Daveed Diggs on collaborating with Christopher Lennertz for their Emmy-nominated song “Raise Him Up” for the final season of Prime Video’s @TheBoysTV.

The junior high baseball team in my parents' town hadn't won a game in six years. Then the school got a new assistant English teacher. Wade, from Texas. He coached high school football for twenty years before he moved here. He asked if he could help with the baseball team. The head coach, Mr. Ishida, 63, said yes, mostly to be polite. Here's what changed. Day 1: Wade learned every boy's first name. Japanese coaches use last names. The boys didn't know what to do with their faces. Day 2: After practice, he shook every boy's hand. All 23. Even the ones who made errors. Especially them. Week 2: He banned "sumimasen" after a mistake. "You don't apologize for trying, son." Week 4: Before every game: "Look at the man next to you. You're not playing for you. You're playing for him." Week 6: Mr. Ishida started shaking hands too. He said it was "for efficiency." In July, they won. 4 to 3. Their first win in six years. The boys cried on the field. Mr. Ishida pretended to check the scoreboard for a very long time. Then Wade gathered them up and said what Texas coaches say: "Proud of y'all. Now go home and hug your mamas." Japanese boys don't hug their mothers. Not at 14. That night, the parents' group chat exploded. Twenty-three mothers. The same message, over and over. "What happened to my son?" One mother wrote: "He hugged me in the kitchen. The last time was kindergarten." The next morning, twenty-three mothers showed up at practice with rice balls. Wade counted. There were sixty-one. He ate eleven.