The Cardinal Conundrum: Where Is The Real Genius Behind All The Winning?
With Tony La Russa deciding to call it a career earlier this week, MLB will try to remember what it’s like to exist without him managing one of its teams. It hasn’t had to since 1978. As some reminders just how long ago that was: – Cardinals 10-time All-Star Albert Pujols wasn’t even conceived yet. […]
2011/2012 Brisbane Bandits (of the ABL) Imports
Editor’s Note: The ABL is the Australian Baseball League, a professional league in its second season after a long absence. Kevin Jordan, Head Coach Kevin Jordan (born October 9, 1969 in San Francisco, California) is a retired Major League Baseball infielder who played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1995 to 2001. He also played a […]
Happily Ever After: A Tale of the 2011 Redbird Tribe
Once upon a time, there was a baseball team. This baseball team wasn’t the richest team, though it wasn’t poor by any means. It wasn’t the strongest team and it wasn’t by any means the fastest team. It wasn’t even considered the best team within its region, much less in all the land. […]
How To Properly Expand The Strike Zone Is Critical!
Whenever you are ahead in the count, you should “expand the strike zone.” No, let’s rephrase that. You must expand the strike zone! That simply means throwing a pitch off the plate, that’s actually a ball. Or throwing a pitch too high or too low that is out of the strike zone. Let’s be clear […]
Valuable Tips so Your Batting Tee is not a Waste of Money
One thing I always ask my baseball and softball students is “How many of you have a batting tee?” and the answer is usually encouraging with a number of hands being raised. I follow that up with “How many of you use your batting tee regularly? To which very few hands shoot up. I admire […]
Baseball Pitching Tips: How You Hide Your Grip Is Critical!
For something that’s very important, I’m quite surprised hiding your grip isn’t talked about or taught more. How many things can be more detrimental for a pitcher than tipping off his pitches to opposing players and their coaches? Trust me. Players, coaches and managers will look for opposing pitchers that tip off their pitches! For […]
Interview with Strikeout Apparel
Baseball Reflections (BR): What is Strikeout Apparel? Strikeout Apparel (SA): Strikeout Apparel is a high-quality casual clothing line that unites baseball players and their fans, from Little League to the MLB. We specialize in producing high quality, baseball themed casual garments. We launched our preliminary t-shirt line not too long ago; the first design is […]
How To Overcome Two Very Common Baseball Hitting Problems
I would venture that on any given team, at least one third of the hitters have one of these two very common hitting problems. Here are several baseball tips on hitting that should help to overcome them. Tension Is A Hitter’s Worst Enemy! I’ve heard this expression dozens of times and could not agree more. […]
Infographic: The Cost of Beer and Hot Dogs at Ballparks Across the Country
This graphic comes to us via Mike Donghia of http://www.webstaurantstore.com
Coaching Tips: Mind Games Between The Pitcher And The Hitter!
As you advance to older levels of play, you will find that many baseball hitters will play certain mind games with the pitcher and pitchers will do the same with hitters. Personally, I would not recommend getting involved in any mind games until the high school level of play or higher whether you are the […]
A Moment in Time, A Book Review
It’s amazing how fast one’s life can change. In one split second on October 3,1951 aveteran pitcher with multiple All Star appearances went from being one of the most respected players in baseball to forever being known as a goat. When Brooklyn Dodger right hander Ralph Branca gave up the homerun to New York […]
Women In Baseball: Interviews by Norm Coleman
With the possibility of Kim Ng possibly being considered as a General Manager this off season (in places like possibly Chicago (Cubs), Baltimore and any others that open up), I thought it might be the best time to put together this list of articles by my friend Norm Coleman did on Women in Baseball. Norm […]
Developing Clutch Baseball Players
Clutch baseball players are able to focus in the moment. They do this by understanding the things they can control, which is simply the ball and the situation at hand. Clutch hitters understand that they can only control two things: getting a good pitch and taking a good swing. Clutch pitchers believe in the pitch […]
Baseball Pitching Tips: How You Can Get To Know The Tendencies Of A Hitter Very Quickly!
