Episode 310: Rusty George & Mike Linch - Have You Put A Period Where God Put A Comma?

I am joined by Mike Linch he is the Senior Pastor at Northstar Church outside Atlanta, Georgia for the last 27 years. We talk about Mike's baseball career at Liberty University and his love of baseball which led him to start a prayer group over zoom before the pandemic with baseball managers, coaches, and scouts. Enjoy as Mike and I talk about adversity on the baseball field and in life and how Jesus has helped people overcome.


Website: https://northstarchurch.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikelinch/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.linch.75

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikelinch

Mike Linch Podcast: https://mikelinch.com/podcast/

Creators & Guests

Host

Rusty George

Follower of Jesus, husband of lorrie, father of lindsey and sidney, pastor of Crossroads Christian Church

What is The Rusty George Podcast?

Rusty George is the Lead Pastor at Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Prairie. Under his dedicated leadership, Crossroads Christian Church aspires to flourish as a vibrant community committed to guiding individuals in their journey to discover and follow the path of Jesus.

Beyond leading Crossroads Church, Rusty is a global speaker, leader and teacher focusing on making real life simple. Rusty has also written several books and can be heard weekly on his podcast, Leading Simple with Rusty George.

Aside from being a loyal Chiefs, Royals, and Lakers fan, Rusty is first and foremost committed to his family. Rusty has been married to his wife, Lorrie, for over twenty-five years, and they have two daughters, Lindsey and Sidney. As a family, they enjoy walking the dogs, playing board games together, and watching HGTV while Rusty watches ESPN on his iPad.

Mike Linch (00:00.59)
So where, where are you in Texas?

Rusty (00:04.095)
Man, I am just down the street from the ballpark. So I'm right outside of Arlington, Arlington grand Prairie, main field. Yeah, absolutely. So I can.

Mike Linch (00:09.55)
Are you really?

What tell me, give, give me a little, give me a little snapshot. What, what led you to the move and all that kind of stuff.

Rusty (00:19.679)
Yeah. you know, we had hit 20 years where we were approaching 20 years in California and we loved it. We had no reason to leave, but we also knew that our parents were aging. We felt the need to be closer to them. Our kids were leaving and move into Missouri to go to school and in school forever, but we recognized everything's in the Midwest. and we just thought maybe this is the time for us to make a change and maybe that'd be good for real life. Maybe that would be good for us.

So we just started praying about it and this church out in Texas started calling us to come out and teach about once a month because they got retired and I knew the church and had some connection with them over the years because of their lead guy. And we said, sure. So did that for a few months. And then they started asking if we'd stay and we started praying about it and we made the move. So here we are. It's.

Mike Linch (01:15.31)
Yeah, that is tell me about the church. What's, what's the church like?

Rusty (01:15.967)
church is great. Church is a 55 years old, runs about 5 ,000 big old building, you know, and as, as Texas would be. but just has a huge heart for reaching the community and has done that through sports ministry over the years. So they've got a lot of great stuff going on, reaching out to families that way. we just felt like it was a great opportunity to, for our next chapter, next season of life. And.

Staff's been great. People have been great. So it's, it's been, it's been a really good move.

Mike Linch (01:51.214)
That's so fun. Well, one of my old teammates coaches, one of my teammates coaches for the Rangers, Tony Beasley third base coach. Yep. So bees and I played together at Liberty in 8889, but have kept up. And then one summer, his son came and lived with me in Atlanta and played travel ball with me. Yeah. It's just a, he is, he is, if I look back on my journey, he's probably a top.

Rusty (01:55.367)
Really? Okay.

Rusty (02:03.391)
wow.

Mike Linch (02:20.334)
Five guy who just is a Christ follower. Period. I mean, like everything about his life oozes Jesus. He's amazing. He's amazing. So you'll need to get connected with bees. You'll need to get connected with bees.

Rusty (02:24.927)
Wow. Wow. I would love to meet him. I'd love to have him on the podcast. Can you make an action that way?

