In his #1 best selling book On Fire inspirational leader John O’Leary says, “You can’t always choose the path you walk in life, but you can always choose the manner in which you walk it.”
In the last 15 years I have listened to a number of speakers at baseball conferences and through on-line videos. I have tried to take something away from each of them, no matter how big or how small, that I can apply to my team, to myself, or to both. I have heard some of the greatest minds in the world speak about baseball, leadership, character, and other life skills that translate between the two. I am grateful to have learned something from each one, but none of them affected me as much as John O’Leary.
I had the privilege of hearing John O’Leary speak this past weekend at the American Baseball Coaches Association conference in Nashville, TN and I cannot stop thinking about the message he delivered to 7,000 coaches. His hour long talk moved me to tears and provided me with a very simple, yet powerful, question that I will now ask myself every night before I go to sleep and every morning when I wake up. What more can I do?
John O’Leary was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and grew up loving baseball and, of course, the St. Louis Cardinals. He went to sleep every night listening to the great Jack Buck call the games on the radio, dreaming of playing in the major leagues. When he was nine years old his life would take a turn that would affect him and his family forever.
After seeing some older boys in the neighborhood pouring gasoline on the sidewalk, standing back, and throwing a lit match on the liquid to ignite a flame, he decided he wanted to try that himself. He went into his garage, lit a piece of cardboard, and tried to pick up the gas can and pour it onto the flame. The fumes rushed out first causing an instant explosion, throwing John 20 feet through the air, engulfing the garage, and nine year old John, in flames. He ran through the flames and into the house where his brother eventually extinguished the flames by beating John with a door mat, but the damage was done. Nine year old John now lay in an ambulance with burns over 100% of his body. 87% of those burns were 3rd degree, meaning the flames burned through his clothes, through all the layers of his skin, and into his bones. His life was in serious danger.
At the hospital the doctors strapped him to a table with his arms and legs spread out to all four corners. They inserted a tracheotomy so John could breath due to the damage the flames did to his chest and lungs. He could not speak and his eyes were swollen shut, so he laid on the bed alive (barely), but without the ability to move or communicate. In his book he describes “I was just lying in my hospital bed. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t see. I was in the dark, in pain, and totally scared. But also dreaming, hoping, and praying. And listening. Intently. I hear everything going on around me. I can’t do much else, so that’s what I do. Listen. It was in listening that I was blown away.”
A couple of days after entering the hospital, strapped in bed, John listened and heard footsteps in his room. He heard a chair being pulled over beside his bed, and he heard a voice. A very familiar voice. Not his mother, his father, or his siblings, but a voice he heard many times under his covers when he was supposed to be asleep at night. The familiar voice of Jack Buck. Jack heard that a little boy in the community had been badly injured and needed all the encouragement he could receive and that was enough for him to visit. Jack offered some encouraging words, but left very shortly after he entered because he became so emotional from seeing this little boy in such a terrible condition. When he entered the hallway he broke down crying and asked the nurse if John was going to make it. The nurse shook her head and said, “Mr. Buck, I am sorry, there just isn’t a chance. It’s just his time.”
Jack Buck left the hospital. He could have stopped there. He did his “good deed.” He visited a dying boy in the hospital. Jack could have thought there was nothing else to be done, but instead Jack asked himself a very simple, yet profound, question that night. What more can I do? The next day, nine year old John heard the same familiar voice next to him in the hospital room. And the next day. And the next day, and very often over the next five months, always offering words of encouragement. “Kid, listen to me. You are going to live, got that? You are going to survive. And when you get out of here, we are going to have John O’Leary day at the ballpark. Kid, keep fighting.”
John O’Leary day did indeed happen. John, after fighting his way through countless surgeries, skin grafts, and other medical procedures, made it home. Then, he made it to Busch stadium, where he and his family were guests of Jack Buck and the St. Louis Cardinals. While interviewing John in the broadcast booth, Jack saw the pure excitement in John’s smile and joy in his eyes, but he also saw the struggles that were to come. Jack again asked himself the same simple question. What more can I do?
A few days after his visit to Busch Stadium, John received a baseball autographed by Cardinals great, shortstop Ozzie Smith. Beaming with joy and excitement once again, he then read the note that was attached. “Kid, if you want a second baseball, you’ll have to write a thank you note to the man that signed the first. Your friend, Jack Buck.” There was a problem.(which Mr. Buck was fully aware) John’s fingers had been removed during his time in the hospital to prevent infection from spreading. His parents desperately wanted John to learn to write, but John lacked motivation. Until now. He wrote the letter, and a couple days later received a second baseball again with a note attached. “Kid, if you want a third baseball, you have to write a thank you note to the man that signed this one. Your friend, Jack Buck.” Of course, John complied and received a third baseball, and a fourth, and a fifth. By the end of the summer John had 60 baseballs, all autographed by players from his favorite team. And, oh yeah, by the way, he knew how to write again.
John O’Leary credits Jack Buck as one of the people that saved his life and Jack continues to be an influence even though he passed away in 2002. John is now married with four children (his first being a boy named Jack) and “living every day on fire” as a motivational speaker who has delivered his inspirational story to more than 500,000 people around the world. His number one, best selling book On Fire has sold more than 120,000 copies and his second book is due to be released in May. He speaks to Fortune 500 companies, other successful businesses, and our armed forces. He also runs a website with access to weekly inspirational videos in hopes he can continue to change lives. He certainly changed mine.
As I sat in the audience that day, with tears streaming down my face, thinking about my path in life, I knew this message was one I would take with me forever. Since returning from Nashville, I have read John’s book, listened to his inspirational talks on-line, and shared his powerful story with the members of my high school baseball team. I challenged my players to ask themselves each night the same question Jack Buck asked himself all those years ago. The same question John O’Leary asks himself each day. The same question I will ask myself. What more can I do? As a husband, as a father, as a coach, as a teacher, as a friend, as a human being, what more can I do? John certainly did not choose his path in life, but is now blazing a new path for himself and for all that listen to his powerful message. Thank you John O’Leary. Thank you for fighting to live. Thank you for finding motivation in all of the people helping you along the way. Thank you for your perseverance. Thank you for realizing your purpose in life is to share and inspire others. Thank you for being courageous enough to stand on a stage and deliver your story, but most of all, thank you for asking yourself each day that simple question. What more can I do?
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