Matthew Arnold Stern » Little White Ball (Baseball)

Can Pujols and Wilson save Orange County youth baseball?

Matthew Arnold Stern — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:00:19 +0000

Frankly, I wasn’t too excited when the Angels signed Albert Pujols. Ten years, $250 million for a player in his thirties? Perhaps he can do for the Angels in the teens what Reggie Jackson did in the eighties, if he doesn’t get hurt. CJ Wilson was a better catch, a player in his prime who …

“For Good”

Matthew Arnold Stern — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:31:41 +0000

They say there’s no crying in baseball, but this is the sport of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech and Field of Dreams. We don’t like cheesy sentiment or flowery expressions of emotion, yet we dance around the field and hug each other in victory, or weep in the dugout and slam locker room doors in defeat. …

Bounce – A must-read for coaches?

Matthew Arnold Stern — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 05:39:26 +0000

Are superior athletes born that way? Or can people become superior athletes through hard work? Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed, champion table tennis player and commentator for the BBC, argues the latter. He says that athletes are made, not born. Through purposeful practice, athletes can master skills to …

The bad call

Matthew Arnold Stern — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:11:55 +0000

Bad calls and unlucky breaks don’t just happen in baseball. They once happened to me in Toastmasters. Whether they happen in baseball or Toastmasters, they offer a lesson, if you’re willing to accept it. In 1999, I competed in an evaluation speech contest. The object of the contest is to listen to a brief speech and …

John Wooden’s lessons for today’s coaches and players

Matthew Arnold Stern — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:22:12 +0000

When I was a UCLA student, I looked up to John Wooden. When I became an adult and a parent, I came to appreciate him even more. I liked his approach to coaching and mentoring, and I admired how he used sports to build character. As he said, “What you are as a person is …

“I choose not to run”

Matthew Arnold Stern — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:22:20 +0000

I decided not to run for another term as league president. Just to be clear: I’m still happy with the league. No one did anything to upset me. No one said something on Facebook or in the Mid-Season Evaluations that hurt my feelings. I’m not running simply because I’m a believer in term limits. I’ve …

How to announce at a Little League game

Matthew Arnold Stern — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:15:17 +0000

One of the things I enjoy doing at Little League games is to serve as the announcer. It seems that the players and parents enjoy it too. The only complaints I’ve received are from other teams who are unhappy that I don’t announce at their games. But there are some rules I need to follow …

When it is a perfect game

Matthew Arnold Stern — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:41:37 +0000

As a league president, I don’t need to go to a movie to see a Little League drama. Just this weekend, I had to deal with a coach being ejected from a game, a complaint about parents bringing their dogs on a school district field, an issue a manager had with parents, and parents who …

What I would have said

Matthew Arnold Stern — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:08:00 +0000

One of my duties as a Little League president is to give a speech at the Opening Day ceremony. Unfortunately, it looks like we’re going to be rained out for the second Saturday in a row. So, we had to cancel the ceremony. Here is what I would have said to the parents of Saddleback …

The wheel of fortune

Matthew Arnold Stern — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:44:02 +0000

It has been a rough few weeks in Little League. And the topper, our Opening Day will get rained out because of a storm that is rolling into our area early tomorrow morning. When confronted with situations like this, I think of the wheel of fortune. Not this one: This one: Here’s how Joseph Campbell described the …