Mike Linch (02:37.486)
Yeah. So I'll shoot you the episode he was on. So he's a colon cancer survivor or a rectal cancer survivor. So when they won, so this will tell you about bees bees came up, got a cup of coffee, started coaching was like, minor league manager of the year at three different levels ended up coming up with the pirates as a third base coach. And then went to Washington was with Frank Robinson as his third base coach.

Rusty (02:41.087)
Wow.

Mike Linch (03:04.686)
Frank Robinson said, Bees is the best man he's ever met in baseball. That tells you something goes when he retires, goes back to the pirates. I want to say for a season. And then he was in the, the Nats like, minor league. So he did a, I think he's a field coordinator, his AAA manager, and then, went with Jeff Bannister to Texas with Bannister. And so he was his third base coach. Bannister gets fired. They keep him.

Rusty (03:04.991)
Wow.

Mike Linch (03:33.742)
Woodward becomes the coach keeps bees. He's still the third base coach. Woodward gets fired. They keep bees making the interim manager. And I really thought he would get the job in the day. I was at a board meeting the day he didn't get the job. And they announced Bruce Bochy. I texted bees and said, man, I am so sorry. I thought it was, I thought it was a shoe in and B said, man, Boach has already called me. I'm staying as his third base coach.

Rusty (04:01.855)
Thanks, buddy.

Mike Linch (04:03.47)
So he's on his third manager, which is unheard of, but he's the glue. He's the glue. He's the guy and everybody knows it. So when he, when they won the AL West and like 17, Tony had just had cancer at MD or just had surgery at MD Anderson. They wouldn't celebrate in the clubhouse till they got bees. we're watching it. They wanted bees on the phone with them before they would celebrate.

Rusty (04:23.871)
Wow.

So cool.

Mike Linch (04:32.718)
So yeah, he's, he oozes Jesus, man. I'm telling you the top, top five greatest man I've ever known. And I've seen him, I've seen him as a college kid in the dorm room, you know, he's just, he's just a good dude. So yeah, definitely with your love for baseball. Yeah. So definitely with your love for baseball, we need to, we need to make that happen. So.

Rusty (04:34.335)
Ugh.

Yeah. And you still think he's hot.

Rusty (04:47.647)
that would be awesome. I would love to make that connection. I, thanks to, another friend, I got connected with, Dayton Moore, who was the GM of the Royals. and now he's with the Rangers. And so I had him on the show. Yeah. A few, few months ago he was on, he was quick. So I'd love to, make another connection there. Yeah.

Mike Linch (04:57.358)
Yeah.

Mike Linch (05:06.67)
Yes!

Mike Linch (05:11.95)
He's with the Rangers.

Mike Linch (05:19.054)
He's a quality guy, man. He's a quality guy and I've never met date. And we're at a conference together this summer in Minneapolis. and it's one you ought to, you would enjoy it. It's called, it's called the CWS Christians working in sports. So it's all, it's a, it's a, this kid's in his thirties. He puts it together last year. It was John Jason Romano, John Gordon, me.

Kelly Masters, she's big NFL agent. So there's people from every, every NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL that are Christians living in that world. And it's a conference to encourage them to keep living out their faith. It's a, it is one of the coolest deals and the guy that puts it together is young and he started, he was a equipment manager.

Rusty (06:12.031)
I love that.

Mike Linch (06:15.086)
And so he started this thing called managers on mission. He'd be a great podcast guy, by the way, but thing called managers on mission. Yeah. And so he, he was trying to fund his, he was trying to fund his mission. So he's like, man, they get rid of all this gear. They're always throwing away gear because they go from underarmor to Nike. So he came up with this concept rusty of repurposing that gear and it's called clothe clothing with a cause. He funds now.

So get this, he has processed 700 ,000 pounds of gear that companies that, that all these major league NFL, NBA, Kentucky basketball, they send him their junk and send him their extra gear. And he resells it at a direct site on the internet. And it funds his ministry. Just 20 employees. And it's all about Christians and sports, the whole, the whole ministry.

