Lev Mandel: The Backstop

Lev Mandel shares about life lessons his father taught him through baseball.

I was small, and I had a good eye when I played baseball. In North Oakland Little League, that meant I got on base by laying off bad pitches. A reasonable strategy for a small strike zone.

My dad taught me that strategy. Then he changed his mind. As I got older, from the stands, every time I stepped up, he’d say “Be a hitter. Now.” I didn’t understand what he meant then. Sometimes it embarrassed me, how everyone heard. But it also felt secure. Knowing he was there.

“Be a hitter” was never about baseball. It was about stepping up to the plate and not playing small.

He invested in a hat company I started. We did not make much money. He never said a word about it. Not once. Well except he did say it was cool that Steph Curry wore our hat to the parade in Oakland. That became his favorite hat. When someone bets on you and quietly eats the loss without making you carry it, you don’t always recognize what’s happening. I recognize it now.

But here’s what I actually remember. The thing underneath all of it: he never had to tell me but I knew, that if I ever needed it, he would be there in a second to help financially, no questions asked. It never came to that. But knowing it was there made it possible to start a hat company, and changed what other risks felt possible too. That’s what a backstop is, I guess. You don’t always need it. If you’re lucky, it’s there when you do.

That was him. Behind me. The reason I could swing, in baseball, in business, in life, was because I always knew someone was standing behind me.

Before he died, he told me to be generous. By then he’d been showing me for 40 years.

I have two boys now. More than anything, I want to be their backstop.

With a Perspective, I’m Lev Mandel.

Lev Mandel is the author of a workbook to help people build awareness, get curious and feel better about money.