Proper Perspective

Angels Win! Angels win! On Saturday night the Angels won a game and the players were jumping around hugging each other like crazy. It was just a regular game, but the Angels had lost 8 out of 10 games so far and the season was starting to look really gloomy. So I don’t blame the players for celebrating. (Okay, I was jumping around really happy too and my wife just looked at me like I was a nut!) But I noticed when they focused on the manager, Mike Scoscia, he was very calm. But then he never looks really down when they’re losing either. Scoscia is one of the best managers in baseball and it’s probably because he has the proper perspective. He focuses on the big picture.

Mike Trout Celebrates a Win!

Not only am I an Angel’s fan, I also play baseball for the Halo Baseball Club. For the last six years I was both a manager and a player, but this year I chose to step down and just be a player. We have four teams so I was hoping I would get drafted onto a team with a good manager because the manager can really make a difference, not just with wins and losses, but also with the quality of the experience for everyone on the team.

After the draft I could not have been happier. The manager of our team, Doug Ireland, is a lot like Mike Scoscia in that he too possesses a great perspective on the game. Although he is one of the best players on our team (kind of like our Mike Trout) he doesn’t have an arrogant bone in his body. He’s always smiling, always passing out praise, always focusing on the big picture not the minor mistakes. He leads by example on the field with great hitting and defensive gems and yet he also leads in the dugout with his calm demeanor and constantly positive attitude. Being part of a winning team is always fun, but being part of a team where you are treated like a winner... regardless of the outcome... is rare. I don’t know who taught Doug to have the proper perspective about sports, but by his own example, he is teaching the rest of us the importance of focusing on the big picture.

By the way, we played a game yesterday at Fullerton College. We were down eight runs at one point but with Doug’s encouragement we fought back and took the lead in the 8^th inning. Unfortunately we ended up losing by one run but it wasn’t Doug’s fault, he threw a complete game including an insane 154 pitches, plus got multiple hits when he was batting. We didn’t win but after the game, Doug had only praise for the comeback effort our team made. Perhaps that was his most important contribution!

As far as I’m concerned, baseball is a lot like life. There will always be ups and downs and wins and losses. If we focus on everything that goes wrong, it’s easy to get upset and frustrated.

But if we focus on the big picture and realize that…

·         Every mistake is a learning experience and

·         Every loss is one step closer to a win

Then we will…

·         Enjoy every moment and

·         More importantly… make every moment enjoyable for those around us!

 

Perhaps that is what is meant in the Bible in Colossians 3:2 where Paul says “Set your minds on the things above, not on the things of the earth.”

Doug Ireland, Manager/Player/*MIP - Halo Baseball Club

(*Most Inspirational Player)

A man can do an immense deal of good,

if he does not care who gets the credit for it.      
                           ~Father Strickland, 1863