Rusty (06:57.407)
Unbelievable.

Rusty (07:08.927)
Okay.

Mike Linch (07:14.158)
is Christians in sports. So he and I got connected through my baseball deal. That was the, that was my connection. And so I, that's how I got involved in sort of become their pastor in that group, but you would love it. And it's just, man, you're up there. I'm meeting guys from NASCAR and it's crazy. It's crazy. It's just this kid. It's just this kid out doing, just doing his deal, man. Yeah. Really cool.

Rusty (07:22.751)
Man, that is so cool. Hey, is Clay Scroggins involved with any of those things?

Okay. Cause he has some kind of connection with, I don't, I don't think it's CWS, but it's something like that because he connected me with a guy that's with the Cowboys. That's a Christian and he connected to a group of, I think it's execs like Jim Rogers and that kind of thing, because we were trying to connect. I have a loose connection to the general manager of the Milwaukee bucks and we're trying to him. And anyway, so it's.

Mike Linch (07:43.63)
No, not that I know of.

Mike Linch (07:56.782)
Huh.

Mike Linch (08:00.686)
Okay.

Rusty (08:00.831)
Man, what a cool world to live in and know those guys are rallying together.

Rusty (08:08.959)
Yeah, that's.

Mike Linch (08:15.918)
It really, it really is in Romano's super plugged into it. So Jason, Jason sort of the glue guy for him getting these personalities in. Cause everybody knows all those guys all know Jason. So Jason's his, his link getting people in. Yeah. So it's pretty wild, man. Pretty wild. So you kept the, you made the transition, but you kept the podcast. So you're going to keep rolling. Just keep, keep going with the podcast. It's the new state.

Rusty (08:16.096)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Rusty (08:22.783)
I'm glad you mentioned him. I need to have him back on.

Rusty (08:28.895)
Yeah.

That's right. That's right. So I'll throw you some softballs. You crank them out of the park and we'll have fun along the way. All right.

All right, let's go. Thank you for Mike, for his impact, not just where he is, but around the world. And we pray that you would use this conversation to encourage a lot of people out there. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Mike Linch (08:52.398)
Let's do it man, ready to go.

Rusty (08:56.063)
Mike Lynch, welcome back to the show. Tell everybody just a brief synopsis as to who you are and what you've been up to.

Mike Linch (09:07.918)
Amen.

Mike Linch (09:17.358)
Man, rusty. It is such a joy to get to be back with you and your audience again, man. I am a pastor of a church Northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, and a little town called Kennesaw, Akworth. So we sort of set on the line there and Kennesaw, Akworth about 25 minutes from the brave stadium Northwest. And a man had been here 27 years on that church staff and have been the senior pastor since three, but dabble and play around in the sports world a little bit.

Rusty (09:37.535)
we just entered into the emptiness season because our kids are in college. They're not married yet, but they're off in college and I'm finding, I love it. And my wife, not so much. So I don't know what, what that says about me, but, I'm having a great time. I want to ask you. Okay. Well that, I hope for that. I really enjoy not having to fight, you know, over the remote and all that kind of stuff. So it's great. all right.

Mike Linch (09:45.998)
So just having a ball and loving, loving life. My kids are grown and married. It's my wife and I now, and we are, we are loving the emptiness stage of life.

Rusty (10:03.647)
You, you mentioned in sports. I mean, you have had a history in baseball, a love for baseball, but you started this Bible study and this is what I'm really curious about. Cause we talked about this a little bit last time you were on the show, but kind of this almost like a zoom Bible study with other people involved in the game, which tell me a little bit about just the Genesis of that and where it is today.

Mike Linch (10:11.31)
Yeah, you will. You'll get your new norm.

Mike Linch (10:47.918)
You know, that is a crazy deal. And I would say this, probably the most God thing I've been involved with in ministry because we really have so little to do with it. It started with a couple baseball scouts and a baseball college baseball coach. And basically they came to me sitting at a big sports facility here in Atlanta and said, dude, we don't get to go to church, man. We're road warriors. We're always looking.

