Mike Hartman- Motivational (pay it forward)

Mike Hartman, Performance Mindset Strategist. This is Develop the Mindset of a Champion with former Stanley cup champion Mike Hartman. Welcome to another episode. Today I'm going to share a story that is very personal to me. In 1975, I went to a baseball game at the old Tiger Stadium in Detroit. I was 8 years old. To me, baseball was everything. I love baseball. Boy, did I love baseball. I had my grandfather pitching me balls, that little plastic white ball with the orange bat in the backyard trying to smash that ball. And I just loved the game of baseball. So back then, our family really couldn't afford to go to Tiger Stadium. So we would go to about one, maybe, if I was lucky, two games a year, my uncle might take me to the game. I know my father took me to a game and mother and just love the game. It was such a great night for me to go to Tiger Stadium to see the Detroit Tigers. Well, we would sit in the cheap seats because we couldn't afford the fancy seats. So we'd either sit either in the bleachers or it would sit way up high. And once in a while we would try to sneak down late so we could see the big league players up close. But it was something in our family that I really loved to do. It was get to the ballpark early. So. So I used to ask my father and mother at a young age, can you do me a favor? Can we go watch batting practice? Can we go watch the players warm up? As these players were bigger than life, I mean, there's nothing more than I wanted at that time was to be a major league baseball player. So we would go there early, we'd watch batting practice. I would watch the players warm up in the bullpen, which at that time was close to the dugout. So if you're on the first base side, you could see where the, the visiting team was. And then if you're on the other side, the third base side is where the Detroit Tigers were. And you'd see the starting pitcher usually warm up on the mound, and you would see him release that ball from his hand and pop right into the catcher. And again, these guys were bigger than life. I. There's nothing more than I wanted to at that time was to be big league player. So I'm watching batting practice, I'm watching these players warm up. All of a sudden they start running in because it's drizzling. They probably realized it was raining before I did. I did not want to see rain. That's the last thing I wanted to See, can you imagine going to a game, you get one game in a year, maybe two, and all of a sudden it starts to drizzle. So I start running back to my seats that were way in the corner, so where my father was. So he would usually let me walk down, watch the guys warm up. Probably close to the dugout. And part way down is where the foul pole was, where our seats were all the way in the corner. And I was hoping it wasn't going to be a rain out. So as I'm walking my way down there, the visiting team, the New York Yankees, who my grandfather was a big fan of, big New York fan. He actually grew up in Brooklyn. They were playing a game called Pepper. That's where you take little ground balls. And some of the players at that time, it wasn't drizzling too bad. It was like a light drizzle there. And they were playing that game of Pepper. They were warming up as the players were playing Pepper. There were a lot of kids around my age. There were boys and girls and they were hanging over, asking the big leaguers for a ball. At that moment, a couple of the players were tossing balls out to the players. So I run in and I weasel my way in. Probably not the most appropriate thing to do. A little obnoxious kid running in, trying to get a ball. And Roy White walks over to me and hands me a ball. And I was so excited that you. I gripped this ball like I squeezed it as tight as I can in my hands. This was something that, wow. Like, I got a ball from an American League baseball player in the big leagues. So I take this ball and I'm holding it and I run back to where my parents are and I said, look what I got. I got this baseball. Look. This is unbelievable. So at that time, that was probably the biggest moment in my life. And I'm sure some of you are thinking today, like, boy, really? Over a ball. That ball meant so much to me that I still have that ball today sitting in my safe. And the significance of the game really didn't matter. I can't even remember who won the game. We ended up staying the entire game. And I'll explain how that worked out. So it was a drizzly night. It rained on and off. It was getting late. I begged my father, I said, can you do me one favor? Can I go down and get autographs from the New York Yankees and try to see Roy White, who actually gave me the ball? At that time, they had Thurman Munson. But I didn't know who Thurman Munson was until the late, great Thurman Munson, catcher. A lot of the New York Yankee players were down there, and I ran down. After my father finally agreed, we went down to this area where we got to an area where the fans could wait. And all the Yankee pitchers and the pitchers were coming out first because usually some of them don't dress. So they were coming out early. They must have got