Good win for AB on Saturday 5-2 over Harry & Bryant to sweep the regular season series. 2 hits apiece by Socha and Pope. 2 hits allowed by AB pitching duo Kalemba and Guice. No earned runs. Next up is Harris Land on Weds at 5:30 on Wade Field.
Hard fought win for AB last night. 4-3 over TR Lawing. Good pitching and a 3-run 5th inning made the difference. AB goes to 2-0. We’ll be under the lights on Saturday night vs KC at 7pm. Come out and see us.
A memorable 2024 Opening Day is in the books. Down 9-4, AB rallied for 13 runs on 9 hits in the 6th inning, beating HB 17-9. 16 total team hits. Multiple hit games for Kalemba, Stone, Sherman, Kirk, Young, Pope. AB is 1-0 after Opening Day. ☘️
What an exciting day at Keith Stadium yesterday! We had some wild games and several great defensive plays. Al Browne 12 yr old player, Will Kirk put together this highlight reel. Pretty awesome!
Expectations
Woah…Slow down…
They’re 8…They’re 9…They’re 10…They’re 11…They’re 12…They’re 13…
They are kids. They trip for no reason when they are walking. Their knees hurt because they are growing. They are starting to go through puberty. Their social life is becoming more and more important to them. They’re kids!
We as adults seem to forget this. They have a bad day, it doesn’t matter how much they train or who their coach is, it’s going to happen. It’s just that, a bad day. We have to keep this in perspective. If you played growing up, don’t forget how hard it was. If you didn’t, it may be hard to truly understand, maybe go out on the field and try to do everything they are doing.
These kids love the game. They just want to play with their buddies and have a good time. They train to be the best they can be and we take that very serious, but let’s not forget that this is a game. In the end, they should never have a bitter taste in their mouth because of a coach whose priorities were in the wrong place and treated their players like garbage. They should not hate Baseball because of how their parents talked AT them when they had an off day. It’s not easy to hit. It’s not easy to locate every pitch you throw. It’s not easy to field a ground ball on a bumpy youth field. IT’S NOT EASY!
I have been in the dugout for many games (who knows how many youth games and approx. 3,400 professional games) and unless your last name is Jeter, and you are on a winning team nearly every year, you WILL most likely see just as many losses as you will wins, over the course of your baseball life. It’s just a game. I love to compete, but I’m here to tell you, that losing a baseball game is not the end of the world. They won’t win every game just as they won’t lose every game. In fact, the truth is, EVERY player can grow more from those loses (when they learn how to process them correctly) than they will from success as failure is a much better teacher.
Coaches and Parents, understand this, at the end of the day the wins don’t mean anything AND the losses don’t mean anything. It’s the experience they are gaining. It’s them getting to do what they are passionate about. It’s them developing great life skills along the way.
Find a coach. Find coaches. Find a program. Find an organization that understands this. One that focuses more on the person than they do the win. Find those with a passion for the kids and teaching. Find those with experience and knowledge. Find those that genuinely understand what “the process” means and have the patience for it. Find those who have, and have proved to have, a mindset on development, no matter what time of year it is.
THIS IS YOUTH BASEBALL, not the big leagues. Keep your Expectations realistic.
The fields are closed tonight (Weds 4/26). All practices and games are rained out. Tonight’s ML games will be played on the scheduled make-up day, May 24th.
LAST CALL for the Al Browne Team Fundraising Store. We have several t-shirt options, with warm weather on the way - including the classic Al Browne’s fuel truck design. Proceeds go to team equipment and future sponsorship fees. Thanks for supporting AB!
https://t.co/ZksJd4Pryo
Bring on the Failure!!
No one wants to fail. Failure is a negative, it’s embarrassing, it’s disappointing, it’s shameful, it’s downright unforgivable…Right??
Umm, I don’t think so! Remember that time when you failed a test because you didn’t study enough but put in extra study time for your re-take and passed it the second time? Or how about the mistakes we made as a parent with our first baby that we learned from to better raise our second and third. Or getting our butts spanked in a doubleheader because of fundamental mistakes that we hadn’t given much attention to but made some adjustments to our practice plans to ensure reps and proceeded to execute much better the rest of the season.
