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June 02. 2012 11:49PM
Sal's rules: Lessons beyond baseball
New Hampshire Fisher Cats Manager Sal Fasano has a dozen clubhouse rules for his players. You might have read them in our baseball writer Kevin Gray’s Wednesday column. When we read them, we thought they were pretty good rules for young employees everywhere, not just professional ballplayers.
Following rules one through five will set a good impression for most any employer:
1. Be on time or face a $100 fine.
2. Respect the staff, coaches, trainers, video coordinator, clubhouse manager and bus driver.
3. Respect the players around you. Be a good teammate.
4. What goes on in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse. No talking behind people’s backs or telling others about our business.
5. Be professional. You represent yourself, your family and the Blue Jays.
Rules six through eight are baseball-specific, but can apply outside the game. Appreciate the freedoms you have as an American, and show some self-respect in your overall appearance:
6. Everyone toe the line for the national anthem.
7. Wear a collared shirt. We are close to the big leagues, so look like it.
8. Obey the organization’s rules about facial hair.
9. Starting pitcher decides on pregame music.
Rule 10, Fasano’s ban on the word “swag,” is a great rule to live by. As Fasano explained it: “I want the guys to have more substance than style.
“If you have a lot of substance, you create your own style. That’s why that word is not used in our clubhouse. It doesn’t go good to a team atmosphere when a guy has that swagger. I’d rather have the workmanlike (player) with a blue collar.”
11. “Reminder about DUI and DWI, and how hard it is to be a Toronto Blue Jays player because you have a hard time getting into Canada.”
12. No posting of Facebook or Twitter during a game or 30 minutes before or after a game.
The Fisher Cats, Eastern League champions last year under Fasano, are struggling right now, but that’s sports for you. Sometimes really good teams go through slumps or have bad seasons. But Fasano is teaching something more than winning.
He is teaching how to make it in life, and his players are lucky to have a manager who cares enough to do that.
Following rules one through five will set a good impression for most any employer:
1. Be on time or face a $100 fine.
2. Respect the staff, coaches, trainers, video coordinator, clubhouse manager and bus driver.
3. Respect the players around you. Be a good teammate.
4. What goes on in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse. No talking behind people’s backs or telling others about our business.
5. Be professional. You represent yourself, your family and the Blue Jays.
Rules six through eight are baseball-specific, but can apply outside the game. Appreciate the freedoms you have as an American, and show some self-respect in your overall appearance:
6. Everyone toe the line for the national anthem.
7. Wear a collared shirt. We are close to the big leagues, so look like it.
8. Obey the organization’s rules about facial hair.
9. Starting pitcher decides on pregame music.
Rule 10, Fasano’s ban on the word “swag,” is a great rule to live by. As Fasano explained it: “I want the guys to have more substance than style.
“If you have a lot of substance, you create your own style. That’s why that word is not used in our clubhouse. It doesn’t go good to a team atmosphere when a guy has that swagger. I’d rather have the workmanlike (player) with a blue collar.”
11. “Reminder about DUI and DWI, and how hard it is to be a Toronto Blue Jays player because you have a hard time getting into Canada.”
12. No posting of Facebook or Twitter during a game or 30 minutes before or after a game.
The Fisher Cats, Eastern League champions last year under Fasano, are struggling right now, but that’s sports for you. Sometimes really good teams go through slumps or have bad seasons. But Fasano is teaching something more than winning.
He is teaching how to make it in life, and his players are lucky to have a manager who cares enough to do that.
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