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Thursday, September 17, 2009

New Website Coming Soon...

I am currently working on getting a new and more intricate website up and running and also working on an email list so you can be notified when new blogs are posted. Check back during the middle of October for the new website. Thank you.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Blog #11: Summer in Minnesota

For about the first two weeks after my meltdown, I just laid in bed all day feeling really depressed. Then I went to a family reunion in Dodge City, Kansas to see my extended family on my mom’s side that I hadn’t seen for a long time. This trip helped me get out of my head and I found peace again while I was there. It was something about being in a small town where all the people are nice and the slow pace that got me to a better place. I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to play for my summer team from last year, except I didn’t want to pitch. It was almost as if I needed to play, to catch my fix. However, I just wanted to have fun and play different positions and hit. About four weeks after playing again and well on my way to finding my love for the game once again, I received a call from a high school friend who was playing in the Northwoods league in Alexandria, Minnesota. He told me that their team was plagued with injuries and needed pitchers desperately. I took a few days to decide if this was something that I was really going to commit to. It was one thing playing in a run of the mill league and doing whatever I wanted to on the field, but to go back to competing in a the second best wood bat summer ball league was a whole different story. I knew that if I was going to make it that it would be on the bump, so I decided that this was going to be my test run to see if I still really wanted it. I was going for the experience and not having to live at home for the rest of the summer, but more importantly to have fun.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, something about Minnesota felt a lot different than California. Besides all of the mosquitoes, it was a beautiful environment to be in. I was living in a town with about 10,000 people in the city limits and about 30,000 more in the immediate surroundings. The best part about my summer was the host family I was staying with. I stayed with my buddy and the family he had been staying with, and boy did I luck out. The long dirt driveway leading to the house was like driving through a thick forest. After passing a massive shed and the guest house, you finally arrive at what looks like a giant log cabin. The rolling hills of lush green grass leads down to the lake, where rests in the water a boat and two Sea Doos. This house must have been over 7000 sq. ft and had one of the most interesting and original interiors of any house I’ve ever seen. My room had a queen size bed with my own private balcony overlooking the lake. It was like I had landed in heaven. My friend and I also got to use their 1979 Chevy truck, which was a stick. I had never learned how to drive a stick before and when I learned on this truck, I would be able to on any car. First gear didn’t even work so we had to start it out of 2nd and sometimes it would be an adventure.

I instantly bonded with the guys on the team, which made the experience that much better. I arrived right before the first half ended and we were just an average team up until that point. It was very easy to get to know everyone really quickly because we would spend at least 6 hours a day together. It would be the first time that I would play everyday and go on long road trips, the furthest being in Thunder Bay, Canada, which was a twelve-hour bus ride. My role would be out of the bullpen and since I had not really thrown in over a month, it took almost two weeks to get strong enough to be confident. Once I had the arm strength, I had found it once again. I went out with some adrenaline, pitching for the first time in front of crowds that exceeded 1000, and didn’t care about the results. I put it all out on the line and it paid off. My first 8 appearances out of the pen were pretty much lights outs. I may have given up a few runs in the beginning, but overall I was very happy with my performances. I became one of the set- up men and we started clicking as a team. We had such good team chemistry that we started rolling. We finished in 1st in our conference for the second half and earned a berth in the playoffs. Unfortunately, I had to go home to start school and missed the playoffs. I’ll get to the whole school thing in a second. There was one game at home in which I would not do so well. I gave up two homers in an inning with guys on base, but this didn’t shatter my confidence. Our field was very unorthodox because there was a lake behind center field. Because of the lake, it was only 340 to center, and at the deepest 385 in left center. Both the homers were pop flies that on any other normal field in the country would be outs. I just brushed them off and told myself that they were just lucky! The reason I bring this up is because I would later learn at Fullerton that this is the mindset that is needed even if a guy hits a 500 ft homer. I didn’t know it at the time that thinking those guys were just lucky was exactly it. As a pitcher, it is important to have the mindset that you are dominating; and if someone does get a hit or even a homer, they are simply the luckiest sob on planet earth. Gimme a new ball ump. Get the next chump in there. This guy isn’t going to be so lucky. This kind of mentality almost assures being able to stop a potential threat. Rallies are nothing more than positive energy being passed along from batter to batter who are feeding off the negative energy from the pitcher. “Mistake” pitches, pitches thrown with lack of confidence, start getting crushed and before you know it, your pitcher who was rolling for the first 3 or 4 innings is now about to blow the game by giving up a 5 spot. It all started with that key double off the wall which took a huge blow to the pitchers confidence. These big innings can and must be stopped now! That no out double should at worst end with minimal damage and getting your team back in the dugout to get back the run you just gave up. But big innings can crush your team, mentally taking you out of the rest of the ball game.

Stay tuned until Thursday to find out how I actually got to Fullerton. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and leave a comment. Your input is important to the success of this blog.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Blog #10: My First Week As Head Coach

Now that I have started coaching my 13u team, I will begin writing about the previous weeks’ games and practices on Mondays and continue the story of my career on Thursdays. Last Wednesday and Thursday we had one practice on the field and one in the cages and bullpens respectively. Before our first practice, I will admit that I was a little nervous earlier in the day. But once we got things going, I stopped thinking and just let my natural ability take over. Both days went very well, but on Sunday we had our first scrimmage against another team. Overall it was a very positive day. I went in very relaxed and just tried to learn my team as opposed to actual coaching. We hadn’t really gone over signs yet so I made up some basic ones on the spot. After about the third inning, I still hadn’t given a sign. I told the team that they were on their own; that I wanted to see what they were made of and test their base running ability. Indeed we had some blunders, like not freezing on a line drive, which resulted in a double play. In this case where the ball was low enough for an infielder to catch, the runner has to start going back toward the back until the ball is through, not just freeze. Defensively, I was just picking at random where players should go each inning. Since we will be playing tournament ball and sometimes up to 4 games a day, there is going to be a time where every player will play almost every position, unless they are a lefty. Of course there was some miscommunication with pop flies and not hitting the cut; but those were things that I expected to happen since we had yet to work on them. Then we get to the pitching, which ended just how I had hoped. Throughout the first 6 or 7 innings, we were cruising and everything was positive, scoring a good amount of runs and having solid pitching. Then it happened. A player blew up like Mt. St. Helens. He was closing out the game and things did not go his way. After walking the first two batters, I went out to have a little talk and told him to fix a mechanical issue that was causing him to throw everything up and away. Then I went back and watched him walk another batter. At this point it had been a long day and I learned everything from my team that I needed to for now, except for one thing. I started talking with one of my assistant coaches about the game and just forgot about what was going on, as my pitcher was about ready to explode. After walking 5 and giving up two runs and then throwing a passed ball with the bases loaded, my player burst into tears and yelled at the top of his lungs for the catcher to get the ball. I looked at the other coach and the inning was immediately terminated. It was then that we went on a little walk down the line to the left field corner. Now, I could have stopped this from happening after the second batter. After I saw how his mechanics were way off, I would normally shut the pitcher down for the day. During a game, where all you should be focused on is competing, your mechanics are from muscle memory. Mechanical issues should be taken care of during practice and in your dry work. It is imperative that a player does game like dry work in front of a mirror or by using your shadow, or even wherever you may be standing. I remember getting made fun of by all my friends for sometimes doing mechanical work at the most random times. So if your players mechanics are out of whack for whatever reason or maybe because there is a lot of work still to be done, you need to shut them down. When it comes tournament time in two weeks, rest assured that other than a minor adjustment, there will be no mechanical talk while competing. There is no possible way to compete with 100% of your entire being when you are thinking about your mechanics.

