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What's happening everybody 
welcome to my channel here. 

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So today's show is going to be a
little bit different and I'm 

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going to do this a lot on on 
this channel. 

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Obviously, if you follow me, 
this is a daily talk show and my

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way to build out my platform. 
But what a real true passions, 

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and I think many of you know 
this, but if you don't, you will

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very quickly find out that 
absolutely one of my true 

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passions is, is coaching and and
playing. 

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So clearly I'm not playing 
anymore. 

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So now it's about coaching and 
and Gotti, my two children and I

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come to you as a dad. 
I come to you as a former 

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Division One baseball player. 
And as I just mentioned, I come 

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to you as a coach, right? 
So I know where a lot of you are

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because I was there at one 
point, even though I played, 

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played at a fairly high level, 
it was a long time ago and 

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obviously the youth sports 
culture and and backdrop has 

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changed tremendously. 
So, you know, I remember when I 

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was going through this in real 
time, I was overwhelmed with, 

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you know, so many different 
things, the differences between 

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club and travel and the 
different type of bats, you 

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know, whether it's a you trip, 
whether it's USA, what's the 

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right team? 
Where do you go the pricing of 

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equipment? 
And then obviously as I've 

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gotten a little bit deeper into 
it, my son is 10, my daughter is

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9. 
The the very real and and 

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rapidly approaching dilemma of 
how many sports can you really 

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play for a long time, which is a
maybe the biggest change outside

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of the pricing, maybe the 
biggest change in the way youth 

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sports is now presented to 
people where, you know, 

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certainly get to the high school
level. 

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Basically nobody's playing three
sports. 

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And if you're a very serious 
athlete in one of the sports, I 

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think it's very hard to even 
play 2, Not that you can't play 

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2. 
I think if it was football and 

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baseball or maybe maybe even 
basketball and, and baseball, 

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but even that's blending into 
offseason workouts. 

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I'm not saying there's no way to
do it, but those are 

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conversations that I'm going to 
have and devote a lot of time on

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this channel to those, those 
specific areas today. 

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I just want to start with the 
very daunting, but also equally 

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amazing getting your child ready
for Little League. 

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And when I say the little, I 
mean really T-ball and and wreck

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ball. 
I'm talking about the early 

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stages. 
I'm not talking about, you know,

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trying to create the next Mike 
Trout or Aaron Judge or somebody

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like that. 
I'm talking about just getting 

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your child on the right path. 
Is that number one, that they 

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have a chance to to be good in 
baseball or softball? 

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And I think the way you do that 
is you avoid a couple of things 

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that I think are are very common
mistakes for a lot of people. 

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Now, first of all, I'm sure that
Santa brought a barrage of 

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baseball equipment. 
Some of it's probably not even 

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the right equipment. 
The gloves too big, the bat's 

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too heavy. 
Again, I'll get into that stuff 

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at a later date. 
A later time. 

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I'll really expand on that 
stuff. 

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To me though, I, I think the 
most important thing with a 

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young baseball player and again,
young meaning team ball 6 and 

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then obviously that that 
7:00-ish range as you start to 

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get to 8 even, I guess that even
bleeds into 8 a little bit. 

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But you know, if you're a 
serious player that this 

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obviously doesn't apply to you. 
This is just getting out of the 

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house and it's really the first 
team activity that your son or 

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daughter is doing. 
Maybe they've done martial arts,

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maybe they've done soccer. 
That's obviously an, an easy 

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introduction and easy to 
integrate with the schedules and

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and try to figure things out. 
But baseball's very different 

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because, and this is my biggest 
thing, I've talked about this in

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the past, but this is my main 
message here today. 

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I think when it comes to 
baseball, I think the biggest 

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mistake that that a lot of 
people make is that they focus 

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on the wrong thing. 
Let's face it, when we were 

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growing up in the street, then 
we were growing up playing, you 

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emulated, you know, your 
favorite hitters a lot more than

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you did your favorite defensive 
players, right? 

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That's just the way it is. 
And I think it's a dad. 

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You know, when you have a child,
especially if you played at A at

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a decent level, didn't even have
to be college, but you were, you

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were a serious high school ball 
player. 

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And you know, it's, it's as a as
a dad, it's your mission to make

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sure that you put your son or 
daughter in a spot to be as good

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as they can possibly be. 
Maybe you learn from some 

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mistakes that you made when when
you were when you were younger. 

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Now there's a lot of things that
we can't control. 

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You know, ultimately, as they 
progress through this, we we 

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can't control the inherent gifts
that they've given that that 

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they've been given. 
Are they fast? 

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Are they slow? 
Are they big? 

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Are they afraid of the baseball 
early on? 

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Like those are things that you 
can control a little bit, but 

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even that is an obstacle that a 
lot of people really don't know 

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how to navigate. 
So to me, while we all want, you

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know, our child to get in there 
and if they can run, be at the 

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top of the order if they're, you
know, we have visions of our our

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children gnashing at a very 
early age. 

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And with some of these juice 
bats, I mean, kids hitting balls

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over the fence at a much earlier
age than when I was playing. 

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It's nuts. 
I mean, there's some some 

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amazing talents out there as you
start to expand from, you know, 

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rec and then maybe travel to 
club and then maybe do some, 

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some national events like what 
my son has done. 

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He's done a few of those 
already. 

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The the talent pool is insane, 
right? 

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But I think the biggest issue is
that with baseball, too many 

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kids get bored early and they 
never give themselves a chance 

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that it's not their fault, but 
they really never give 

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themselves a chance to fall in 
love with the game because 

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there's one misstep that happens
right away. 

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And to me as a coach, it's the 
easiest thing to identify. 

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So when, when you assemble and, 
and I did this with T-ball, 

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right, when, when you assemble 
right away and you got 10/11/12 

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kids running in a million 
different directions. 

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You know, the maturity rate is 
different for everybody, 

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physical, emotional, the 
competitive gene is there for 

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maybe one or two kids, but for 
the most it's really not. 

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So you try to try to tap into 
that as well. 

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But I think that the biggest 
mistake that occurs is that they

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really can't, they can't catch a
baseball. 

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And I know that that's such a 
basic premise like see the ball,

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hit the ball, run. 
That's really the essence of 

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playing baseball. 
But if you're a young player 

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and, and you simply have no 
chance to make a play a slow 

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roller, I'm not talking about 
high level plays in the hole or 

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going back at shortstop and, you
know, catching one over your 

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shoulder or going down the third
baseline on a pop up, making a 

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play like that. 
I'm, I'm, I'm talking way, way 

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before that stuff. 
If you are not able to show a 

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coach that you can, at least you
know you have the, the proper 

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mechanics and the willingness to
get in front of a ball and make 

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a ball, make a play, stop a ball
from going to the outfield and 

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eventually finding somebody at 
first base who can catch that 

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throw. 
If it's even in the right 

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vicinity, which is another 
challenge throwing. 

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Then I think what happened, I 
know what happens because I've 

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seen it happen. 
A lot of kids who are good 

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athletes, they just haven't 
grown into their body yet. 

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Again, that rate is so different
for everybody that when they're 

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playing in kindergarten and 
they're playing in first grade, 

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they might start out really 
loving the sport. 

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They might love baseball, but 
because they're not an asset on 

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defense, where are they? 
They're in the outfield. 

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And when you're in the outfield 
at a very, very young age, it's 

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boring because there's very few 
balls that are hit out there. 

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Now listen, we know if you're a 
coach out there, if you played 

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the game, you know, very quickly
that changes pretty soon. 

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Balls are, you know, being laced
in the gap and there's cut offs 

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and there's just a higher level 
of, of defensive aptitude that 

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is obviously required if you get
to play at a high level. 

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But even just just pop ups to 
the outfield, they, they come 

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kind of quicker than you think. 
It's, it's, it's, it's an 

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amazing transformation where you
know, T bowl again, you might 

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have one good player who can 
swing it and bang it to the 

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outfield and just run around the
bases, probably run around 3 or 

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4 times before the ball's even 
secured because he hits it far. 

