Times change and I have been forced to change as well. Today’s game of baseball has no fear of strikeouts, cares less about On Base Percentage, and is all about power. This has been hard for me to accept and has challenged my one single rule. My one untouchable truism. Don’t swing at a 3-0 pitch. Never ever. Ever ever.

It’s like, dude, you have a 50-50 chance of getting on base by just setting down your bat and reading a magazine. Why swing? Ever? Well, like I was saying, times have changed and people no longer care about my “Don’t swing on a 3-0 pitch” Rule. So fine, I shall change, too.

A fine demonstration of my change is this year’s Little League season. This is my tenth season coaching and for nine years, I drilled my 3-0 philosophy into those young minds. “Billy,” I would yell at my batter from the Third Base coaching box, “it’s a 3-0 count.” The kid would know not to swing and 50 percent of the time they would trot to first with a walk. Ah, it was a thing of beauty. An act of baseball managerial harmony. All right in world, but no more. Times have changed and now I keep my mouth shut. Swing away, kiddos. That’s the new way.

So there I was, standing in the Third Base coaches box, keeping my mouth shut. My ten-year-old son Ben was at the plate. Sure enough, the count reached 3-0, but still I kept my mouth shut. He would need to navigate this new world on his own, my old way of thinking would be of little help.

Suddenly, I saw young Ben glance up at me and smile. He mouthed, “3-0,” and I nodded my approval. My boy had been 3-0 hardwired. He had learned his lesson well.

The next pitch? It was low and outside. My son walked to First Base. We had a runner. A runner courtesy of a father teaching his son.