Life is a constant game of adjustments and learning. When we are young, we see failure as a bad thing. We would get visibly emotional when we lose or made a mistake. We would carry a bad day over into the next. We would allow a rough patch to turn into a prolonged slump because we hadn’t yet learned how to see the negatives as positives and that they were secretly moments that would make us stronger.
I spend a lot of time talking with my students on how to handle failure. How to deal with negativity, be it in their own mind or from others around them. How we need to view it and use it to help us become a better athlete and a better person.
It’s important as leaders to help them get a feel for failure to talk to them about our own failures. Give them some understanding of what led us to stand before them. I’ve often shared with students that in my career I lost nearly 100 games, gave up nearly 120 home runs, walked over 500 batters and twice never made it out of the first inning while giving up 5 and 6 runs with most of that happening before I ever got a shot in the big leagues.
We MUST fail in order to become great. We must learn to acknowledge it in order to properly process it. If we as parents, coaches, teachers and leaders treat failure as only a negative, we are instilling that fear of failure. Then that fear festers into long term and prolonged mental weakness when adversity presents itself which makes the ultimate goal of success that much harder to repeat.
Help them learn to work through it. Learn to use it. Let them experience it WITHOUT your own negativity making it even worse. Be the voice of reason. Be the positive attitude needed and let it go the way they need to. You be the example and teach them how to use failures as moments that lead to greatness.
The most important lessons are hidden in each of our failures.
The AB before the AB
When you step in the box you should've already..
- Timed up the pitcher
- Thought about your plan
- Talked to teammates about what they saw
Now, it's time to compete.
Being on a team is an honor and privilege. A player gives up the right to be selfish and average when their teammates depend on them. Recognize that you play for something so much bigger than your personal goals or self recognition. Embrace your role every game, compete and find a way, no matter how small, to help your team win….If your team wins, you win.
How Do I Help You Understand?
It just doesn’t matter. There is a GREAT chance they will never remember. It’s NEVER as bad as we think it is…The wins, the losses, being on a losing team, playing with what we believe to be talent below our child’s ability. It just doesn’t matter!!
I’ve been there. Blessed with the opportunity most will only get to dream of. Played with guys who came from NOTHING. Played on the worst team in the league. Played on the team that walked away with the ring. Had middle infielders who led the league in errors and had fielders who ended up being big league all stars. I played Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion ball. Played no more than 2 to 3 dozen games in a season as a youth. Had coaches who were over the top, but cared. Played for coaches who had no sense being in the position they were in. Played for coaches who didn’t teach. You name it, there is a good chance I’ve been through it personally or have seen others go through it.
We have this obsession with playing on THE BEST team. We think being on a sub .500 team is a travesty. We think playing with and against average, or below average, talent will stunt our players growth. We think…
We think a little too much at times. We try to control everything a little too much at times. WE need to chill out.
I’m going to be honest and I know a lot won’t want to hear or admit this, but this is an adult issue. We get frustrated watching sloppy baseball. We lack patience for all of it. We drink the kool-aid and are sold on “this is what you should do” instead of taking the time to educate ourselves. SLOW DOWN!
That poor baseball, those L’s, those W’s…They just don’t matter. What does matter…Passion for the game, determination to get better, using the lessons, being a great teammate, raising leaders, how we behave as parents, how we behave as coaches, the example we give, what we talk about at home with our kids, how we help them deal with failure, how we help them handle success…What does matter is the people we are raising.
Adults, we must check ourselves. Stop making the GAME bigger than what it is. Help them get the most out of what God gave them. If they truly love the game, you will see it in their eyes. You will see it in how they work. You will see it when they are on a losing team just as you would if they were on a wining team, BECAUSE THEY LOVE THE GAME.
Wins, Losses, Trophies, Seeding…Nope, they just don’t matter. Mom, Dad, Coach, Grandpa, Grandma, your mindset matters. Your leadership matters. Their Character matters. Baseball is temporary, but the lessons are forever. Use the GAME to prepare them for LIFE. That’s what matters.
AB Flashback. 1962 Opening Day. Hoppy Pierce and his Al Browne’s Service teammates. This is how you wear a uniform, folks. A ballplayer if there ever was one.
The 2023 online AB Team Store is now open! Alumni and fans can support our team by purchasing an Al Browne’s Service Fuel Truck T-shirt or any of the other items in our store. Pay online and items will be shipped to your home. Click on the link below.
https://t.co/ZksJd4Pryo