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You might be playing on turf, he
can run a little bit and nobody 

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really knows what they're doing.
But the biggest issue was that 

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when you're in the outfield to 
start, you're not involved in 

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any of the action. 
And when you start, especially 

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in the Northeast, right where I 
am in New Jersey, when you start

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playing at 6:00 and 7:00 and 
you're standing in the outfield 

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waiting for a ball to be hit to 
you, or maybe you're even 

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nervous and you don't want it to
be hit to you, which obviously 

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is normal. 
It's cold. 

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Like, you get out there, you 
start practicing in March, you 

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start playing games in April. 
It's windy. 

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It could be a little drizzly. 
It's cold, you know, and if 

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there's no action, you are bored
out of your mind. 

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Whereas if you're a young player
and you show the early aptitude,

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even if you're not the 
shortstop, but if you're at 

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second base or you're at third 
base or if you're a catcher. 

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And when it goes to kid pitch 
and it goes from, you know, 

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coach pitch to kid pitch, even 
if I'm not saying he's throwing 

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guys out stealing or throwing 
behind runners or, you know, 

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ripping off the the gear and and
fielding a bunt or a little 

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swivel and throwing somebody out
with a dart down the first base 

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that, that that eventually 
comes. 

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And again, it does come quicker 
than you would think. 

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But I think what happens is a 
lot of kids, they just get bored

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with the game. 
And a lot of those kids actually

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have a chance to be good if 
they're in the middle of the 

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action. 
And and I think what happens is 

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the they're in the outfield 6-7,
even 8 years old and there's no 

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action. 
What do they do? 

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They start to tell mom and dad 
and you know, I'm hey, 11 

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baseball Nats a little boring, 
you know, I'm not really getting

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any action. 
And then what happens? 

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And and this is the unfortunate 
reality and you just really 

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trust me on this. 
Take my word for it. 

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If you're not an infielder 
early, you know, especially if 

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there's daddy ball, which is all
totally different, you know, 

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devotion, which I will do at 
some point. 

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There's just a lot of kids who 
are playing shortstop because 

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their dad's the coach and 
they've got no business playing 

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shortstop. 
And that's just a harsh, sad 

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reality of youth baseball right 
now. 

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You get to the club level and 
it's about winning and you're 

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you're paying big money, too 
much money in my opinion, but 

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you're paying big money. 
And the coaches are independent.

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They are real coaches. 
If you were with a real program,

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like my son has been for a 
while, well, then that's 

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different. 
And you're going to either, you 

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know, start at a certain spot 
and and and stay there. 

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If you demonstrate the ability 
to stay there, or you're going 

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to be moved around a little bit.
Or you could actually be playing

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well and another kid from a 
different club team comes in and

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it's just better. 
And guess what, You've got to 

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move to a different spot. 
But because you are programmed 

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and used to being in the 
infield, when you 6 and seven 

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moving to the outfield is, is 
that's a natural progression 

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that's easy. 
You know, it's always easier to 

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move backwards than it is 
forwards. 

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So I think there's a couple of 
things and it's the most basic 

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stuff. 
And I started this with my son 

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when he was during COVID. 
So let's see, he's 10 COVID, 

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he's probably 5 and I even 
started this before COVID at 

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this point, maybe, maybe late 
three, you know, not, I'm not 

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saying that's the first time we 
picked up a ball, but this is 

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about the first time I 
introduced a game that I think 

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is awesome. 
I think it's fun. 

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I think it creates urgency and I
think it, it really teaches the 

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young player to go and get the 
ball right and, and do so with a

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00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:37,960
certain pace. 
And, and I'll tell you what that

223
00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:39,880
means in a second, what I 
actually tell you what the game 

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00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,120
is. 
And it if you do that and 

225
00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,000
there's some repetition, well, 
now when they get on the field, 

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00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,400
the balls hit, their first 
instinct is is going to be to go

227
00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,920
get it. 
Now you will also have certainly

228
00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:52,880
AT ball. 
And this is amazing. 

229
00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,160
It's beautiful. 
It's not even really frustrating

230
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,120
as a coach because you have to 
know that this is coming. 

231
00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,120
But you'll say the first T-ball 
game, you're going to have the 

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00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,520
first little squibber. 
And I mean, like, like ants to 

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00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,560
ice cream on a hot sidewalk in 
July. 

234
00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:10,840
Everybody's going to run to the 
ball. 

235
00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,280
And it's like a rugby scrum. 
And it's amazing, right? 

236
00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:15,400
And then eventually you coach 
that out of the kids. 

237
00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,040
Hey, this is your side, this is 
your spot, this is your 

238
00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:19,840
responsibility. 
This is what you need to do. 

239
00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:24,120
But the game that I would play, 
I just came up with a name. 

240
00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,880
I, I, I don't even know if I 
named it this right away, but 

241
00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,360
what I started doing, I'd go in 
my backyard and I would take 

242
00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,840
whiffle balls and I would just 
bang them around the yard, 

243
00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,240
right? 
And I would, I would give my son

244
00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,600
an amount, an amount of time to 
go and get the ball right. 

245
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,960
And then once he showed some 
ability to do that, which was 

246
00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,600
pretty quick for him, a little 
different with my daughter. 

247
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,760
They're, they're very different.
And and that's some, that's 

248
00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,240
another challenge being a parent
and, and all those wonderful 

249
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,520
things. 
Every kids different, but I 

250
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,920
would just, I'd crush it to the 
other side of the yard. 

251
00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,520
I'd hit some pop ups, I'd hit 
hit some hard grounders with a 

252
00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,240
wiffle ball and I would have him
start right next to me, right? 

253
00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,000
And I eventually called it the 
seven second game. 

254
00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,400
So I'd hit it boom, like, you 
know, like a fungo. 

255
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:13,920
And I would literally countdown 
1234 and he had to get the ball 

256
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:18,080
before 7 seconds elapsed. 
And what I would do early if I 

257
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,680
didn't like, if I hit one in a 
spot that was a little trickier 

258
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,240
to get to, which would require 
more time, I would because he 

259
00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:29,240
was 3 or 3 1/2 or 4. 
I would, I wouldn't just zoom to

260
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,840
seven. 
I would go, you know, 55 and a 

261
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:37,560
half, 66 and A7. 
Like you make sure that they get

262
00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:40,560
it early on. 
Now, I'm also not a believer. 

263
00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:42,320
And those of you who know me 
know this. 

264
00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,200
I'm not a believer in just 
making it seem like everything 

265
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,840
that your kid does is right 
because that's certainly no, but

266
00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:51,200
that's not the real world. 
But as as a little bit of a hook

267
00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,720
to get them to want to show the 
initiative to get them to want 

268
00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,280
to go in the backyard and do it.
I mean, if they're failing every

269
00:13:58,280 --> 00:13:59,880
time, Nope, didn't get it in 
seven seconds. 

270
00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:01,800
Nope, didn't do it. 
Nope, didn't do it. 

271
00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:04,400
I mean, who the hell would want 
to play that game when you're 6 

272
00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,200
or 7 or you know, 3-4, five 
years old? 

273
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,040
Nobody would want to play that 
game. 

274
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,160
Nobody. 
So eventually as, as he got 

275
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,560
better and better and better at 
it, then I would hit it. 

276
00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:16,720
And you know, I wouldn't always 
perfectly hit it this way 

277
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,520
because I'm not a, I'm not a 
Major League coach and it's not 

278
00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,120
a fungo and I'm just, you know, 
it is what it is. 

279
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,480
I would try to wrap it around 
the portion of my house that 

280
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,760
would then go to like the, the 
other part of the grass that you

281
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,200
couldn't see from where we're 
standing now. 

282
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,200
I'd make it maybe 10 seconds and
you, you increase that and it's 

283
00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,960
just creating again, the urgency
I think is so important, right? 

284
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,560
And if you're able to couple 
that with the with hand eye 

285
00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,200
coordination, I'm a firm 
believer in this. 

286
00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,160
I've got videos of, of, of me 
doing this with my son when he 

287
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,200
was 2. 
And you know, I would throw 

288
00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,400
little, little spongy balls at 
him, right? 

289
00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:56,040
And I'd start, you know, I'd 
start. 

