hips. Power comes from his core, his hips and his legs, even though he uses his arm to pitch.”

Mentally, Glazer said, the mantra is the same for baseball players as it is for N.F.L. players.

“Own your space,” Glazer said several times. “We get the players thinking like a cage fighter. When the door shuts, it’s time to break that man’s will across from you. For Ryan, as a pitcher, it’s that 60 feet 6 inches that you own.”

Rowland-Smith said the rigors of M.M.A. training made it easier to tolerate physical and mental challenges on the mound.

“If you have some small injuries or you’re not feeling 100 percent, nothing can compare with what you go through with the training, so you can fight through it,” he said.

Martin, a catcher, worked with Jonathan Chaimberg, who trains Georges St.-Pierre, the U.F.C.’s welterweight champion. Martin said he was searching for a way to regain his All-Star form after two injury-marred seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After a few months of six-days-a-week M.M.A.-style training sessions with Chaimberg in Montreal, where he lives, Martin increased his endurance and explosiveness and lost body fat. He said his upper-body routine was called the big rope.

“It’s a thick rope that you attach to a base of a wall and has a loop,” he said. “You create waves with the rope, and it’s like a 20-second sprint, a 10-second rest. You don’t do it for a long period of time. You do it for five minutes, get a good workout in and work on your conditioning.”

It seems to be helping. Martin is hitting .300 with three homers and eight runs batted in.

Bobby Valentine, an ESPN baseball analyst, has managed in the major leagues and in Japan, where one would think mixed martial arts training is popular among players. But that is not the case, he said.

“It’s more prominent in the States,” said Valentine, who said he believes the training is beneficial.

He added: “Most mixed martial arts instructors teach balance, quickness and awareness of your surroundings. There are a few cases in Japan, but most players just play baseball over there.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/sports/baseball/13mma.html?_r=0

Soccer, Baseball or Karate? Top 10 Reasons to Involve Your Kids in Sports

Why so many parents willingly spend hours a day shuttling kids between sports

Before I had children, I remember a stay-at-home-mom friend commenting to me that her full-time job began each day at 3:30pm when school let out and she began shuttling her tween-age children from sport to sport. At the time, her driving habits sounded crazy to me, but now, as a mom of two elementary school-aged daughters, I am finally starting to “get” her. Why are so many parents willing to dedicate multiple hours each day to their children’s involvement in sports? Here are ten of the best reasons for being a sports chauffer:

1. Long-Term Health Benefits
It’s all over the news and everywhere you look: there is an obesity epidemic amongst America’s children. Rates of overweight children with risk factors for “adult” diseases like Type 2 Diabetes and high blood pressure are skyrocketing. Regular involvement in sports and physical activity is one of the best ways to fight obesity and protect a generation of young people.

2. Activity for Activity’s Sake
What time of day does the majority of youth-crime occur? Most people assume it is under the cover of darkness, but in reality, young people find themselves in the most trouble between the hours of 3-6pm. Participating in sports and being accountable to a group provides young people with constructive, trouble-busting structure and has been shown to reduce criminal mischief, including drug use, among kids.

3. Social Networking (Minus the YouTube account)
Speaking of being accountable to a group, sports often provide a ready-made social network for kids. For a child who has difficulty finding his niche in school, a team sport may offer the camaraderie and support that he is lacking elsewhere. Even for kids who have no trouble fitting in, involvement in sports offers connections with peers who are focused on constructive goals.

4. Encouraging Sportsmanship
Winning and losing is part of any sport. Kids who take part in sports learn the delicate arts of winning graciously and losing well. Being able to shake hands with the competition, no matter what the outcome of an event, serves children well into their adult lives.

5. Understanding the Nature of Commitment
Whether for an hour a week, or three hours a day, most sports require a commitment from kids to attend regular practices, team meetings, and games. When kids dedicate their time, energy, and finances to a sport that they like, they learn important lessons about commitment.

6. Building Self Esteem
Children develop positive self-esteem through accomplishments. Sports give kids opportunities to learn, achieve, and feel good about themselves through skill development and goal-oriented activities. When parents and coaches emphasize effort and improvement over winning or individual performances, they foster healthy self-image and positive self-esteem.

7. (Academic) Performance Enhancing
According to researchers at Michigan State University’s Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, young people who play sports perform better in school than those who don’t. Rather than serve as a distraction, participation in sports teaches kids to focus their minds on a task at hand and to manage their time effectively, as they juggle school, sports, and a social life.

8. There is No "I" in Teamwork
Children learn all sorts of valuable social lessons through sports. For younger players, sharing the ball, listening to teammates, and following group rules are fundamentals of good play. Being part of a group and learning to accept coaching (particularly the constructive kind) is one of the most valuable benefits of sports for older kids.