After having a chat with my player about what happened, it wasn’t the proper time to grill him. At this point all that needs to be pursued are the reasons why this happened. This is where communication is key, especially dealing with the fragile minds of young adolescences. I was just trying to simply understand what was going on in his head. Reacting in anger will only shut off the player to communicate because with emotional breakdowns comes the ability to connect with your player or shut them off. If I were to blow up on him, I wouldn’t have been able to understand the issue at hand at the deepest levels. During our talk, I simply asked what was going on. When a player is in this state they are ready to divulge the information you need to get to the deeper issues. I discovered that this kid plays the victim like most others do, including at one point myself. Whether it is natural or because of today’s society, people don’t want to take responsibility for their own actions. When things get at their worst, you want to blame everyone else for your woes, instead of taking a deeper look at what you may have done to cause the negative situation. My pitcher immediately blamed the catcher for the poor inning because he thought he was being lazy and didn’t block enough balls. As he kept going on and on about the catcher, I started to realize that there was something more to the situation. I asked if there were any issues between him and the other player and bingo, I hit the jackpot. If this kid didn’t explode then I would have never been able to find out that there was tension between two players. The issue doesn’t really matter but now that the problem was revealed, it can be solved. I ended up telling my player what the rest of my team will find out next practice; that you never show up another teammate. Even if you do not particularly like a teammate, you will respect him. There will always be players on your team that may not be your best friend, but they are your teammate. A team is a family and the head coach is the father, and the players are brothers. You may not get along with all your brothers, but there needs to be an unconditional respect amongst the players for ultimate team chemistry. I thought I had handled the situation pretty well being my first actual encounter with this matter.

At Wednesday’s practice, the pitcher was cooled off and had a lot of time to think about his actions. Before I could even say a word, I see the two of them walking in as if nothing had ever happened. I forgot how easily kids make up over stupid squabbles. The player who blew up came up to me, looked me directly in the eyes, and immediately apologized for his actions. I then went on to address any issues between the two players and he told me they are best friends. Being only my second week working with my team, I am still trying to understand the different relationships amongst various players. I did not realize that they were good friends and now the incident that occurred on Sunday is looking to be more like just an issue with that individual player. The pitcher showed up his catcher and had a meltdown, immediately blaming someone else for the poor inning. Then in the middle of his outrage, he said some things that he regrets and they were purely out of rage and anger, not to be taken personally in any way. During my ultimate meltdown, I said some things in that hotel room to my friends that I did not mean. It wasn’t my teammates fault that I blew up and completely lost it. That was all me. It was not the catcher’s fault that the pitcher walked nearly every batter faced. The pitcher just didn’t have it that day and in part it was my fault because I could have stopped it at any time before he exploded. But I let it happen and today we had a great practice, really working on the mental game. I think this incident will have ultimately benefited our team in the long run. I definitely felt that by the end of practice, we were a lot closer as a team than ever before. Part of this is also due to a set of my own rules that will be read every day by my players, along with the book “Heads Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time”. The rules are as follows:

Team Rules

1. Always Stay Positive

2. Take responsibility for your own actions and thoughts. Don't point the finger, use the thumb.

3. Never show negative emotion.

4. Never disrespect umpires, coaches, and your fellow brothers in arms.

5. Live in the moment. Have a short memory. PLay the game one pitch at a time, flush it!!

6. Step into your circle and have 6 seconds of focus.

7. Focus on the process of playing the game, not outcomes of your performances.

8. Get better each day. Practice should be taken as seriously as a championship game.

9. Take a breath.

10. Have Fun!!!!!

We are a family... Coach Klipp is the father, the assistant coaches are your uncles, and your teammates are your brothers. You are all warriors brought together to be a force unstoppable on the ball field. This warrior mentality will be attained by simply following these rules and reading "Heads Up Baseball". You will read these rules every single day when you wake up and before you go to bed.

Interestingly enough, I found out after the scrimmage that there were a few more ingredients missing in the recipe for why the meltdown occurred. This player happened to be a stud pitcher, throwing a perfect game and a no hitter last season. I knew he was good but I didn’t realize he could be that dominating. So, with that knowledge, this guy has very high expectations when he steps on the mound. He is so worried about the ultimate results instead of pitching one pitch at a time and focusing on the process. But he will soon learn better than that!!! Also, to top it all off, his dad, an ex- minor leaguer, was standing right behind him calling balls and strikes. I had no idea that one of my assistant coaches who was umpiring was his father. Whoa!! That makes all the difference in the world. The pressure of living up to your father’s achievements is very powerful, whether his father puts pressure on him or not. A child looks up to their father and naturally wants to succeed just as his dad did. If I had known all about this ahead of time, well I still would have let it happen. If a player can pitch with the outstanding pressure his own father puts on him by judging every pitch, then they can pretty much deal with anything that comes their way. The next scrimmage, even if he is not umpiring, I might have him come in when his son is pitching just to put extra pressure on him. Actually, that is exactly what I am going to do! At Fullerton, it was soon learned by every player that if you can deal with the “Wrath of Hookie”, then you can deal with the worst of situations. Some guys could not handle it and therefore never pitched at the level expected by the coaches. I could not handle it at first. It took me almost a year to finally deal with it, and that is why I had the best season of my career. But the coaches would always say, “the day we stop yelling at you is the day you need to be worried!”

Monday, August 31, 2009

Blog #10: My First Week As Head Coach

I need to wait until Wednesday to post this week's blog on my team because I do not want any of my players who happen to read it to misconstrue anything I have said before I address an issue at our next practice.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Blog #9: Following Up Part 2

I still have trouble with the day that I was two minutes late to a big start against our conference rivals in which I was benched. I am torn between the player and the coach within me. The player in me wants to believe that I was already at the ballpark for an hour getting stretched out and that I was just late getting from the training room to the field. Then there’s the other part of me that feels my head coach is 100% justified in his actions for acting upon my tardiness. In one of my earlier blogs, I specifically talk about this point of not letting your “star player” break the rules and the Fullerton coaching staff always followed through on giving consequences. The only reason I still hold on to this is because I know there were times my freshman year where this same thing happened, except my coach didn’t bench me. Whether your star player is performing at his best or at his worst, you must stay consistent with enforcing the rules. Sending mixed signals can be very detrimental to your team chemistry. Establish a set of rules and stick to them. Coach Garcia saw the earlier blog addressing this day I was late as making excuses. I take full responsibility for being late. If I knew that all it would have taken to be on time was to do one of my arm stretches on the field instead of in the training room, then that is exactly what I would have done. I guess there is still a part of me as the player that cannot let go of this day. It is just something that will take more time to completely liberate myself of any negative feelings. But as a coach, the first time that this happens I will address it accordingly at that moment, not wait until a year later when my player is in a slump and make him feel worse than he already is.

The day I left my team on a whim still has its consequences. I still do not talk with a good friend because he still has not forgiven me for leaving the team, and I do not blame him. One of the guys who was in the hotel room is still a close friend of mine. We have known each other since we were 7 and I am close with his entire family. He is now a coach at San Luis Obispo High School and is the greatest person I have ever known. It was easy to mend our relationship as he quickly forgave me after my sincere apology and seeing how distraught I was with my actions. My other roommate who was in the hotel room had taken a little more time to heal our friendship, however, it is still not nearly the same as how close we were our sophomore year. The following fall I went back up to San Luis Obispo for the first time to face a lot of my old teammates. I was able to mend most of the relationships, even breaking down in tears because of how difficult it was to face these guys and apologize. One of them really let me have it, and that was the hardest for me to hear. After I made amends with most of my teammates, I could finally sleep well at night knowing that about two- dozen guys will not despise me for the rest of their lives.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Blog #9: Following Up Part 1

Looking back at this appalling time in my life, my stomach still turns just thinking about the day when I became a quitter. My parents always tried to instill upon me that whenever you choose to start something, you finish it, especially when it comes to something as big as being a part of a college baseball team. I wanted to quit probably a month before, but my parents talked me into hanging in there for a few more weeks. However, something happened that day where I just snapped. I had hit my bottom. It couldn’t get much worse than the actions I displayed that day. Answering Coach Garcia’s first question… I feel badly about many things that happened that day and my entire sophomore year. It seems almost impossible to narrow it down to one thing specifically, but since the question was posed, I feel obligated to answer it. I’d have to say that bailing out on my team would trump all the other negative feelings I have toward my actions. It was almost expected that we would lose that Super Regional because how could any person perform at their best knowing that one of their team leaders abandoned them the day before. I cannot even imagine what each player felt after my sudden disappearance. As far as ripping up the jersey and writing on it, I must admit at the time I was almost in a different world. This despicable act came as a close second in what I felt bad about the most that day. It is hard enough to think about, let alone write about it to the world. I learned a lot about myself my sophomore year, needing to hit my bottom in order to rise to the top. It was inevitable since I grew up letting my emotions get the better of me. They utterly controlled me and this became the reason for my ultimate downfall. Growing up I was a very emotional kid and let things get to me very easily. This was not the first time by any means that I had a meltdown, but not to this extent. This significant time in my life eventually made me become aware of how my emotions were controlling my life. When someone is run by their emotions and goes through a lot of negative issues in life, eventually they will erupt like Mt. St. Helens. It is one thing to be in touch in with your emotions and be sensitive, but allowing them to completely take control usually lead to irrational thinking. I became very impulsive when I got to high school. I spent quite a bit of times speaking before completely thinking about it when it mattered most; not thinking of the consequences to my actions. I believe negative emotions should be dealt with on your own time; with your family and close friends or a therapist, not for the rest of the world to bare witness. People do not need to suffer from whatever is bothering you at that given moment. I have learned over the years that there is usually another underlying issue behind unnecessary squabbling between people.

“Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally. If I see you on the street and say, ‘Hey, you are stupid,’ without knowing you; it’s about me. If you take it personally, then perhaps you believe you are stupid. Maybe you are thinking to yourself, ‘How does he know? Is he clairvoyant, or can everybody see how stupid I am?’ You take it personally because you agree with whatever was said. As soon as you agree, the poison goes through you, and you are trapped in the dream of hell. What causes you to be trapped is what we call personal importance. Personal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we used to make the assumption that everything is about ‘me’. During the period of our education, or our domestication, we learn to take everything personally. We think we are responsible for everything. Me, me, me, always me!”

This was a passage from the book “The Four Agreements” written by Don Miguel Ruiz. This passage described me to a “T”. This book along with “The Secret”, “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” and Ken Ravizza’s book “Heads Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time” were a major part of what transformed my game and my life. It all came together slowly once I got to Fullerton, but it would not be until my senior year that I became the ultimate warrior. Now, how I got there… well, you’ll just have to keep on reading!

Back to the coaches questions… My head coach did play a role in this because of the lack of communication. I am not saying in any way that he was responsible for this. I take complete responsibility for my actions. But if I am speaking bluntly, (which is my goal in writing this blog) he lacked the necessary skills to be the complete coach. He is a very successful head coach but not untouchable, which is what every coach should strive to be. You will learn more later about how Coach Horton was a back- to- back National Coach of the year because he was a great communicator with his players. Every day he would have all his thoughts and plans for practice or notes he takes during the game to communicate everything he wanted to tell us. In my long career, I was yet to see such an organized and detailed way of doing things on the ball field. It was like the military. Why do you think it is that we have the best military in the entire world? How many state championships has my coach won? How often did we go to the final four? These are all valid questions in analyzing the teams I have been on. It is the only thing that I can base my knowledge of the game of baseball. I am not out to bash my coaches or “bite the hand that feeds me”. It is my confidence in my knowledge of this game that makes this a powerful blog. With that confidence, I am going to tell it as it is. If I had no confidence, then there would be no way on earth I would be able to write this blog. Over the course of the next few years, I am going to break down the game at a level that has yet to be seen by the 99% of people who play this game. So this is why I may seem to “bash” my coaches, but I hope that one day after reading the entire blog (being the case that they even read it) they will understand and perhaps learn a better mind set instead of playing the victim. After hearing this horrendous story, one would think that the odds of this kid ever becoming successful at baseball again would be impossible. There was only one way, and I happened to stumble upon it by mere chance.

What it all comes down to is that my head coach could have been a better communicator. I remember players talking about how it was hard to speak with him at times and I felt the same way, especially my sophomore year. It was fine my freshman year when everything was great and I was the guy; but when the going got rough for me and I couldn’t figure it out mentally or physically, a coach should be available on an emotional level to speak with his players about whatever problems may be occurring. My coach was simply not emotionally available. Any teacher should be able to connect with their student when the time is needed. At Fullerton, when I needed to vent with someone, it was my assistant coach and now head coach of Loyola Marymount Jason Gil. I eventually felt a connection with all of my coaches, but Gillie was the coach who recruited me and had to tell my entire story to before I would set foot on Goodwin Field. If it wasn’t for Coach Gil, I wouldn’t have even played my senior season, and we may not have made it to Omaha for the 15th time, let alone make the playoffs, which would have been the first time in 16 years. After we lost our final game of the season against Long Beach St., I thought we were not going to make the playoffs as we had finished the season dreadfully ending in 5th place in the Big West Conference. Thanks to a chat that Coach Gil had with me one day in the outfield during BP, I stayed for a second year and became the ultimate warrior, getting to play against my best friend in the College World Series, a game I will never forget.

Part 2… All will be back to normal, answering Coach Garcia’s two other questions on Thursday.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Still Working On It...

Sorry everybody but it's still not ready yet. I have been traveling all day and finally just had the chance to sit down in front of my computer. It will definitely be posted by Saturday morning.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Blog #9: Following Up Part 1

Yesterday on the 16th of August, I went to my first Cubs game. All my life I have wanted to visit this baseball landmark, as I am not a fan of the Cubs, but a fan of baseball. Last year about this time, I made a trip to New York with my mom specifically to see the Mets and Yankee Stadiums before they closed. The Yankees game we were scheduled to see got rained out and they played a double header the next day. Today however, we would not be so lucky. The game was rained out and the make up game will not be until late September. As you can imagine, I, as the rest of my family, was very disappointed. I tell you this because I will not have my normal posting as scheduled for Monday and Thursday. I wanted this week’s blog to be special to follow up the last few, but I simply haven’t had the time to spend to write a quality posting. After last week’s blog, I got a response from a high school varsity coach asking follow up questions to the mind- blowing tales of my junior college career. This coach read my mind, asking pretty much the same questions that I was going to answer. Please stay tuned until Thursday so I can fully delve into these questions that I have been pondering over since this comment, and pretty much for the last four years. Here is what the varsity head coach said…

Hi Justin, 



Just wanted to let you know that I've been reading your blog and am extremely intrigued with what you have been writing. I am currently a Head Varsity Baseball Coach and have surprisingly found different areas of agreement among your blogs. Even though I have disagreed with some of what you have posted, I admire your aspiration and confidence towards one day becoming a successful baseball coach at some level. Before I ask my questions, I need to send one piece of advice your way: Don't bite the hand that fed you! I did not like the way you verbally bashed your ex-high school coach. Even though everything you said regarding that coach was probably very evident, you should of found a better way to describe your insight towards his coaching abilities and discipline. But I do acknowledge and appreciate your blog where you apologized if your words towards your ex-coach were misconstrued. 
Once again, I enjoy reading your blogs and look forward to hearing your suggestions and different philosophies regarding the rigorous game of baseball. 


#1. Looking back on the situation that occurred at the hotel that day, what do you feel bad about the most?


#2. Do you feel like you disrespected the game of baseball by ripping up your jersey and writing on it?(I only say that because that probably upset your head coach more than that assistant and your head coach sounded like he played no significant role in your ultimate meltdown)


#3. Now that you would like to be a high-end coach, I would like you to answer this question as if you are already that coach:
Do you think your coach should have benched you the day you were two minutes late? (I only ask this because while reading that blog, I got the impression that you were making excuses to why you were late. If you do become a successful coach one day, you'll quickly learn that there is absolutely no room for excuses) 


#4. Did you ever talk to those friends from the hotel room again? If so, did you feel the need to apologize? Did you even feel any remorse for acting out the way you did towards your "friends"?
Look forward to your upcoming blogs and good luck on your future endeavors. 



Coach Garcia

**In the coming weeks, I am changing my blog to a different site so I can include videos and a discussion forum for everyone to start getting more involve in discussing the mental aspects of baseball. I am also going to be putting together an email list to remind everyone when each blog is posted. I will let everyone know when this change will occur.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Blog #8: From Snowball to Avalanche Part 2

It was a long seven- hour bus ride from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. Before we checked into the hotel, we stopped by the Palomar Junior College ball field to analyze the grounds and see where we would be playing for the first time. I didn’t know it at the time, but when we left to check into the hotel, it’d be the last time I would ever step on that field again. I remember this vividly in particular after arriving at the hotel. We got off the bus, sorted out all of the bags, and received our room keys. I was staying with two of my actual roommates whom I was very close. It became a whole ordeal getting to our rooms with 25 anxious guys all trying to get on the single elevator at the same time. When the elevator came back down, I almost made it on, but there was only enough room for my two bags but not me. I asked my roommate to just kick them off at our floor and I was going to take the stairs. We only had a short period of time to get settled and back to the bus for a few hours of practice. I was very tired and not looking forward to practicing.

