by Ed Solt
All photos by Rick Parker
Donning white baseball pants and cleats, a traditional look for Little League coaches, which departs from the thankfully discontinued ultra-short, form-fitting, bike-brand era of “coaches shorts,” Shawn O’Brien brings an old school philosophy of working hard to achieve a goal.
In his first year as coach for his son’s Riviera Little League 7-8 year baseball team, O’Brien’s success was not gauged through victories but the smiles on his boys’ faces.
As a kid, O’Brien was a standout, a yearly all-star in the Torrance American Baseball Pony League (TABB), playing in the league up to the age of 11 before being asked to play on the South Bay Sharks.
“The Sharks were an elite team. We had the first round pick of the Dodgers in 2001 on our team. [We] went to the AAU national championships two times in Florida,” he said. “We were, kind of, the first generation of travel ball. Nowadays they have travel teams for 6-year-olds.”
In high school, O’Brien’s interest shifted from the dusty diamond to the sandy beaches, trading in his cleats to go barefoot. He became a star longboarder for the South High surf team. Longboarding transformed O’Brien into an advocate of classic surf culture. His transportation was a Sherwood and Pinecrest green colored 1955 Chevy wagon rebuilt with his father Bill O’Brien.
South High surf coach John Joseph said the same qualities that made O’Brien a stellar ball player made him an excellent surfer.
“My son Johnny played baseball with and against him many times and Shawn always seemed to be the most talented player on the field,” Joseph said. “He was a real prospect as a catcher and hitter. Shawn is also one of the best longboard surfers of his generation from the South Bay and I think he is the best ever from South Torrance High School. While at South, Shawn’s leadership and competitiveness helped South win league titles and be a threat at the State meet every year.”
Though surfing became O’Brien’s ultimate priority, the life lessons he took from baseball resonated. He cites Palos Verdes High baseball coach Murphy Su’a, who is also Samoan national team coach and former Cal State Dominguez Hills coach, as a key influence in his life.
“I’ll never forget his speeches on respect and discipline as the most important character traits in baseball and in life in general,” O’Brien said. “His coaching style is super positive. A couple of years ago, his son Justin Su’a just wrote a book called “Parent Pep Talks.” It provides very good insight in helping young athletes succeed.”
O’Brien’s emphasizes positive reinforcement. He understands Little League is for young kids who are sometimes holding a baseball bat for the very first time and are learning the unique, intricate rules of the game.
“Do you think any kid wants to miss a ground ball? Do you think that kid who struck out wanted to strikeout and walk back to the dugout as the whole crowd groans in disappointment?” he said. “I’ll never yell at, point out an error, or punish a kid for missing a ball or striking out.”
In in the third game of the season, O’Brien sat his son, Cormac, for an inning, after the boy uncharacteristically came into the dugout crying after missing a ground ball.
“I asked Cormac, ‘Why do you think I benched you?’ He answered, ‘Because I missed that ball,’” O’Brien said. “I replied, ‘You could miss 25 balls, and I won’t sit you because of it. But if you can’t control your emotions, you’ll have to take a breather.’ Baseball is a game of failure, so one of my goals is to get kids to focus on the things they can control.”
In youth sports world, a there are two extremes — the excessive urge to win examined in Chris Bell’s 2013 documentary “Trophy Kids,” and the “everyone is a winner” mantra. O’Brien feels a positive youth sports experience meets in the middle of these extremes.
“If your kid loves the game, let him set the tempo,” he said. “I’ll never tell Cormac, ‘It’s time to play catch or practice hitting.’ If he asks, I gladly say ‘Let’s do it!’ He also loves soccer and basketball and he has been surfing for the last year. Cormac was asked to be part of a travel team. I couldn’t wrap my head around a seven-year-old playing travel ball, especially when we can hang out at the beach all summer.”
O’Brien’s team, the A’s, lost one early regular season game. The next practice he sat his team down to go over the reason why they lost. He made it simple. A better team outplayed the A’s. He turned the experience into motivation for the A’s to practice hard and get better. The A’s eventually met and beat the same team en route to the championship game.
“It’s a rule that we never talk about the other teams or what they do or don’t do. We don’t brag about success and are always humble. At the same time, I am not about to tell these kids that the goal of baseball is to have fun alone,” he said. “The goal of baseball is to have fun while trying to score more runs than your opponents. Working hard helps you become better at reaching your goals.”
In the championship game, O’Brien’s team lost to the Yankees who “straight up mashed the ball and beat us bad.” But he didn’t let his boys make excuses.
“I told them after the playoffs there is one winner and a bunch of losers and this year it wasn’t us on the winning side,” he said. “We lost to a better team that day. But I am proud; they gave it a hell of a run.”
The season was full of memorable moments.
“Winning against the first place team made our boys believe in themselves,” he said. “We had a boy on our team who had never played before get his first hit about 10 games into the season. Our stands went crazy and the other boys cleared the dugout cheering for him. That is what it is all about.”
O’Brien credits the supporters who made the season so special.
“We had the best parents and assistant coaches, Chris Jensen, Helio Meza and Adam Davenport,” he said. “Without their support and positive encouragement, we would not have had such an epic season.”
Davenport makes the traditional surfboards O’Brien uses. While surfing together one early, January morning, O’Brien nonchalantly hinted to his friend that he needed help with his son’s Little League team. By his last wave, O’Brien had a pitching, catching, and first base coach.
“All the boys loved him. To have a guy with no kids give up two to three nights a week to invest in these boys was awesome,” O’Brien said. “He is so calm and was a good balance to my loud ‘Ra ra ra’ style.”
O’Brien’s biggest hope for the season was that the kids came away with life lessons.
Every week, he’d start practice by showing an 8.5” x 11” photo of a player and derive a lesson from that player’s career that applied to both baseball and life. For example, David Eckstein, the diminutive former Angel infielder, showed kids not to let physical size limit your goals; Mike Piazza, the former Dodger catcher who was drafted in the 62nd round but worked hard and made his way to the Hall of Fame; Kirby Puckett, the joyful Twins legend who retired when he suddenly went blind in one eye. He served as a lesson to enjoy every day of life and baseball because you never know when you can’t play anymore.
“Coach Shawn was amazing. He taught discipline in a way that was not mean, but encouraging. The kids wanted to be disciplined to be better,” said team mom Jennifer, whose son Ryder played every position. “He taught Ryder the love of baseball and brought fun to the game.” ER