290
00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,600
So I'd throw him in the air so 
he can track him and he'd catch 

291
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,880
some, he drops some, but he was,
he was tracking him, but he was 

292
00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,720
trying, right? 
I think your kids are a lot more

293
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,240
capable of doing things than you
even think. 

294
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,040
And it's, it's imperative. 
You don't want to cross the line

295
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,360
of becoming drill Sergeant right
away. 

296
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:12,520
You really don't ever want to be
that. 

297
00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,480
Let another coach, a real coach 
be that. 

298
00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,960
And, and, and I've learned some 
lessons along the way. 

299
00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:18,920
I'm going to be very transparent
with this, right. 

300
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:24,080
And, and I think that when you 
do that, when you do that, I 

301
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,760
think what you see is a, a like 
a spark that goes off and it, 

302
00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:30,960
and it's a beautiful thing that 
it truly is. 

303
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,480
And if you can get that urgency 
chasing after the ball. 

304
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,560
And by the way, he would have 
his glove on when he was doing 

305
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,280
it and he would start with me 
and as I just described the 

306
00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,560
drill. 
And then, but even before that, 

307
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,560
now there's a little hand eye 
involvement. 

308
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,560
And I'd start with the little, 
you know, little pop ups. 

309
00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:48,920
Then you incorporate a short 
hop, you know, again with a 

310
00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:50,920
sponge ball. 
So even if he misses it, it's 

311
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,120
not taking teeth out. 
There's no stitches, no run to 

312
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,440
the ER, you know, nothing there.
It's all safe and it's harmless,

313
00:15:57,440 --> 00:15:59,960
but you're really actually 
incorporating some real baseball

314
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,800
skill and, and softball skill. 
And then eventually you move to,

315
00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,040
you know, 2 hops. 
So that, then that that's, that 

316
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:07,880
looked a little different. 
What daddy's doing here. 

317
00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:09,360
Oh, that's one. 
Oh, that's a long hop. 

318
00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:11,440
Oh, that's a short hop. 
Oh, that kind of got me in 

319
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:12,720
between. 
That's an in between hop. 

320
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:14,880
And you do it and you just build
it out. 

321
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,200
You build the database of being 
able to react to what's coming 

322
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,520
at you. 
And then when you get on the 

323
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:26,240
field and it's T-ball and you 
know you've got the pants that 

324
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,920
are too big and the eye black, 
that's sideways. 

325
00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:32,080
And you know, some kids, most 
kids go out there with with a 

326
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,480
plastic glove that's $9. 
I get it. 

327
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,560
It is what it is. 
There is at at least. 

328
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,520
So about your child, if you do 
these things, they are going to 

329
00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,560
be in the middle of the action 
right away. 

330
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,520
And even if you're not coaching 
and the coach doesn't see that 

331
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,760
right away, eventually, I mean, 
unless the coach is just awful, 

332
00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,160
which unfortunately does happen,
although they're devoting time. 

333
00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:55,320
So I'm not, I'm not crushing 
them. 

334
00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,880
I'm, I'm not knocking them, But 
you know, there are people who 

335
00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:59,480
know what they're doing and 
there's people who don't. 

336
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,280
Hopefully you get somebody that 
that knows what they're doing. 

337
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,079
And even if they're not in the 
infield early, you know, 

338
00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:07,760
eventually in practice, they'll 
they'll show some aptitude, 

339
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:12,240
they'll flesh some, some skill 
and then they will be hopefully 

340
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,839
in a position where they're now 
in the middle of the action. 

341
00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:18,440
So now as you start to try out 
for teams and it's, it's, you 

342
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,040
know, it's not just, hey, wreck 
ball. 

343
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,680
Everybody's on the team. 
And, and I'm not even talking 

344
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,280
yet high, high level club. 
I mean, a local travel team 

345
00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,240
where maybe a couple of kids get
cut and just be just a numbers 

346
00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,160
game, not even a talent thing 
necessarily because there's been

347
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:35,760
mistakes with that. 
I've seen kids who who got cut, 

348
00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,560
who should have been cut and 
then, you know, you have to make

349
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,040
up for it in the next year. 
And, and that that could be a 

350
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,680
little tricky as well. 
But if if your child's out, 

351
00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,720
think about this, if they're six
years old and they've already 

352
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,800
known, it's already ingrained in
their muscle memory to chase 

353
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,880
after a ball because daddy hit 
it across the yard and he's 

354
00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,520
counting out. 
Well, when there's a ball and 

355
00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,120
there's somebody running their 
internal clock like a 

356
00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,280
quarterback knowing when to get 
rid of the ball because he's 

357
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,040
going to get sacked or flush the
pocket, otherwise he's going to 

358
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,280
get sacked. 
Those are things that are there 

359
00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,560
forever. 
And see, the problem is you 

360
00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:13,400
could do those things a little 
bit later in their progression. 

361
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,560
Sure. 
Like if you get a late start and

362
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,280
and they have some special 
talent, Yeah, absolutely. 

363
00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,240
You can. 
You can kind of make up for Lois

364
00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,320
Brown. 
And by no means is this an 

365
00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,080
assurance that if you do this, 
you know, your son's going to be

366
00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:29,080
playing shortstop for a big time
high school in however many 

367
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,960
years. 
And he's going to be a stud and 

368
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:33,120
they're going to be knocking on 
his door and he's going to be 

369
00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,480
playing across the country in 
perfect game. 

370
00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,640
And he's got his choice of the 
Division One scholarships. 

371
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,480
That's just not the way it goes.
I mean, there's an attrition, it

372
00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,280
goes like that for some. 
And for some, the trajectory 

373
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,120
truly is the best player on the 
field and that just never stops.

374
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,880
For others, they might start as 
the best player on the field and

375
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:54,240
then they don't really grow as 
much. 

376
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,360
And then other kids who are 
bigger and stronger, you know, 

377
00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,560
they hit balls over the fence 
and they're better and then they

378
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,880
kind of stagnate a little bit. 
And then, you know, what happens

379
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,480
is the, the, the maturation 
physically and emotionally and 

380
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,040
developmentally that comes a 
little bit later. 

381
00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:13,480
So there, there's really like 
the one thing that you can't do,

382
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:15,760
I should probably, I probably 
should have preface this, the 

383
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:17,800
beginning. 
The one thing that you can't do 

384
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,760
is think that you are going to 
create a test tube star. 

385
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:24,200
It's just, it's not going to 
happen. 

386
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,960
There's too many variables #1 
they have to love the sport #2 

387
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,480
they've got to have enough 
God-given gifts to be able to 

388
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,520
support that, that affection, 
that passion for the sport. 

389
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,200
And again, some it, it works out
serendipitously. 

390
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,680
For some it it really does. 
But for those who aren't in the 

391
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:45,160
middle of the action, and I've 
seen it, good athletes lead the 

392
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,520
game of baseball. 
Not because more baseball's 

393
00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,320
boring. 
Yes, it's a slower pace than 

394
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,280
basketball and lacrosse and 
soccer. 

395
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:56,600
All great, viable sports, and my
children have played most of 

396
00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,720
those except lacrosse because it
interferes with baseball and 

397
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,160
softball. 
But soccer, absolutely. 

398
00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,040
Basketball, Oh yeah, we're a 
basketball family as well. 

399
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,240
But those kids who are kind of 
languishing in the outfield for 

400
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:13,840
a little bit and they're just 
not really feeling the flow of 

401
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,080
the game as the true players who
were dedicated. 

402
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,600
As they begin to get better and 
better and better now, even if 

403
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:28,080
your child does progress at say 
8 or 9, unfortunately those 

404
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,200
preconceived notions are already
kind of set by a lot of coaches 

405
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,320
and the ability to get back into
the infield is pretty much gone.

406
00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,320
You know, there's just a little 
window to be that kind of 

407
00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,240
player. 
I, I don't think that you have 

408
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,600
to pitch right away. 
I don't, I mean throwing 

409
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,240
strikes, my God, when, when it 
goes from coach pitch to kid 

410
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,800
pitch, it's an adventure. 
It, it really is. 

