In the middle of the 2008 season, David Ross was cut by the Cincinnati Reds and thought that his professional baseball career may be over. He eventually signed to be a third-string catcher with the Boston Red Sox put played sparingly for the remainder of the season. After the team lost in the 2008 American League Championship Series, General Manager Theo Epstein told Ross that he had heard some rumours that the catcher was a bad teammate but added that he had not found this to be the case in Boston. Ross was concerned about his reputation: as a free …
Building a Culture
Creating a culture that lasts from season to season is one of the coach’s most challenging tasks. When all team members buy in, significant successes can be reached so it is worth the effort. For a culture to truly come to life, the responsibility for its development must be shared by players and coaches alike. Give Players Ownership When New Zealand All Blacks coach Graham Henry took over after an unsuccessful 2003 Rugby World Cup, he began by making players responsible for the team. At first, the coaching staff identified some players who were negative influences in the clubhouse and …
Recovery & Regeneration in the Playoffs
As the regular season concludes, the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans are wondering whether they should go the extra mile in order to ensure that they surpass the Kansas City Royals in the standings and earn home field advantage throughout the World Series. Manager John Gibbons is making his first appearance in the playoffs and needs to make a good impression but he must be careful not to push too hard. There remain viable arguments as to why the team should try to finish first, featuring their improved hitting at home, but I do not think that home field …
Reduce Mental Errors
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Josh Donaldson hits a fly ball to Anthony Gose in right-centre field. Gose catches the ball but fogets the number of outs and does not throw the ball back to the infield promptly. Ryan Goins tags and scores from second base. The mental error provided the Blue Jays with an extra run and demonstrated how players, teammates and coaches can work together to stay focused. Players: Goins knows that he will tag up on a fly ball and notices correctly that the ball will not go over Gose’s head so he returns to …
If
If by Rudyard Kipling (and Recent Observations from the Wide World of Sports) If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;
The Importance of Being Reasonable
During the first half of last night’s contest on Football Night in America, Mark Sanchez called an unnecessary timeout as his team approached the goal line within the two-minute warning. The Jets scored but left enough time for Tom Brady and the Patriots to answer back with seconds remaining in the half. Interviewed at half-time, Rex Ryan called Sanchez’s actions “the stupidest play in football history.” Obviously hyperbole, Ryan’s remarks suit his intense personality. It seems to suit the New York defense perfectly and feeds their aggressive personalities. With a young quarterback, such comments may have the opposite effect.
Broken (Bullpen) Telephone
During Game 5 of the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals were placed at a disadvantage when a miscommunication occurred between the dug out and the bullpen and incorrect pitchers were warmed up. Consequently, the Texas Rangers score two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, enabling them to win a pivotal game.
Learning from the 2011 Boston Red Sox
Good coaches promote ownership of the program by all of the stakeholders. Everyone – players, coaches, trainers, support staff and sometimes parents – is responsible for the team’s success. Some may contribute more than others but everyone needs to know that what they provide to the process matters to the outcome. Every action, from individual workouts to practices to meetings, enables the team to progress towards its goals. When a program experiences success over a long period of time, generating this feeling of ownership becomes easier; people want to be involved in success and become willing to take initiative and …
Moneyball
Salary caps and sabermetrics do not seem suited for the silver screen but Moneyball entertained an audience for a couple of hours and recounted a reasonably true story. After star free agents Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen, Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane enters the 2001 off-season wondering how to win an unfair game. For two years, the Athletics had made the playoffs but lost to the New York Yankees, a team with almost four times the financial resources. Unlike Michael Lewis’ book – which accurately describes the Oakland front office and the philosophy which had been in …
Stream of Consciousness, Part VII
Maintaining Focus: On Wednesday night, Roy Halladay demonstrated the elite focus (and pitching ability) which has made him one of the top pitchers in baseball. Many times, an athlete who has experienced a lengthy career before reaching the postseason makes a mountain out of a molehill and becomes overwhelmed by the occasion. The solution for most athletes is to treat the playoff game like any other but it appears that Halladay was able to take eleven years of frustration and convert it into positive energy. Halladay’s focus was even more intense and as a result, he was able to pitch …
Cito Gaston
Cito Gaston managed his last home game as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday, a 8-4 victory over the New York Yankees. Praised and criticized throughout his tenure, Gaston remained true to his low-key nature and flourished. Over the years, basketball coaches have become much more active, no longer sitting on the bench but walking the sideline and calling plays. Much like this action is often confused with effectiveness, Gaston’s laid-back attitude was frequently mistaken for a combination of meekness and ignorance. The calm persona was paired with exceptional discretion, making him an excellent manager for all sorts of …
Basketball≠Moneyball?
A friend asked me to comment on this article, which was published by Michael Lewis in the New York Times. It is related to this article, published on by Howard Bryant on ESPN.com. The first article discusses how teams use statistics to assess performances. There are definitely methods to evaluate effectiveness beyond points, rebounds, steals, blocks, and assists. Plus/Minus, Player Efficiency Ratings, Points-Created, and Win-Shares all offer a more balanced approach. Billy Beane decided to eschew batting average in favour of on-base plus slugging percentage and other statistics, which was catalogued in Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball. Given the success that …
Malcolm Gladwell and Full-Court Pressure
A friend asked me to comment on this article, which was published by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. First of all, Vivek Ranadivé is incredibly self-centered and should reevaluate why he wants to coach twelve-year-old girls. This statement does not absolve his counterparts of their boorish, loutish, and short-tempered behaviour but he is coaching at the wrong level. Usually, that particular age group restricts full-court pressure because of the destructive effects on skill development. If he had limited practice time, Randivé should have focused on fundamental skills. Obviously full-court pressure would work; most teenagers make horrendous decisions under any …
Game of Shadows
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, authors of Game of Shadows, make a compelling case concerning the use of performance enhancing substances in sport. Designer steroids (such as the Clear and the Cream) or Human Growth Hormone have powered numerous athletic achievements, from baseball’s home run chases to the 2000 Olympics. After reading the book, it is difficult to take any sporting record seriously. Where is the line? Where do vitamins or natural products like flaxseed oil end and controlled substances like steroids or H.G.H. begin? Lance Armstrong’s decision to devote his entire career to train for the Tour de France …
I Never Had It Made
Jackie Robinson – who debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers fifty years ago – recounts his career in sport and business in his book, which he titled I Never Had It Made. Although known primarily among the general public for his baseball career, Robinson devotes scarcely more than a third of the book to the topic, covering his experiences in politics, business, and raising a family. Two basic lessons that the reader can take away are how adversity affects all sorts of people and it’s important to preserve nonetheless and that it is never to late to change one’s course in …
The Death of NYM/STL Is/Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
The team with the best record has not won the World Series since 1998. I have been guilty have making ill-informed predictions although I have been keeping them on an informal basis for some time. This year, I thought that the Yankees lineup would see too many pitches and wear out opposing pitching staffs. This didn’t happen. I was more accurate in the National League Divisional Series but by the time the N.L.C.S. rolled around I had learned not to make predictions. I thought the Cardinals would stick around to at least make a competitive series but otherwise I had …
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