TEAM CHEMISTRY
BY RICHARD PACE
The establishment of team chemistry is extremely important and every coach at all levels of baseball should be aware of this when forming a team. Sometimes the coach will find himself having to forego a talented ball player. Why? Because the coach knows that that particular ball player has a bad reputation and could make the season a bad dream. The coach should never think of compromising the chemistry of the team just for maybe picking up a few more wins. IT’S NOT WORTH IT! Sacrificing harmony on the bench for a better edge in a ball game? No. The coach can risk losing ball players of good character and talent for this mistake in judgment. It must be stressed; a coach should always seriously place more weight in character over talent when deciding who will be invited to play on his team. The objective is for both character and talent. It can be done, it just takes more time.
I have witnessed many teams that were organized on the basis of talent alone. Were they tough to beat? Yes. But they paid the price another way. Infighting on the bench, stingy with giving up their playing time to their team mates makes a very unhappy a “bench”. Winning did not make a lasting difference with these teams. Again, lack of good character on a team creates a negative impact on a team and a long miserable season. This goes for every team sport. Suffice to say, every single team who had a majority of these “type” of players on a team folded or had to be reconstructed in 2 to 3 years. In High School and College there is more leverage available to keep troublesome ball players under control. All levels of baseball are not immune from this inescapable fact; character counts!
| Absolutely Rick, give me a player with good character, I will guarantee he will make a better team player. He listens to instructions, trains harder, plays smarter, and completes his college degree. He is a success on the field and in life! Assistant Coach "Katphish" Hardesty Northeastern State University Tahlequah, Oklahoma |
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