After cursing myself the whole way up the five flights of stairs, I turned the corner to find that my bags were not there. My heart began racing and a warm sensation overwhelmed my body. Fighting with every fiber of my being not to erupt, I made my way down every floor, finally finding them on the second floor. This time I took the elevator up to my room. Finally finding it, I kicked the door open, instantly firing accusations at my friends for their practical joke. I had been used to these types of pranks growing up,, but they had picked the wrong day. Except it wasn’t my teammates who were the perpetrators, it turned out to be Sweetness. As soon as I learned that it was my pitching coach pulling my chain, I snapped. The small snowball that began forming at the top of the mountain had eventually turned into an unstoppable avalanche. I had announced to my two teammates and close friends that I was quitting right then and there. One of them began getting disconcerted with my actions and verbal blows were flying everywhere. It was a very disturbing scene, as I began throwing lamps and even the phone. The phone inadvertently almost hit my friend. I had lost it. I had lost the desire to play the game I once loved. I had lost the will to continuously sacrifice my life and body for this sport.

I called my grandfather, who lived five minutes down the road, and asked him to pick me up. I was sitting on the curb waiting for my grandpa, watched my team drive by going to practice, when I got this sudden urge to rip up my jersey, write in permanent ink things that are inappropriate for this blog, and put it on my pitching coach’s windshield. My team would go on to lose a critical game in the best of three game series, which I would later find out my coach wanted me to start. We lost the series and to this day, I still feel guilty about letting my teammates and friends down, something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Just Wanted To Say...

      Last week I got a job with Central Texas Baseball Academy, a brand new indoor and outdoor facility right outside of Austin in Dripping Springs. I choose this job particularly because I am going to have the opportunity to coach my own tournament team, possibly two teams.  In the coming weeks, I will start to add blogs following my team and put to the test my skills as head coach of my own competitive ballclub. As I continue my story of how I was able to transform from a head case to a mentally sound competitor, you will also see how I will be able to take these same skills ingrained in me during my years at Fullerton and teach them to my young players. This is the opportunity I have been waiting for to fulfill any doubts some people may have about my credibility as a coach. 

Blog #8: From Snowball to Avalanche Part 1

       Following the embarrassment I put myself through, I was ousted from the starting rotation. It was all downhill from there. A few weeks later, our pitching coach “Sweetness”, as everyone called him, told me that he didn’t think it was a good idea to play on his summer ball team in Alaska. (I was planning to play outside of California during the summer if I didn’t get drafted and signed.) Sweetness asked me at the beginning of the season if I would pitch for his team. Now all of the sudden, he said it wasn’t such a good idea. His explanation for not wanting me to play was that he knew my grades were questionable to transfer to a D-1 and thought that I should stay in San Luis Obispo and do summer school. However, I thought that because of the recent slip in performance that he didn’t want me on his team. This caused instant tension. One day during practice, I was shagging BP while he was watching pitchers throw bullpens, and we got into a big fight because he wanted me to do some bitch work or something and I told him to have the “geek squad” do it for him. Sweetness yelled at me and then I told him to “f*** off”. It was a major low point in my career showing that much disrespect, especially in front of half the team. I was losing it slowly but surely. By the way, the “geek squad” was what the team referred to our two starting pitchers and closer. These three guys didn’t really party that much with the rest of the team and they always hung out together. During road trips, they would huddle around Sweetness in the front of the van and soak up his glory days in the minors.  It really agitated me while I would sit in the back and have to listen to it.

       A few days later, there was an incident with our other assistant coach, who would joke around but sometimes didn’t know when to stop. He said something that really got under my skin and I snapped. I went home that day after practice and seriously questioned my ability as a player and whether I wanted to put myself through that much agony to attempt to make it at the next level, which the chances of doing are incredibly tiny.  The week before playoffs, I had a talk with my head coach about my recent behavior and how my level of desire and commitment had fallen dramatically in the recent months. After working out some issues with him and talking it over with my parents, I decided to finish out the rest of the season and then figure out what I wanted to do. The opening round of the playoffs, I sat in the bullpen rotting away, and getting in my head even worse than ever. I couldn’t fathom how my dream of having the perfect season had slipped away in what seemed to be an instant. At the beginning of the season I had an amazing amount of confidence, just 4 months later, I had regressed all the way to the point of wanting to quit. This year however, we made it to the second round of playoffs, no help from me of course. The Super Regionals were being played in San Diego, and this time, the coach would need me for a critical start... 

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Blog #7: Don't Look In the Stands Part 2

      After my freshman year, I played summer ball at home, playing in this league that I still don’t even know the name of, logging at least another 75 innings. I felt like I was consistently getting stronger, each start getting more dominating. Looking back at pictures of a trip I took to Costa Rica that summer, I was about 20 lbs lighter than I had been the last 4 years. This is probably why I was able to stay healthy while having poor posture and be able to throw over 150 innings. As soon as I gained another 15- 20 lbs, my back had no chance. After coming home from this trip, I pitched the opening playoff game, this time going a complete game (7 innings, we played double headers of 7 innings for whatever reason), striking out 15 and giving up 1 earned run. Even though this playoff game virtually meant nothing, I still felt like I had accomplished something because I didn’t want to blow it two playoff games in a row!! Except this time there wasn’t a car accident and thirty scouts in the stands. I pitched well that summer because I was just having fun. I was playing with childhood friends and it was very relaxing. I had just come home from the greatest trip ever and felt on top of the world.  There was no pressure. It isn’t until the pressure hits you that the mental game is needed at its most. 

      However my sophomore year wouldn’t be so fun. Coming back in the fall, I barely pitched again because of all the innings I threw and the coach wanted to give me a rest. But this time I wasn’t just lying on a futon in front of the T.V. all day. I was still able to work out which is pretty much all I did. I ended up gaining a solid ten lbs in a 4- month span and was confident I would hold the throne as the ace of the staff. This year however we had three other capable starters all of which either played at the next level or got drafted.  In the time that I did have to throw before the season commenced, it was good enough to be the opening day starter.  I don’t remember much about the beginning of the season except that I wasn’t throwing nearly as hard as I was the prior year. I was topping out at 88 and sitting between 84 and 87. Even though I was still effective, yet not as dominant, the scouts were turned away by the lack of velocity. It was very frustrating because I was working out harder than ever before. I carried this work ethic into the season, which would cause my ultimate demise. I even stopped partying all together, as I was motivated to make this the greatest season ever. Before the season I did an interview with the school newspaper where I stated the lofty goals in which I wanted to accomplish. But it wasn’t how I envisioned it at all. I didn’t even get a win until my fifth start and didn’t have the same stuff as my freshman year. Worst of all, I knew that my coach knew I wasn’t the same. It wasn’t until about half way through the season and the scouts were long gone, that I learned from the Oral Roberts head coach that my arm didn’t look as loose as it did the year before. After talking with the coach after the game, I stopped working out all together the next two weeks. The muscles in my arm had grown so rapidly in such a short span causing hypertension, which is the way to gain bulk. As a pitcher, this is the last thing you want. I had lost that natural whip- like action, which is how true velocity is created. After this two- week hiatus from working out, I had a start at home against our conference rival at the time, Oxnard. This was the game in which I wrote the second blog about. For all that don’t remember, I came out throwing 90- 92 and couldn’t buy a break, getting taken out of the game, without even recording an out. This game took a huge blow to my confidence level and it was all down hill from this point.  The second start after this game, I was pitching again at home versus none other than… you guessed it…Oxnard. I was ready to get my vengeance, except this time I wouldn’t even have the opportunity. My normal routine would be to go to the training room an hour before I needed to be at the field to get loose and stretched out by the trainer. I had the timing down to a T. It took me exactly one hour to do my normal warm up routine. This time however, I needed my groin to be wrapped because it was unusually bothering me. I remember looking down at my phone making the 200- yard walk from the training room to the field, and then looking up to find my head coach standing at the entrance pointing to his watch. I was exactly two minutes late, which was not what his watch said. His watch said that I was only one minute late!!! In the biggest start of my career, needing to redeem myself in order to remain the ace of the staff, my coach benched me. He might as well have just taken my heart and crushed it with his own bare hands. I snapped. I completely lost control, almost instantly breaking down as the coach turned around to go back to the field. I was sobbing outside the dugout for about an hour before one of my teammates convinced me to come back into the dugout. It was just as hard facing my teammates as missing this start because it was just plain embarrassing. One of our teams’ leaders just sitting outside the dugout crying while you are trying to get ready for a big game, it was pathetic. I could barely save face and being the weak person that I was, I just sat in the corner with my shades on for the entire game. After this incident, my teammates never looked at me the same. I became the team baby almost instantly. I had learned the hard way that being on time, meant being five minutes early. I would never be late to another baseball function again. 

