Sorry to say, but the games tonight for Fike Jr have been cancelled due to rain. Wear the same uniform below for tomorrow night’s games that we hopefully end up playing.

Uniform – Black camo, grey pants with blue/black piping, and blue socks – belt – hat

The team calendar has been updated with game times for the Sr and Jr Memorial Day weekend tournaments.

https://fikebaseball.com/calendar/

Tired of trying to remove those tough red clay stains in your white baseball pants? Try this product:

(Excerpt from The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon)

Positive leaders don’t lead because they want recognition or enemies. They lead because there is something they must do, build, create, transform, and change. They lead because it’s who they are and what they are meant to do. However, with leadership comes scrutiny, praise, critics, and attacks. A leader could find a cure for cancer and would still have some people criticize them for it. There was even once a leader who transformed the world by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and loving the unlovable, and yet he was killed for it. If you are a leader, expect to be attacked. Positive leadership doesn’t mean you won’t be criticized. It means you have the grit and belief to overcome it. Positive leaders don’t lead in a tranquil sea of positivity, but through the storms of adversity and negativity.

Leadership is knowing that the critics will criticize you while still saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done. History doesn’t remember the critics. It remembers the one who withstood criticism to accomplish something great.

In our modern social-media–driven world, you will have more fans and critics than ever. The keys are: Don’t let praise go to your head and don’t let critics into your head. Be so invested in your craft that you don’t have time to listen to the naysayers. No time for negativity. You’re too busy creating the future. If I would have listened to the naysayers and critics, I would have stopped working on my craft years ago. I want to encourage you to never let the opinion of others define you and your future. Your identity doesn’t come from what the world says about you. It comes from who you are on the inside. Your work, leadership, and mission are too important to allow others to define your destiny.

No matter what anyone says, just show up and do the work.

If they praise you, show up and do the work.

If they criticize you, show up and do the work.

If no one even notices you, just show up and do the work.

Just keep showing up, doing the work, and leading the way.

Lead with passion.

Fuel up with optimism.

Have faith.

Power up with love.

Maintain hope.

Be stubborn.

Fight the good fight.

Refuse to give up.

Ignore the critics.

Believe in the impossible.

Show up.

Do the work.

You’ll be glad you did.

True grit leads to true success.

Stay Positive,
Jon

sent from:
Make a difference today,
Love Clint Hurdle

by John Leone

More kids should play baseball.

So I’m watching a game the other evening, and an ex-player by the name of Tim Flaherty was quoted as saying, “there are two kinds of baseball players – those who are humble, and those who are about to be humbled”. If you follow the game, or if you’ve played it, you know how true that rings.

In an age of highlights and swag, of touchdown dances and trash talk, it’s possible that baseball has become the last bastion of sanity. Patience is still a virtue and 162 games over 6 months demands persistence. To get to a safe space you have to earn it,and there are no consolation prizes for those who fail – and fail they do, most more than 70% of the time. Not everyone gets a trophy, at least a real one.

I know that football – a game I enjoy completely and follow religiously – has been called “the ultimate team sport”. And basketball – my one true love – requires a synchronization and non-verbal communication that can transform it into a ballet in sneakers. But baseball is different.

The whole team concept in baseball is more substantive, it can be argued, because it happens mostly out of the glare of the TV cameras and the crowd. A guy standing alone in the batter’s box and facing a 97 mile per hour fastball, shares a visceral bond with not only the guy on deck, but those other 23 teammates in the dugout who’ve been there, or are about to be sooner or later. They know to keep a respectful distance after a strikeout, and the hugs and high fives after a hit are genuine. He also shares a curious bond with the guy throwing a 97 mph fastball at him; a bond reflected at times by a simple tip of the cap, signifying a mutual respect.

An error belongs to one guy. And it’s actually called for what it is – an error.

There’s no sugar coating or camouflaging failure in baseball. A guy owns it and wears it, and his teammates know it. They’ve all walked in those same shoes, or understand completely that at some point, they will. A top young prospect who has dominated his way to “The Show”, suddenly can’t find his release point and can’t get out of the inning. The mound is elevated no longer for any advantage to him, but suddenly as a focal point for 30,000 partisans to voice their frustrations, or revel in his. It’s a long walk to the mound for his Coach, and an even longer walk for him to the solitude of the dugout. There’s nowhere else to look but inside. What a concept.

Most of the lessons I try to impart on my kids come by way of sports metaphors, admittedly a narrow and sometimes myopic view of things. That’s on me, but for the most part, I’d like to think I’ve had some positive effect. And the more I watch baseball, the more I see parallels for good living. It’s hard, but as Jimmy Duggan, Hanks’ character in “A League of Their Own” said, “it’s supposed to be hard. It’s the hard that makes it great”. How hard is baseball? Well, the mere fact that it’s the only sport where the offense doesn’t even have the ball should tell us something.

I’m not sure that we make enough things hard enough for our kids these days. I’m lucky to have lived long enough now – long enough to have listened to the stories of my father and grandfather who grew up in a very different time. Their hard times were real. These days what’s left for so many of us – those of us more fortunate – are metaphors and games; facsimiles of challenges and opportunities. But you have to work with what you have. Sort of like ….in baseball.

Like life, baseball is a complicated game, and its rulebook seems to keep expanding as the game evolves. Again, a lot like life. But the fact that there seem to be more unwritten rules in baseball than in any other sport speaks to the natural, almost organic structure of the game, and a fundamental reason why it endures. After all, “habits are better than rules; you don’t have to keep them. They keep you”. And baseball is a game of habits.And good habits get rewarded.