It is mandatory for baseball pitchers to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the baseball hitters they face. There are certain very clever things a pitcher can do. If the hitter takes a practice swing before facing you, pay attention to his practice swing! If he appears to be hitting an inside pitch […]
Fantasy Baseball: Who’s Running Hot & Cold
HOT Allen Craig (STL) – With Matt Holliday down with injury, Craig has seen a spike in his playing time and has made the most of things, going 8-for-23 over the past week. He has also put up 6 R, 3 HR and 6 RBI over that span. Danny Espinosa (WAS)– It’s been a season of ups and downs […]
Luis Salazar Talks Baseball, Recovery from being Hit in the Eye by a Batted Ball
Braves minor league manager Luis Salazar on recovering from a batted ball to his eye. Video: Salazar talks baseball, recovery
A Pre Game Infield Alternative You should be Using
As coaches, we constantly try to convince our players to practice the same way they play in games, with the same focus and intensity. Then coaches proceed to take pre-game infield practice in an un-game like manner. Hitting the ball to a player, who knows the ball is coming in a position-by-position designated way, is […]
Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Split Stats
Now that the fantasy baseball playoffs are upon us, a good number of fantasy owners turn to the practice of streaming pitchers in the hopes of increasing their edge in the pitching statistical categories. This can be risky business however. By using spot starters in and out of your fantasy line up, you increase the chance of amassing counting stats (wins and […]
The 8th Annual 100 Innings of Baseball Game for ALS
The 8th Annual 100 innings of Baseball game for ALS will be held once again at Adams Field in Quincy, MA over Columbus Day weekend starting at 9:00am on Saturday, 10/08, and continuing for 33+ straight hours, ending sometime Sunday afternoon, 10/09. Details from prior years, and graphics can be found at www.bostonbaseball.com/100innings.php. Curt Schilling will once […]
Of Baseball And The Dog Days Of Summer
When I was a kid, I used to keep track of my batting average during our extremely informal sandlot baseball season. I really didn’t know how to figure out a batting average, but I knew that one hit in two at bats was a .500 average, and I would go from there. One year, I […]
Having an Offseason Baseball Plan
The end of July is one of those transition times of year when kids stop competing in baseball and begin playing or practicing for another sport. Playing multiple sports when young is good and a great form of conditioning. Taking a break from playing any sport for a while is also OK, as long as […]
A Review of the Documentary: Jews in Baseball
Released last November (2010), the documentary Jews in Baseball lives up to the hype, documenting some of (if not all of) the most important Jewish major leaguers that have ever played the game of baseball. The DVD shows how players such as Hank Greenberg and Sandy Kofax honored their Jewish faith, while paving the […]
Baseball, More Than the Fundamentals
Recently, I was asked to evaluate players for a 13-year-old travel baseball tryout. I was surprisingly impressed and disappointed at the same time. Impressed with the baseball skills that many of the young players displayed, but disappointed with the athleticism of a majority of the kids. Many of the players had good baseball fundamentals, but […]
Sabermetrics 101: Gaining the Fantasy Baseball Edge
Most people who play fantasy baseball participate in leagues which count basic statistical categories. Although actual league formats may differ (head-to-head, rotisserie, points leagues being among the most popular), the categories in which your teams compete are generally the same. Most fantasy baseball leagues will consider the following categories for batters: Runs, Home Runs, RBI, Batting Average and […]
Leadership – What it Takes
Leadership is often lacking on our playing fields, even at the highest levels of sport. It certainly makes a coach’s life easier when they have a player, or two, who has leadership skills. Of course, good coaches develop leaders by showing youth players how to deal with the various situations that sport present, good and […]
DRSEA INFORMER: Education Program And Documentary
Volume IV, Issue 5: A Publication For Your Reading Enjoyment DRSEA Education Program Launched – The Arias & Goodman Academy, one of the premiere baseball development programs in the Dominican Republic, has launched a pilot project developed by the Dominican Republic Sports & Education Academy to provide education for its prospects. “Make no mistake […]
Helping Ballplayers Eliminate Fear of Being Hit by the Ball
Let’s face it, when you get hit by a pitched ball, it hurts. When a ball hits young ballplayers, it can lead to such fear of being hit that it actually ends their desire to continue playing. Sometimes, nothing will work, but with time and patience, this fear can disappear. One thing that I have […]
“Circle Change” by Gabriel Busch: A Book Review
In “Circle Change”, author Gabriel Busch attempts to fuse a love story with a profound tale of reflection and redemption. Luckily for the reader, he succeeds by connecting on several levels. Set against the backdrop of major league baseball dreams and aspirations, the novel has something to offer for just about any reader. Make […]
Not so Obvious Baseball Tips – Teaching the Game
Since retiring from major league baseball many years ago, I have studied and taught the game to many. I wish I had a few extra bucks for every time I thought to myself, “If I only knew then what I know now.” The good news is that what I know now, I pass on to […]
Harper Changes Hagerstown on His Way to Washington
Superstars change everything, no matter where they go. This is true in business, personal life and, of course, sports and is on display, at least for the time being, in Hagerstown, MD. Hagerstown is the home of the Hagerstown Suns, the Class A Affiliate of the Washington Nationals and is home to […]