And we're sitting in a hotel room on Sunday morning. I'm sitting in a bleacher. That's how I make my living. These coaches are sitting on buses on Sunday morning. And if we get to go to church, we go to chapel and which is great or our church, but we can't get in a small group. Is there anything we can do? And so I went to my tech guys at North star and said, you got any ideas? And my tech guy goes, well, there's this new thing. This is in 2017 called zoom. You could give it a, give it a run, see if it works.

And, man, we did. And so we started, there was about eight of us that met every Monday morning. We started and we'd take summers off. And finally, after a year or two, they said, Hey, we need to meet in the summer. And so we did that. And then the pandemic happened. And one of the guys who you've met, Kevin Burrell on the call, Kevin sends out a note to scout said, okay, no, we have no excuses. None of us are anywhere. We're all home. Let's there's no excuse not to be on. And we went from about 14 guys to 40 guys.

Rusty (12:06.303)
to Vision 1 universities, to D3s, to NAI ball, to a high school coach in Chicago who gave his heart to Jesus. It's getting disciple and it's guys inviting guys. I'll get pictures rusty of guys at home plate meetings that know each other from the call and they'll shoot you a picture from the home plate meeting. It's the great reminder that no matter where they're at,

Mike Linch (12:12.334)
And now I would say rusty on an average week, we're 75 to 95 anywhere in there. And so we have guys from major league front offices to, division one universities to D threes to NAI ball to a high school coach in Chicago who gave his heart to Jesus and is getting discipled. And it's, it's guys inviting guys. I'll get pictures.

Rusty (12:35.167)
Wow, that is so neat. Now is it primarily just baseball or do you get into other sports as well?

Mike Linch (12:40.206)
rusty of guys at home plate meetings that know each other from the call. And they'll shoot me a picture from the home plate meeting. And it's what it's the great reminder that no matter where they're at, that God has a plan to use them in that space and place. And man, these guys, a lot of them are getting it and getting that their faith is more than just what they believe that they can actually use that in the platform.

that they've been given.

Rusty (13:13.791)
Mm.

Mm -hmm.

Mike Linch (13:17.486)
We are just baseball. We have one, I was two, two college softball guys. one of them is in Wilmington and then one of them is at the university of Oklahoma. He's the, one of the assistant coach there at Oklahoma. And he found out, he found out about it from a baseball guy, but he said there's so many, there's not a lot of guys in that world. So it's great for him to be around other men who were Jesus followers or trying to follow Jesus in that college athletic world. So yeah, it's pretty wild.

Rusty (13:27.327)
Now, I know we have some people that listen to the show that are also pastors and they're looking to make an impact this way and to kind of, you know, expand their reach a little bit, but they're also thinking, then I got enough to do, you know, with writing messages and taking care of staff and people and all. Tell me kind of your process, cause you were kind enough to let me sit in on one of these zoom calls, even though I haven't played, you know, professional baseball since I think eighth grade, but in that, in that journey.

You take your weekend messages and kind of turn them into a discussion on Monday. Is that the way it works?

Mike Linch (14:23.95)
It's exactly the way that it works. And so I would say this, I think for every leader, there's things you do that don't seem like work. I think for me, that's something that doesn't seem like work. It is the, it is the merger of all my passions of what I would be doing if I was good enough, but I wasn't good enough at it and my love for the game. And it's like this merge of those things coming together. So it doesn't feel like work to me because those are all my friends.

Rusty (14:46.623)
Mm.

Mike Linch (14:52.27)
We were talking about a, old teammate of mine, that baseball world is about that big. And so we're all interconnected through friends. So number one, it doesn't take a lot of work. Number two, it is literally a regurgitation of my Sunday message. So at nine AM, these guys jump on and we do prayer quick. I pray over them and then we dive in and I teach through my message. The difference is I'm not giving the illustrations. I'm asking them.

to share how that applies in a major league clubhouse or this past week. one of the, we were teaching through Colossians chapter three, and we were talking about elevating our appreciation of others. And I was like, who's done that well for you and guys talk about coaches. They had one of them, Todd Hollins worth is talking about Clint hurdle who's on the call. And he's saying, Clint did that for me as a player. And, and the goal of that is.

