Twenty One years ago, in =
Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January,1996, more than =
4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd =
annual ABCA’s convention. While I waited in line to register with =
the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the =
line-up of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name, =
in particular, kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — =
“John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my =
airfare.” Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just =
happy to be there.
In 1996, Coach Scolinos was =
78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that =
began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing =
ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string =
around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, =
stark-white home plate. Seriously, I wondered, who is this =
guy?
After speaking for =
twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his =
neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the =
coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where =
he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate =
since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally =
…
“You’re probably =
all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he =
said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, =
acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not =
crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball =
people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about =
home plate in my 78 years.”
Several hands went up when =
Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. =
“Do you know how wide home plate is in Little =
League?”
After a pause, someone offered, =
“Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than =
answer.
“That’s =
right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any =
Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long =
pause.
“Seventeen =
inches?” a guess from another reluctant =
coach.
“That’s =
right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do =
we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern =
began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school =
baseball?”
“Seventeen =
inches,” they said, sounding more =
confident.
“You’re =
right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide =
is home plate in college?”
“Seventeen inches!” =
we said, in unison.
“Any Minor League =
coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro =
ball?”…………“Seventeen =
inches!”
“RIGHT! And in the =
Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues? =
“Seventeen inches!”
“SEV-EN-TEEN =
INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. =
“And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t =
throw the ball over seventeen inches?”
Pause. “They send =
him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. =
“What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, =
‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a =
seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen =
inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of =
hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it =
wider still, say twenty-five inches.’” =
Pause. =
“Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late =
to practice? Or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows =
up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him =
accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home =
plate?"
The chuckles gradually =
faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old =
coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward =
himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it =
toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a =
freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our =
homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With =
our discipline.
We don’t teach =
accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to =
meet standards. We just widen the =
plate!”
Pause. Then, to the point at =
the top of the house he added a small American flag. “This is the =
problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going =
downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to =
be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are =
allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting =
us?”
Silence. He replaced the =
flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where =
powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young =
children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. =
Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow =
it.”
“And the same is true =
with our government. Our so called representatives make rules for us =
that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists =
and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to =
widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we =
just watch.”
I was amazed. At a baseball =
convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and =
bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far =
more valuable.
From an old man with home =
plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about =
myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a =
leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew =
to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down =
an undesirable path. “If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos =
concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. =
It is this: If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a =
standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and =
our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to =
provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our =
schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves =
accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward =
to …”
With that, he held home plate in front of his =
chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, =
“…We have dark days ahead!.”
[Note: Coach Scolinos died =
in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds =
of players and coaches. His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your =
players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your =
churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen =
inches. DON’T WIDEN THE PLATE."]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"