Monday, August 3, 2009

Blog #7: Don't Look In the Stands Part 1

      It is the biggest start of my career thus far. I got the call to be the opening game starter in a one- game elimination playoff duel against L.A. Mission. Up until this point, I had obtained an advisor and scouts were telling me that I was going to be drafted between the 10th and 15th rounds. I pretty much had decided that I would sign if I received enough money to fall back on if I never made it. During the middle of the season, I began to completely blow off my studies because I was convinced that I wasn’t going back to school the following year.  So as I am pulling out of the parking lot of my apartment complex to go to the game, I get in an accident with the roommate of a girl I was seeing at the time. I was slowly backing out with a large van blocking my view, and this girl comes racing down and I didn’t see her. There was minimal damage to my car but I was completely rattled. She was flipping out and blaming the whole thing on me when in fact she was obviously speeding in a parking lot. This was the last thing I needed before the biggest game of my career. I later found out from a cop after witnessing the same accident that each person is responsible for his or her own damage. I told her that we would deal with it later and I got the hell out of there.  

       I was extremely nervous and had an abnormal amount of stress. Before the game started, I took a look into the stands (which I normally never did) to find almost every Major League organization represented to see our shortstop, the opponent’s star pitcher and centerfielder Eddie Baeza, and myself. There must have been almost 30 scouts there as Baeza was seeded to go in the top 2 rounds out of high school before he had Tommy John surgery. To make a long story short, we lost the game 8-2 and I didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. I ended up going 3.2 innings allowing 6 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks. My dreadful performance led my team to a critical loss ending any hopes of winning a state championship and only getting drafted in the 29th round as a draft and follow. I received a few calls the first day of the draft asking if I would sign for $30,000, but that wasn’t enough to take me away from school as a freshman. The Texas Rangers ended up having exclusive rights to sign me for the following year and had up until a few weeks before the draft to make a deal. Most might think that I still had a very successful freshman season, but it quickly became a very disappointing one as my expectations became excessively elevated throughout the season. A little over 2 years before this time, I didn’t even think that a post high school career was possible. Now, I was disappointed that I got drafted in the 29th round, a dream in which nearly every young ball player has growing up.

      Expectations are very powerful. They can control the way you interact and feel about nearly every situation. This especially holds true in the sport of baseball. My expectations in a period of two years went from not even expecting to play collegiate ball, to not expecting to start, let alone play as a freshman, playing only 2 games of fall ball, all the way to expecting to get drafted in the top 15 rounds. As scouts started chomping at the bit, all I heard was 10th to 15th round. Even my advisor fed me this crap. It got so built up in my head that it became the main focus for my season. Did I care if we won or lost…of course. But at the end of the day, it was all about my stats and getting the right amount of money. I wasn’t completely focused about getting better each day at practice (PROCESS ORIENTED). I was more worried about what round I was getting drafted in and how low my ERA was or how many wins I had (RESULTS ORIENTED). You will start to see that this is going to be one of the central themes of this blog and one of the big difference makers in having more consistent success. As a coach or player, your ultimate goal should be learning how to completely focus on the process of the game and getting better each and every day, rather than worrying so much about the end result. If the process is performed correctly, the results will come. I even remember being upset when I didn’t get the win one game where our reliever gave up the lead, but we still managed to come back and win. Because I did not get the win, it ruined what should have been a great day of baseball. Fast- forward two years to Fullerton… at the end of the day, the only thing that mattered was whether we won or lost. Even if I pitched poorly, but we still won, all that mattered is that we were one game closer to winning a National Championship. You will shortly see how my attitude transformed over a 1½ year period at Fullerton, from the selfish player I was at Cuesta, to that of being simply a competitive beast and only caring about winning. 

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Blog #6: Numbers May Be Deceiving Part 2

       Finally, after my leg healed, I had about three months to get into shape. Fortunately, it was the first time I was on a team with a structured training program. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we had either swimming or running at 630 in the morning, followed by weights. I was getting where I needed to be physically pretty quickly, however my studies were falling off the map, never going to class because I was either too depressed or too tired from early morning training. Before this semester of college, I never had below a 3.5 GPA, but this semester I had earned a poor 1.6. Fortunately for me, grades don’t affect your eligibility until your sophomore year.

      I ended up gaining almost 20 lbs in three months, as I hit my first natural weight gain going from 195 to 215. I would later hit my final weight gain when I was about 23. As a boy becomes a man, they have their first big growth spurt around 12-14. Then again when they are 16-18. By this time you are pretty much as tall as you will be, but you have two major weight gains again when you hit 19-20, and again at 22-25. A man will fully reach his potential at this age so if you don’t got it by then, you might want to find another career! So with this weight gain with the use of some questionable supplements, I was throwing at the speed that I needed to be to have a chance to make an impact as a freshman. By questionable, I mean that JC ball does not drug test and at the time, these supplements were legal to purchase. Some might still be legal and not banned by the NCAA, but I’m sure my youthful stupidity misled me down a dubious path. I will have a whole blog dedicated to the topic of supplements and my experience with them, which ones to take and stay away from, at a later time. In any event, no one should experiment with any supplements until they hit this initial weight gain of around 19 or 20 years of age. I later learned that most supplements are almost meaningless if not combined with the proper workout routine, as you can easily injure yourself by overbuilding certain muscles and neglecting others. It may be devious to get “big and strong” having some initial results, but I assure you that the injuries will come later as your body will eventually break down with such an asymmetrical motion of a swing and pitch.

      So the results came, becoming one of the two horses on our team which rode us all the way to a conference championship. As a freshman, I went a dominating 7-1 with 73 K’s in 73 innings, 3 complete game including 1 shutout, and halfway through the season I started every other game, going every 5 days, sometimes 4. I made First Team All Western State Conference and got drafted in the 29th round by the Texas Rangers. However numbers may be very deceiving. My ERA was well above 4 and I had just about the worst mental game conceivable. I had 3 starts that year in which I didn’t get out of the first inning.  But if I got past the first inning, you could count on at least a solid 7. I had five games in which I pitched into the 9th. I was all or nothing. But at the Junior College level, my 87-91 mph fastball and slider combo was devastating to hitters. My success freshman year was based almost purely on skill and luck. But my luck would eventually run out…

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Blog #6: Numbers May Be Deceiving Part 1

      This is the official starting point of this blog, as I begin the story of my college career up until the present.  I signed in the winter of my senior year with the University of Pacific, a small D-1 school in the Big West Conference. Even though the town of Stockon is one of the worst crime- ridden cities in the country, the campus was beautiful and they were offering me almost a full scholarship between athletic and academic. I also really liked the pitching coach Tim Dixon, who was actually a Fullerton Alumni.  Unfortunately, right towards the end of the season, I found out that the Pacific coach got fired. At this point, I started seeking some other viable options. After what had happened to a family friend on the USC football team., I started to reconsider playing for a coach that didn’t recruit me. My friend was recruited before Pete Carroll became coach, so Carroll recruited Palmer and he became his boy.  Deciding to wait for Palmer to get drafted and salvage a few years instead of transferring, my friend again got screwed as Leinart came in and ruined any chance for him to play. Things tend to work out if they are meant to be, as now this guy I am talking about, who patiently waited for his opportunity, just signed a 6 year 60 million dollar extension with the Kansas City Chiefs. As you will see with my story, things tend to work themselves out with hard work and the right opportunity. That’s all that luck is; being prepared for the right opportunity. This sensation waited patiently in the weeds for 5 years, working hard and biding his time. Then, at the biggest NFL combine (Workout/tryout), his preparation paid off as he was one of the best quarterbacks in the entire camp. The rest just fell into place. My friend could have felt sorry for himself and quit, but he knew he would have regretted giving up for the rest of his life.