Rusty (15:22.047)
They're going to understand it better. So we do that. And then I have some back end help there at North Star where we create some devotional products for them, the way they can use it to disciple their teams. So yeah, but it is fun. And I think for everybody, there's something they do. It's like you do in your podcast. Yes, it's work, but you enjoy it. And because you enjoy it.

Mike Linch (15:48.942)
When they can apply it to the baseball world, they're going to understand it better. So we do that. And then I have some backend, help there at North star where we create some devotional products for them, the, the ways they can use it to disciple their teams. So, yeah, but it's, it is fun. And I think for everybody, there's something they do. It's like you do in your podcast. Yes, it's work, but you enjoy it. And because you enjoy it, it doesn't.

Rusty (15:49.023)
Right. that's that's so great. I'm kind of feeling there's a lot of guys out there thinking boy I could do that. I could take the message and let it live on a weird moment where you work so hard on a message and then you roll off the stage, you know, Sunday afternoon, you're like, well, that's done. You know, no one will ever listen to that again. So I know. So I think that's one of the reasons I was.

I was interested in getting into writing because you could take some of your messages, turn them into books and it's like now they live on a little further rather than just, you know, 30 minutes on a Sunday. So I love this idea of the, what a great idea. Okay. So because of, you know, this podcast is really designed to help people kind of make their faith practical and make it simple. I'd love to know from you who has, you know, sports background is a pastor.

Mike Linch (16:18.83)
It gives you energy when you do it, cause it's different. It's out of your normal day -to -day routine.

Mike Linch (16:41.774)
That's over. I put it on the shelf. That's right. That's exactly right.

Rusty (16:45.087)
You know, you've had a lot of input in your life to develop your faith, but what was kind of like the biggest faith developer for you? When you look back and you think, man, that was like gasoline on the fire. What has really helped you grow in your faith over the years?

Mike Linch (16:59.566)
That's right.

Mike Linch (17:32.142)
That's a phenomenal question. I think one of the biggest things probably has been adversity. I think adversity teaches you so much about yourself. And I think that if all we experienced were the successes and things going great, I don't know if we'd be any shadow of who we are, but we go through those seasons of adversity that I would not choose, nor do I want to live through again.

Rusty (17:36.031)
Wow.

Mike Linch (18:00.206)
But yet in those seasons, I think we discover, I heard Joni Eriksson Tata say this on another podcast. She said, pain can introduce you to a Jesus you could have never known. And I agree with that. And I, and I think those seasons and moments and valleys forged faith in me and made me depend on God in ways I probably wouldn't have depended on him.

Rusty (18:10.527)
Mm -hmm.

Rusty (18:16.287)
Hmm. Can you tell us about a couple of those back you went through and where you saw Jesus in that?

Mike Linch (18:30.382)
And it makes you appreciate the mountain tops even more. And, you know, it's, it's a max located. You and I rusty. We're near the same stage of life. And I heard Luke Kato say, you know, when you live long enough and you look back, all you see are the mountain tops, but in between those were a lot of valleys and in those valleys, you discovered who you really were.

Mike Linch (19:02.382)
You know, and I think, well, I mean, I even go back to college baseball and sitting in a, sitting in a bullpen in Lynchburg, Virginia at Liberty university, being told there was no longer a spot for me and I was going to have to make a choice. Are you going to sit in the bullpen and be a cancer, or are you going to turn over your uniform to a young guy and let him thrive and you help us coach. And it was a, for me, it was a

Rusty (19:17.791)
Go back to a small episode to raising kids.

