Senior League Baseball World Series News
August 16, 2013

Failure is the key to success, UMaine coach tells players
Emilia wins sportsmanship award at banquet

By Chris DeBeck
Communications Staff

University of Maine head baseball coach Steve Trimper

Baseball can be a humbling game, the coach of Maine’s only NCAA Division I baseball program noted during the annual awards banquet of the Senior League Baseball World Series, held at the newly-finished Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Friday night.

“Baseball is built as a game of failure,” University of Maine baseball coach Steve Trimper said during the keynote address at the banquet, which brought together members of the 10 participating teams, umpires, parents, fans and tournament staff.

“The guys who succeed for me can get over that (failure) quickly,” he said.

Trimper, UMaine baseball coach for the past eight seasons, noted that one of the world’s most successful athletes, basketball great Michael Jordan, didn’t let failure bother him.

“Michael Jordan was cut by his high school basketball team,” Trimper said. “He was entrusted to take the game-winning shot more than 50 times and missed. Yet the reason he was successful is because he failed.”

Trimper met with members of the U.S. Central regional champion, Clear Ridge Little League, of Chicago, during the week and noted that two players from past Bangor World Series teams have played for him during his tenure at Umaine.

One message Trimper stressed was the need to get better every day, both in baseball and life.  He also asked the players to thank their parents for getting them to games, camps and tournaments to help them succeed to reach an event such as the World Series.

Trimper also noted that baseball can be regarded as a superstitious game, determined by luck – a notion he dispelled.

“There is really no such thing as good or bad luck,” Trimper said. “You create your own luck.”

Echoing comments made by Tournament Director Mike Brooker during the opening ceremony, Trimper noted that each team earned its way to the World Series.

“It’s not by chance that you guys are here,” he said.

During the banquet, in which players and coaches each received awards for their participation in the event, Brooker told the crowd that one of the goals for the event was to create memories that last a lifetime.

Emilia L.L., Emilia, Italy, 2013 Daniel E. Clifford Memorial Sportsmanship Award winners

That sentiment was shared by Luis Carlos Laurel, the manager of ILLAM Central L.L., of Makati City, Philippines. Laurel recalled the last time he and his team came to Bangor in 2006 with his older son.

“He remembers it fondly,” said Laurel, whose son, David, played for the 2013 ILLAM Central team, which finished 1-3 in the tournament.

“He wanted to get here so bad,” added Laurel.

Asked why his team was smiling even during a tough defeat, Laurel said that the team was happy to be in Bangor for the series.

Two of ILLAM Central’s three losses were by two or fewer runs.

Also at the banquet, the Daniel E. Clifford Memorial Sportsmanship Award was presented to Emilia L.L., Emilia, Italy, the Europe-Africa champion. The award, named for Clifford, the former assistant tournament director who died in 2007, is determined by a vote of the tournament’s umpiring staff.