      After my senior season ended, I received a phone call from a friend’s dad, asking about my interest of maybe going to a junior college and either transferring to a more desirable D-1 school or even getting drafted.  Four of my buddies from my team were already interested in going to Cuesta. This JC was very attractive because of their success and the fact that is in a great college town with the best weather in the world. So we all took a trip up to San Luis Obispo to check it out, and it all seemed too good to be true. This small town right off the central coast of California had way more to offer than the crime- ridden city of Stockton. And to top it off, I was going to being playing college ball with some of my best friends. It was an easy decision. Life was good until the day came that changed my life forever. The day before we all to leave to start our college journey, one of our friends died in a fluke car accident coming home from a dentist appointment. It devastated all of us. This catastrophe hit me pretty hard; as it was definitely not the way I pictured leaving the house for the first time. This guy was like an older brother to all of our friends and will be remembered in our hearts for eternity. So to make matters worse, three weeks later while walking on our way to one of our first college parties, we were bombarded by water balloons, one of them hitting my buddy’s girlfriend. At this point, my buddy was all riled up and confronts the three jerks sitting on their porch nailing random people as they walk by. The whole time I was just standing on the sidewalk just waiting for what was to come. The next thing I know, 10 other hooligans come storming out of the house, outnumbering us two to one. It was pretty ugly, resulting in me being out with a quadriceps pull for over two months. We later found out that these guys happened to be on the Cal Poly wrestling team and were trained by the Ultimate Fighting Champion Chuck Liddell. It was over before it even started!! For the next two months I just laid out on a futon in the middle of my living room, depressed and on muscle relaxers. It was the first of many battles that I would face in the coming years. 

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Blog #5: My Credibility In Question Part 2

      In this person’s comment, they also stated that “there are different ways to be a successful coach” and that I “don’t have the right to post that he (My high school coach) did things the wrong way”. They then follow later by stating “I wouldn’t publicly criticize anyone because you have no credibility”.  Okay, with that being said, I have been playing this game for 20 years now, having been coached by the best and the worst, and everywhere in between. So I would like to think I have a lot of credibility seeing that I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to be coached by scores of coaches. It could be argued that my high school coach be placed in the upper 50 percentile of all the coaches in the land, but is that why you are reading my blog, to learn about mediocre coaching at best? No. You are reading because I played for one of the best college baseball programs ever. You are reading because I have something to offer that is a rarity in the baseball and blog world. And probably the biggest reason you are reading my blog is because you have realized that something is missing in the equation to making your kid the ultimate ballplayer.

      Lets go into more detail about there being “different ways to be a successful coach and dealing with situations differently”. Indeed there are different ways to relatively succeed in the game of baseball. However, throughout my 20- year career, there was only one way that I found to be the most successful. So this person says there are different ways, but why wouldn’t any sane person strive to find the ultimate way?? I recently read the book “The Yankee Years”, the story of Joe Torre’s coaching career with the Yankees. I will be the first to tell you that I am not a Yankees fan, however EVERYONE should read this book!! It tells the great story about an underdog manager coaching a young, committed team to 3 out of 4 World Series, and how over time, the front office destroyed the dynasty that Torre and Steinbrenner built by continuously signing the top players in the league, never allowing for the same chemistry to form as they had the first 4 years of Torre’s career with the Yankees. Unfortunately, the second half of Torres 12- year stint with the Yankees consisted of a team with too many colliding egos, and too much negative attention and energy when steroids became the main focus in baseball. However, while I am reading this amazing tale, I can’t help but notice how similar Torre ran his team to that of Fullerton. And then it hit me!! There is something that all great coaches have in common. Then remembering back to when I read one of the many John Wooden books on coaching, all these legendary coaches had the same hard- nosed philosophy and structure to guarantee success. For all who don’t know who this hero is, John Wooden won 10 of 12 NCAA Basketball Championships with UCLA throughout the 60’s and 70’s and is the greatest basketball coach of all time. All of these greats had similar principles and morals and stuck with them even through the toughest of scenarios. They all gave consequences to players for breaking rules. The main difference in why Torre took longer to show his true coaching ability than John Wooden, Auggie Garrido, or George Horton is because he was at the professional level. It is much more difficult to take this kind of philosophy to men who get paid millions of dollars. It is much easier at the collegiate level to succeed because you are dealing with kids whom you are molding into men. You have the rare opportunity to take a raw athlete and transform them into a man, who will succeed at the next level. It is easier to rid a team of any egos with teenagers than with men who have already naturally developed an ego. However, with the right opportunity, Torre has proven that this sort of structure can succeed with flying colors even at the professional level.                 

      Why do you think it is that when I spoke with Auggie Garrido about a coaching job a week before playoffs, he A. even gave me the time of day to speak with him and B. said he would definitely consider me for the volunteer assistant job if it becomes open??? (At this point it doesn’t look promising, as the current volunteer has still not found a job.) Here’s kind of how the conversation went… I introduced myself and he makes a comment on the Fullerton polo I was wearing, asking if “Fullerton gave you guys those shirts (world series polos) or if they were too cheap to get em for you?” He was referring to how compared to Fullerton, Texas has a lot more money. The proof was that I was standing in the one of the nicest locker rooms I have ever seen. I replied “they gave ‘em to us in Omaha”. He laughed and said, “that’s typical”. I then proceeded to ask about the volunteer position and he said to call him a few weeks after the season. Finishing up our short but sweet conversation, he told me something to the extent that “at least he doesn’t have to inquire as to if I know the game of baseball”.  He didn’t even need to find out about my qualifications to even be considered for the job. All he knew is that I played for Fullerton, and that simple fact was good enough for him!!! And if it was good enough to be considered a coaching job under the all- time winning D1 college head coach, then I am pretty sure it is credible enough to write this blog.    

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Blog #5: My Credibility In Question Part 1

      "Justin, I was forwarded this site for your blogs and I am glad that I got to read this because I have been familiar with southern california high school baseball for almost 20 years now and it would be an honor for me to stand up for your high school head coach.
From what I remember, as a head coach, he won over 200 games (200 more than you have ever won in your career). This includes a period of time in the mid 90's when he went three straight seasons without losing a game. Doesn't seem to bad to me. There are different ways to be a successful coach. No matter what anyone says about how he coached the team, he was a successful coach. Just because he did not follow the guidelines of the way you were taught in recent years does not give you the right to post that he did things the wrong way. There are different ways to coach, different strategies, and different ways to handle situations as well as players. But you wouldnt know that because you have never been the skipper. And until you are, I wouldn't publically criticize anyone because you have no credibility. What gives you the right to say what is a good conditioning amount or what is a good practice structure?? What makes you think that you know everything about coaching already??"

 

      This was a recent comment I received from an anonymous writer expressing his feelings about my high school coach and that I shouldn’t publicly criticize anyone because I have “no credibility”. In my reply I told him that he brought up some great points and that I was going to write my next blog to address his concerns. I might have been a little bold and going out on a limb by saying the things I said, but I stand by them. That being said, I am not saying at all that I know everything about coaching by any means. The whole point of this blog is to make everyone aware of how important the mental game is in baseball and in life in general, and how it changed the way I played the game, learning how to be more competitive and consistent. Not even Big League Organizations have figured out the secret to being more consistent. The only organization that I know that have sports psyches working with players is the Cleveland Indians, and that just started happening within the last few years, so the results have yet to be seen. I am simply here, writing the story of my career and how learning the mental game has affected it. So if I use an example of what my experience has been during high school, I hope no one takes it personally when I tell it as it is. Indeed my coach was very knowledgeable about the game and had some success, but let me ask this question: How many CIF Championship rings does my coach possess in his long career??  Just because one’s winning percentage is favorable does not necessarily make that person a successful coach. I am not saying that my high school coach wasn’t a successful coach because he did have a great career, but there was definitely room to improve. 