Mike Linch (19:28.366)
Devastating thing. I mean, all I knew was baseball. It's all I'd ever done. It's your senior year. And now looking back, it's that big, but boy, when I was in it, it seemed like the end of the world. And here I am. That was 1990, the fall of 90. And in 2024, I'm sitting in a bullpen in Kennesaw, Georgia, Ackworth, Georgia, working with high school pitchers, doing what I learned to do because I was forced to do it in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Rusty (19:38.751)
Mm -hmm

Mike Linch (19:57.71)
So you go back to a small episode like that, to raising kids and the pain of watching failures and watching hurts and living through those two, being a pastor all these years. And we went through a season, rusty 2012 to 2014 was a dark, dark season at North star with some, just some things we had to walk through as a church and you're sitting there going, I don't know if I can do this.

Rusty (20:05.567)
Mm -hmm.

Rusty (20:20.903)
Hmm. Hmm.

before getting saved. I just don't care.

Mike Linch (20:27.918)
I don't know if I want to do this. I don't know if I, anybody can go to my LinkedIn site and all of my references are from June of 2012. Cause I was figuring out my exit strategy. I have like 15 people gave, and they're like, why you need a reference? I don't worry about it. Just put it on there because I was trying to figure out what I was going to do if it didn't work out. And in that's in, and I went through, a workshop with the black of the organization.

Rusty (20:37.779)
discovered what I believe I was called to do.

Rusty (20:49.439)
in how I should live out this church while I'm in that city. So if you learn a lot, you're in the city. Wow. So I'm thinking about you, you know, as this college age kid thinking that you're going to play in the, you know, in the big leagues and getting that news that there's not a spot for you and how difficult that was. Fast forward and now you're helping other guys deal with that same kind of news.

Mike Linch (20:55.854)
And I remember I had to do these spiritual markers and I called 2012 to 2014, the silent years where, you know, God's there. I'm preaching, preaching about him every weekend. He, people are getting saved. I just don't hear him speak. And we all go through those seasons, but in that, in that season, I discovered what I believe I was called to do as a pastor.

Rusty (21:15.103)
what do you say to a kid that's going through that? Because there's some coaches that are listening and there's some parents that are listening. And I mean, you have the benefit of hindsight and going, listen, it's baseball's not everything. There's bigger things in your life. The sun will still come up tomorrow. Those kinds of things. How do you encourage somebody going through a difficult season thinking their world has ended?

Mike Linch (21:24.046)
Not just performing the role. Everybody performs as a pastor. I believe in that season, I found what I was called to do and how I should live out this journey while I'm in that seat. So you learn a lot during those seasons.

Mike Linch (22:09.198)
That's right.

Mike Linch (22:18.51)
Mmm.

Mike Linch (22:22.286)
Well, I will say this. So number one, I never thought I would play past college. I just wanted to squeeze out my senior year. And I remember calling home to tell my parents, and this is a note to parents and telling my dad, I can't believe they're, you know, this is what the coach said. They're not going to pitch me this year. And I remember my dad going, well, I, you know, I hate that for you. I was like, were you going to come up here? You going to do anything? And this is from a pay phone. And he's like, well,

Rusty (22:27.167)
Wow.

Rusty (22:45.535)
Mm -hmm.

Mike Linch (22:49.806)
No, I mean, why would I need to do anything? It said, it sounds like they gave you some options. I said, well, they did. And he goes, well, it looks like you get your first real life choice. He said, were you going to play next year? And I went, no, this was going to end it. He said, well, just consider it. You retired a year early. And, and the lesson in that was they let me learn to handle my own failure. And, and if the, if my mom and dad had protected me from that failure, it would not have benefited me long -term. So that would, that would be one.

I think secondly is it's the thing you and I have told a million people, rusty, never put a comma, never put a period where God puts a comma. Your story's not over. This is a piece of your story that, that is going to be used. Hang in and keep walking, hang in and keep walking. Don't stop walking. Don't stop living. Your story isn't done yet. And I, you know, whether that's a.

