Baseball & Life

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This winter, we're all on the same team.

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I can be, San Diego.

Little center field by John Fogarty.

And to end the show today, we'll mark major league baseball's opening day

with a sports writer and a pediatrician who've co-authored a book for parents and kids.

And a question for you listeners, have lessons from your sport

ever inform more serious things in your life

or a way for you to teach a life lesson to a kid.

Again, have lessons from your sport

ever inform more serious things in your life

or a way for you to teach a life lesson to a kid.

212-433-WNYC call a text.

212-433-9692.

Our guests are longtime New York sports writer Ken Davidoff

and Dr. Harley wrote part pediatrician and a middle and high school coach

on their new book 101 Lessons from the Dugout.

What baseball and softball can teach us about the game of life.

It's also got a forward by former New York Met's great David Wright.

And listeners don't tell Ken but there may be a question

before the end of this segment about the Met's

and the Yankees here on opening day.

Ken and Dr. Rothbard congratulations on the book.

Welcome to WNYC.

Thank you so much for having us.

So Dr. Rothbard, I see this as Ken's first book

but you've written many previous books like No Regrets Parenting,

Germ Proof Your Kids, and 940 Saturdays.

What made you want to team up with a sports writer?

Legitimacy.

Ken has brought to this book project,

which really I started 15 years ago.

Ken has brought a street cred and a dugout

cred to the book and a professionalism that

being on dirt fields with kids for 10 years could never have brought for me.

So I am grateful to Ken for upping my game.

A doctor tells a sports writer that he adds legitimacy.

That's a real one.

But Ken, I'll let you model this for our callers

with a really easy example from the book.

Lesson number 19, The Sacrifice.

And for people who don't know that's a play in baseball,

where a batter intentionally makes an out for himself

to help a teammate move up a base.

So talk about The Sacrifice Lesson 19 as you have it in the book.

Sure, Brian, this is one or more literal lessons,

because just like in baseball, you give yourself up,

you make an out to move your teammate over,

to move your teammate closer to scoring position.

There are many times in life where you give up your

immediate good, if you will, to help someone else

on your team, reading from the book,

sometimes being generous and helping others may set you back.

But you'll feel good about your sacrifice,

even though you may be out, out of the time you spent

or the money or stuff you generously gave away.

Dr. Ropart, in a way, the whole concept is a cliche, right?

Life lessons from sports.

But sports, for most kids, is play time.

The life lessons you listen in the book are serious things,

though, like admitting your mistakes,

overcoming hard times, standing up for what you believe.

Can sports really help kids do well at things like those

in the rest of their lives?

Well, I'll tell you, I have real world experience

with exactly that.

And after the years of the dugout where I watch kids go through

some really dire circumstances at home,

where it's school, and oftentimes more minor

circumstances that they had to overcome.

I was able to use the analogies from sports,

which I did my best to categorize in the book.

To help the kids, but it went further than that.

I was able to apply the lessons from sports to my clinic.

And the example that I give is a mom who brought her teenage son

into see me.

He had been a ball player in the past,

but now was getting in trouble.

He was hanging out with the wrong kids.

He was hanging out doing the wrong things.

He was trying desperately to be popular.

And I reminded him of what the first baseman goes through

when he is stretching to receive the throw from the infield.

You can stretch too far.

Try to help your infielders.

Try to help your friends.

Try to help your classmates.

But when the stretch is too far,

you've got to take your foot off the base and catch the ball.

So more damage is not done.

I think that these lessons apply not just on the baseball field

when you see troubled kids,

but off the baseball field wherever you are.

Huh.

Mark and Clifton has one, I think.

Mark, your on WNYC.

Hello.

Hi, I love the show and I love the sport of baseball.

I'm so happy to be on.

Playing baseball the league as a kid

and hitting taught me so many things that I apply to my entire life.

And the one I think about all the time is that a 300 hitter

who's, you know, at the top of the league does nothing seven out of 10 times

that they come to the to the plate.

And so much of of being a great athlete

and then connecting with whatever your work is

and whatever your goal is,

is keeping your head together

those seven times that nothing happens

to make those three possible.

And it's a wonderful perspective

that I was able to pick up early

from trying my best to hit as a kid.

Nice Mark.

Thank you very much.

Here's one, Ken,

that that maybe is a little bit intriguing

compared to some of the others.

You have one about lying,

less than 22,

fake buns.

Where do you go with that?

Yeah, that's an interesting one.

And I have to admit, Brian,

that's one where I actually asked my son

who played literally because, you know,

Harley came up with the idea of

equipment, you know, the fake bun with,

with lying and my son confirmed that

happens a lot at the youth level.

But the idea, you know,

a fake bun is sort of a white lie,

especially at the youth level, right?

