Player / Manager Relationship

Having a good relationship with your manager or coach is very important, that’s of course if you want to play. Many players take advantage of their ability to play the game and think that they can do whatever they want on and off the field. These type of players almost always have it come back to haunt them one way or another. Shortly after, they find themselves riding the bench.

Many kids while growing up get to have their father coach or at least volunteer to help out. With this, the young players seem to think they can run the team whenever their father is not around. As a player you would want to get away from that. Always be the nice guy on the field that works really hard. Keep yourself out of trouble and always respect the manager or coach no matter if it is your father or your friend’s father.

Obviously in high school or college it is extremely rare to have your father involved with the team. At this point you need to make sure you respect your coach and follow their direct instructions. If you are an underclassmen, it is best to not talk to much and just bust your butt. You want to make sure you are well liked. Don’t think because your that good, that you can control what happens at practice or what you do in a game. Remember your coach always has the power to take you out of the game whenever they want. Obviously upperclassmen that are all-stars have a little bit of an advantage and their coaches will allow them to get away with almost murder because they are one to not make an example. This is mainly because they cant afford to lose their best player or have him out of the lineup for even an inning.

In professional baseball everything changes. There is no room for attitude. Very few get away with it. Usually if you are the first pick in the draft overall, you can. However I do not recommend it as this could always come back to haunt you. Just because the organization invests a lot of money in you, doesn’t mean you are the new owner of the team. Many organizations find that if you have an attitude, your gone, you my friend are released. They will find someone else to replace you that’s just as good. There are so many good players out there running around just waiting for their opportunity. As a professional baseball player, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to your manager whenever you can. It can be about anything. If he is a good manager you will think of him as like a second father. He is there to help you get better and be a well rounded individual. If you are losing, you might not want to get in his way or ask him a lot of questions. If you lose, you probably don’t want to talk to him after the game, wait until the next day prior to your next game or practice. If your winning by a lot, that’s when your manager will be more lenient for you to tell a joke or something in between innings. If you win the game, afterwards would be a great time to talk to him if you have anything on your mind.

One of the most important things as a player is to make sure that you have your ears open. There is nothing more annoying and irritating to a manager than mental mistakes. Whether it be being late to the bus or missing a sign on the field. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times. Forget about the hot brunette in section 121 row 5. Deal with that after the game.

Sometimes a manager will take an issue out on you because your standing next to him. Don’t let something like this bother you. Just ignore it and go on with what your doing. It will blow ever and everything will be fine. If you get angry and talk back to your manager, he might do something that you both will regret.