This story is about a young boy, Adam Vellic, who loved baseball and had a knack for it, even at the age of five. He would constantly be asking his father to play it with him. Unfortunately, before he was old enough to play in little league, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He underwent Chemotherapy to combat the cancer. As Adam was recovering, the doctors and family noticed the chemo was causing Adam to lose some of his cognitive ability. Within a few weeks Adam went into a coma. He did come out of the coma, but he had to learn to walk all over again. He no longer had the agility he had as a five-year old.
When he was in the third grade and old enough to play T ball, his dad signed Adam up because he had loved baseball so much. He was assigned to Coach Ralph’s team. Coach Ralph had 5 boys of his own and coached all his boys until they went into the Little League. His second youngest son, Scott, entered T ball the same year as Adam. Adam’s father talked to Coach Ralph and told Coach about Adam’s disabilities. The Lord put the two together, because Coach Ralph had a philosophy that no matter how good or poor a player was, he played the same number of innings and at bats as everyone else. It cost Coach games early in the season when other teams played by the rule that each player had to play only two innings. But as the season went on, Coach Ralph ended up developing each player, and in the end, they usually won the championship. Since all the players were young, most hits were to right field as most players were right-handed and were late in swinging. Coach Ralph did not stick the poorer players at third or left field. He had them play all fielding positions. Even Adam played second base which was the most active. One time Adam threw out a player going to first and everyone cheered. No one was as HAPPY as Adam. Of course, just playing baseball made him happy.
Parents and players knew Coach Ralph, so there were few complaints when they lost games. Also, his sons, who were some of the best players, sat out. Coach Ralph spent hours planning the line up before game day, so that he would not be tempted to play the better players if they started to lose. He stuck to the game plan. His goal was to help each player to play to the best of his ability to build character and team values.
In this T ball league if a player gets 4 balls, he gets to put the ball on a tee and hit it. Adam wanted to get a hit so bad that he most always struck out or the ball would not go over 30 feet in the infield, which was an automatic out. Adam never got on base. Toward the end of the season, unbeknownst to Coach Ralph, Adam told his teammates he was going to hit a home run. It was pretty bold for someone who has never gotten to first base.
The score was tied, and it was in the last inning when Adam ended up getting four balls, which meant he got to hit the ball from the tee. He hit it and started to run for first base. The pitcher did not think the ball would reach the 30-foot arc. The ball slowly rolled to the arc and passed it by inches. The pitcher picked the ball up and thew it to first. Adam was running all the time the ball was slowly rolling to the 30 ft mark. and as the first baseman reached for the ball his foot came up from the bag. Adam was safe on first and rounded the bag to go to second as his coach was telling him to stay on the bag. The first baseman was about to throw the ball to the pitcher, when he noticed Adam halfway to second base. The first baseman was so startled that he overthrew the second baseman. The shortstop was there to back him up, but Adam was safe at second. Everyone heard Coach Ralph screaming for Adam to stop at second, but Adam never stopped running. Adam rounded the bag. The shortstop was so surprised to see Adam running past him that he over-threw the third baseman. The errant ball rolled all the way to the fence. The third baseman picked up the ball and threw it, but by this time Adam was running for home plate. But was he? No, he was running to the tee, which the umpire had moved off home plate. Adam was out of the baseline. His teammates were all screaming. They picked Adam up as he ran toward the tee and put him on home plate. The umpire called him safe. The other team was clapping. Adam’s only hit of the season was a home run, which won the game.
Yes, Coach Ralph had another winning season. His son Scott moved up to the Little League and now his youngest son Rick was in T Ball. Adam was allowed to play T ball the next year and not be forced into Little League because of his disabilities. Adam died five years later when his cancer returned. The school planted a tree in his honor. He was beloved by everyone for his big heart and his never give up attitude. Whenever anyone brings up Adam’s name, there are always tears that follow in his memory.
Coach Ralph continued to coach his son Rick the next three years, but under new rules. The city now had the coaches rank their players at the end of the season. A committee would then assign them to a different team each year by ranking. Coach Ralph no longer had most of his team from the prior year. This made it difficult, as new players and parents did not understand Coach Ralph’s philosophy. Parents felt if their son was one of the best players, he should never sit on the bench, and many new older players were less disciplined or did not respect Coach Ralph’s philosophy.
Coach said, “When I got new players and new parents, they did not like my coaching philosophy. Which was, “No matter how good or poor a player is, you are all going to get the same playing time.”
What take-aways did you have from this story?
I had three:
1} Adam proved that determination can overcome any deficiency.
2) Coach Ralph’s philosophy, builds character, teamwork and values that go beyond sports.
3} Parents need to look less at scores and more into what values, and character traits their young children are developing through sports.
Clarence
Mark 9:37
Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”