I have been watching various sports in the summer Olympics in Paris the last couple of weeks. The moments I have enjoyed most are the displays of sportsmanship by some of those who are competing – some of whom won their event and some who fell short of their goal. I was reminded one of my favorite memories of coaching little league baseball. One year, our team of 11 – 12 year olds had a game with a team across town. We were ahead by a couple of runs with two innings left, when one of the opposing players stepped up to the plate. He was not only an opposing player, but he was an imposing player too. He was about a foot taller than any of our kids, he was strong, and he looked like he had already been shaving for a couple of years. At his previous at bat, he took a high fastball and sent it over the fence for a home run.

As he stepped up to the plate again, one of the coaches from another team came up to let me know that since the game was close we should just “walk” this player and put him on first base. I suppose if we were playing in the Little League World series, we might have done just that. I called a time out and went to the mound to talk to the pitcher who came in to close the game. I said, “Our last pitcher gave this guy a high fastball that some kids are still looking for so they can get a snow cone.” He laughed and said, “Yeah, he hit it pretty good.” I nodded my head and said, “We could play it safe and walk him or we can pitch to him. What do you want to do?” Our pitcher said, “I want to pitch to him. I’ll just keep it low and we’ll see what happens.”

Our pitcher kept it low and got the count to two balls and two strikes. The next pitch was low too, but it did not matter. The batter reached down and got it and put it over two fences – the one on our field and one on the field behind us! As the opposing player began his trot around the bases, our pitcher, who was my son Eric, met the other player as he rounded second base and gave him a high five. My son was a very good baseball player and he made several great plays and great hits over the years. But of all the good hits and good plays, that moment stands out as one of my favorites.

I caught a little flak from that coach who told me to “walk” the other player as it could have kept us from winning the game. And in a scoring sense, the other coach was right. But I think that sometimes we put so much focus on the final score and “winning the game” that we forget that coaching kids is about so much more. Learning to challenge ourselves, facing adversity, and handling a less than desired outcome with grace and integrity, that is the most important thing. And that, sounds like winning to me.