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Hit King. Charlie Hustle. Teacher. Pete Rose's advice to young players

Pete Rose was a fantastic teacher of the game, a fact that has long been lost given all the drama surrounding the man.

Rose, who died on Monday, naturally led by example with his uncompromising style of play. But Charlie Hustle also had the ability to build rapport with players young and old.

He appeared on an episode of “The Baseball Bunch,” a nationally broadcast Saturday morning children's show in the early 1980s that focused on teaching baseball fundamentals. (As a child of the '80s, it was must-see television.) The episode taught Rose the fundamentals of first base and base-running, including how to properly execute his signature head-first slide. Rose also gave some great playing tips in interviews throughout his career.

Let's celebrate Pete Rose, the teacher. Here are three lessons he taught that are applicable to youth players, coaches and parents (pieced together from various television interviews):

1. Never embarrass a child

What Rose said: “We will all make mistakes. Human errors. Physical mistakes. When you make mental mistakes as a child, you just have to talk to them on the way home, like I do with my son – like my dad did with me. He never embarrassed me in front of anyone. But if I did something that he didn’t think was the right thing to do, he would explain it to me as soon as it was fresh in my mind (after a game or practice).”

Tear down: This might be the best advice for coaches and parents. As a youth baseball coach, it is challenging not to want to correct a child in the heat of the moment while they are still on the field. Unfortunately, I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Correcting or yelling at a child in the moment might work in soccer and basketball because of the intensity, pace of the game, and the way these team sports work. In a gym and on a soccer field, there is a lot of extra noise that deters a coach from tackling a child.

But not in baseball. First of all, baseball is the most difficult sport to play. And on a baseball field you can hear everything, which makes a kid feel like all eyes are on him if he makes a mistake or doesn't throw well.

Think about it. If a child makes a mistake in soccer, he or she can vent his aggression by hitting someone harder on the next play and blending in with the other 21 players on the field. When a child is in a shooting slump in basketball, he or she can always focus on contributing by defending harder and being a more aggressive rebounder.

But you don't really have those options to make up for a mistake in baseball. After striking out in the first two shots, swinging harder probably isn't the answer. After walking with a man, throwing harder is unlikely to cause a child to suddenly throw punches.

The mental part of the game is crucial and this is where individual correction on the fly in the dugout between innings or on the way home after the game is key to a young player's development.

The car ride home can sometimes be tiring. Regardless of whether my son and his team had a good game or a bad game, I always start the conversation by saying, “I enjoyed watching you and your team play today,” the advice I offer I got it from a podcast called “Elbow Up” a few years ago. It takes the edge off and opens the door to discussion about how to improve.

Rose's advice can certainly be applied to girls' sports.

2. Being aggressive has many benefits

What Rose said: “An aggressive player is difficult to beat. Because he keeps coming at you. He can steal a base. He can destroy a double game.” …

“If you have a young child who hits a high pitch every now and then or a low pitch every now and then and is very aggressive, then let him do it. Don't try to make it swing only when hitting. The most important thing about being a hitter is being aggressive.”

Tear down: Combine different approaches here to play aggressively.

The first quote is about putting pressure on the opponent through base running. In youth baseball, the more aggressive base-running team often wins. Aggressively stealing bases can unnerve young pitchers and quickly change the dynamic of a game. Fielders can start throwing the ball all over the place to throw players out, leading to easy runs.

The point of the latter quote is to help children figure out what kind of pitches they like to hit. Notice how he said “occasionally.” There is a boy on my team who loves hitting high shots. It was a process of convincing him to stop making overhead throws but letting him continue swinging to chest and shoulder height. He developed into an excellent hitter because we allowed him to be aggressive and showed him how to be smart about it.

3. Approach practice as if it were a big game

What Rose said: “I told my little one, never do anything in practice that you wouldn't do in Game 7 of the World Series. If you practice correctly, you have a good chance of playing correctly. If you practice wrong, you have a good chance of playing wrong.

Tear down: Last Sunday I shared a similar message with my 11-year-old team. We played outstandingly, our best performance of the fall season. It's probably no coincidence that we did this after having our best training of the season. The challenge is getting the kids to play well in a game when they weren't good enough in the previous practice. It will happen because they are children. Sometimes we just need to remind children: Baseball is fun. Go and have fun.

Contact columnist Jason Williams at [email protected]

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