{"id":294,"date":"2018-08-25T19:33:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T23:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/?page_id=294"},"modified":"2023-06-02T11:08:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T16:08:57","slug":"darrel-chaney-having-an-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/?p=294","title":{"rendered":"Darrel Chaney: Having an Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darrel Chaney spent 11 seasons in the major leagues with the Reds and Braves. After his playing days, he worked in real-estate, sales, and broadcasting. But perhaps his most-\"Chaneyrewarding work has been as a motivational speaker, because he came to realize that he could impact the lives of others. His book,<\/em> Welcome to the Big Leagues: Every Man\u2019s Journey to Significance (coauthored with Dan Hettinger and available at DarrelChaney.com<\/a>) combines baseball and faith-based themes to build self-awareness and self-worth.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes an interview will take an unexpected turn. In talking to Darrel about his career, and his own life journey, I realized that a fun conversation about baseball had suddenly shifted gears \u2013 as had Darrel, when he realized what a difference he could make in others\u2019 lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

And I knew it deserved its own story.<\/em><\/p>\n

The story of his playing career is here<\/a>. A recollection of his 1974 grand slam is here<\/a>. But this might be the best \u2013 and most significant \u2013 part of our conversations.<\/em><\/p>\n

He is committed and dedicated to helping others. I hope you enjoy reading about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019re most at peace when you know you are having a significant impact on other people\u2019s lives — that your life is mattering to someone. That\u2019s when you have inner peace.<\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Darrel Chaney<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You got your start in public speaking with Gordy Coleman and the Reds Speakers Bureau.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, my first speech was in 1969, when my hometown [Hammond, Indiana] had Darrel Chaney Day at Wrigley Field. I made a speech that night.<\/p>\n

Both clubs I played for [the Reds and the Braves], I did speaking in the offseason. And I got to where I was comfortable doing it.<\/p>\n

Accentuating the positive was always important to you, even at the beginning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In all of my talks, when I got to a motivational point that I wanted to make, it was giving people encouragement. I never thought much about it \u2013 about what I was saying. And that it could have an impact on someone in the audience, or maybe all<\/em> of the audience. And I look back all the speeches I made in those days, and the opportunities I missed to have an impact.<\/p>\n

But when you wrote your book, you became aware that your words did, indeed, \"Chaneyhave value.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we were collaborating on the book, Dan Hettinger really brought to light and made me understand that I was<\/em> making an impact on someone\u2019s life through my words — whether I was talking about myself or one of my teammates, or a business situation.<\/p>\n

And this \u201cjourney to significance\u201d is a daily thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the book came out, I not only had a pretty successful baseball career under my belt, but also a pretty successful business career in sales. I was hired and fired a number of times throughout baseball and my business career, and I came to realize that we have an opportunity as individuals every day<\/em> to have an impact on someone\u2019s life. Even a simple yes<\/em> or no<\/em> can have a lasting impact \u2013 even an eternal impact.<\/p>\n

The book has added a dimension to your speeches, too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of my speeches since the book came out \u2013 even the motivational parts — all pertain to some chapter in the book; one of the stories. I go into my\u00a0 speech thinking, \u2018OK, you have a chance to make something happen here. You can have an impact.\u2019 \u00a0I\u2019m talking about a significant<\/em> impact \u2013 something that may bring someone closer to Christ. Someone who doesn\u2019t think their life matters, and by me speaking and giving them encouragement, maybe they can know and understand that their life matters<\/em>, no matter what kind of situation they are in.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been my whole focus, and it\u2019s worked really well for me.<\/p>\n

The book isn\u2019t a #1 bestseller, but let me tell you, it has had an impact on a lot of lives.<\/p>\n

The whole bottom line is to make people realize that <\/span><\/span><\/span>they are significant. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That has to be rewarding to you \u2013 to know that you have made such a difference.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is. Now I don\u2019t have to guess<\/em> if I have had an impact; I have people come up to me all the time and say, \u2018I want to buy your book, because my son needs to hear that.\u2019<\/p>\n

You recently had an especially dramatic example of your impact. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I had a woman come up to me, and she was crying. She said, \u2018that\u2019s the most meaningful speech I\u2019ve ever heard. I lost my husband about a year ago, and I have a 26-year-old son who has had a real hard time with that. He doesn\u2019t think his life matters.\u2019 I gave her a book and said, \u2018you have him read this.\u2019<\/p>\n

That\u2019s<\/em> when you know you\u2019ve got something cooking!<\/p>\n

It must make you feel like you have such a purpose in your own life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. I\u2019ve always made light of my own career. Sometimes you have to; self-degradation, I guess you could say. But the book and the baseball career and the spiritual connotations of the book \u2013 the whole bottom line is to make people realize that they are significant<\/em>, and they have a chance each day to make a significant impact on someone\u2019s life \u2013 and because of that, their life matters, and it matters a lot<\/em> — and a lot of times, it will matter eternally.<\/p>\n

When Dan wanted to write the book, he wanted to write about my life in baseball and his life in the church, but he said, \u2018I need your name and life in baseball as a hook to get people to read it.\u2019<\/p>\n

And I said, \u2018Dan, who is going to read a book based on the life of a part-time baseball player who never really was a voice for anything?\u2019<\/p>\n

But I was<\/em> a voice, and I didn\u2019t realize it.<\/p>\n

I feel I can speak to any kind of forum now, whether it\u2019s a lumberjack convention or a high school or a church. It plays well for me in any kind of venue and in any kind of audience. But my number-one audience is moms and dads with their children\u2014especially Little League and up\u2014when you can make a point and have it make an impact on all of them, when they are sitting there together. I really like that audience.<\/p>\n

www.darrelchaney.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darrel Chaney spent 11 seasons in the major leagues with the Reds and Braves. After his playing days, he worked in real-estate, sales, and broadcasting. But perhaps his most-rewarding work has been as a motivational […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-haughts-thoughts"},"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4438,"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294\/revisions\/4438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haughtcorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}