I have read about the speech that Coach John Scolinos gave at the 52nd annual ABCA(American Baseball Coaches Association) convention at Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
It was in 1996 and Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and retired from coaching baseball for five years. He spoke to over 4000 coaches, umpires, and others in the massive ball room where every chair was filled. He was an icon among the coaches and people came from around the nation and the world to hear him.
This day was special because Coach Scolinos came to the podium wearing a home plate around his neck. Some thought maybe he had lost some of his senses since he had the string around his neck that was holding the homeplate but after his talk they left amazed and in wonderment with his strong, convincing, and methodical words he gave to them.
He asked the coaches from little league, Babe Ruth league, high school, college, and professional how wide home plate was in each of their respective leagues. The answer was the same from all coaches saying 17 inches.
He then said if a pitcher in the major leagues can’t throw the ball over a 17-inch homeplate then they send him away until he can. His emphasis on this is that when our younger ball players can’t throw the ball over the same size plate the parents and the umpires widen the plate and give them a false sense of being right instead of teaching them the correct way. He then said what do we do if players show up late for practice or goes against team rules? Do we widen the plate for them?
Coach Scolinos went on to say that this is a problem in our homes today, and our marriages and the way we parent our kids. He said there is a problem with our discipline. We don’t teach our kids accountability and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. He then said, “We widen the plate.”
The same is happening in our schools and our churches. He spoke how teachers don’t have the tools they need to be successful, to educate, and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen the plate.
He then spoke about the church where he said that we have allowed people in positions of authority to take advantage of our children and have atrocities to be swept under the rug. Church leaders have allowed the plate to become wider.
Coach Scolinos was a great and tremendous baseball coach with a lot of wisdom. He not only taught the game of baseball, he coached people to become ready for the game of life. He told his audience that if we don’t make a change then we are going to have, and at this time he turned his homeplate that he was wearing to the back side which was black, dark days ahead.
How many of us have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and then do things we shouldn’t be doing because we believe Jesus will widen the plate for us? Jesus told us to follow Him and his gate is the narrow gate but most of us fall away from that teaching. We are told in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus doesn’t say anything about widen the plate for our actions when we stray from Him.
Coach Scolinos left a clear message to the people he was talking to. “Coaches keep your players – no matter how good they are – your own children, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches.” Jesus tells us to follow Him daily. How many of us do this?
GARY ANDREWS' devotional appears each week on the Church Pages of your Clarksdale Press Register. You can contact him at GARY@gadevotionals.com