411
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,000
I don't think you need to, to 
pitch that often early on. 

412
00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,400
I think building arm strength 
and, you know, being versatile 

413
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,000
and, and doing all the, and, you
know, learning to run the bases 

414
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,600
with intelligence, even if 
you're not fast, just knowing 

415
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,240
how to run, knowing how to play,
knowing the game. 

416
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,440
And the other thing that I think
you really need to do, and it's 

417
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,760
funny because I, I look at my 
two children, my 9 year old 

418
00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,520
daughter and my 10 year old son.
And, and I always did this with 

419
00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,640
my son because, and obviously we
still do it because he wanted to

420
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,000
do it. 
He loved it. 

421
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,040
He would ask questions, he would
be into it. 

422
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,760
And I'm talking about explaining
things during the game as you 

423
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,440
Yankees, Mets, whatever team you
root for, watching the game and 

424
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,120
explaining what's happening. 
And I even found myself when he 

425
00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:40,240
was about 8:00 or so. 
I'm not saying it translated 

426
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,040
immediately on the field for 
him. 

427
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,680
A lot of things did some didn't.
But where I would say, all 

428
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:46,480
right, hey, look, what's the 
count there? 

429
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,240
All right, 1-2. 
I just threw this last pitch 

430
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,240
high fastball. 
What do you think he's going to 

431
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:52,440
throw now? 
What would you because he's a 

432
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,320
pitcher as well. 
What would you, what would you 

433
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,640
throw here? 
And the answer wasn't 

434
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,800
immediately. 
Well, I just went upstairs and 

435
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,280
he took it. 
Let me change the I plane and 

436
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,000
now let me throw something soft 
and away. 

437
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,040
Dad. 
No, no, no kids going to spit 

438
00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,320
that back at the age of 7. 
But pretty shortly thereafter, 

439
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,680
his instincts were pretty much 
on par with what I was thinking,

440
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,160
you know what, what, what seems 
to be the best route to attack 

441
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,600
that hitter at that spot. 
So that that's all part of the, 

442
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,680
the intelligence of the game and
knowing what to do with, which 

443
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,480
is an incredible asset for, for 
a young player. 

444
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:32,320
But I, I, I really look at it as
as one chance, unfortunately, 

445
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,400
one chance to really get them to
love the game. 

446
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,280
And if you missed that win, 
though, it's not impossible, but

447
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,360
it's just trickier and trickier 
and trickier to make up that 

448
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:46,920
lost ground. 
Now, I'll also say this. 

449
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:51,000
The, the mistakes that are made 
in the batter's box. 

450
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,240
I, I, I do think there's too 
much emphasis on hitting like 

451
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,680
you're hitting even Aaron Judges
is, is tinkering every 

452
00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,560
offseason. 
There's always a little tiny 

453
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,920
mechanical adjustment that the 
best hitters in the world will 

454
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:04,560
make. 
Otani makes them. 

455
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,080
That's just what you do wit 
makes them with Kansas City. 

456
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,640
You you go into lab and you find
out all right, hey, I wasn't my 

457
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,600
production was not on par with 
this type of pitch or this this 

458
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:20,600
type of count or a pitcher with 
these splits and and you know 

459
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,120
they go to school on a on a 
deeper, deeper level. 

460
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:29,400
But I think the hitting, you 
know, as long as they've got a 

461
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,720
fundamentally sound stands to an
extent and they're not like 

462
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,320
casting the bat, which is 
something else I'll get into 

463
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,400
earlier at another at another 
time. 

464
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,880
Casting the bat or stepping out 
of the bucket or being afraid of

465
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,760
the ball or not being aggressive
early in the count. 

466
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,280
You know, when you're when 
you're 7-8 years old and a kid 

467
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,560
throws a pitch over the middle, 
you got to swing. 

468
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,120
You got to swing because the 
umpires, and rightfully so, I 

469
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:54,600
mean, they got to stretch the 
zone out. 

470
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:55,920
Otherwise, we'll be there all 
day. 

471
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,000
Walk, walk, walk. 
And that's another way that kids

472
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,360
will stop loving babies. 
Baseball, if it's a merry go 

473
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:02,480
round of walks, nobody wants to 
sit there for that. 

474
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,720
As a hitter, as a pitcher, as a 
coach, as a parent, as a 

475
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:11,760
defender, that is not fun. 
So I I would think that if you 

476
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,840
show up and you can do all these
things, guys, you can do all 

477
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:16,640
these things. 
I don't care if you have a 

478
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,840
mansion. 
I don't care if you live in an 

479
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:20,600
apartment. 
I don't care if you live in the 

480
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,920
northeast, down South, easier 
down South to find a field in 

481
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:24,760
the winter. 
I get that. 

482
00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:29,680
But as you get ready to hit that
Little League field for the 

483
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,680
first time, trust me when I tell
you there's only so much you can

484
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,400
control you. 
Not everybody's going to be 

485
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:40,080
63210 that runs A6646660. 
Pardon me, Not everybody's going

486
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,800
to get down the line in 3839. 
You know, not everybody's going 

487
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,040
to throw at this point now, mid 
90s, not even low 90s, mid 90s 

488
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,480
when they are in high school and
college, that there's just 

489
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,080
certain physical limitations 
that you can't control. 

490
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,880
What you can control is how 
ready they are. 

491
00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:01,800
Because if they're ready, they 
will enjoy the game more. 

492
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,080
And if they enjoy the game more,
they will play the game longer. 

493
00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:08,280
And if they play the game 
longer, there's a much better 

494
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,240
chance that whatever physical 
skills, God-given skills they 

495
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,120
were given will ultimately rise 
to the surface. 

496
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,800
And then what you do is you 
obviously enhance that with 

497
00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:20,600
private lessons. 
And you know, as they get a 

498
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,680
little bit older, push ups and 
squats and planks, that's a good

499
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,440
way for kids to start building 
up their bodies, running hills, 

500
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,320
hitting off the tee, just things
like that. 

501
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,040
And I really think that you can 
do that. 

502
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,960
I, I, I, I know that it's, it's,
it's God. 

503
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,480
It's like a crazy I, I, I've 
talked about this before, but 

504
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:44,080
I'll, I'll insert this year, 
right. 

505
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:49,240
For me, when I was done with 
college, I was done with 

506
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,640
baseball. 
I was emotionally done with 

507
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,160
baseball because I now looking 
back, this was not the right 

508
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,400
thing to feel. 
But when I was 22 years old, I 

509
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,000
couldn't feel that. 
I couldn't I couldn't navigate 

510
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,760
that as well because now I'm an 
adult with kids and I obviously 

511
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:07,360
see it very differently a couple
of decades ago, but the sport 

512
00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:09,480
that I loved. 
So I mean, I was the kind of kid

513
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,880
that was in the street every 
summer morning at 7:00 AM, my 

514
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,120
buddy Tommy playing with, I 
would put eye black on to go 

515
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:20,360
play wiffle ball. 
I would put my uniform on to go 

516
00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:24,480
in the street in the scorching, 
you know, July and August 

517
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,880
temperatures on the concrete in 
Brooklyn in full uniform for a 

518
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:29,240
game that I may have had that 
night. 

519
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,920
That's how much I love the game.
You know, Home Run Derby, 

520
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,880
jumping over fences like you, 
buddy, throwing your little pop 

521
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,200
up and you running back and 
trying to jump over the fence 

522
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,440
like Ricky Henderson or 
whatever, whoever. 

523
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:41,960
Dave Winfield guys, we were 
watching. 

524
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,880
We were younger and and I loved 
it. 

525
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,120
I tried to emulate Donnie. 
You can see Don Matty at least 

526
00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:49,720
jersey behind me and George 
Brett and Wade Boggs. 

527
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,000
Like I really, really love the 
game. 

528
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,360
I love it with every fiber of my
existence, which is why I'm so 

529
00:26:55,360 --> 00:27:00,360
passionate about youth sports. 
And and as as I got through 

530
00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:02,840
college, I mean, I've said this 
many times, I wasn't good enough

531
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,520
to make it. 
But when you're in the moment, 

532
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,720
you you don't you don't think 
that way because that's a loser 

533
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,240
mentality. 
Nobody's going to say, well, I'm

534
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:09,600
not good enough. 
Why would I keep playing? 