9. Perseverance & Persistence
On my daughter’s first day of karate, she learned the term, “non-quitting spirit.” Six years later, she still uses this term to talk herself through a challenging homework assignment and to encourage her little sister not to give up on learning to tell time. Children who participate in sports face disappointments, defeats and injuries. Those who learn to take setbacks in stride and dust themselves off for the next round benefit from life lessons in perseverance and persistence.

10. Working Towards a Goal
Winning a championship, scoring a perfect 10, earning a black belt; sports often feature an “ultimate goal” for kids. Before any milestone can be reached, however, kids have to learn specific skills and master fundamental techniques. Involvement in sports provides children with experience in breaking long-term goals into short-term objectives. Commitment and perseverance are honed as young people cast aside the instant gratification of their earliest years and work toward goals that are only achieved through long hours and hard work.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/passive-aggressive-diaries/201207/soccer-baseball-or-karate-top-10-reasons-involve-your-kids-in

Baseball evaluators say drive could have carried Russell Wilson to MLB

Russell Wilson the baseball player possessed "solid average" speed and an "average" arm but was seen as having a chance to crack the majors, thanks to obvious overall athleticism, good instincts and the kind of work ethic and attitude coaches dream about, baseball executives and scouts said.

A few baseball evaluators went so far to say they felt sure he'd make it to the bigs despite obvious early flaws and uninspiring minor-league stats.

"There was no doubt in my mind -- and some call me crazy -- that he would someday have worn a major-league uniform," Joe Mikulik, Wilson's manager in 2011 at the Rockies' South Atlantic League (Class A) affiliate in Asheville, N.C., said in a phone interview.

Seeing Wilson run and pass vs. NFL defenses, it's hard to understand how baseball evaluators deemed his speed and arm strength to be anywhere near average. But those evaluators explain baseball speed is somewhat dependent on a jump out of the box (he was an average 4.25 down the line from the right side) and point out the throwing motion differs in the two sports.

Those same evaluators saw no tool showing well above average in his two partial minor-league seasons, batting .229 with five home runs in his two Class A stops at Tri-Cities (Wash.) and Asheville. Not yet, anyway.

Even so, all the scouts and execs still suggested he might one day make it because of his drive. His makeup was "so far off the charts," according to former high-ranking Rockies executive Bill Geivett, who went so far as to say he couldn't recall anyone who worked harder at the craft of baseball. That is really something when considering Wilson was working just as hard at football while weighing which sport to pursue.

Coaches and managers would arrive at the ballpark around noon, only to hear Wilson was working on his hitting with the equipment manager since morning.

"Russell had it in him," Geivett said. "He's a very determined guy."

Wilson had ample smarts (he graduated from North Carolina State in three years) and understood he was probably 1,500 to 2,000 at-bats away (and at least three more years) from starting to understand his baseball future, thanks to a youth split between the two sports. When he chose to accept an invitation to use as final year of NCAA football eligibility as Wisconsin's quarterback, he told his Asheville teammates he would be leaving them. While he didn't say it, he probably also understood he'd be leaving baseball for good.

While no one could have guessed this sort of greatness, Geivett told him at the time, "I don't see any reason why you're not going to be successful in whatever you do. It's up to you."

When Rockies people drafted him in the fourth round despite the fact Wilson was only a platoon baseball player at N.C. State, they also were hearing he might be only a seventh-round NFL talent, with a future most likely in the Canadian Football League. That shows how imperfect scouting can be.

"They're wrong in their sport, just like we are. They make mistakes just like we do," Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt said.

Football evaluators probably were hung up early on the fact Wilson is only 5-feet-11. But they couldn't measure his heart.

Wilson told Rockies people he believed he could throw with anyone in college ball, then he proved it. He surprised many by leading the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in his year in Madison. The rise was meteoric.

He became a third-round draft choice of the Seahawks, then he beat out expensive free agent Matt Flynn for the starting QB job right away, set the rookie record for passer rating (an even 100.0), tied Peyton Manning's rookie record of 26 touchdowns and led the Seahawks to win after win.

The Seahawks were in the playoffs his first year, finally falling in the second round. They won the Super Bowl his second year, and he now he has the chance Sunday to become the first quarterback to win two Super Bowls in his first three seasons.

While it's clear to everyone he made the correct call to play football, just about all his former baseball bosses believe in hindsight Wilson would have willed his way to the majors at some point. Though of course, success would not have come nearly as quickly as it has in the NFL.

"He didn't have a lot of at-bats," Mikulik recalled.

