BATTER UP!: BASEBALL TEACHES KIDS ABOUT LIFE

Longtime American Legion baseball manager John "Doc" Yallaly believes baseball teaches mental toughness.

Longtime Capahas manager Jess Bolen believes the game teaches children how to work together with others.

Truman Smith, another veteran baseball coach, believes the sport teaches young people responsibility and respect for authority.

To Bob Coons, assistant baseball coach at Central High School, the games teaches youths how to handle success and failure.

All agree that as a sport, baseball is a valuable experience for youths by helping to prepare them not only for future athletic endeavors but for things that will face them the rest of their lives.

They also agree that a key to learning the right lessons from baseball is a positive adult influence and not subjecting youngsters to intense pressure. Rather, they should be made to understand that in baseball you don't succeed every time.

"In baseball more than any other sport, you have to know how to handle failure," said Coons. "As a hitter, if you get three or four hits out of 10 times at bat, you are considered outstanding. The guys who last in this game are the ones who can handle failure."

Baseball also teaches success, Coons believes.

"Just to play any sport and be a part of athletics, you learn to handle success with a little bit of class. You also learn that success in sports can lead to more successes in other things," Coons said.

Bolen said baseball can create pressures that can only be alleviated with positive adult influence.

"Baseball is the most individual sport played as a team because you go one-on-one when you bat and field," said Bolen. "I really think a lot of the pressure part is put on by the parents. But for kids 12 and under, they just need to have fun.

"Probably for young kids baseball teaches kids the art of playing together and sharing and having one common goal. With a group of kids they learn how to get along and play together. I think you learn a lot about life in sports because you are dealing with people. In any kind of team sport you have to deal with people; you have to work together and have a common goal to do good."

Yallaly sees baseball as a "mind game," one that tests the mental toughness of players from tee ball to the major leagues.

Yallaly, in his 39th year as American Legion manager, said : "One thing about baseball is it probably taxes your mind more than any other sport. It is just a simple fact that you are going to go into slumps. Nobody has ever avoided one. Baseball will work on your mind because you go into slumps, don't know how to correct it, and it really tests your ability. It's a mind boggler: how things can go so good at times and then completely turnaround."

Talent is not the only thing that makes a good baseball player, Yallaly said. To do well players must also be willing to work hard to sharpen their skills and be mentally tough.

"In baseball, that mind plays a big part of things," Yallaly said. "If you are going to survive you have to have mental toughness. One of the biggest things the game will instill in you is mental toughness because you have to be able to overcome slumps and fight back."

Yallaly said it boils down to "the round ball and round bat" and bringing the two into contact. If you hit safely three out of 10 times you are successful, he said.

From his experience not only as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State but a youth baseball coach, Smith believes responsibility and respect for others are key lessons from the sport.

"Just being there on time for games and practices and the work ethic of being part of the team teaches responsibility," said Smith. "As part of a team everyone has a role to play.

"Baseball also teaches respect for others and their feelings. In some cases you may have a teammate you don't particularly like, but you still have to get along because you are part of a team. Life is a lot like that."

Smith believes that today youths often are not taught enough respect for authority -- something baseball teaches. "There can only be one manager, one coach in charge. He calls the shots and what he says has to prevail. Somebody has to make the decisions," said Smith. "Of course, a good coach commands authority by his actions."

Success in baseball and being part of a team helps youngsters gain confidence and a sense of belonging.

"In the years I coached youth baseball, I never had a kid who did not in some way make a positive contribution to the team," said Smith.

He recalled a player who had hadn't had a hit all year and came to bat in the last inning with the bases loaded, two outs and the game tied. A pitch hit him in the face, and with blood streaming down his face he proudly and excitedly ran toward first base knowing that he had brought in the game winning run. He had contributed to the team's effort.

"With kids in baseball it is important that they feel like they belong and are a part of something -- a part of the team. Positive experiences in baseball can help a boy gain confidence. It builds up their self confidence and helps them mature," said Smith.

Yallaly said baseball teaches youths a good work ethic and the need to work hard to get better and be successful. He said the greatest hitters are those who spend the most time in a batting cage sharpening their skills.

"Most kids don't want to put the time in to perfect baseball," said Yallaly. "This is a tremendously hard game to perfect. It requires a lot of time to do that and you are not going to get good if you don't work at it. There are so many things you have to perfect to be good."

Yallaly said since just about everyone has picked up a glove and a bat at some point there are a lot of "baseball experts" ready to offer advice. But the key is hard work and mental toughness, he said.

"You can't get up to where the big boys are if you aren't willing to work hard and can play the mind game," said Yallaly.

Coons said a player must think to play baseball.

"It is a thinking man's game," he said. "Baseball is slow moving and not a game of reaction as much as a game of anticipation. Good players not only learn how to handle failure and anticipation, but also learn to think in advance."

To learn those skills as youths, Coons said good coaches and having parents around who provide positive encouragement are important.

"I think kids learn how to handle those situations based on adult influences around them," said Coons. "A positive coach is one who can keep their interest and help get them through the times when they do bobble the ball or strike out to end the game."