535
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:15,200
You know, I had good size. 
I almost 63, about 2:10, nice 

536
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,800
lefty swing, really good arm, 
knew the game, good hands at 

537
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:23,320
first base, couldn't run at all,
could not run a lick and could 

538
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,440
not hit a good curveball. 
And once that gets around the 

539
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,080
league, which it did well, guess
who didn't see any fastballs? 

540
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,000
That will be me. 
And then I had a ton of 

541
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,000
injuries. 
I had Tommy John, you know, my 

542
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,560
freshman year. 
I, I actually, I basically 

543
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,840
ruptured my quadriceps first 
game playing against NC State as

544
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,480
a freshman trying to score from 
first on a double. 

545
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,840
And it was a very slight. 
It wasn't So it was, it was more

546
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,760
of a slight. 
It was a tear because a rupture 

547
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:50,840
would have rolled up like a 
lampshade. 

548
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,400
It was a, it was a bad tear and 
I played my entire freshman year

549
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,000
and I couldn't run it all 
anyway, but it even hurt me 

550
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,040
swinging. 
I just, I just fought through it

551
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,760
like I, I, I was a baseball rat.
I was a always hitting off the 

552
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,400
tee, always getting ground 
balls, always putting work, 

553
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,080
always long toss and always 
throwing, always lifting. 

554
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,840
So baseball's ingrained in me. 
And as I, but this was in, you 

555
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,480
know, the mid 90s and then I 
started my broadcasting career 

556
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,880
and I, I obviously always loved 
watching baseball and I played 

557
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,440
softball for a year and I'm 
like, man, my body doesn't feel 

558
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,200
right. 
I, if I can't play the way I 

559
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,600
want to play, I, I, I can't 
play. 

560
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:27,440
It's just, I can't do that to 
myself. 

561
00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:29,320
Just doesn't feel right. 
So I stopped playing. 

562
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,640
I started playing golf, and I 
almost put my love for the game 

563
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,240
on pause. 
Like, I, even if it was 

564
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,360
unintentional, I put my love for
the game on pause. 

565
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,800
And then as I've married late, I
was 38, you know, much more 

566
00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,480
mature, and I started to see the
game so differently when I 

567
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,320
started to do these activities 
with them. 

568
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,200
Like, everything came back like 
a flood of emotion. 

569
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,560
Like, yeah, This is why you love
the game. 

570
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,920
You know, from the first Bam bam
bat that for $1.99 that had a 

571
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,360
barrel this fat and the 1st $9 
glove from Dick's Sporting Goods

572
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,440
to, you know, I'm looking at it 
now. 

573
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:11,600
A 430 super, a $430 super bat 
that he's getting ready for his 

574
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,640
club team with that we just got 
for, for, for Christmas, you 

575
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,280
know, to the expensive gloves 
and the cleats and traveling 

576
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,120
around the country a little bit 
and, and, and being neck deep, 

577
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,480
you know, neck deep in it. 
And it's it's it, it re sparked 

578
00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:26,800
and it reconnected me to the 
game. 

579
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,400
And yeah, I made some mistakes, 
which again, I'll, I'll get into

580
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,280
it on a different time. 
But the only thing that you can 

581
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,240
do is present it to them. 
That's all you can do. 

582
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,560
Like you, you can't make them 
out to be Aaron Judge. 

583
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,320
There's just too many variables,
as I said. 

584
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:45,320
So what you can control is 
making sure that they are ready 

585
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:49,960
to possibly fall in love with it
if that's going to be in them 

586
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,760
either and mainly or given to 
them from you. 

587
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,440
And then he just build off a bit
with that. 

588
00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:00,120
But I can promise you if you go 
to club ball, if you go to 

589
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,360
T-ball, pardon me, and your son 
or daughter is in the outfield 

590
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,960
and it's freezing and there's 
not a ball hit to them. 

591
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,120
I could promise you that their 
interest will wane fast and they

592
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,680
will look to do something that 
maybe is a little bit more 

593
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,960
rewarding physically, like a 
soccer, like a lacrosse, 

594
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,680
whatever it might be. 
And the other thing that I would

595
00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:25,000
say too, and this all, there's a
variable that I, I can't speak 

596
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,360
to for you because I, I don't 
know what you have in terms of 

597
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,320
commitments to work. 
And do you have the free time? 

598
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:37,040
Do you know the game enough to, 
to, to be able to, to coach a 

599
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:39,360
young group of kids? 
You have the patience, which is 

600
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,560
amazing. 
I, I generally don't have a ton 

601
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,360
of patience, but coaching I do. 
And maybe except with him, I'm 

602
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,400
harder on him. 
And I think anybody that's 

603
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,880
coached their child knows that 
you are harder on your child. 

604
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,920
I don't give him anything like 
he plays a lot of shortstop 

605
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:56,880
because he he deserves to be a 
shortstop. 

606
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,120
And the day that he's not well, 
then that's the day that he's 

607
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:02,360
not playing shortstop. 
He's been at the top of the 

608
00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,040
order really from day one. 
And the day that he doesn't 

609
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,640
belong there is the day that I 
stopped putting them there, you 

610
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,600
know, and I don't even coach all
those teams. 

611
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,920
And I think it's important to 
not coach all their teams 

612
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:17,160
because now if you feel the need
to step in because there's just 

613
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:21,760
nobody that there's no order and
kids standing around and it's 

614
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:27,200
boring and nobody's engaged, 
Well, if you've got the patience

615
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,600
and the time and, and the 
aptitude of the game, just to 

616
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,840
get out there and give, give 
some time to just get these kids

617
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,120
running around and moving, well,
God bless you. 

618
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,800
That's a beautiful thing. 
Do it. 

619
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,960
But I also do think it's 
important to hear a different 

620
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:43,000
voice. 
I, I really do, you know, and 

621
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,600
when you get to the field, you 
know it's your daddy, but you 

622
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:48,960
also have to be coach. 
And you know, it didn't work 

623
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:50,920
right away. 
But I, I tell my kids when 

624
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:52,960
we're, when we're on the field, 
call me coach. 

625
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:54,640
You know, you can't call me 
daddy. 

626
00:31:55,120 --> 00:32:00,000
And you know, my, my daughter 
gets younger, totally different 

627
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,960
personality. 
She's finally getting it. 

628
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,760
My son got that a while ago. 
He actually first started doing 

629
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,640
it in basketball like a year or 
two ago. 

630
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,120
I coached one of his teams and 
he started to do it. 

631
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,960
It was very rewarding to hear 
that because it it told me that 

632
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,440
what I was trying to get him to 
do was finally being done. 

633
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,200
And they're a lot more resilient
than than you would think. 

634
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,120
And as you get out there, as I 
told you about the seven second 

635
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,760
drill, which brings urgency and 
you know, chasing the flight of 

636
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,680
a ball, especially if you now if
we're able to ricochet it off a 

637
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:32,800
fence or a house. 
Well, now they're starting to 

638
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,000
see it hit and then redirect and
the trajectories changing. 

639
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:40,560
Those are even if it seems so 
benign, but those little things 

640
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,000
add up because maybe the first 
time there's actually a pop up 

641
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,840
and there's a little wind and it
shifts 1/2 a foot suddenly, 

642
00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:50,720
well, it's not foreign to them 
because they've, they've seen it

643
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,880
in, in different areas, you 
know, So I would take that 7 

644
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,240
second drill and I still do it 
with my, with my, not with, not 

645
00:32:58,240 --> 00:32:59,760
with the boys. 
I still do it with the girls. 

646
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,440
And because my daughter's 
younger and I will every 

647
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,440
practice, we start the same way.
All right, let's go everybody on

648
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,560
the on the line 2 at a time. 
And I will actually now take a 

649
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,360
softball, right? 
Because now they're not 3 or 4 

650
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:13,840
like when I started this in the 
backyard. 

