Baseball’s lessons can lead to success in life
Growing up, “baseball was life” for Command Sgt. Maj. Adam Breeding of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team.
But while he never had the opportunity to play American Legion Baseball — “While I absolutely loved baseball, baseball only mildly liked me” — he credits the lessons of baseball for setting him up for future success.
Breeding was the featured speaker at the annual Host City Welcome, the Wednesday night event in which the eight teams in the American Legion World Series are officially welcomed to Shelby, N.C. The Golden Knights have been part of the ALWS schedule since 2022 and are scheduled to perform before Game 9 on Saturday and before the championship game on Tuesday.
“Baseball showed me that I could be great,” Breeding said. “It gave me the confidence to rely on my abilities to make things happen and get them done.
“It also taught me about personal limitations and humility. If you needed a defensive stand and had to have a stop or needed someone you knew wouldn’t commit an error, I was your guy. If you had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and needed to knock in that winning run, you might as well tell the other team to cue up the band because I was not that guy,” he joked.
Breeding praised the support one receives in baseball, from teammates, coaches and parents.
“As a parent, your children’s dreams become your dream. Not because you want to live vicariously through them, but because you want them to be successful, and you want them to win, and you want to pick them up when they lose, and remind them how great they are, and they’ll get it next time,” he said.
He noted that baseball’s lessons, in self-awareness, teamwork, communication, resiliency and support, can be applied to any personal pursuit.
“I apply and see my soldiers apply these lessons every day, whether it’s through one of the demonstration teams preparing to jump into a packed stadium, or my competition team getting locked in and focused for the next formation jump as they pursue that gold medal,” he said.
He also encouraged the players to “pause at some point over the next few days and truly take in this experience. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Breeding and Sgt. 1st Class Houston Creech, a Shelby native who’s also a member of the Golden Knights, also shared a tribute video to Master Sgt. Ty Kettenhofen. The Golden Knights team member was part of the 2022 team whose ALWS performance was canceled due to weather. He died in March 2023 following a training accident.
Other speakers at the Host City Welcome included Shelby Mayor Stan Anthony and North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Tamara Barringer. The event concluded with players from each team participating in a disc golf tournament outside the LeGrand Center.