Yeah, more kids should play baseball.
Make a difference today,
Love Clint Hurdle

The bucket hats are in! Contact Jim Moran to pick yours up at 816-225-2015 or coach1three@gmail.com.

The Sr and Jr game schedules have been added to the calendar:

Fike Baseball Schedule

Baseball, it’s the ultimate team sport combining individual and team skills. A well-rounded baseball player that possesses high baseball IQ will compete with every pitch to help his team succeed. Unfortunately, today’s youth game seems to be changing at a rapid pace. Individual play is taking over and team baseball seems to be taking punches like a Rocky Balboa side of beef.

Hold onto your hats, the culprit may in fact be Club Baseball. You’ve seen it before, club coaches absorb and pluck players from leagues with the lure of travel, exposure, and the promise of college scholarships at a very early age. Parents love to hear that someone can make their son the next Bryce Harper or Randy Johnson. What the club doesn’t mention is that the team aspect of baseball isn’t being taught as it once was. Most of these club coaches know the game very well. However big money is now at stake and teaching team skills takes a back seat to bringing in money so the club has enough cash for operating expenses. This approach only helps the club make money and in no way helps one to become a well-rounded baseball player. Flawed at its core, parents flock to club teams in droves.

For my player, I decided against club baseball. I kept my son with a great youth coach and played Legion baseball during summers during his high school years. I knew that teaching all aspects of the game would be beneficial to him as a baseball player. I didn’t want his development to be limited to only hitting or pitching. But don’t take my word for it. Check out any high level showcase tournament featuring a majority of club teams. The team aspect of the game is slowly being washed away and replaced with games only emphasizing individual hitting and pitching skills. See if you can find a club coached team executing a sacrifice bunt, a defensive play to prevent a bunt, hit & run, or good base running techniques. It’s very difficult to find these skills being taught and used within the club baseball community. In fact get ready for the opposing coach to take offense and start acting a fool, should you try to execute one of these horrific outdated skills. Because after all, who bunts with a runner on first base with no outs in the bottom of the last inning?

Legion baseball is still a great option for those who want to play baseball and continue to learn the game. Actually it’s time we spread the word. You can be proud you and your player participate in Legion baseball. Don’t get caught up in all the club hype; it’s overrated to say the least. Legion baseball is much more cost effective than club baseball. There is a sense of community pride. There are coaches that teach the game of baseball not because they get paid to coach, but because they love the game. You actually have a “home” field….and you might even help your son to become a baseball player that helps his TEAM win.

Written by Eric Mertes

Parent of Nic Mertes Rockhurst University & Fike player from 2012-2016

Make a difference today
Love Clint Hurdle
For today’s Insights and Inspirations …

A Quiet Kind of Courage
by Veronica Hay

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow” ~ Mary-Anne Rademacher

So true, more often than not I believe this is the case.
There are many words for courage. I looked it up in the dictionary and came up with the following: bravery, fearlessness, nerve, audacity, boldness, grit, gallantry, guts, spunk, moxie, balls, valor, determination.

And then I began to think of how many situations life presents us with every day where we have the opportunity to respond with everything we’ve got, in a courageous way.

For example.
Choosing to do things our way when the world is telling us to do something different, takes guts.

Telling the truth in spite of the consequences, takes nerve.

Never giving up on your dream, even when things appear to be hopeless, takes determination.

Doing the right thing, taking the high road, when it doesn’t always feel comfortable, takes valor.

Believing in yourself when no one else does, takes balls.

Sharing yourself with the world in an honest, authentic and even vulnerable way, takes spunk.

Walking out on a limb, doing something you’re really afraid to do, with your knees knocking and your hands sweating, takes fearlessness.

Being proud of who you are in spite of the fact that others think you’re different or weird or even crazy, takes audacity.

Offering your gifts to the world, and doing it with everything you’ve got, in every way you know how, takes boldness.

Giving the other person the benefit of the doubt when you know you are right, takes gallantry.

Believing you are gorgeous, brilliant, talented, amazing and acting accordingly, takes moxie.

Choosing to keep your commitment to yourself and do the work you promised you would do every day, takes grit.

Opening your heart again even though you may have been betrayed, let down, even abandoned, takes bravery.

So my dear friends, where in your life today will you be bold, audacious, spunky, balsy, fearless, brave, daring, gallant or determined and what are you waiting for?
Have a courageous day.
Love and blessings, Veronica Hay

May there be a MIRACLE in your life today…
And may you have the EYES to see it…

No Fear of Failure
by Chuck Swindoll

When will we ever learn that there are no hopeless situations, only people who have grown hopeless about them?

What appears as an unsolvable problem to us is actually a rather exhilarating challenge. People who inspire others are those who see invisible bridges at the end of dead-end streets.

There was a Cabinet meeting in London during the darkest days of the Second World War. France had just capitulated. Prime Minister Churchill outlined the situation in its starkest colors. Quite literally, the tiny British Isles stood alone.

Grim faces stared back at him in stoic silence. Despair and thoughts of surrender were written in their looks. The visionary statesman momentarily remained silent, lit a cigar, showed a hint of a smile, and with a twinkle in his eye, responded to that dispirited company of officials, “Gentlemen, I find it rather inspiring.” . . .

What a great line! No wonder people followed the man. Fear of failure never entered his mind!

Make a difference today

Love Clint Hurdle