      Now, this person says I have no credibility. Since I have written this blog, I have received a few critical comments on my credibility because I have never technically coached my own team. But this simple fact does not in any way discredit my ability to dissect the knowledge I have received over the years from some of the greatest players and coaches ever in the game. Here are just some of the players and coaches I’ve had the grand privilege of being able to soak up what they’ve had to offer: I started private lessons at the age of 10 with Nez Balelo (former Big Leaguer with Mariners and scout for Braves, and now a successful sports agent) and continued with their academy (West Coast Baseball) until college; John Jackson (father of Big Leaguer Conor Jackson) and Mike Boyd (former minor leaguer and father of minor leaguer Chad boyd) played significant roles in my success as they coached me at various times throughout Pony League; throughout high school I was also coached by former Big League greats Bret Saberhagen and Marc Gubicza. These two great Major League players had 14 and 16 year careers respectively. If you are not familiar with these players I suggest you take an opportunity to look them up; Rick Allen (former minor leaguer and now scout for the Pittsburg Pirates) was my assistant high school coach; Jon Bushart (cousin of Big Leaguer Jon Garland and former minor leaguer who now is one of the most noted and successful private pitching coaches in the San Fernando Valley) helped me the fall before I went to Fullerton; D.J. Carrasco (Current Big League reliever for the White Sox) became my mentor for about a month while we were both rehabbing in Tuscon, teaching me everything there is to the physics of a baseball; and finally the Fullerton Coaching Staff, including Ted Silva ( legendary All- American Fullerton pitcher who played for the USA team in ’94 and posted an amazing nation leading 18-1 record with 6 saves to lead his team to our 3rd National Championship. Unfortunately his career was ended short due to injury. He is now currently the pitching coach for UC Irvine.), Bill Kernan (Former head coach for Cal St Northridge and now the current head coach for Cal St. Bakersfield. Coach Kernan taught me how to become the most competitive SOB out on the mound.), Jason Gil (Former Titan player on the ’95 Championship team who is now the head coach for Loyola Marymount. Gilly gave me a second chance and kept me at Fullerton for a second year, something that I will be forever grateful.), Rick Vanderhook (Assistant coach for over 20 years under Auggie Garrido and George Horton. He is a big reason for my success, as I eventually learned that if you could deal with the “wrath of Hookie”, you could pretty much deal with anything that came my way out on the mound. We might not have seen eye to eye all of the times, but is a damn fine coach and I love him.) As I am sitting here writing about my coaches, tears are rolling down my face reminiscing about the greatest memories I’ve ever had and would give anything to be able to do it again!!! George Horton (One of the greatest coaches to ever coach college baseball. The back- to- back National Coach of the Year won his first championship in 2004, and I can almost guarantee there will be more to come. Coach Horton is the reason why I aspire to be a head coach at the D1 level. He simply inspires when he speaks. And I’ll tell you something else… I did not just sit there and twiddle my thumbs while Coach Horton would have his 45 minute speeches. I soaked up every piece of knowledge that this legend had to offer, which is why I feel I have the qualifications to be writing this blog.). And finally, maybe the single reason why I was able to pitch with a broken shin successfully for two months, legendary sports psychologist Ken Ravizza. Ravizza transformed the way I ticked, changing the way I prepared for games and practices. This man for all who don’t know is the founding father of the mental game. He began in the 60’s working with NFL football players, soon moving on to U.S. Olympians, followed by some time working exclusively with the Angels, and now is so famous in his industry that he works when he chooses to with various top professional athletes all over the world. Ravizza has also begun teaching at Cal St. Fullerton after working with the Angels, and soon became a significant part of the Titans success. In the fall of ’07, I took his Sports Psych class, which took my game to a whole new level. This is why I feel I am qualified to teach these skills. With this class, along with reading his book several times and his exclusive tutelage with our team for the year and half I was there, I have been able to use this knowledge in my private lessons for the past 2 years. The results speak for themselves. One of my most consistent clients magically made his first all- star team this year solely as a pitcher!!! Not many kids accomplish this at his age. He is only 10 years old and batted last on his team, but he somehow made the team. He was their team’s starter and one of the only games he pitched poorly was when I was umpiring. Naturally he got a little nervous trying to impress his pitching coach. The point is that all this kid needed to take his game to the next level was a mental adjustment. Before I started working with him, he was shy and didn’t know how to put 100% of his energy into every pitch and swing. Granted his mechanics needed a little work, but they are still nowhere near perfect. The difference in his equation for success was simply upstairs. This kid is not the hardest thrower in the league by any means, but now his average fastball is a plus pitch because nearly every time he delivers, there is 100% effort behind it. When you look at his demeanor now, his face says, “don’t mess with meeeee!!!!!”  

Friday, July 17, 2009

Just Wanted To Say...

     I just received a disturbing phone call from my former high school teammate who thought I went a little overboard on the third post about my head coach from high school. It even got to me emotionally as I pretty much broke down in tears. He felt it was a complete bashing, when all I was trying to do was give an example of how a coach can lose control of his team. Again, I want to reiterate that I love my high school coach more than he probably knows. He had my back during a difficult period of time when most people would have just left me in the dumpster to rot. I will never forget what he did for me and the whole world will soon know how wonderful a person that he is. I want to apologize personally to my coach if he took what I wrote personally. He does know the game of baseball and has had a very successful coaching career in which I hope he continues his career for a long time. All in all, he always had the best interests of the players, even if, looking back now at the age of 25, I thought that the practice structure and work out schedule could have been a little more demanding. My teammate made me realize that most high school programs are run this way and that is why I want to change it. I have had hundreds of coaches throughout my career and my high school coach was definitely NOT anywhere near the bottom. I just feel that we had a very talented team in which our full potential was not met. Whether it was my coaches fault or the fault of the individual players on the team who did not work hard enough to reach their full potential, we had a team that could have won CIF. I may have gone a little overboard and touched a very sensitive line, but that was simply the way I feel and I will never retract my personal feelings. Today just made me realize that there are going to be a lot of people out there who enjoy my openness, but there will be those who take it personally. The bigger message is that there needs to be a revamping of the way things are run on the baseball field and life in general. Please take my example for what it is and not a personal vendetta to my coach. 

Monday, July 13, 2009

Blog #4: The Cream of the Crop Still Needs Help!!!

        I apologize to everyone for the late post this week but I was in Vegas this weekend for my sister’s birthday and didn’t have an opportunity until today. Enjoy…

       (About a month ago) I was watching the ESPN Wednesday game of the week between Detroit and Boston, and in the first inning, pitcher Armando Galarraga, a second year big leaguer for Detroit, gives up a 3-2 bomb to the 2nd batter J D Drew, with Pedroia on first. He left a fat, hanging slider with a full count because he was too worried about the runner at first. After it was hit, the camera went to the pitcher who was cursing himself and showing emotion big time! The announcers at this point were talking about how he had such a great rookie year, but that this year “he hasn’t quite figured it out yet”. Well I figured it out in about 3 seconds. All I needed to figure out what was wrong was that three second clip of the inexperienced pitcher moping and whoa is me. I see it constantly even at the big league level.  And you wonder why he hasn’t been consistent this year??? So many of these young big leaguers lack the true skill of possessing a sound mental game. They are where they’re at based mostly on skill. When the announcers say that a player is in the process of figuring “it” out. They never really explain the “it”. This “it” we are talking about is obviously the mental game.  Now this of course is not true for a lot of these young stud players in the bigs, but the point is that you still see players lacking a strong mental game even at the highest level. Every organization should have at least one (if not more) specialist in teaching the mental game and constantly working with players even at the big league level. There are always going to be issues with even the best players. This would basically be a psychologist, constantly dealing with the pressures and failures of the game, but all aimed at baseball. It is sad that a lot of coaches are too stubborn to have a psych guy. They think it is compromising their authority or their ego is shot because they are unable to teach it at the level of an expert. Well, Fullerton’s coaches weren’t ashamed one bit. They embraced Ken Ravissa (our expert psych guy) and worked at the same time with us, constantly learning from him. And you wonder why we are so successful?

