Don’t Widen the Plate
I told a story this August to our faculty when we greeted them back for the 2024-25 school year at Saint Edward’s. The story is of a College Baseball Hall of Fame coach, John Scolinos, who was presenting in 1996 at the American Baseball Coaches Association Convention. In front of over 4,000 coaches, he walked out on stage with a home plate tied around his neck.
After his opening remarks, Coach Scolinos asked, “Do we have any Little League coaches here?” Several hands went up. “Do any of you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” Someone answered, “Seventeen inches?” “That’s right,” the coach said.
“Are there high school baseball coaches in the room?” Over a hundred hands shot up. “How wide is home plate in high school?” “Seventeen inches,” someone said. “You’re right!” the coach replied.
“How about college baseball coaches?” Half the room raised their hands. “How wide is home plate in college baseball?” “Seventeen inches!” everyone yelled out in unison.
By now, when he asked the audience how wide home plate was in professional baseball, everyone yelled “Seventeen inches!”
The coach changed his focus and asked, “What do you suppose a Major League team would do if a major-league pitcher couldn’t throw a ball over a seventeen-inch plate?” He paused and the room fell silent. He filled the void with, “They send him down to the minors or fire him!”
“But let me tell you what they would never ever do. They would never say, ‘Ah, that’s alright buddy, if you can’t throw a baseball over a seventeen-inch target we’ll make it bigger for you, maybe we’ll widen it to nineteen or twenty inches so it will be easier for you; and if that’s not enough we’ll make it twenty-five inches wide.”
He then said, “The problem with most homes in America today, and with many organizations, is people haven’t created and enforced standards. We no longer teach our children, players, employees or our members accountability. It’s so much easier for parents, managers and executive directors to just simply widen the plate!”
Please understand that when we address student behavior or employee behavior that falls below our expectations, we do so from a place of care. I told one parent earlier this year, the easiest thing for us to do would be to ignore a student’s behavior. However, we would be doing that child and their family a disservice.
We will do our best to not widen the plate at Saint Edward’s.
I look forward to seeing you around campus!
Stuart
Back
After his opening remarks, Coach Scolinos asked, “Do we have any Little League coaches here?” Several hands went up. “Do any of you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” Someone answered, “Seventeen inches?” “That’s right,” the coach said.
“Are there high school baseball coaches in the room?” Over a hundred hands shot up. “How wide is home plate in high school?” “Seventeen inches,” someone said. “You’re right!” the coach replied.
“How about college baseball coaches?” Half the room raised their hands. “How wide is home plate in college baseball?” “Seventeen inches!” everyone yelled out in unison.
By now, when he asked the audience how wide home plate was in professional baseball, everyone yelled “Seventeen inches!”
The coach changed his focus and asked, “What do you suppose a Major League team would do if a major-league pitcher couldn’t throw a ball over a seventeen-inch plate?” He paused and the room fell silent. He filled the void with, “They send him down to the minors or fire him!”
“But let me tell you what they would never ever do. They would never say, ‘Ah, that’s alright buddy, if you can’t throw a baseball over a seventeen-inch target we’ll make it bigger for you, maybe we’ll widen it to nineteen or twenty inches so it will be easier for you; and if that’s not enough we’ll make it twenty-five inches wide.”
He then said, “The problem with most homes in America today, and with many organizations, is people haven’t created and enforced standards. We no longer teach our children, players, employees or our members accountability. It’s so much easier for parents, managers and executive directors to just simply widen the plate!”
Please understand that when we address student behavior or employee behavior that falls below our expectations, we do so from a place of care. I told one parent earlier this year, the easiest thing for us to do would be to ignore a student’s behavior. However, we would be doing that child and their family a disservice.
We will do our best to not widen the plate at Saint Edward’s.
I look forward to seeing you around campus!
Stuart
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