# 17 inches - Worth Reading



## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Twenty one years ago, in Nashville, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball

coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling

about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend.

One name, in particular, kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment - "John Scolinos is here?

Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare."

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that

began in 1948.

He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue

shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung - a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy?

After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach

Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach

Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home

plate since he'd gotten on stage. Then, finally&#8230;"You're probably all wondering why I'm wearing home

plate around my neck," he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging

the possibility. "I may be old, but I'm not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you

baseball people what I've learned in my life, what I've learned about home plate in my 78 years."

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. "Do you

know how wide home plate is in Little League?"

After a pause, someone offered, "Seventeen inches?", more of a question than answer.

"That's right," he said. "How about in Babe Ruth's day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?"

Another long pause.

"Seventeen inches?" a guess from another reluctant coach.

"That's right," said Scolinos. "Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?" Hundreds

of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. "How wide is home plate in high school baseball?"

"Seventeen inches," they said, sounding more confident.

"You're right!" Scolinos barked. "And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?"

"Seventeen inches!" we said, in unison.

"Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?"............"Seventeen inches!"

"RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide is home plate in the Major Leagues?

"Seventeen inches!"

"SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!" he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. "And what do they do with a

Big League pitcher who can't throw the ball over seventeen inches?" Pause. "They send him to Pocatello!"

he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.

"What they don't do is this: they don't say, 'Ah, that's okay, Jimmy. If you can't hit a seventeen-inch target?

We'll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We'll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance

of hitting it. If you can't hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'"

Pause. "Coaches&#8230; what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice, or when our team rules

forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable?

Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? "

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach's message

began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When

he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two

windows.

"This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our

discipline. We don't teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards.

We just widen the plate!"

Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. "This is the problem in our

schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools

they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen

home plate! Where is that getting us?"

Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. "And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in

positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the

rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it."

"And the same is true with our government. Our so called representatives make rules for us that don't apply

to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow

them to widen home plate!

We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch."

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting

and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself,

about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others

accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an

undesirable path.

"If I am lucky," Coach Scolinos concluded, "you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this:

"If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold

our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence

when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools and churches and our government fail to hold

themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to&#8230;"

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside,

"We have dark days ahead!"

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players

and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year,

looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever

known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: "Coaches, keep your

players-no matter how good they are-your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all,

keep yourself at seventeen inches."

And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today. Now go out there and

fix it:

*"Don't widen the plate!"*


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I believe that this was posted here on hay talk in the last 24 months or so. It was well received.

Regards, Mike


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

What wisdom. What truth. We cheat those we widen home plate for in the long run. Need to get copy of this for my 15 year old grandson who really likes base ball making it to our cities All Stars.

Thanks for posting it.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Remembered this post from a while back and showed it to my dad the other day who is a big baseball fan and also coaches. Thought he might have read that before but he hadn't.....he agreed this was an excellent read with so much truth. He is going to make a copy of it to put in his office. Thanks again for posting.

Hayden


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