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Last night I rode shotgun as my oldest son carted his siblings around to various activities and practices. We enjoyed a conversation about an upcoming English paper where he will have to write about the greatest baseball player, who he identifies as Barry Bonds. I asked him, "Why Barry Bonds?" and his response was, "Well, mother, Barry Bonds holds the record for the most home runs".
This made me pause. And after considering his qualifications for being the greatest baseball player I asked, "Do you think he was liked by his team"? Liam responded with a nonchalant shrug and restated his sentiment that Barry Bonds was a great hitter and that was enough to earn himself a title in Willy's English paper.
However, I want my children to understand that 'greatness' does not always translate from stats and records. True greatness requires both performance and character. Greatness is multi-faceted and requires depth. I can use prize winning tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce, but if they aren't combined with additional ingredients to enhance the flavor, you will quickly discover it's not 'great'.
So of course, I had to Google 'Barry Bonds' today because my curiosity got the best of me. Turns out public perception was that B. Bonds was “not generally considered a "nice guy," with many describing him as not the most approachable teammate and having a reputation for being somewhat distant and focused primarily on his own performance." (Google AI Overview) I made sure to send this to my son today in hopes that when considering the title 'Greatest' he will take into consideration the person and not just the player.
You might be a prize-winning tomato, but you need to be a self-aware prize-winning tomato. If you find yourself 'just a bit outside', that's okay. Perfection is not possible. Keep learning. Stay curious. Be kind. Give more high fives. Be authentic. Share a smile. Hug your neighbor. Remain teachable. Laugh. Motivate others. Persist. Protect what matters. And like I said last week, don't give up.
#PlayBall
Kate Abbe
The Elkhorn Chamber
In loving memory...
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