      Anyway…pitching is one thing when it comes to the mental game, but hitting?? That’s a whole other story. Pitchers are paid to succeed the majority of the time or else they don’t have a job. Hitters can fail 70% of the time and still be an all star. I know you’ve heard this before, but what you probably don’t think about when you do hear it is the simple fact that hitting is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. Besides having to hit a 90 mph fastball with movement, you could also get a variety of other pitches that move in various directions. If you explained this to someone who has never heard of the game of baseball, they would think you were crazy!!! “They gotta hit what…???  Are you kidding me!!! These guys are hitting balls that are flying at them at all different directions at random speeds as high as 100 mph!!!! No thank you, I’ll pass on playing this dangerous game!!!!”  However this game has been the American pastime for the last 150 years.  It is a beautifully intricate game which ends when you get all 27 outs, not based off a clock like most other major sports. It is also the most challenging game, which is probably why it has taken over my life for the past 20 years. So, back to the dealing with the failure of hitting. Why is it that a lot of players will either get 2 or 3 hits in one game or none at all?? Because the success of a lot of players’ games are determined in the first or second at bat. Some players can handle getting out the first time and come back and have a good at bat his second, but after failing twice in a row, most cannot handle that failure the next two at bats of the game.  Players constantly take previous failed at bats into their next ones without even realizing it. Subconsciously, or even consciously, 99% of players have some kind of negative thought or emotion carried from a previous at bat into their current one. And I am here to stop this today. Have you ever asked a single player, let alone your entire team, what they are thinking or feeling during an at bat or before a pitch is delivered?? Most coaches don’t make their players aware of this type of thinking and are thus unable to fix it.  Once aware of a problem, you can always fix it with the right knowledge and tools. However, if you are never conscious about what kind of attitude you have or the thoughts that run though your head during an at bat, well then simply… you will never fix the problem.  Simple as that!! Now that we are aware of this problem, we can deal with the feelings of failure. Talk about these feelings with your team. Have them express their concerns about hitting, even at the earliest age. Your responses will obviously be different based on the age and skill of your players, but the basic concept is applicable to all ages, just make it your own. Now that we are aware of the problem, the solution will come in time. Do not expect amazing results (especially the younger your players are) within a few days of opening this door. You are dealing with young kids and certain players, depending on their learning capability and how good of a teacher you are, will pick up on this positive way of thinking faster than others. But you will start to notice signs of improvement within the first few weeks. This is all a part of their development as players and as human beings. I will continue to deal with how to teach these tools to your players in the coming weeks so keep reading and re-reading. The first step is to make your players aware of their emotions and thoughts. Some players might respond, “I dunno”. Don’t stop there. Dig deeper into the fears and negative thinking, that I know and you should know, your players are feeling. It is completely natural, which makes it that much more difficult to fix. You need to become the psychologist and teacher. That’s what coaching is, teaching. If your not a good teacher than I don’t know why you are coaching. And if your not a good teacher but still desire to coach your kid, then I suggest you starting engraining yourself with knowledge and lots of it!!  At first, I would suggest taking little Johnny aside and having a one on one instead of trying to head shrink your whole team at once. Once you become more comfortable with this type of training, you can have team discussions in which your players are sharing their fears and emotions with one another. You are the director of this discussion so start off slowly by having individual sessions. Start with your pitchers during bullpens. Allow a bit more time than usual because most of the time spent should be talking. Get inside the heads of your players, bring the feelings and emotions to the surface, and then transform their way of thinking to that of a competitive nature. But it all starts with YOU, the coach. If you are not thinking this way, then it is impossible to achieve it with your players. Become aware and then transform…

      By the way, for all who don’t know, Detroit lost that game at home to Boston 10- 5 (because of an 8th inning with 3 consecutive errors by Red Sox infielders). Beckett threw a no hitter into the 7th, giving up no earned runs in 8 innings against a first place team. Now, it took Beckett a few years to figure “it” out and now he is one of the games best with the ultimate proof being performing under the highest pressure in all of baseball, winning 2 World Series rings. If you don’t really remember his starts against the Yankees in ’03, he was sitting at 99 mph throughout the whole game, hitting 100 many times. Now Beckett usually works at 95- 97, but this start, he came to compete his ass off!!! 1000% of all his energy was expended for each and every pitch, resulting in a completely dominating series. Besides his beautifully smooth and simple mechanics, he finally learned what it meant to compete each and every pitch. And now, he rarely shows emotion of any kind. A “mistake” pitch is nothing more than a pitch in which the pitcher lost his focus.  Every pitch or swing or play should have a definitive purpose. Visualize success, have positive thoughts, take a good deep breath in the nose and out the mouth, and execute. 

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Blog #3: Taking Control of Your Team

      Let’s go back to my high school days. I would first off like to say that no matter what is said about my head coach, he is an upstanding guy with honor and a huge heart and I love him. That being said, he was a big pushover! For example… one day during practice in the dugout, a can of chewing tobacco fell out of a jacket of one of my teammates. It rolled right into the back of the heal of our coach. He turned around and picked it up and snapped, “Kevin, what the hell is this??” He replied, “uhhh…uhh…its back- off. Ya know, the stuff that helps you quite dip.” Coach took one more look at it and then gives it back to him saying, “ whatever Kevin. Don’t let it happen again.” He knew it wasn’t back- off and everyone saw what had happened. This is a perfect example of how the head coach had little control of his team. He let his player get away with breaking the rules in front of half the team, which eventually turned into the whole team. A complete act of insubordination!!! This cannot happen. I could sit here and tell countless stories of this occurring throughout my high school career, which sadly resulted in the loss of control of a very talented team. We had three D1 players, which were all drafted at least once in their careers, and 7 players playing various levels of college ball. We had the talent, but lacked the discipline and structure to continually get better each and every day. Our practice structure wasted a lot of valuable time as our team pretty much did what we wanted during off- season practices. During the off- season of my junior year, I remember most of practice just working on the bullpen with another pitcher. We spent more time that off season making the field nicer than actually practicing. And to boot, there were a lot worse looking fields in our league at the time. I felt our team was more concerned about the quality of our field and uniforms than actually getting better.  As a team, we did minimal conditioning, batting practice was an utter mess, and overall, we did not have a decent practice structure to maximize our time spent on the field getting better each and every day.  The worse part was that our coach allowed this kind of nonsense to occur. However, I will be the first to admit that I had just as much to do with any insubordination as anyone on the team. It wasn’t until after my junior year that my pitching ability gave way to the interest of D1 scouts. Even then, my level of seriousness exponentially rose, but looking back now, it was a joke compared to that of later in my career. But just know this… our coach’s complete loss of control ended in a negative result my junior and senior year, ultimately achieving his demise a few years later.     

      This is easily a good percentage of the way coaches run their team by letting their players control the flow of practice. The other percentage are control freaks and come across to their players as having a power trip and are missing the communication needed for a successful ball club.  There is a fine line between taking complete control of your team and still having a line open for communication between the coach and his players. (This pertains mostly to high school and older, but still pertinent to all ages.) If players feel that their voice cannot be heard, then a piece of them shuts down. A lot of you coaches out there are really tough on their players, which is good. However, if you do not relay to them that the day you stop getting on them is the day they need to worry, they will forever be in constant fear without knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As a coach, the players that you like best and are always on their case are the ones you are pushing to get better. If this player can handle your wrath, then they can pretty much handle any hardship they face throughout the game and throughout life. But if they do not understand that you are pushing them to become better, them I am afraid you will just be pushing them away. Be strict with your players, but at the same time communicate with them. Yelling can easily be taken as being mad. Children need to understand that you aren’t yelling at them because you are angry, even if you are a little angry with them. You are leading your men into battle for however many games played in a season.  They need someone strong and in control.  They need a leader who shows no fear and shows no emotion. Once you as a coach show emotion, your players will soon follow suit. The other team shouldn’t know if your team just won or lost the World Series. And this will eventually strike fear in your opponent.  Just imagine taking a near perfect pregame and you and your players walking off the field as if what you just accomplished was as easy as you made it look. You should act like this is just another day at the ballpark. This scenario, no matter if you think it is crazy talk, is very attainable and should be practiced daily. It is only a matter of time before you attain all of the tools necessary to be able to transform your kids into real ballplayers. Taking control of your team with good communication is the first tool you must master before becoming a complete coach.  

      One last food for thought… I was watching the Fullerton/ Long Beach St. game on ESPNU earlier in May and I learned that our starting center fielder was benched for the Friday night game on national television against our long time conference rival for breaking a team rule. I could find out what he did but that’s not important. It could have been anything from being 5 minutes late to not going to class. But national head coach of the year (’07) David Serrano benched him on a big night with scouts in the stands, because no one, not even their star US National team center fielder, is above the rules. Take control of your team. Set a standard and no one breaks it, not even your own son or star player!!! 

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