Baseball. It’s America’s favorite pastime (regardless of what NFL fans have to say). There’s a certain beauty and poetry to the game that dates back to 1846. And while today’s game is overly reliant on power and suffers from an overabundance of strikeouts, there’s still something about baseball that captivates people. 

Longtime New York baseball writer, Ken Davidoff and “renowned parenting

expert,” Harley A. Rotbart, MD, have come together on a new book that dives deep into some of the beauty that baseball offers, but not in the action of home runs or web gem-type plays. Rather, their new book, “101 Lessons from the Dugout,” teaches us about how we can learn from the game in ways that affect our everyday lives. 

As an example of one of the lessons in the book, Davidoff pointed to Chapter Two during our phone interview about the book. 

“Chapter Two is the lineup,” said Davidoff. “You get to the field and you find out you’re not starting, so you start your day with adversity, right? So how are you gonna deal with that? Are you gonna let yourself drag all day, or are you gonna get back up on your feet and say, ‘I’ll be ready when they call on me.’ 

“And the same thing, you go to school and first period you get a test back and you’re not happy with a test score. How are you gonna respond to that? Are you gonna be sad all day, or are you gonna keep fighting and strive to do better the next time? We really go deep into all aspects of the game, from hitting to base running to pitching to fielding and into some extra elements as well.”

At first glance, most people probably wouldn’t make that connection between those two forms of adversity. But that’s what makes Davidoff’s and Rotbart’s new book such a fresh take on the game of baseball (and softball). 

“We have five different sections,” Davidoff continued. “So, I’ll just offer you one that I particularly like, ’cause it’s about the way you prioritize things. There’s a chapter called ‘Fielder’s Choice,’ which would be Chapter 53. 

“You’re fielding. First and second, one out and you’re up four runs. What’s the approach there? Now, let’s say you’re in the field, first and second one out, but you’re only up by one. How do you approach that differently? 

“Now translate that over to a young person in school. Let’s say chemistry is your hardest course, right? But you’re acing it. You’re doing great. You have an ‘A.’ So, you have a few different things to do that night. Alright, maybe I can take my foot off the gas with chemistry a little bit and just work on a subject I like a little more and I find it a little easier. I’m not gonna completely blow off chemistry, but just decelerate. 

“But now, another scenario. You’re struggling in chemistry. You have a ‘C,’ so you need to get that lead out or turn the double-play, right? You need to really focus on chemistry there. That’s the kind of analogies we draw.”

Interesting analogies for sure. Obviously, in the first scenario, you make certain to get the out at first base because you have the cushion of a four-run lead. You need to work smart and efficiently, not necessarily be aggressive. But when the situation flips and your lead is only one run, you need to be aggressive, because you can’t afford to let that lead runner advance any further. 

Davidoff goes on to give an example lesson from his own personal career.

“Chapter 23: Small Ball. That’s the whole idea where you want to string together a bunch of hits as opposed to swing for the home run,” Davidoff explained. “Small ball, one step at a time. Game plan to use bunts, stolen bases, well-placed outs and hit-and-run plays to create runs rather than relying on big hits. Not all big accomplishments in life are home runs. Taking it one step at a time. Slowly but surely moving forward will often get you where you need to go better and faster than trying to get there all at once. 

“That’s certainly the way I regarded my career as a sports writer, especially once I got the Yankees beat in 1998 for the Bergen Record. I viewed it as small ball. I wasn’t trying to hit home runs. I was just trying to do one good story at a time and interesting feature stories and started to break some news and then build my way up to where I could be comfortable enough and confident enough to swing for the home run on occasion. So that was a practice I deployed.”

Of course, Davidoff and Rotbart are not the only people to put these lessons to good use. The man who wrote their foreword, David Wright, knows a thing or two about how baseball can inform life decisions. 

“I thought of David (for the foreword) because of the way he lived his life as a superstar athlete,” Davidoff explained. “I knew he’s now a parent of three young children and he coaches all three of them. So that’s why I thought he’d be a great fit and I was very, very excited when he agreed to write the foreword. As we were zooming and talking through what the foreword would actually look like, I realized even more how aligned we were. He fully believes in these analogies even before he knew this book existed. He teaches his own children to take lessons they learn on the field and take them to the other parts of their lives.”

Baseball fans, especially those of the New York Mets, can attest to the way Wright lived his life and will surely be glad to read some of his own insights in “101 Lessons from the Dugout.” 

With those few examples sure to attract enough attention for this tome to be considered a home run, let’s have Davidoff bring us home with how and where to get the book and give one last pitch on why people should read it.

“It will hopefully be available in bookstores starting Thursday, February 5th and in addition it’s available on Amazon and the publishing website, Bloomsbury,” said Davidoff. “This is just a sweet, positive book about the games of baseball and softball at a time where I think it’s really good to have such sweet, positive things to read and just very reinforcing for young people.”

Check it out at https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/101-lessons-from-the-dugout-9798765163016/ or https://a.co/d/031ONGbE.