Box Scores

Unless you are an avid Baseball fan you don’t know the name Henry Chadwick. In fact, even an avid fan may not know this name as Mr. Chadwick died in 1908. Henry Chadwick was not a baseball player. He never owned a team. Like many people of his day, Mr. Chadwick was a fan. He was also a writer. He wrote for the newspapers that were the predecessors of the New York Times. He is known as the “Father of Baseball” and made what many consider to be one of the greatest contributions to the game. Mr. Chadwick created the Baseball Box Score.

In the years before the personal computer, before ESPN, even before the widespread broadcast of nationally televised games, a baseball fan read the box scores in the daily newspaper. As a kid growing up I tracked the statistics of my favorite players by checking out the box scores. The box scores are still published in the daily paper, and I am sure you can get them online, but I wonder whether we pay them much attention anymore.

Box scores track individual contributions to their team. The box scores track wins and losses, but they also provide details. The details include Home Runs, RBI’s, Batting Average, ERA, and KO’s. The box scores keep track of the league MVP, will tell you the CY Young Award winner for years past, track the annual Golden Glove Award, and the Rookie of the Year. We pour over these statistics. In the days of my youth a measure of intellect was the extent to which a kid could quote the statistics for a number of players. What was Jim Kaat’s ERA in 1963? Who won the CY Young in 1975? How many Home Runs did Willie Mays hit?

The box score gives credit and pays attention to individual contributions. They give us a chance to look at the game beyond who won and who lost. In a season that lasts more than 160 games, we use the box score to give us something to be excited about during the long season. Only one team wins the World Series. Certainly that is the focus of many teams. However, as we read the box scores we can track the individual achievements of each and every player. We can see by the statistics how much the effort of each individual matters to the success of their team.

I wish that we could measure our personal successes by way of a box score. We might use them to track our individual contributions. We could measure the extent to which we are doing things that really matter. Perhaps our personal box score would track our Home Runs such as winning a major contract, completing that important project, or getting a big promotion. But as in baseball, the Home Runs are few. Our personal Box score might track our sacrifice fly balls when we do something to help someone else succeed. They might track our batting average, which reflects the improvements we are making at learning new skills, or might just reflect our consistency for showing up when the team needs us. Maybe our personal Box score would track our Strike Outs, because we all miss sometimes. But I want my score to also track the singles that I grind out, when I keep working towards a goal. I want my own box score to show the number of times that I take batting practice to improve my skills. I want my personal box score to reflect the fact that I show up for the game of life early, even though I only sit on the bench waiting for a chance to play. I want the box score to reflect that when called upon to pinch hit for a friend, I was warmed up and ready to go.

All of this Baseball analogy won’t make much sense to anyone that is not a fan of the game, and makes even less sense if you have never looked at a box score. So, let me put this into words that don’t require you to be a Baseball fan, or even a reader of newspapers. My point is simply this. Each of us has the chance to make an individual contribution every day. Sometimes the contribution is small like picking up the milk on the way home from work. Others are huge like caring for an aged parent, or raising a disabled child. Most of our contributions will go unnoticed. We will not win awards for what we contribute. For some people, perhaps your contribution will even be criticized by those that don’t understand your motivations. Contribute any way.

In the whole scheme of things while we celebrate wins, and complain about losses, we must remember to recognize that we all share a part. Each of us makes a unique contribution to our teams, to our families, and to our communities. Perhaps as a writer, I can create a measurement like that created by Henry Chadwick. Perhaps I can figure out a way to track the box scores of our lives. Maybe we could post those individual contributions on the internet. Maybe young children will read them and know that you got only one hit in your four at bats yesterday, but that you produced the winning run. Maybe your spouse will read of your sacrifice fly that scored a run for your team even though you were called out. Or maybe your box score will show that you stretched beyond your reach to make every play that came my way. You don’t need to pitch a perfect game. Just make your individual contribution, and at the end of your season, I hope that the history books will show that you mattered. I know that for me personally, I don’t need an award or title, but I do need to make a difference.

In the end I guess that we really don’t need a box score. I guess that even though our contributions will never be tracked by anyone, we should still do all that we can to make our contribution. What will you do?