You, you, you kind of flash bun

like you're going to bun

and you're trying to fake out

the defense and throw them off guard.

And the idea of being,

it seems harmless,

but, you know, it's,

it has a little,

it can cause a little bit of damage.

You know, white lies are life's fake buns,

sneaky and a little dishonest.

People who tell white lies usually

mean to protect someone's feeling,

to hide bad news,

you know, but, you know,

instead white lies often backfire

hurting others by causing false hope

and disappointment

and losing their trust.

So that was an interesting one.

There was a big segment there somewhere

on white lies versus radical transparency.

Mark and Norwalk,

you and WNYC.

Hi, Mark.

Hello, Brad.

How are you?

Good. What's good?

Uh, okay.

So, um, I'm a sailor

and sailing is the perfect,

perfect metaphor for life.

Uh,

choosing between strategic goals

and tactical goals

or longer term thinking versus short term.

And it also like letting somebody

ahead in this one instance,

but then getting ahead in the long run.

Uh, also just the discipline

that is required to, you know,

the, you know, practice and,

and study and everything.

And you just get better

and it's the same thing of life.

You have to practice the things

and work hard.

Mark, thank you very much.

Dr. Oakbart, the frame of the book

is life lessons from baseball

and softball.

A generation to go softball

wouldn't even have been in there.

But I imagine it's your way

of being gender inclusive

in a modern book for kids

because that's what girls play

on their teams, obviously.

Um, do you have anything

gender specific

that some of these lessons,

you know, apply especially

to softball or to girls

because of their position in sports

or society as a whole?

Well, I think that, um,

the issues of self-image

really they apply

their non-

not gender specific.

They apply to everyone,

but, but maybe, uh,

forgive me if I'm stereotyping.

Maybe girls are more conscious

of self-image.

And, uh, there is a lot

in, um, in softball

and in baseball,

uh, to teach us about self-image.

And I think that one of the

most, um, telling of the lessons

is the batting order.

And that is where you put the batting order

oftentimes says to you

what the coach thinks of you

or what your teammates think of you

or what the fans think of you.

And the lead-off hitter

has has a great self-image

because their thought of

is the best hitter.

And the number nine hitter

has maybe the worst self-image.

But the reality is

that the batting order

only matters in the first inning

because after that,

anybody can be can be lead-off.

And so I think we have to emphasize

for girls, but for boys, of course,

also that the image that others

cast upon you

should not be binded.

That you need to see yourself

as a number one hitter.

As the lead-off hitter,

regardless of how others

may see you,

that image of yourself

has to be paramount.

By the way, Ken, for you as a sports writer,

why softball for girls

if I can digress?

They can play baseball, too.

Why isn't their girls baseball

like there's girls soccer

and basketball and tennis,

et cetera,

rather than a different sport?

Well, when his baseball is actually

on the rise brine,

so much so there's a league,

a professional league

starting this year.

But yeah, to answer your question,

I think there's just history.

Obviously, there's the movie,

which, of course, now I'm

the penny marshal.

Thank you, penny marshal,

a league of their own,

which documented the professional

women's baseball during World War II.

And I think in recent years,

there has been a rise.

Be it to answer your question simply,

I think it's just the history of

whenever I happen,

girls play softball, boys baseball.

But I do think that is evolving.

And Brian, the best picture

on my 12-year-old theme

was a girl.

Ken, as we run,

that is great to know.

Yeah, a little league is becoming,

at least a little league is becoming co-ed.

Absolutely.

And then up from there, maybe over time.

Well, almost at a time,

Ken, for you as a sports writer,

for more than 30 years,

with the post-newsday,

Bergen record.

I see you grew up as a Yankee fan.

Do you still watch?

Do you have anything you think will be

interesting and fun to watch

for this year,

with either the Yankees or the Mets?

20 seconds or so?

Yeah, I watch now unburdened, Brian,

because I used to be focused.

What's the story?

What's the calm?

What's the angle?

Now I just watch.

And I think this will be a fascinating season

and for your Mets,

I think they're going to make the playoffs.

I think they're going to be a lot better than last year.

And anything on the Yankees?

In particular, just fun to watch for.

I don't need a prediction.

Fun to watch this young picture.

They just sent to the minors.

Carlos Legrande,

throws about 102 miles per hour.

He will come up at some point,

and then I can't wait to see him.

Sports writer, Ken David off.

And pediatrician,

Dr. Harley Roadback,

have written 101 lessons from the dugout,

what baseball and softball can teach us about the game of life.

Thank you for sharing some of it with us.

Thank you so much, Brian.

Brian, thank you very much.

On WNYC,

we're going to end the show with sports too

about St. John's Basketball tomorrow.

But for now, stay tuned for Alison.

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