Each week I am privileged to participate in a Zoom Bible study with dozens of high school, collegiate, and professional baseball scouts and coaches. A picture of our time together is shown above. It has become my favorite forty-five minutes of the week. I am constantly challenged and encouraged by these men who come together and combine their love of Jesus and baseball.
2 Highly Successful Coaches
Two of the men on the call who impact my life the most are coaches Keith Madison and Clint Hurdle. If you are unfamiliar with one or both, let me introduce you to them.
Coach Madison coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats baseball team for twenty-five years amassing 737 wins. This highly-decorated leader has been inducted into the Kentucky High School Baseball, University of Kentucky, and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fames. Today, he works with SCORE International where he combines the two passions in his life: Jesus and baseball.
Coach Hurdle is the former manager of the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates where he won 1,269 games. In addition, he was named the 2013 National League Manager of the Year. But I know Coach Hurdle as a husband, father, advocate for the Special Needs community, and someone whose life was transformed by Jesus Christ.
I deeply admire and respect both men. This past week both gave lessons on how to make a significant difference in the lives of others. I was so impacted by their thoughts I want to share them with you.
2 Life-Changing Lessons From 2 Winning Coaches Who Help Change Lives
Coach Madison said, “For me, it’s starting my day with am I going to give or am I going to take? As a coach, if I was constantly thinking about using these players to get a win, it always went wrong. And if I thought about what I could give them that will help them – not only be a better player, but be a better person, leader, future husband – for me it’s about giving… I would encourage any coach, any scout to wake up saying what can I give the people I’m coming in contact with today.”
From Coach Madison we learn the following:
Lesson #1 – Ask Each Day What Can I Give People Rather Than What Can I Get From Them.
Coach Hurdle then challenged the group by saying, “As we look back at our lifetimes, they’re certain people who caught our attention. Good, bad, everybody creates a wake – positive or negative. Once I decided to turn my life over to Christ, the commitment had to be real, had to be acted upon. I couldn’t just talk about being a follower of Christ. I wanted to be different than the guy I was before and that caused me to take action.”
Coach Hurdle’s thoughts compel us to ask ourselves the following question:
Lesson #2 – Are You Creating A Positive Or Negative Wake With Your Life?
Coach Hurdle then added some advice he learned as a minor league manager from New York Mets coach Darrell Johnson. He recounted, “I was given some great direction early on… When you get to the big leagues you’re going to have a platform like you’ve never had before. Because of that platform you’re going to have people you don’t even know come to you and want you to represent them based on your platform or your title. They’re called endorsements. Clint, you’ll get opportunities for a car, clothing. My encouragement to you is turn them all down. You’re getting paid to manage a Major League Baseball club. You’re not getting paid to manage to sell cars. You’re not getting paid to have a pod. You’re getting paid by people to represent your organization. I’m getting paid in Jesus’s blood on the cross to represent Jesus how… He’s putting us here to represent.”
In an age of personal platforms and multiple streams of revenue, Coach Hurdle prompts us to ask two additional questions:
Lesson #3 – Who Is Paying You and Are You Properly Representing Your Organization? Or, Are Your Loyalties Divided?
Next Steps
If you are a high school, collegiate, or professional baseball scout or coach and want to grow in your faith and leadership, email Mike Linch at mike.linch@northstarchurch.org about how to join us. Trust me, it will probably become one of your favorite parts of the week as well. I hope to see you in our study next week!
FREE Helpful Resources
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