The 1,500 necessary at-bats might actually have kept him in the minors through 2014. Pitcher Tyler Matzek, a No. 1 draft choice, and outfielder Corey Dickerson, who had 32 home runs for that 2011 team, are the only two players who've made more than cameo appearances in the majors from that Asheville club.

Wilson, 26, had far less baseball experience than most because he split time between sports. But folks still saw a future.

"He was a good athlete and a tremendous teammate," recalled Schmidt, the man who drafted him for Colorado. "He had a lot of passion and amazing work ethic. It was going to take a lot of at-bats. But I thought he had a chance."

"I wouldn't put it past him," said Rangers GM Jon Daniels, whose team won Wilson's baseball rights in 2013 (technically, he is on the Triple-A Round Rock roster). "He wouldn't be outworked. He would have had to do more offensively than defensively, but I would not bet against the man if he committed himself."

Texas used a Rule 5 draft choice to take Wilson a couple years back, if only to get him to spring camp in hopes his passion and work ethic rubbed off on others. When Daniels called him to let him know they had selected him, Wilson took the 6:30 a.m. call at the Seahawks' training facility, where he was working out.

The Rangers invited him to spring training, where he took grounders, signed autographs, then talked passionately to 150 Rangers minor leaguers, who sat in rapt attention. The keys, Wilson told them, are sacrifice, dedication and preparation.

"He's got such a strong inner drive," Daniels said. "It's evident that [coach Pete] Carroll and [GM John] Schneider and their organization have put something special together and Russell is at the center of it. It seems like they feed off each other and he has such a genuine belief in himself and the rest of their group. It's pretty powerful to be around."

Wilson didn't look bad taking grounders at Rangers camp, either, leading scouts to wonder what might have been.

We'll never know, as he never got to play enough baseball to find out how good he could have been. Schmidt said he was getting better at second base, others noticed a little pop and everyone said he had about the best attitude and work habits they've seen.

There were flaws, like a little loop on his swing. But he had barely played. He needed to become acquainted with the spin of the breaking ball. There was a long way to go.

But, as Mikulik said, "From the git-go, you could see the real passion and desire and work ethic. He was really driven to be the best baseball player he could possibly be."

But a little thing called football got in the way.

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/25015106/baseball-evaluators-say-drive-could-have-carried-russell-wilson-to-mlb

Hitting - Fear of Being Hit

The fear of being hit affects most young baseball players. Young pitchers that don't have much control can often throw very hard. This combination gives many kids a real fear of stepping into the batter's box. This fear of being hit affects their ability to develop a good swing and approach at the plate. In addition it quickly reduces confidence and enjoyment of the game.

The younger they are, the more chance that they will freeze when a pitched ball is thrown at them. Often they try to get away from the ball by backing away. This puts them in a position to get hit in the side or front of the body or possibly the face. Once a hitter has been hit a couple of times, it can be a major task for them to overcome those painful experiences.

One of the most effective ways of dealing with the fear of being hit is to teach kids the proper way of getting out of the way. Often young kids that are afraid of getting hit will step in the bucket and bail out of the box. There is no way they are going to hit with this approach, and honestly, if their fear is great enough they are probably happier about not getting hit than they are sad about striking out. By teaching the player to get out of the way properly, you can also emphasize that stepping in the bucket actually exposes the front of their body and face to the pitched ball. Above are three images demonstrating how to properly get out of the way of a pitched ball. This method protects the front of the body and the face. It also puts the back in a position that allows the ball to glance off, which hurts much less than a direct blow.

You can practice this method as a station during batting practice as follows. First couple of times you work on it, have a parent or coach stand 10-15 feet away from a player in the batter's box. Use either tennis balls or soft incredriballs. Start by tossing the ball softly over the plate, the batter should not swing. Then start moving the ball inside. When the hitter thinks he will be hit, he should turn his body away from the pitch. Rather than giving the kids instructions about how to bend their back and where to keep their arms, etc., I tell them to turn and place the end of the bat directly on the ground behind them. This forces then to turn away and duck down to place the bat on the ground. They seem to get this and have an easy time repeating it.

As the kids get good at turning away from the ball, I add to the drill by throwing some of the balls over the plate and some that they have to get out of the way of. On the balls over the plate, have them hold or stride like they are going to swing.

If during the drill, the player starts stepping in the bucket and tries to back away, stop the drill and have them hold their position. Show them where the ball can hit them in this position and ask them if they think it will hurt worse getting hit in this position or in a position where they are better protected.

When a player is comfortable getting out of the way, they will have much more confidence stepping up to the plate.

