Happy Friday,
Beyond the Scoreboard now lands at the end of the week, so we're heading into the weekend together from here on out.
This week: the games we think will last forever, two young athletes who show us what a great teammate looks like, and one question for the car ride home.
Last week, we began a four-part series from a speech delivered to 2,200 young athletes at the National All-State Championships.
Starting the stats with 2.4 million kids who play youth baseball in America and followed the numbers all the way down to the athletes sitting in that stadium.
Chad ended Part One by telling them the most important number wasn't about how they got there. It was about how much of the journey was still in front of them.
This week, we find out what he meant.
Players, let me ask you something. How many baseball games do you think you've already played in your life?
Most of you started around five or six years old. Rec ball, then travel ball. Some of you played sixty or seventy games just last summer.
Now think about how quickly those games add up.
Run the math and most of you are somewhere around six hundred games.
Six hundred times you've buttoned up a jersey. Six hundred national anthems.
And here's what six hundred games does to a young player:
It makes baseball feel infinite.
It feels like there will always be another game.
Another season.
Another summer.
There will not always be another game.
It doesn't feel like it tonight.
But you can count what's left. And the numbers get smaller quickly.
Those numbers aren't a reason to dream smaller. They're a reason to understand just how big the dream is.
You're some of the best young players in America, and somebody sitting in this stadium tonight might be that one in 1,100. So chase it with everything you've got.
But these numbers also tell us something we don't talk about enough: for most of the players in these seats, this chapter of baseball will end around eighteen.
Not because you failed. Because that's how this game works for almost everyone who has ever loved it.
SO LET'S COUNT.
Three hundred sounds like a lot.
Until you realize it's a number you can actually count.
And somewhere inside that number is one game in particular.
A last time you button up that jersey. A last time you take the field with those teammates. A last out. A last throw across the diamond.
You'll think there's another one coming.
Don't take my word for it. Tonight, ask any grown man in this stadium. Ask your dad, your coach, the guy running the grill:
"When was your last game? And did you know it was your last game while you were playing it?"
You don't have to be sitting in the stands to feel the weight of this part of Chad's speech. If you're raising kids, you know the feeling.
Suddenly there's this pressure to treasure every rain delay, cherish every 6:00 a.m. alarm, and soak up every tournament weekend because MY BABY IS GROWING UP. 😭
And now you've just realized that somewhere in all those games ahead is the last one you'll ever watch them play.
But I don't think the takeaway for parents is:
"There aren't many left! Appreciate every second!!!"
I think the heart of Chad's message is much simpler:
Right now, we are all living in the middle of it.
The cleats by the door.
The dirt in the car.
The practices you don't particularly feel like driving to.
The same teammates you've seen 50 weekends in a row.
And because it's so repetitive, it feels permanent.
When you've already done something hundreds of times, why wouldn't you assume there will be hundreds more?
But put a number on it, and suddenly it doesn't feel quite so endless.
Chase your dreams, but don't let the destination steal the journey. You don't know which games you'll remember forever or which will be the last you get to play.
So play hard, stay present, and make the one you're in count.
You don't have to savor every second. You don't have to make every game a core memory.
This is part of their childhood, but it's part of your parenthood too. Just don't miss it while you're planning for what comes next.
This week, I was sent a photo that felt especially fitting after everything we just talked about.
I couldn't not share it.
Seventeen teams full of players still showing up. Still competing. Still joking with their teammates in the dugout.
85 and STILL turning double plays?!
If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is.
Seeing these guys putting on their jerseys decades after most players have played what they thought would be their "last game" felt like a pretty fitting reminder to end on.
The countdown isn't really about an ending. It's about recognizing that this version of it won't last forever.
The teammates may change.
The uniform may change.
Your place in the game may change entirely.
But don't mistake the end of one chapter for the end of the story.
These guys are living proof of that.
And the love of the game? There's no countdown for that.
And who knows… maybe your last game is a whole lot farther away than you think.
NEXT WEEK · PART THREE
We're making the move to Fridays, and that means this week, we get the bonus of celebrating not one, but TWO incredible athletes.
At just nine years old, Ruby is already showing what it means to be a great teammate.
After making the mid-season jump from 9U to a second-year 10U team, Ruby continued to work hard, stay positive, and embrace every opportunity to learn. She loves pitching, but is just as ready to support her teammates when it's someone else's turn in the circle.
That same attitude carries beyond the field. Ruby enjoys helping her younger sister learn the game, and in the dugout, she's always ready to cheer on her teammates and celebrate their successes.
Ruby's story is a reminder that being a great player isn't only about how you perform. It's also about how you show up for the people around you.
Congratulations, Ruby!
Karlee knows that being a leader goes far beyond what happens on the field.
Along with competing in the outfield and at the plate, Karlee gives back by volunteering with a local baseball league for children with mental and physical disabilities. Inspired by her younger sister, she has found a way to use her love of sports to help make the game meaningful for others, too.
That experience has also helped shape her dreams for the future. Karlee hopes to continue playing softball at the collegiate level while pursuing a career in special education.
Her story is a reminder that some of the biggest impacts athletes make have nothing to do with the scoreboard.
Congratulations, Karlee!
Last week, we asked our kids to look backward.
Hopefully, it helped them see that growth isn't always obvious until we stop long enough to notice it.
This week, let's shift the focus from what they've accomplished to who they're becoming.
Maybe it's something they've accomplished. Or maybe it's something they're starting to see in themselves: becoming braver, more independent, a better friend or teammate. Maybe they're learning to speak up, shake off mistakes, or keep going when something feels hard.
Whatever their answer is, listen.
Then tell them something you like about the person you see them becoming.
As they walk into a new classroom or step onto the field for a new season, give them something true about themselves to carry with them.
Because sometimes confidence starts with knowing someone else sees the good growing in us, too.
And noticing the good growing in our kids while we're still in the middle of it.