A look into Scott Rolen's emotional speech from Baseball Hall of Fame induction
A look into Scott Rolen's emotional speech from Baseball Hall of Fame induction originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Scott Rolen delivered a moving, emotional speech Sunday at the Clark as he was formally inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. In fact, several longtime observers of Induction Weekend ranked it at or near the top of the best they’ve ever heard.
Here are some highlights from the former Phillies third baseman’s remarks:
The theme throughout his 16-minute address was family. “Baseball was my career but it is not my story. My story begins and ends with the people sitting in front of me. My role models lived in the same house as me,” he said, referring to his father Ed and his mother Linda.
“I dreamed of being a Major League baseball player, but I was not raised to be a Major League Baseball player. I was raised to be honest, to work hard, to be accountable for my words and actions and to treat people with kindness and respect.
“I was not taught in today’s terminology. Exit velocity, launch angle or spin rate. Rather, I was taught please, thank you, excuse me and I’m sorry.”
He spoke lovingly of his wife, Niki, and their children, Raine and Finn.
He name-checked the four organizations he played for in his career: Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Reds starting with the team that drafted and signed him out of Jasper (Indiana) High School in 1993.
“I’ve had the privilege of playing with four organizations. . .Each one had its own personal time stamp on my life and career. . .
“The Phillies and Philadelphia. Thank you for teaching me to play the game with a genuine effort and honesty on the field and with the media. I was drafted, developed, given the opportunity and challenged to play with a full effort and a toughness that I hope middle infielders felt deep inside on the double play ball.”
The most cherished experience happened in Philly.
“My Major League career started on August 1, 1996 on a scorching hot day in Veterans Stadium in a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals. That day my parents drove overnight from Florida. Because Mom’s claustrophobic and won’t get on a plane. And has a fear of snakes. Anyway. . .
“They made it in the first game of the doubleheader in the top of the fourth inning. The greatest moment in my career happened that day. Seeing Mom and Dad walk to their seats from my position at third base was a feeling never topped again my 17 years.”
He recounted the most important lesson life lesson he learned from his father.
“Without much surprise, there’s a heavy tradition of basketball in the state of Indiana. One such is a series of two games between the Indiana All-Stars and the Kentucky All-Stars played at the end of the summer. I was selected to the Indiana team. . .
“I had previously been drafted by the Phillies and spent the summer playing high school b baseball, not basketball and had not picked up a basketball for two months.”
After a three-day mini-camp he told his father he had a minor problem he needed advice with.
“His answer. ‘OK.’
“Well, Dad, I can’t handle the ball. I can’t shoot. I’m completely out of basketball shape and everybody in the entire gym, including the coach, is better than me.
And his answer. ‘OK.’
“What do you mean, OK?”
“Well, what are you going to do, Scotty?”
“That’s what I’m asking you, Dad.’”
“How the hell do I know? You say you can’t dribble, you can’t shoot, you’re out of shape an d you’re completely overmatched. You told me what you can’t do. What can you do?”
“I guess I can rebound.”
“OK.”
“I can play defense.”
“OK.”
“I can dive for loose balls. It doesn’t appear guys are playing too hard up here. I can outhustle, outwork and beat everybody up and down the floor.”
“OK.”
“And then here came the words of wisdom. ‘Well, do that then.’ It turns out that, ‘Well, do that then’ carried me into the minor leagues and gave me a simple mindset that I would never allow myself to be unprepared or outworked. ‘Well, do that then,’ put me on this stage today.”
And he ended with a flourish.
“At the start of every home game, as the ball was being thrown around the horn, and I waited to hand it to our starter, Mom would stand and wave at me in the stands. In acknowledgment, I would subtly tip my cap my tapping it twice.
“My daughter, who was five at the time, soon joined Mom waving and eventually began wearing a cap of her own to tip it back at her dad.
“I’ll finish with this. In baseball, I am a Jasper Wildcat. I am an Indiana Bull. I am a Philadelphia Phillie, I am a St. Louis Cardinal, I am a Toronto Blue Jay, I am a Cincinnati Red. And today. . .I am a National Baseball Hall of Famer.
“In my life I am a friend, I am a brother, I am a son, I am a husband and I am – the greatest gift – a father.”
And then, looking directly at his family seated in the front row, he produced a Hall of Fame cap from behind the dais, put it on briefly and then tipped it to them.