Source: http://www.qcbaseball.com/hitting/baseball-hitting-fear-of-being-hit.aspx

Mike Matheny's Failproof Tips for Becoming the Most Hardass Little League Coach Ever

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny didn't know what to expect the first time he read his "manifesto" on coaching to the parents of a little league team.

It was 2009, and Matheney knew that before he could agree to sign on as coach, he'd have to be upfront with the team moms and dads about his tough-love approach -- including his belief that, as he says in his five-page, 2,556-word manifesto, "the biggest problem with youth sports has been the parents."

"As I am writing this, I sound like the little league Nazi, but I believe that this will make things easier for everyone involved," Matheny wrote.

Six years and a new job leading the Cardinals later, Matheny publishes a memoir today called The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager's Old School Views on Success in Sports and Life based on the manifesto that made such a splash in baseball circles across the country. Billed as an inspirational look at how sports can teach everyone to win on and off the field, Matheny has filled his new book with the same throwback beliefs about discipline, faith and respect.

Since it was Matheny's "manifesto," written in a haze of determined frustration on a flight to St. Louis from New York, that inspired the new book, Daily RFT had a look at it to find tips for the wannabe Matheny inside us all.

Here are six things we learned from Matheny's original manifesto:

1. Your real opponent isn't the other team. It's your players' parents.
Want to be an inspirational, effective coach? Start by getting the parents in shape. They're the real barrier to greatness, Matheny says, and the best way to stop the interference is to "nip this in the bud right off the bat." (Note the flawless use of a baseball pun.)

"Let's pretend that [players] are at work for a short amount of time and that you have been granted the pleasure of watching," he writes to parents. And that includes water breaks. Matheny says players should have "some responsibility for having their own water" so parents behind the dugout stop interrupting to ask if their child is too thirsty or hungry or hot or tired or sweaty or whatever parents say.

Matheny says he's doing parents a favor by keeping them at arm's length during coaching.

"I have taken out any work at all for you except to get them there on time and enjoy," he says.

2. The coach is right, even when he's wrong.
The idea that adults are "always right" has lost a lot of popularity in recent years, but just because the times are changing doesn't mean Matheny has to. The Cardinals skipper quotes this piece of throwback wisdom learned from his father to stop parents from complaining to him when their children have to play positions they don't like.

"Our culture has lost this respect for authority, mostly because the kids hear their parents constantly complaining about the teachers and coaches of the child," Matheny says.
So if your kid doesn't like his playing position, the batting order or anything else about Matheny's methods, tough luck. The coach is always right.

"The principle is a great life lesson about how things really work," he says.

After all, if the coach is really wrong, he'll apologize.

"I hope that I will have enough humility to come to your son if I treated him wrong and apologize," he says.

3. Be who you are unapologetically.
Matheny is upfront with parents that his Christian faith guides his life.

"I have never been one for coercing my faith down someone's throat, but I also believe it to be cowardly and hypocritical to shy away from what I believe," he writes.

Matheny knows this will make parents uncomfortable, but he never shied away from his beliefs as a player and didn't plan to start as a little league coach, he writes in the manifesto.

"You as parents need to know for yourselves and for your boys that when the opportunity presents itself, I will be honest with what I believe."

4. Keep your players' minds in the game.
Matheny demands the attention, concentration and effort of his players. In his manifesto, he lists his expectations: Come ready to play, shirts tucked in, hats on straight, pants "not drooping down to their knees," with hustle from the first step of the dugout and absolutely no messing around on the bench. On and off the field, Matheny says, he's constantly asking players what they're thinking to mentally prepare them for the game.

"They are boys, and I am not trying to take away from that," Matheny writes to preemptively defend against parents who decry his strict methods. "But I do believe that they can bear down and concentrate hard for just a little while during the games and practices.

5. Again, tell the parents to keep their traps shut.
Usually it's the children who are supposed to be "seen but not heard." But on Matheny's field, it's the parents who should keep quiet. Tips or even cheers -- like, "Come on! Let's go!" -- are forbidden from the bleachers because they only put more pressure on the kids.

"I am not saying that you cannot clap for your kids when they do well," Matheny writes. "I am saying that if you hand your child over to me to coach them, then let me do that job."

Matheny even makes a special plea to parents to remind their own parents, the players' grandparents, not to interrupt him while he's coaching.

"I believe the biggest role of a parent is to be a silent source of encouragement," Matheny says.

6. Stay classy.
Matheny has three goals: teach players the game, make a positive impact on them as young men and do it all with class.

"We may not win every game, but we will be the classiest coaches, players and parents in every game we play," Matheny says.

Source: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2015/02/mike_mathenys_failproof_tips_for_becoming_the_most_hardass_little_league_coach_ever.php?page=2