See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The Roberto Clemente Story.
Life Lesson #98 – Be Valuable, Not Important.
It was the Rockets against the Whitesox, Little League Baseball at its best! In the bottom of the first inning, Robbie was at bat for the Sox. First pitch, a swing and a miss! Pitch two, Robbie chokes up on the bat, and Strike Two! Robbie is usually a decent hitter, but this pitcher is good! Here’s pitch three, and it’s wild! Robbie steps back, but not far enough. Wham, it hits him on the left shoulder and glances to his jaw, as Robbie goes down. Immediately, before Robbie’s own team members could get to him, the catcher and the third baseman were there trying to HELP. Fortunately, Robbie was not badly hurt, but the game had to be stopped for a few minutes. Then the pitcher for the Rockets, who had thrown that wild pitch, started yelling. “C’mon, Play Ball!” And the longer it took, the angrier he got as he kicked the dirt on the pitcher’s mound. He was the best pitcher the Rockets had, but that didn’t matter. Coach Henderson sent him to the bench for the rest of the game.
After the game, the pitcher’s dad began chewing out Coach Henderson. He said, “What’s wrong with you, Coach?! He didn’t do nothin’ —it was an accident!” That’s when Coach Henderson said, “On my team, we learn about HEROES who HELP others. Now, yes, I believe it was an accident, but his attitude was that of hurting, and I don’t allow that attitude on my team.” He said, “Did you notice the other boys on my team rushing to HELP that batter? Well, your son could have made the same choice they did.”
That night, the pitcher had a lot to think about, and you know, he realized that even though it was an accident, his attitude was that of hurting, because he didn’t care that he had hurt Robbie. And he decided right then to start having an attitude of HELPING instead.
– Jim Lord