Real success in baseball comes not just from good instruction and lots of practice, but from motivating boys to experience passion and joy from the nature of the game. When you add in the support and praise from parents, coaches and teammates, there's no way to lose.

SYNOPSIS:

In the Spring of 2016, the Encinitas Little League Cardinals became the winningest team in the history of the league with a record-breaking 17 wins and only one loss. The also scored the most runs ever in a single season.

After six years of playing Little League, it was the first time that my three boys had ever been on a winning team.

I spent six years sitting in the stands, watching coaches nearly come to fisticuffs, listening to parents rage at the umpires, and observing kids meltdown one after the other. During this season, I noticed something entirely different.

People smiled. Players supported one another. Coaches hugged and fist bumped. And the parents encouraged and praised their children, no matter what.

And it worked.

We are such a visually-driven society but I've come to believe that it's not always about what we see. Sometimes we just have to listen.

Sometimes it's just about the chatter.