651
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,600
Now they're they were seven and 
eight and now she's 9 and her 

652
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,840
teammates are 9. 
I will take a little girl 

653
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,840
softball bat and a softball and 
we have to have a really nice 

654
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,960
turf facility where where I live
and I will smash it. 

655
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,840
Now I'll try to get kids of of 
equal speed and I know all the 

656
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:34,560
girls by now. 
So I can pretty much line that 

657
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:36,960
up, try to get the quick ones 
going against each other, the 

658
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,080
slower ones against each other 
so that it's competitive and 

659
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,600
nobody feels overmatch, which is
obviously important as well. 

660
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,760
And I will hit this thing now. 
Sometimes I'll miss hit it and 

661
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,200
it'll be a you know, a hard like
1/2 a liner, but then a little 

662
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,480
bit of a grounder that goes I'm 
talking past the foot hundred 

663
00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,560
more than 100 yards, right. 
Ideally, I won't start off that 

664
00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,600
far, but I had them doing the 
same thing. 

665
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,160
And as they're doing this, so 
now it's not just everybody 

666
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,440
standing around, you know, 
taking batting practice, which 

667
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,280
is incredibly boring. 
They're engaged and they're 

668
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,639
moving around and it's the 
urgency that they're chasing the

669
00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:13,400
ball after and they're 
competing. 

670
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,920
They're competing against the 
person that they're running 

671
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:17,639
against. 
And that's a good thing. 

672
00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,159
That's the way it should be 
because that's the way of the 

673
00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:24,239
world right now. 
If you ever denigrate somebody 

674
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,880
for finishing last, then you 
just shouldn't be coaching. 

675
00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:28,600
That's something you shouldn't 
be doing. 

676
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,120
So I, I, I think that that's 
really, really important. 

677
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,960
And I think that as they get a 
little bit older, you know, you,

678
00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,120
you then transfer that to 
different drills and with, with 

679
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,920
different challenges and, and 
different levels of achievement.

680
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,520
But that's a very Broadway to 
start the baseball year. 

681
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,480
All right, it or softball. 
It's 2026. 

682
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,800
I know Santa brought the bats 
and the gloves and the uniforms 

683
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,679
and the helmets. 
Half of the stuff that doesn't 

684
00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:59,480
fit, I know. 
Do not wrap yourself because it 

685
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,080
is overwhelming as you get into 
this for the first time. 

686
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:05,400
It's so different from what I 
was growing up. 

687
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,000
That's why I told you about, you
know, when I was playing and how

688
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,440
I fell out of love with it and 
that I needed to really 

689
00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,720
understand the new world of 
youth sports. 

690
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,520
I want to help you guys. 
I want that journey to be 

691
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:17,960
awesome. 
And it doesn't have to be a 

692
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:22,560
journey that ends with your son 
being called as a first round 

693
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,200
pick or Division One commit. 
No, we could just have a really 

694
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,720
good high school career or just 
be on the team and enjoy that 

695
00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:33,440
and compete and then take those.
Although this is listen, all 

696
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:38,120
this is about instilling 
discipline and respect and 

697
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:42,160
accountability and learning how 
to persevere through through, 

698
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,360
right? 
Especially in baseball and 

699
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:46,760
softball, like when when you 
fail in one of those sports, 

700
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:51,000
everybody's watching you. 
Like when you strike out, it's a

701
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:54,080
lonely walk back to the bench. 
If you're a pitcher on the mouth

702
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,560
and you can't throw a strike, 
all eyes are on you, at least if

703
00:35:57,560 --> 00:35:59,320
you make a mistake. 
Even if you miss a layup in 

704
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,680
basketball, there's nine other 
kids around you. 

705
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,480
Even if you whiff on a kick. 
In soccer, I don't even know how

706
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:05,520
many kids are on the soccer 
team. 

707
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:09,520
It's not my main sport, but it's
it's a massive little humanity 

708
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:12,160
all in the general area. 
Like it. 

709
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,760
Your mistakes aren't illuminated
in even in football, you miss a 

710
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,480
tackle, all right, If you're if 
you film the games and you watch

711
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:22,160
the games as a team and you 
coach points it out, all right, 

712
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:23,320
Yeah, all right. 
You didn't do your job. 

713
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,480
You missed your assignment. 
But to the average parent, 

714
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,640
especially the 8910, you're not.
That's not going to show up. 

715
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:32,400
The kids not going to feel 
overwhelmed. 

716
00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:35,200
They are going to feel 
overwhelmed in baseball and 

717
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,120
softball. 
The failures are heightened in 

718
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:39,840
the sport. 
It's the toughest sport. 

719
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:44,240
It really is. 
So I think if you can just get 

720
00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:48,760
them ready and not worry about 
what bat do I get, what size 

721
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:50,160
bat, the size of the bat 
matters. 

722
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,360
But I'm saying for the for the 
sake of this conversation, you 

723
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,320
know, do I need a $300 glove the
first day? 

724
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,520
You know, do I have to go to the
rollings website and, you know, 

725
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,200
have the coolest colors? 
No, you don't have a functional 

726
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,360
MIT break it in. 
You know, don't go out there. 

727
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,440
Don't be the kid with a glove 
that you can tell that they just

728
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,480
bought and you know, it can't 
even remotely close. 

729
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,680
They have no chance to catch the
ball if they even knew how, 

730
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,600
which most of those kids don't. 
That's just the reality of it. 

731
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,880
You know, don't worry about 
what's the best club team. 

732
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,400
Oh, where do I get the lessons 
right away. 

733
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,200
That's going to come. 
That's going to come. 

734
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:28,560
And, and I think that if you 
take these steps like the dudes 

735
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,080
like do teach them how to catch 
a ground ball early, do teach 

736
00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:34,520
them the proper mechanics to at 
least throw the ball. 

737
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,560
Get an airborne in the vicinity 
of first base. 

738
00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,640
Teach them to run through the 
base, not to pull up when they 

739
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,760
get to first base, run through 
the bag because you know what, 

740
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:46,800
eventually there's going to be a
bang, bang play. 

741
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,680
And the quicker that kid is used
to going 910 feet through the 

742
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,640
bag, better chance they have to 
hit Max speed, whatever their 

743
00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:55,280
Max speed might be to actually 
be safe. 

744
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,560
And then eventually, pretty 
shortly thereafter, teach them 

745
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,920
to cut a corner so that instead 
of a single, it's two. 

746
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:04,720
Teach them how to slide. 
These are all things that you're

747
00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:07,200
going to do and all things 
they're going to be caught 

748
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:09,800
taught. 
But I promise you, if they're 

749
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,640
out there and they're bored and 
they're scared and they don't at

750
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,600
least have a chance, a chance to
make a play and be in the right 

751
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:22,800
position, a fun position early, 
they are going to really, really

752
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,680
fall out of love with the game. 
Actually, I'm not going to say 

753
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:28,080
fall out of love with the game 
because that implies that they 

754
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,760
fell in love with the game. 
They're just never going to have

755
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,560
a chance to fall in love with 
the game. 

756
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,480
And to me, it's the best game 
ever created. 

757
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:40,480
It's a beautiful thing. 
The subtleties of baseball, you 

758
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,360
know, the more you play, the 
more you appreciate and and and 

759
00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:47,360
all those things will come. 
If it's meant to be, give them a

760
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:52,320
chance to get on the field and 
do their thing early, you know, 

761
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,120
and run the bases at practice. 
If you're coaching, you know, 

762
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:59,120
have fun, do the Duke, the seven
second drill in the backyard. 

763
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:03,000
Give them the give them the 
backdrop to to make it happen. 

764
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:04,360
That's it. 
I think I hit everything I 

765
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,080
wanted to hit today. 
This was really just about me 

766
00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,440
introducing this aspect of what 
I'm going to do on YouTube here.

767
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:13,320
This I've got a lot of other 
things like the specialization 

768
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:17,520
of sport, as I said at the top, 
I think that that's nonsense, 

769
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:19,480
but I'll expand on that at 
another time. 

770
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:24,120
I I don't think being on the see
there's there's a lot of parents

771
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:27,960
who think being on the best team
is going to automatically make 

772
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:29,840
their play that their son or 
daughter better. 