Rusty (23:22.815)
That's so good. I want to just pause for a moment and talk about parents and their kids because I had two girls and they were not interested in playing sports and I didn't get that, you know, that feeling vicariously through your kids who are playing sports, but I know a lot of parents wrestle with that. What do you say?

Mike Linch (23:47.15)
an athlete or whether that's a, a marriage that didn't make it, whether it's a, a man or a woman in their career that we're told, Hey, we're going a different direction. Listen, God's God's opportunities typically lie on the other side of that. If we won't stop moving. And I think that's the lesson in it.

Rusty (23:47.423)
to parents who are, you know, always in the dugout, always second guessing the coach, always thinking their kid is the next Nolan Ryan or Bobby Witt Jr., you know, for Royals reference there. But to, you know, to give them perspective. And I mean, I love that your parents, you know, gave you an opportunity to work at the university. That's brilliant. But what are some things that you've, you know, you've seen parents do the right way or you've encouraged parents to do who've

who are really trying to help their kids, but they may just be overstepping the line.

Mike Linch (24:16.206)
Mm, mm.

Rusty (24:32.223)
Hmm.

Mike Linch (24:43.758)
you

Mike Linch (25:06.509)
You know, I get an up close seat working with high school baseball players. So, and they're not my kids and I'm not in charge. I'm just there helping. I'm a community coach, but I'll watch it. You are not doing your kids a favor, trying to manipulate, let, let them grow. I have met very, very, very few coaches who are trying not to put the best nine on the field.

Rusty (25:23.647)
Mm -hmm.

Mike Linch (25:34.35)
And whether it's baseball or football, whatever it is, they're trying, they're, they're trying to win and they're not trying not to play your kid. There are lessons to be learned when they don't play and don't, don't shelter that. Listen, my son has senior year through seven innings. And I remember a parent going off about their kid not playing. I was like, my kid only through seven innings, but guess what? He learned how to be a teammate.

And when they all look back years later and they look back at their championships and all those things, nobody remembers who did what anyways. They remember the team. They remember pulling for each other. They remember the winds coming from behind. They don't remember who logged, how many innings they all were a part of a team. There's bigger things to learn in that. So don't protect your kids from failure in every college coach will tell you.

Rusty (26:08.095)
Mm -hmm.

Mike Linch (26:29.902)
The greatest gift you can do for your kids is to let them fail, let them fail. They're going to be okay. They're going to bounce back. Second part of that is let them enjoy things. Baseball. We'll talk baseball. Baseball is not everything. Play other sports, do other things. Don't lose your family in sports in an hour world. Probably we're like, it is where you are. Kids get in a travel ball world and man, they're gone. They are gone. They.

Rusty (26:31.879)
I said, hey, man, here I'm trying to get my shoes on. Yeah, but let's get them open. Which is code four. You and I are going to get out of here. We're going to have a chat.

Rusty (26:59.423)
Wow.

Mike Linch (26:59.598)
Sundays are a thing of the past. They're in a tournament every weekend. And a lot of those kids, majority of those kids aren't going to play. And I remember sitting in a bullpen three years ago with a kid on our team who was really, really struggling personally, personally struggling. And it was probably the third inning and he was a catcher and he went play in that day. And I said, Hey man, gear up, come to Penn. He's like, coach, we don't need to throw anybody. I said, yeah, but let's go to the bullpen, which is code for you. You and I are going to go to other people ourselves and have a chat.

Rusty (27:09.951)
Mm.

Rusty (27:21.703)
Mm -hmm.

Mike Linch (27:29.582)
And so we were just talking about life and, and I said something about faith. And then I said, you ever go to your, you ever remember going to church? He's all man coach. I grew up going to church, but when I was turned 13 and got on this team, we started playing in tournaments every weekend. I hadn't been back. So this kid is not playing college baseball. He's not playing college football. He was a starting quarterback, but he lost going to church over a sport.

Rusty (27:48.319)
Hmm.

