Andy Neary recalls a championship game where catcher Todd Ludwig called timeout, cracked a joke, and calmed him down when he was spiraling. That moment of presence and humor helped the team win. Neary argues leaders should do the same: be the calm, call timeout when anxiety spikes, use short interventions to refocus.
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Behind every good pitcher, there is an equally amazing catcher. I was so blessed throughout my baseball career, whether it was high school, college, or pro ball, to be surrounded by some amazing and unbelievable catchers. And if you think about the role of a catcher in baseball, he's the captain, he's the leader of the team, right? And it's probably why there are so many former catchers who are now managers in Major League Baseball. And I can remember so many situations throughout my career where I was in a tough spot on the mound, guys on second and third, or I just walked a batter or two. And my catchers knew exactly when to call timeout. They knew when to come out, and they knew what to say to calm me down. In fact, I'll never forget one particular game. It was during the conference championships at uwm. I was in a tough spot on the mound, and guys on the second and third, maybe, and my catcher, Todd Ludwig, calls timeout. Todd, if you're out there, thank you. Comes out and he tells one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard. In fact, the joke was so long, the catcher or the umpire had to come out and break up the conversation. But guess what? It made me laugh. It calmed me down, it got me refocused, and we got out of that inning. We ended up moving on and winning the conference championships and going to the NCAA tournament. And I share that with you right now. Because if you're a leader of a team, you're a leader of an organization, you need to be the catcher, you need to be the captain, you need to be the calm amongst this storm. Because if you're anxious, you're stressed out, you're frustrated, your team is going to feel that, and they too, will be stressed out and frustrated. So if you sense any kind of stress and anxiety amongst your team right now, you need to call timeout, you need to walk out to the mound, have a good conversation, tell a joke, but calm your team down. Be that catcher, be that captain, be that leader. Because if you do, right now, if you remain the calm in the storm, your team, your organization, and the future of your business is going to thank you.