773
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,800
No, your son or daughter is 
going to get better through 

774
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:37,000
repetition, away from the games 
and away from the team practices

775
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,560
and by actually playing in the 
games. 

776
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,160
And if you're on a team, all 
right, and you got cool unis and

777
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,880
you're winning rings and you 
know, the IG posts are cool and 

778
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,240
all that stuff, but they're 
batting 10th and they're maybe 

779
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:53,320
getting one at bat or and 
they're never in the infield and

780
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:55,640
they're very rarely on base 
because you're playing at a very

781
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:58,800
high level and they probably 
shouldn't be there yet. 

782
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:02,520
They don't know how to run the 
bases and and that's going to 

783
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,960
catch up with them. 
So just find the level that you 

784
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:09,360
think that and you can tell. 
You can kind of tell, especially

785
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:10,520
if you play. 
That's the one. 

786
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:14,000
That's the listen. 
Just because I played in college

787
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,120
doesn't mean that my children 
are going to be stars. 

788
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,640
It just doesn't Maybe it gives 
me it gives them a chance to be 

789
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:22,960
better early because I maybe I 
know a little bit more because 

790
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,240
I've been through it and I also 
know what I what I didn't know 

791
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,120
and what I don't know, which can
help me change some things, 

792
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:33,160
which can help them. 
But yeah, listen there, there. 

793
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,000
There's a lot to go through 
here, but just being on the best

794
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,280
team, to be on the best team is 
the wrong way to think. 

795
00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:40,840
Yeah, it's cool getting that 
ring. 

796
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,640
It's cool getting that T-shirt. 
It's cool getting that ribbon or

797
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,960
the the metal when you hoist up 
the trophy and the team puts it 

798
00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:49,080
on Instagram. 
But if they didn't play and they

799
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,480
sat there in April and they had 
three at bats over the course of

800
00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:55,920
a four or five game tournament, 
are they really getting better? 

801
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,360
Are you really doing a service 
to them to build their affection

802
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:01,440
for the game? 
You already know my answer. 

803
00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:03,160
So there's so many different 
things. 

804
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:06,720
Playing multiple sports, all 
those things should kids throw 

805
00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:08,600
year round. 
I'm going to bring this to you 

806
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:12,720
and I, I do this. 
Obviously it's my goal to get a 

807
00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:14,560
lot of people to watch this and 
to share this. 

808
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:18,560
And I'm going to have guests 
from Perfect Game and from USABL

809
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,480
and high school coaches I know 
and respect and some college 

810
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,760
coaches I know and respect. 
There will be a lot of different

811
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:28,480
aspects to this. 
But really, in all sincerity, 

812
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:32,920
it's dad to dad the words dad to
uncle, or it's dad to Big 

813
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:37,280
Brother, or it's dad to mom. 
If there is no dad, it is just I

814
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:41,720
want the kids to love it and I 
want them to have a chance to 

815
00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:43,160
love it. 
And I don't want to see them get

816
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:48,720
swabbled up early by all the 
nonsense and the money grabs and

817
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:51,200
the early pressures. 
And there's so much early 

818
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,640
pressure that is so unnecessary.
I'll leave you with this. 

819
00:41:55,960 --> 00:42:02,720
So when I was growing up, I 
played, let's see, I never even 

820
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:04,480
played T-ball. 
We didn't have it. 

821
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,880
T-ball was me. 
I never even had AT and you 

822
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,120
couldn't even really get one 
back then. 

823
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:14,200
So 1st and 2nd grade was was dad
pitch underhand, right? 

824
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:20,200
And and then in 3rd grade and 
4th grade, this is, this is my 

825
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:22,120
school team. 
All right, which, and back then 

826
00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:25,040
in Brooklyn, it was pretty good 
that even the school like the 

827
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:27,920
school leagues, right? 
Grammar school and 3rd and 4th 

828
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:31,080
grade was was kid pitch. 
And then this was interesting 

829
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:34,720
and in hindsight it was. 
Now not to sound like a jerk, 

830
00:42:34,720 --> 00:42:38,760
but I I was able to handle this.
But man, in hindsight, just 

831
00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:43,720
knowing how kids mature and and 
when kids hit puberty versus 

832
00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:47,440
not, it went from first and 2nd 
grade dad pitch on their hand. 

833
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:51,560
3rd and 4th kid pitch. 5th, 6th,
7th and 8th grade played 

834
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,440
together. 
I mean that's wild. 5th graders 

835
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:57,560
played and that's what we did. 
And then obviously if if you 

836
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,840
loved it and you could play a 
little bit, then you play travel

837
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:02,000
and, and I did not like it is 
now. 

838
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,920
I mean, it's, it's crazy. 
I mean driving everywhere and 

839
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,880
and playing these amazing 
tournaments against some amazing

840
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,440
teams and great, I mean great 
young players. 

841
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:16,040
But I did not know who the best 
player in Staten Island was when

842
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:17,400
I was growing up in Brooklyn at 
that age. 

843
00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:20,120
I had no idea. 
I don't even think I knew who 

844
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,880
like where. 
Like think about if you know 

845
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,320
Kings Plaza right in Brooklyn, 
that's that's the benchmark or 

846
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,960
the, the place that I'll use as 
point of identification. 

847
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:35,680
I didn't even know who the best 
baseball players were in Bay 

848
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:39,480
Ridge, which is maybe I don't 
know, 5-6 exits up on the Belt 

849
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:41,320
Parkway. 
I didn't know who was good in 

850
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:42,760
Rockaway. 
I didn't know who was good in 

851
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,560
Queens. 
And I absolutely, then I had no 

852
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:51,760
idea who can play in Long Island
or New Jersey now at the age of 

853
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:56,040
9 and 10, at the highest level, 
you know, who the best players 

854
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,520
are in the country, which I 
don't think is a great thing, 

855
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,000
but it is what it is. 
So you either adapt or, you 

856
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,000
know, you get eaten up. 
And I, I don't think that that's

857
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,640
good for the psyche of the kids 
because I think it's stunts 

858
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:11,240
their natural development. 
And, and that's, again, that's a

859
00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:15,240
bigger, deeper discussion. 
But to even think about getting 

860
00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:19,200
to that point when you walk on 
that T-ball field, be able to 

861
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,680
catch a ground ball, you don't 
have to be rich. 

862
00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:23,880
You don't need an expect 
expensive glove. 

863
00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,400
You can do it on a floor. 
You can do it on a little piece 

864
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:27,840
of carpet. 
I don't care if it's snowing 

865
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:29,520
outside. 
You could do it. 

866
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:32,760
And if you don't have enough 
room to throw, like we would 

867
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:34,720
throw a heavy ball in my Bay, I 
can't throw a baseball in the 

868
00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:37,360
basement, but we would throw a 
heavy ball when he was. 

869
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:39,600
I can't even do it now. 
It's my vision's not as good. 

870
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:41,520
I'll take my head off or break 
something. 

871
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:45,160
But when my son was like 7 and 
8, we were able to throw a heavy

872
00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:47,720
ball. 
Let's see a Major League balls 5

873
00:44:47,720 --> 00:44:51,880
1/4 ounces, you know, 8 oz like 
those pliable heavy ones that 

874
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:54,360
you can hit off the T soft toss,
whatever, But we would throw 

875
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:56,880
those just to kind of keep get 
his arm in shape for the I'm 

876
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,560
talking about in January after 
basketball, like these are all 

877
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:01,920
things you could do Watch games 
with them. 

878
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:04,800
I know there's no games tonight.
Find something on YouTube, you 

879
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:09,480
know, find your favorite player 
and show them highlights of your

880
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,800
favorite player and explain why 
he was your favorite player. 

881
00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:16,840
You know, just do that. 
Open up their world to to your 

882
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:18,600
world. 
I, I, I know it's hard. 

883
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:20,920
I'm happy to have a unique job 
talk in sports. 

884
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:23,600
I'm, I'm not 9 to 5, you know, 
I'm not a lawyer. 

885
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:27,520
I'm not, you know, I'm not, I'm 
not at an office 10/11/12 hours 

886
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:31,320
a day, but nothing now there's 
different pressures that come 

887
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,200
with what I do and, and 
different times of engagement. 

