The on Deck Circle of Life

First off...I dearly love the game of baseball, have since I was 5 years old. Mr. Rotbart has shown me why the game has rooted itself to my inner core. These days, I've had to step back and look at the game from another view. I am a District Administrator for Little League Baseball in Arizona and oversee 18 leagues. After reading this book I purchased enough copies for the presidents of each league (plus some) in the hopes that these directors of our young athletes will do the same with their constituents. Nothing worthwhile in life is just handed to us, we must practice over and over so we are ready when it's our turn to make the right play or decision in our lives. This book teaches us as adults, as well as our children, how perfect practice makes perfect!

As parents, one of our goals is to teach our children how best to interact with their increasingly complex and sometimes unfriendly world. This book serves as a primer to both parent and child, using baseball rules as the platform. In its simplicity, it is an elegant guide to making our children better adults, and making us better parents. I loved Dr. Rotbart's book, and only hope to see more of his profound wisdom in future books. How I wish he could have been my parent! Thanks for educating me to the rules of baseball and life, all in one concise volume.

I discovered the perfect gift for a grandmother to give her baseball-playing grandkids. I don't know anything about bats or gloves, and I can't figure out any of the other paraphernalia my grandsons use when I watch their games. Until now, the best I could do was giving them a gift certificate to a sporting goods store. But, "The On Deck Circle of Life - 101 Lessons from the Dugout" is better than any gift certificate. If I made a list of everything I'd like my grandsons to grow up to become, the list would include most of the chapters of this book. I bought a copy of the book for myself, too - because the top half of every chapter is a little lesson in the game of baseball and helps me understand what the kids are doing out there. The bottom half of each chapter teaches kids how the game relates to the real world, so there's something in each chapter for grandparents, parents, and kids. I really like this part of Chapter 81, the "Home Field Advantage": "As life challenges and confuses you, take comfort in, and take advantage of, your home field. Your parents and your brothers and sisters are your best friends, your most important teammates...No matter how bad the crisis, how afraid you feel, or how terrible you imagine the outcome, your family is your ultimate home field advantage. Find the comfort and stability of your familiar dugout and the friendly faces on the bleachers. You'll win many more games at home than on the road."

Books of baseball wisdom aren't unique - but this book is one-of-a-kind. Nowhere else can parents find so many important life lessons camouflaged in a language that kids love and speak fluently, the language of baseball. My kids read some chapters 5 or 6 times each because they thought it was "so cool" the way leading off from first base or tagging up had hidden meanings. This was the easiest way ever for my kids to fill 180 pages of their independent reading lists.

This is a wonderful book. It takes game situations familiar to all kids who play baseball and softball and turns them into a handbook for dealing with the real life situations that kids and adults have to deal with everyday. Dr. Rotbart's experience as a pediatrician and as a coach is evident on every page - he writes in an easy to understand, gentle style that kids and their parents will love. Have your kids read a few chapters each day of the season, or have them look up the actual events that happened on the ball field at the end of each game, for a healthy dose of life's wisdom from the baseball diamond. Just what the doctor ordered!