“Follow your heart, but take your brain with you.” - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

13 December

Little Johnny Stories XI

When you’re preparing for a really big move, get lots of advice, but be careful whose advice you actually follow. Johnny, who is not so little any more, is now a senior on his high school baseball team. He’s matured into a devastating pitcher – he made all-city and all-conference in his sophomore and junior years and he’s sure to do it again this year. In the sports pages they’re saying his 97-mph fastball is his ticket to the big leagues. Of course, he’s really young, and getting write-ups like that in the newspapers can turn any kid’s head. Needless to say, he’d just LOVE to break into the big leagues.

So he asks his coach Mr. Winters "Do you think I’ve got a shot at the majors?” but finds him surprisingly discouraging. “Don’t believe everything you read in the sports pages,” Mr. Winters says. “There’s a thousand kids just like you who are really good and want a shot at the Big Leagues, and they’re all chasing after just a few openings. Sure, your fast ball is dazzling, but as I’ve often told you, you throw a curve and a knuckle ball like a wooden Indian, and when someone gets a hit off you, and then the very next guy gets a hit off you, you just fall apart. Get a degree, and play college ball if you want, but give the big leagues a rest."

Then one weekend during spring training Johnny drives down to Scottsdale to get advice from Tom Simmons his grammar-school idol, a pitcher who graduated from his same high school five years earlier, who also made all-city and all-conference, but then made it into the big leagues. "Do you think I’ve got a shot at the majors?” Johnny asks. And the advice he gets is far different. “Sure you can, kid. In fact, I’ve seen you play - your fast ball is way faster than mine, but you throw a curve and a knuckle ball like a wooden Indian, and you panic when someone gets a hit off you, and the very next guy gets a hit off you. You need to get seasoned by playing college ball; you also need a college degree. But, hey, I did it. So can you!”

What’s the difference between the advice of these two people Johnny looks up to? Maybe their vantage point. Maybe the coach tried out for the big leagues when he was Johnny’s age, didn’t make it, and settled for a career as a high school coach instead, and feels resentful that one of his star players might actually get a shot at the brass ring that he never got. Maybe the coach wants to spare Johnny the heartache of trying really hard for something, like he did, and ending up with egg on his face. Then again maybe, unlike that coach, Tom Simmons doesn’t feel threatened by the competition.

The moral of the story: be very careful whose advice you listen to!