Follow the leader

Things coaches lie awake at night and fuss about include why their team is doing well or why it is achieving below expectation. If the team is going great guns, the coach will worry about what he needs to do to keep it going. If the season looks like it is going down the tubes, the coach will try to figure out how he can change things around.

If you conclude a coach spends most of his time worrying, you’ve got it in one. One old coach whom my wife knows pretty well figured he could will his teams to victory, regardless of less important traits like, say, talent. R-I-G-H-T!!

When I think back on teams that did better than I expected and those that did worse, there is one trait I find that all good teams have to have. Leadership! Not mine; the players’. There has to be someone amongst the players who has the respect of the others so that he or she can focus the team’s effort, especially when the going gets rough.

The major league baseball season is well enough along now to spot who is up and who is down; so let’s take a look.

Boston is struggling to play as they did last year. The biggest adjustment they had to make after David Ortiz retired was to find who could fill his shoes, not in the line-up, but in the locker room. They managed last year, but the voices don’t seem quite so urgent or compelling this year.

The Yankees have gone through so many injuries, it is hard to tell who is supplying that voice, but someone must be. They are definitely the surprise team of the summer.

The Mets, on the other hand, are definitely in need of a spark. Robinson Cano was expected to supply that, but it doesn’t seem that is happening, and no one else seems to be able to step up. The Mets have missed David Wright for much more than his bat and glove.

There are lots of different styles of leadership, but all of them share two traits in common: respect and communication.

The leader needs to have “been there and done that”; so rookies need not apply and also-rans need not run. Seniority helps but accomplishment means more. Where respect is high, fewer words are needed; all the leader needs to do is point the way.

But he does need to communicate it. Tom Brady is outstanding at that even if his “Let’s go!” isn’t exactly the Gettysburg Address. Jose Reyes was great at letting his joy for playing the game infuse his teammates. David Ortiz or David Wright putting his arm around someone was all that was needed. Communication is personal but must be sincere and forceful.

Watch your favorite team. If the leadership is strong, it is likely the season will be a good one. If not, well the game is still worth watching. See you at the ballpark.