Mike Linch (27:58.574)
So my challenge to parents is living the tension. It's attention. And I'm not saying don't do not go to tournaments. You got to go to tournaments, but you'll have to go every weekend and be why think about the long -term effects on your kids. And, you know, those are just two, there's, I got, there's a local team here in Atlanta. They, they have a, it's a great deal. They bring in.

Rusty (28:02.559)
Is there ever a time a parent should spin?

Mike Linch (28:26.478)
all the dads of the players once a year, and they bring in speakers to talk to the dads. And I'll go in every year and talk to the dads because the coach doesn't have to say it about what are the greatest gifts you can give your kids. Let them fail. Let them do other things. Let them play two sports. Let them play three sports. It's great. Better for them. And number three, be their fan, be their fan long after the game's over. They need you as their fan.

Be their best fan. You don't need to be their agent. Just be their fan. Cheer for them, pull for them, and hey, hug them when things aren't going good. But you don't have to solve it all for them.

Mike Linch (29:13.534)
yeah. Well, if their kids being mistreated, if it is a, if they are being demeaned or mistreated, running too much personal coaches have gotten personal attacks on them. Not playing is not personal. So that's not personal yelling at them and calling them this, that, and the other that's personal that needs to be handled, but just playing time.

Rusty (29:27.547)
Hmm. That's good. Really good perspective. Okay. Let me ask you this. Who are you learning from right now? Whether it's books, podcasts, just people in your life. I know we're both friends of Brian Dodd, which Brian Dodd is a friend of everyone. One of the greatest encouragers I've ever met. I'm always learning from him as well. Who are some people or some resources in your life that are, are encouraging you or helping you grow and

Mike Linch (29:43.278)
Is not that it's life. You're going to get passed over for promotions. You're going to somebody else is going to get picked for a job. Somebody else is going to be acknowledged for their work and you weren't acknowledged for your that's life. That's life. It's a microcosm of life. Let them learn that in a safe space, but when it's unsafe to them with how a coach handles things, speaks to them, that's a whole separate ball game.

Rusty (29:56.703)
and you would recommend to us.

Rusty (30:11.039)
I don't know what to do.

Mike Linch (30:12.75)
That needs to be handled playing time. Not, not one of those things.

Rusty (30:16.575)
Yeah.

Mike Linch (30:36.238)
Yep.

Mike Linch (30:51.438)
Yeah. So good. Brian Dodd, definitely Brian Dodd on leadership. Brian's such a great curator of life and information and books and cliff. He's almost the cliff notes guy for all of us that go, I don't have time to read all that stuff. I don't know where Brian finds all this time, but Brian, I think Brad Lomynick thought falls in that same category of H3 leadership and Brad's a curator. He brings it all together. the

podcast that I didn't know about a year ago that has become a go -to podcast for me is how leaders lead with David Novak. Probably my favorite. I want something for me podcast. His guests aren't the guests that I get. His guests are Tom Brady, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell. I mean, he gets people and the

Rusty (31:22.527)
Hmm.

Amen.

Mm -hmm.

Rusty (31:42.239)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. That's great. Well, buddy, it's been too long. This is always refreshing to me. Always love talking to you. Thank you for being a friend and a fan of the show and being a guest on here. This is this has been awesome, buddy. So thanks. Thanks so much for making this part of your day.

Mike Linch (31:45.038)
questions he asked them are phenomenal. And I have really, it is my, it's my selfish. It's not a spiritual podcast, but it's my selfish. I just want to get better as a leader podcast from people. I don't even know. I would never be able to get to them in a million. He just had the CEO of Chili's on there. He has, I mean, he just, he just gets unique guests.

that I wouldn't have access to. And man, it's, it's really, really good reading wise. anything that Dr. Sam channed puts out, I will get my hands on. I love Sam channed. So I'm going to a learning opportunity with him next week here in Atlanta. And there's just so many guys like that. They just, they put something out and it's always worth getting your hands on.

Mike Linch (32:50.926)
Thank you.

Mike Linch (33:03.054)
Thank you, Rusty.