Lack of respect by many of the world’s people for the institutions of civilization—the institution of scholarship, the institution of art, the institution of science, the institution of business, and the others that make life be living—deplorably is growing.
What does it mean to respect an institution? Here, read part of Ryne Sandberg’s 2005 induction speech at the Baseball Hall of Fame, on respecting the institution of the game of baseball:
I was in awe every time I walked on to the field. That’s respect. I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponent or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform. Make a great play, act like you’ve done it before; get a big hit, look for the third base coach and get ready to run the bases; hit a home run, put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is a lot more important than the name on the back. That’s respect. . . . When did it become okay for someone to hit home runs and forget how to play the rest of the game? . . . These guys sitting up here [in the Baseball Hall of Fame] did not pave the way for the rest of us so that players could swing for the fences every time up and forget how to move a runner over to third. It’s disrespectful to them, to you, and to the game of baseball that we all played growing up. Respect. A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn’t work hard for validation. I didn’t play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played it right because that’s what you’re supposed to do, play it right and with respect. . . . If this validates anything, it’s that guys who taught me the game did what they were supposed to do and I did what I was supposed to do.
(Quoted from page 3 of On Thinking Institutionally, by Hugh Heclo. Paradigm Publishers, 2008.)
For a brief biography of Ryne Sandberg, click here. For images of or relating to Ryne Sandberg, click here.
For a brief biography of Hugh Heclo, click here. For images of or relating to Hugh Heclo, click here.
Comments