down. But I waited as long as I can to get the ball signed by pretty much all the players on the New York Yankees. And to this day, this ball meant so much to me. So I always made a little agreement with myself. The agreement was if I ever played in the big leagues or if I ever made it to a professional sport. At that time, I was thinking baseball, then later hockey, that I was going to give a ball out to a little kid. So you're thinking, all of us are young. Our dream is to play maybe a major league sport. Some of us. Some of us want to be a fireman, Some want to be a doctor, lawyer. I want to be a baseball player. At that time, I played t ball, love baseball. Ended up playing baseball all the way through. And then hockey took over as my passion. And I, again, I made that promise to myself that if I ever make it to the big leagues in any way, then I'm going to give out a hockey puck to one little boy and one little girl. So that promise stuck with me. I made that promise to myself, and I did it. I ended up giving a souvenir puck to a little boy and a little girl after warmups in every stadium I went to, even if it was the playoffs. And sometimes, I know I had some of my players look at me and says, are you ready for tonight? I'm passing pucks out. But that was just something that meant so much to me, and I. And I wanted to do it. Well, we're going to fast forward the clock to 1992. I was playing for the expansion team Tampa Bay Lightning. There were two young boys cutest could be, hanging over the glass with their Tampa Bay Lightning hats and their Tampa Bay Lightning shirts. And they were fans. They were waiting for a puck. They were waiting for players to toss them a puck. You could see they were just so excited being at the game. So I remembered this like it was yesterday. So I skate over and I give each of them a puck. Usually, like I said, I give a boy and a girl on a puck. That night, I don't think maybe I saw a girl around, but I thought you could see they're both brothers. They look identical. One look a couple years older than the other. So I give them a puck, and a few days later, I get a message in my stall in Tampa. And the message was from former teammate Clark Gillies. And he said, can you please call me asap? I said, sure. Clark Gilley, four time Stanley cup champion. Maybe he's coming to Tampa. I wanted to have dinner. I wasn't sure what the message was about, so I called Clarky. He informed me that I just gave two pucks to his very close friend's kids. Clark wanted me to give him his address so I can give my address to Clark. And Clark passed my address on. So I asked Clark, Clark, how do you know him? Who is this guy? Well, he told me that they were friends from his days in New York. And then he moved to Lakeland, Florida, which is a couple hours away from Tampa. And then he told me that they were good friends. They've had many dinners together. And he was in the waste management business. And I said, wait a sec. The waste management business? I'm trying to think if I ever did anything wrong. But all kidding aside, this family, he was a great gentleman. I ended up knowing him, and I'll get more into that in a minute. So a few days later comes this big package, like a garbage can size of wine, candy, cheese, fruits, anything you could imagine. Like, I couldn't believe it. I said, wow. So I ended up calling this gentleman on the phone because his number was there. He says, if you ever need anything, I said, listen, I have a couple tickets. And he had season tickets. I said, if you need a couple tickets, I can give you a couple tickets, but I'd like for you to wait for me after the game. And they waited, and I ended up making it nice for the kids. I think I brought the kids down to the dressing room and then I gave them a couple sticks. And I just, you know, friends of Clarky. I'm sure he's a nice guy. I didn't really know him, but I just. The thought of what he did, and he gave me this garbage can size of cheeses and crackers and fruits, and you name it. So years later, 28 years later, I still have an amazing relationship with this family. In fact, one of the boys ended up going to my hockey school in Michigan. In fact, both the boys went up, but one of them ended up playing college hockey. He's very successful in the financial industry here in New York City. So I was able to see him and the other son is in Seattle working for Microsoft. So to pay it forward, this message here is how important it is to pay it forward in life. The concept of paying it forward exemplifies the importance to make a difference in people's lives. Roy White had no idea of what he was doing by giving me that ball, except it was just a really nice gesture and it really impacted me to a point where I felt I had to pay it forward. And it was just an act of kindness on his part. And I realized in life it's an act of kindness, kindness on my part. The lesson here to learn is you never know what's going to happen from this. A lot of what I talk about is life is built on relationships. And the relationship I still have with this family in Lakeland, Florida, is like family to me. Until next time, be safe and have a great day.