888
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,480
I'm never really off. 
I'm always thinking about the 

889
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:39,240
show to an extent. 
But I'm, I'm home a lot more, 

890
00:45:39,280 --> 00:45:41,680
more than others. 
A lot of my buddies in town, I'm

891
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:44,160
home a little bit more now. 
I'm really home more than 

892
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:46,960
everybody because I'm doing my 
show for my Home Office. 

893
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:50,240
But you know, when I was going 
every day in every day to WFAN, 

894
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:52,840
I'd still get home by three. 
I'd get them, I'd beat them home

895
00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:55,960
before they got home from school
and I was always, when I was 

896
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:58,120
leaving, they were always up and
they were eating and getting 

897
00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:00,720
ready for school. 
And that meant by me getting 

898
00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:02,520
home. 
With three, I can make every 

899
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:04,240
T-ball practice. 
I could coach all the teams I 

900
00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:05,760
want to coach. 
I could take him to travel 

901
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:09,400
basketball if I wasn't coaching 
and watch or drop them off or 

902
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:12,120
take them for a lesson. 
But not everybody has that 

903
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:13,640
schedule. 
You don't need it. 

904
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:16,600
Carve out a little time, guys. 
I don't mean every day. 

905
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:21,120
Don't overburden them. 
Keep it fun twice a week, just, 

906
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:24,960
you know, the repetition start 
to train that get the hands 

907
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:27,680
connected to the eyes, or I 
should say, get the hands 

908
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:30,480
connected to the eyes and then 
eventually get the eyes and the 

909
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:33,560
hands connected to the feet like
that overall dexterity. 

910
00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:35,800
And there's so many ways to 
accomplish that. 

911
00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:40,440
You got to want to do it and 
they've got to show a little bit

912
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,960
of a willingness to do it. 
Like I will say, if you're, you 

913
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,480
know, they're now a lot of 
parents do make the mistake of, 

914
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:48,720
well, you know, little Joey 
doesn't want to do it. 

915
00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:50,840
I'm I'm not going to play. 
No, no, I I think that that's 

916
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:53,200
nonsense. 
I think when they're, you know, 

917
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:57,880
3456, you make them do it now. 
Not, not everybody agrees with 

918
00:46:57,880 --> 00:46:59,480
that philosophy. 
When I say make them do it, I 

919
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:03,120
don't mean you're running hills,
you know, with heavy weights, A 

920
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:07,560
weighted vest attached to them. 
I don't mean that stuff, but no,

921
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:08,520
you're going to put the iPad 
down. 

922
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,640
And I didn't have to do this. 
He wanted to do what I do have 

923
00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:12,240
to do this a little bit more 
with my daughter. 

924
00:47:12,240 --> 00:47:13,840
I noticed they are different, as
I said. 

925
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:17,560
So I've got to engage her 
differently and and entice her 

926
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:22,360
differently to, to get into that
that competitive world of, of of

927
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:24,200
athletics. 
And she's a good athlete, but 

928
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:26,760
she's just wired very 
differently. 

929
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:31,920
And I think that if you, you 
know, if you invite them to go 

930
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:33,320
get a little, hey, come on, 
let's go, let's go in the 

931
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:34,800
basement practice with dad, 
right? 

932
00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:40,160
If they say no early and they're
just staring at their iPad, you 

933
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:42,680
got to take the iPad and you got
to put it away and you got to go

934
00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:44,520
at least give a chance to fall 
in love with it. 

935
00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:45,840
Like that's got to be the 
laboratory. 

936
00:47:46,240 --> 00:47:49,560
I also do think that there's a 
point where like if they don't 

937
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:52,440
want to do it and they're just 
not good. 

938
00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:55,000
I hate to be so blunt. 
And I don't mean it's 6, I mean 

939
00:47:55,720 --> 00:47:58,560
beyond that, but you've got to 
give them a chance to get off 

940
00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:00,400
the tarmac. 
You've got to give a chance to 

941
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:03,360
fall in love with it, do their 
thing and eventually gravitate 

942
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:06,000
to whatever sport, whatever 
position it's going to be. 

943
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:07,640
But this is obviously about 
baseball. 

944
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:10,120
So get those salt. 
They're on Amazon, they're 

945
00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:12,680
cheap. 
All right, get them, have them 

946
00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:15,840
in the basement, you know, a 
little pliable soft ones, comps 

947
00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:18,760
them in the head, not going to 
hurt them, no concussions, no 

948
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:22,040
teeth will get knocked out and 
do those little things. 

949
00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:27,120
And I promise you if you do that
along with demanding that, that 

950
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:30,640
sounds strong, but demanding 
when they're young to run on the

951
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:33,840
field, to run off the field, to 
encourage their teammates to be 

952
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:38,000
a good teammate, to say yes, 
coach, to take one knee when the

953
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,520
coach, I'm, I'm, I'm talking 
about at age 6 now, I'm talking 

954
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:43,720
T-ball when the coach is 
talking, don't let them stare 

955
00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:46,240
into space. 
Get that knee down and and be 

956
00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:48,520
attentive and absorb the 
messaging. 

957
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:50,480
These are all the little things 
that you can do. 

958
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:53,040
And I think that you should do 
and I think that you have to do 

959
00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:56,720
for your child. 
And if you do that and it 

960
00:48:56,720 --> 00:48:59,360
doesn't work, you know that you 
gave your best shot and maybe 

961
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:00,800
they're going to be great at 
something else. 

962
00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:03,960
I'm sure they will be. 
But specific to sports and 

963
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:07,720
really with baseball, the amount
of kids who check out with this 

964
00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:12,240
sport, it pains me because you 
wind up seeing so many kids, you

965
00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:15,920
know, who can run, who have 
those, those baseball bodies, 

966
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:18,080
whether it's center field or 
middle of the diamond. 

967
00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:20,680
Oregon, they have good arms and 
they could have built themselves

968
00:49:20,680 --> 00:49:24,080
into a great third baseman, you 
know, not afraid of the ball, 

969
00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:27,560
good hands, a good stick, you 
know, but they go to lacrosse 

970
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:31,520
because early on their baseball 
experience was, was less than 

971
00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:36,080
there was overwhelming. 
It wasn't fun and it just didn't

972
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:40,000
seem like a game. 
So I, I, I tell you that I'm not

973
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:43,040
preaching, I'm sharing that to 
let you guys know about some of 

974
00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:44,720
the mistakes that I made, some 
of the good things that I've 

975
00:49:44,720 --> 00:49:47,240
stumbled upon as well and, and 
apply them. 

976
00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:51,200
And I promise you, if you do 
that, you're going to see an 

977
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:54,520
uptick in engagement and 
eventually engagement leads to 

978
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:57,880
success, although that's all 
relative to the child and 

979
00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:00,400
whatever expectation you might 
have, which obviously is 

980
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:03,680
something that you've got to 
adjust and not think, you know, 

981
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:07,400
you're going to be playing for 
the Yankees, you know, So I'm 

982
00:50:07,400 --> 00:50:10,680
going to be doing this a lot. 
I appreciate you guys tuning in.

983
00:50:11,320 --> 00:50:14,200
This will be, I'd say, at least 
once a week, I'll be dropping 

984
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:17,000
some of this type of content 
different from the Yanks and the

985
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:19,520
Mets and The Jets and the Giants
and the Knicks and the Johnnies 

986
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,440
and all that stuff that I do 
everyday. 

987
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,840
BT Unleashed here, This is 
really dad to dad. 

988
00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:27,560
All right, So share it. 
I hope you enjoy it. 

989
00:50:28,400 --> 00:50:30,560
I'm not preaching. 
This is not the pulpit. 

990
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:33,200
This is just coming from 
somebody who played the game at 

991
00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:37,880
a decent level is a dad does 
coach and and I just want to see

992
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:39,880
these kids have an awesome early
childhood. 

993
00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:43,640
So I'll catch you soon and thank
you for watching guys and I will

994
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:45,960
talk to you very, very soon. 
Bye bye.