I was lucky enough to go to the Home Run Derby yesterday - congrats to my man Juan Soto (I'm sure you're reading this Juan, so pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease take the $440M from the Nats!) but the star of the day was definitely Julio Rodriguez.  Soto's 23 years old and Rodriguez is only 21...the future of the game is bright!

Of course, the main reason I went yesterday was to just enjoy the event.  After all, who knows when the All Star Game will be back in LA next and I had a blast being there with my wife and son. I'd never been to a Home Run Derby before other than the ones I win every Friday at Summer Camp :-)

(To my camp coaches reading this, yes, shots fired for this week's competition!)

But it's impossible for me to completely take off my "coach hat" and there are a couple things I noticed yesterday worth sharing.

1) ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!
How many baseball fans thought Albert Pujols, at age 42 and with 6 home runs this year, had any chance to beat Kyle Schwarber, who's 29 and has hit 29 home runs already this season?  My guess is not many!

And that's why we need to teach our young ballplayers to show up every day and play as hard as they can.  It doesn't matter if they're playing on a first place team facing a last place team, or vice versa.  Play hard to avoid getting upset and play hard to try to pull off the upset.  The fact the baseball is so unpredictable is one of the things that makes it so awesome.

2) DEALING WITH ADVERSITY
Every single player in every single round had a stretch of bad swings.  Adversity on the baseball field is guaranteed on a daily basis.  Bad calls, bad hops, bad swings, errors, wild pitches, etc.  Those things happen in every inning of every game at every level. That is an unavoidable fact of baseball.

What I noticed yesterday was that every player, when they inevitably took several swings in a row that they didn't like, managed the adversity in the same way: they took deep breaths and calmed themselves down.

They didn't slam their bat down or blame the pitcher.  They didn't hit themselves in the head or give up.  
They would either call time out to calm themselves down, or, in between pitches, take a few deep breaths to relax themselves.  

When the going got tough, they tried to slow things down and remain calm, rather than getting frustrated or upset.

As coaches in the dugout and parents in the stands, we can help teach our ballplayers to consciously work to stay calm in the face of adversity by modeling the same type of cool, calm, and collected behavior in our own reactions to what's happening on the field.

3) SUPPORT FROM TEAMMATES
When the players did take a time out, as they drank their Gatorade, a few teammates/friends would come talk to them.
And what do we think those teammates said?  

"Come on, man, what are you doing?!? Those were terrible swings!" 

"Dude, you're down 10 homeruns and the stadium is packed so you better start taking better swings or you're going to embarrass yourself!" 

Hopefully you just laughed at how absurd that sounds.

I'm sure they were all getting pumped up by their buddies with some version of "You still got this!" 

"Take a deep breath and stay locked in!"

"Relax and have fun."

Let's make sure as coaches and parents that we're taking the same positive approach with our kids!

4) CHARACTER MATTERS
The coolest moment last night was when the players on both teams swarmed Albert Pujols near home plate to show their love, respect, and admiration for him.

Albert is one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game, but I'm positive that the reason he received that type of response from his peers is because he's widely regarded as one of the best humans in baseball. 

From the charity work he does off the field, to how he takes young hitters under his wing, to the way he played with integrity his whole career, Albert will always be regarded as one of the all-time great hitters AND one of the all-time great ambassadors of the game.

Can you image Barry Bonds getting the same type of send-off?  No way.

Barry was a jerk to the fans, a jerk to his teammates, a jerk to the media, and cheated the entire second half of his career.  Yes, he's probably the greatest hitter of all-time (I was seated next a 20-year MLB player at a wedding on Saturday night who was teammates with him and played against him - without hesitation he said Bonds when I asked him who he thinks the greatest hitter of all time is). 

But every time we talk about Bonds, there's also a "...but" that follows.  "Greatest hitter of all-time, BUT not a good teammate."  "All-time HR leader, BUT steroid cheater."  "Had an absolutely amazing career...BUT BUT BUT."

With Pujols, we'll forever say, "Great hitter, AND amazing teammate."  "5th all-time on the HR list, AND a leader in his community."  "Won 3 MVPs and 2 World Series, AND was an incredible teammate."

Let's make sure as parents and coaches that we're creating "AND" type players and not "BUT" type players.

Now stay tuned for my next blog on optimal launch angle and exit velo for the 2023 Tee Ball Home Run Derby :-)

PLAY HARD, HAVE FUN!