| Mordecai Brown School of Baseball |
|
Established in 1912 The Mordecai
Brown School of Baseball offers educational and training opportunities
for players, teams, and individuals. Subjects include accredited college
courses, professionally endorsed baseball clinics, and special cooperative
curriculum. Through strategic partnerships and affiliations, The Mordecai
Brown School of Baseball provides a guide towards learning venues founded
on the original values exemplified by Mordecai Brown.
Each developmental resource
has been selected for its ability to provide what Mordecai Brown called,
“A stable and powerful influence in developing players and stimulating
better baseball for the future”. Mordecai believed that the vehicle
of baseball could be used to teach valuable life skills as well as athleticism.
The purposes and objectives
of The Mordecai Brown School of Baseball are those demonstrated by its
founder, the legendary Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown:
The Mordecai Brown School of
Baseball originated out of the personal insight and vision of Hall of
Fame pitcher, Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown. During the 1912 season Mordecai Brown incurred an injury which threatened to end his career. In a game against Boston, Mordecai badly wrenched his knee in a misjudged slide into second. The accident was serious enough to warrant concern about Brown’s return to the mound. With the very real possibility of his playing days coming to an end, Mordecai began to reflect upon his life as a player. He had always been one willing to share his trade secrets with rookies and young people aspiring to a life on the diamond, but beyond that Brown began to ponder what would be the legacy he would leave behind.
Mordecai believed that the
game and very culture of baseball held within its structural foundation,
instruction that transcend the sport. Brown’s own early experience
with the game had been one of personal growth and development. Three
Finger Brown had overcome his own physical challenges and excelled in
the sport that gave him the opportunity to showcase his abilities. By accepting guidance from veteran brothers of the diamond, Mordecai quickly found that lessons on the field translated into lessons for life. Mordecai perceived that the game of baseball was the perfect classroom for successful life values and personal excellence. Mordecai wrote baseball at its core teaches, ‘‘Self-reliance, independence, ability to think, to judge between right and wrong, to act promptly upon a decision. These benefits are apparent not only on the baseball diamond, but in the business world, in the school room, as well as in the social world and home.’’
‘‘I believe that the secret
of baseball’s success is directly due to the fact that it’s honest,
in that it calls for fair play. On the field, everyone is equal. The
poor boy has an equal chance with the richest boy in the neighborhood.
Here, nothing else counts but your own skill.’’
‘‘Baseball teaches a cooperative
effort, the necessity of a player to become part of the whole of the
machinery, doing the work planned for him not for personal glory, but
for the good of the team as a whole. It teaches to do a particular work
as well as the individual can and spurs them to help the team to victory
with no reward saving the consciousness of having helped.’’
By December 1912 Brown began
to put into place the structure of The Mordecai Brown School of Baseball,
which would ensure the ability to inspire and instruct players and young
people for generations to come. With the assistance of a few very capable
friends and strategic partnerships, Mordecai Brown fulfilled his desire
to see unlimited opportunities for advancement of knowledge and life
skills perpetuated through the game of baseball. Mordecai Brown partnered with W.D. Boyce, one of the original founders of the Boy Scouts of America, to produce an in-depth instructional that not only covered Brown’s understanding of the game, but also his secrets to succeed in life. The curriculum covered subjects from pitching to base running, physical conditioning to focused, mental exercises, and from the advantages of a self disciplined life style to the need of education, plus business understanding beyond the diamond.
Debuting in 1913 How To
Pitch Curves, by Mordecai Brown was the culmination of “Three
Finger” Brown’s personal teachings and became the curriculum of
The Mordecai Brown School of Baseball. Mordecai believed that the skills
needed to play our “Grand Old Game” taught more than just the ability
to become a better baseball player. He felt that the very same lessons
designed to communicate excellence on the field of play, would also
developed the individual into more productive citizen. Through positive promotions, educational initiatives, cooperative partnerships, team affiliations and specialized curriculum The Mordecai Brown School of Baseball continues the vision and legacy of Mordecai ‘‘Three Finger’’ Brown. |