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Winners Celebrate Everything (A Dugout Discussion)

Winners Celebrate Everything (A Dugout Discussion)
Photo by Kirk Thornton / Unsplash

 Losers get too high, which inevitably leads them to get too low. There’s nothing wrong with getting excited during a game; there's plenty to get excited for. The problem is when the only thing that gets celebrated are the rare things in baseball. Examples include: home runs, triples, doubles, strikeouts in big spots, and throwing a runner out at home. When that is all that is celebrated, a dugout will quickly become disengaged with the game, creating long periods of silence which quickly turn into a “low.” Nothing has to necessarily be going wrong just yet, but all the signs in the dugout are there. I use the term engagement and not energy because engagement can stand the length of a baseball game; energy cannot. Energy comes from a single big event sparking excitement that quickly dies out. Energy is a player or players in the dugout saying, “let’s get loud” and “I can’t hear you guys” or “let’s make some noise.” Those kinds of cheers are fleeting and again lead to a team that finds themselves in the highs and lows of a game.

What do winners do? It starts by understanding the game of baseball and recognizing all of the little things that lead to big things. The little things deserve credit from the first pitch to the last. This is going to require a team to PAY ATTENTION during the entirety of the game. The formula to winning a baseball game is pitching, defense, timely hitting. Each one of those MUST be celebrated equally. Losing teams are notorious for celebrating one of those things and ignoring the rest. A first pitch strike is worth celebrating; according to https://weinsteinbaseball.com, 92.7% of first pitch strikes at the MLB level lead to an out or strike one. 69% of strikeouts come after first pitch strikes, and more importantly, 70% of walks start with a first pitch ball. Knowing that, a first pitch strike is one of the most valuable things in a game, but losing teams seem to never recognize them. Winning teams celebrate the steps of the process while losing teams only celebrate the outcome.

Question: How many of you have celebrated every first pitch strike from start to finish?

Defense: Of course, it’s a big deal when someone is thrown out at the plate, especially when the game is on the line; celebrate those outs! What about the fly ball hit to the left fielder in the 4th inning with nobody on? That out is just as valuable as the out at the plate. In a 7-inning game, we need 21 outs, each one is valuable regardless of how we get them, but certain types of outs seem to be celebrated more by losers than by winners. Losers celebrate strikeouts, double plays, plays at the plate, maybe a caught stealing, while winners celebrate each out equally. The losing team is now celebrating the defense a total of maybe 5-10 times per game while the winning team is celebrating the defense 21 times per game. When a team celebrates each out, there’s no need for that one teammate to have to say to the team, “let’s get loud this inning.”

For a team to stay emotionally even throughout a ball game, we need to be engaged and celebrate the constants in the game. The things that will always be there if you’re winning or losing.


Here’s a list of things worth celebrating:

  • Strike one
  • Strike 2
  • Strike 3
  • Out 1, 2, 3
  • Blocked ball by catcher
  • Framed pitch by catcher
  • Drop 3rd strike execution
  • First baseman picking a ball
  • First baseman jumping to catch a ball
  • Outfielder ranging in any direction for an out
  • Outfielder hitting a cutoff
  • Outfielder making a strong throw that holds a runner
  • Shortstop / 2nd baseman/ pitcher working to keep runners close
  • Outfielders / infielders communicating on fly balls/popups
  • Efficient innings
  • Executing bunt defense correctly
  • Executing 1st & 3rd plays correctly
  • Hustle
  • Baseball IQ
  • Wearing a pitch
  • Executing a hit & run
  • Executing a sacrifice bunt
  • Executing a sacrifice fly
  • Moving a runner over
  • Putting a ball in play with 2 strikes
  • Batter laying off a well-executed pitch
  • Batter having a long at bat
  • Batter taking ball one
  • Batter not swinging at first pitch off speed
  • Batter hitting a pitcher's count off-speed pitch
  • Batter hitting a first pitch fastball
  • Batter taking an extra base via bad throw
  • Batter sprinting to first, forcing an error
  • Batter sprinting to first, beating out a ground ball
  • Runner stealing
  • Runner getting a pitcher to pick multiple times
  • Runner getting good secondaries

There’s plenty more, but you get the idea. These 37 things are constantly happening during every game regardless of the score. When each one of those is recognized by a dugout, there’s no longer a high and low problem. Losing teams celebrate the big things; winning teams celebrate everything.

Ben Villines