Sports Blog: My New Catcher’s Glove

Early this spring, I bought a new catcher’s glove made by a company headquartered in New Jersey called Akadema. Akadema didn’t exist when I was a boy. Back then, most players in the Bigs wore gloves made by Wilson or Rawlings.

I bought this brand because I like the company’s story.

Two brothers who love baseball and have the zeal entrepreneurs exemplify founded Akadema in 1997. They seemed to be caused by their cause—they wanted to make great baseball gloves [that helped players field their positions better. They wanted to innovate a timeless game with all due respect to tradition]. I like that. I think they embody the kind of people I like to work with. My new glove wasn’t quite as expensive as what major league catchers use, but it was about 10 times more expensive than the Rawlings catcher’s glove I bought with money from my confirmation when I was 12.

Why would a 66-year-old guy buy a new catcher’s glove?

It’s not likely that I’m going to sign a big league contract any time soon, and all I use it for is to play catch with my son-in-law and neighbor. I can give you a couple rational reasons why I bought it, but down deep inside, this purchase says something about me and my work.

I was a catcher all the years I played organized baseball. Though I was never very good, the position suited me and is a great metaphor for my work as an executive coach. When a baseball team is on the field, all eyes are on the batter or pitcher. The catcher is hard to see; he wears a mask and crouches low, obscured by the batter and the umpire. But each play starts with the catcher giving signals to the pitcher. He’s often the one who positions the infielders, and before the game or between innings, the catcher sits with the pitcher and discusses how to pitch to each batter. If the pitcher gets in a jam, the catcher is the one who goes to the mound to talk with him, to calm him down or discuss how to pitch to the next hitter.

Like the catcher, the executive coach is seldom seen.

But he’s working with the CEO discussing strategy, helping him/her position their team and discussing what to do when the CEO gets in a jam. It’s a role I relished as a boy and one that I love today. And best of all, I’m a much better coach than I was a catcher.