Socialization in Baseball

Socialization in sports has always been a huge problem, but in baseball it has been an even bigger problem. When you were younger and you had to interact with others to learn the game that is what socialization is all about, but you always have the handful of kids who like to sit in the outfield picking flowers and playing with the dirt. On the other hand you have the players who really want to be there and just aren't there because their parents put them there. I was one of these kids that always ate, slept, and breathed baseball since I was three years old.

I never had a problem socializing with the other kids, but I must say I only talked to the kids who were actually good with baseball. I could never be bogged down with the others that weren't up to my level. Cooley once talked about the "looking glass-self" and I am 100% fit into this category. I always cared what others thought of me that is why I never could be seen with the "below average" baseball players because it would make me not look good to the other people. I knew that they were judging me on my skills and the betters kids you play with then the better you are going to become because your raising your player skill. This is how I have developed a self-concept of myself. Some may think this is a bad thing to care what people thought when it came to baseball and it was mean to avoid the bad players, but when the rest of your life is hoped to be baseball related you care, you care a lot.

All through my little league career I always told myself before games I am going to have an excellent game when I pitch today, come on Nick I am going to be the one coming out on top. This is what we like to call the self fulfilling prophecy, it is when you tell yourself your are going to do good at something say for example and you keep saying that and in most cases you will do good. That is how it was with me in little league always told myself that. My father is the one that got me started with it and I have continued to do it all through my baseball career. I can say that is has worked quite well and I have been very successful in most of my years, I mean I did have one or two off season's that were an absolute bust, but for the most part I have been good.

In an article I recently found, author William J. Morgan said, "It is almost a truism that socialization into sports nowadays has as much to do with becoming adept at breaking and bending rules, not to mention other forms of cheating and violence, as it does with the furtherance of athletic excellence."1 Now I would have to say I agree with this because when I got to high school you had the kids who, in my mind weren't too good at baseball, but just because there parents were on the board or something they got to play on varsity right away and it was clearly picking favorites. The world is led to believe that when your into the beginning stages of socialization at a new level, as high school, it is ok to bend the rules to have a player who isn't as good get on the team because his parents have a say in your pay check. This is what we are trying to teach our society? I mean I am not sure if this happens in every city, but I sure know it happened when I was in high school and I hated it. I also, hated the kids because they were different, to me they were one of those kids in little league that played in the dirt in the outfield, but now since mommy and daddy are on the board or work at the school you get your way. This is the coaches fault too because he doesn't have the right values in life if he's just going to let these people tell him what to do. You are the head coach you should be able to make your own decisions.

All in all, socialization in baseball to me has been quite a ride and I loved every single minute of it when I was with the right people. However you have to take in both sides and there will always be people who are against the correct socialization and want to bend the rules and cheat in a chance to excel at a certain sport. Every league that I have been in and continue to be in, my team members and I have always had a lot of social solidarity, especially here now at mass bay. As you can tell Matt, Jimbo, and I are all in the same class. We hang out all the time outside of school and we spend a lot of time together when we can. Whether it's partying it up on the weekend or going to a double header up in Southern Maine for a twelve-hour day. I wish everyone was able to have right concept of socialization in sports, but I guess then life would be too easy.

Foot Notes

1. Journal of Sport & Social Issues; Aug2002, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p281-299, 19p