I’ve come to realize that hundreds of ridiculously dumb infield drills have entered the universe all because folks who only have enough loot to build/operate a single indoor batting lane want to stake their claim as a player development guy Some drills do in fact make you worse!

Turning tech into function is the value Even as a college HC I thought it was all gimmicky… now that I’m in the private sector I can see the key is just to be able to bend the tech to the PD model. Never bend or alter the PD due to the limitations of the tech

In a world where the portal is the way to walk, there is the must-be told story of Carter Cunningham Already a Major League level human, Carter starred for me as a freshman & signed w/ ECU w/ 3 years of eligibility It went south Carter got benched, money taken at seasons end He bet on himself and it didn’t work out. He was left with two choices. Jump in the portal like everyone does in this situation… or fix what went wrong Carter, one of the most thoughtful young men I’ve ever encountered made the most intelligent decision he could have and so few rarely do after such a failure. He doubled down and bet on himself AGAIN He committed to having fun playing ball, went to Charlottesville and played in the Valley League and had what he described as the funnest time he ever had playing baseball He went back to ECU with no scholarship 2024 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, drafted by the Blue Jays in the 10th round. I got a chance to watch him live 2 months back here in Ft Myers in a big league spring training game. I beam with pride Carter took the L but not the defeat He refused defeat Some situations the player has to leave… in many they don’t! Players can you accept that you might not be good enough now but you might be in 6 months if you take the constructive criticism properly and get tf after it?!?!?! Carter Cunningham: a guy who will make mistakes and will lose at times, but will always remain undefeated

Young bucks about to walk into exit meetings wondering why you didn’t get the burn you wanted Text coach beforehand: “Good day (Name), look forward to talking. Here are the questions I plan to ask during our meeting (list questions)” Do you want confrontation or information?

Really interesting take. Only works if trust in the coach is at 100% I legitimately had someone tell me one time they believe in 95% of my stuff. I replied… ‘So then you don’t believe in me!’

One of my fondest memories of coaching college baseball was 2015 at Region 8 tourney Me & my 3 assistants took the players laundry after game 2 & drove to a local laundromat Walked next door to convenience store & bought 40 oz beers, sat & drank’em while washing player uniforms

‘Go where you’re wanted’ Or ‘Go where you know you’ll get opportunity’ This is atrocious guidance for players who aim to achieve their career ceiling Imagine if we took this same advice in other aspects of our lives At one point my friend choices in life was druggies, drinkers and ne’er do gooders. They always wanted to hang with me, they gave me opportunities to feel validated and be heard. They wanted me! Thank God in these situations I held firm and only made those acquaintances brief and temporary At one point my best job prospect was selling office supplies. They called me often and told me how great their benefits packages were. They really needed me on their front lines, good salary and good bonus structure. Thank God I was gifted with the perseverance to not just settle for a situation I knew would not make me happy At one point as a young single man I found a woman vying for my undivided attention. She was even very attractive on the outside and spoke so eloquently. Thank God after some careful research and time taken on the matter I discovered how undesirable a relationship with her would have been We need to be training our young men to get educated on HOW TO GET EDUCATED on their school choice process And it doesn’t happen on the fields at tournaments or during your HS season… it happens through relationships that have substance Players should CHOOSE where they think they have the current best chance at achieving their career ceiling and try to find an avenue to get there (unless of course they’re just playing for fun, in that case get your slow pitch softball career going) I’m happy to engage with folks in the comments section on sound avenues

My little league coach’s name was Daryl Benner. He was one of the most influential people I had in my youth He was a dope smoking carpenter who loved baseball and had a hilarious sense of humor. He taught me about life He never claimed to be player development Cuz he wasn’t And that’s OK. Few are. It’s OK to be a coach and not measure your baseball resume against other people on the field or in your area. I still don’t understand why our industry, especially that ‘little league’ range, keep leading with this Be who you are and be prideful of what your life experience can lend to the youth you find the opportunity to have charge of

One of the most undertrained areas of youth and even upper levels of amateur baseball is the concept of throwing from multiple arm angles, specifically below the ‘3pm slot.’ I hear the line often, ‘My son has played infield his entire life and all the sudden he got moved to the outfield.’ After watching them play catch I can tell why… the more advanced you get in the game, the more arm angles that sound infield play requires. If you can’t make those throws, you will be moved (this isn’t always a bad thing for players careers tho) However, there is a solution to ‘being moved,’ Players: from age 8 and above, throw the ball from all possible arm angles every time you play catch Coaches: force your players to do the above You’ll always have your ‘natural’ arm angle, but it only takes about 6 weeks (if you’re throwing every day) for your body to get used to altering arm angles Then you can be taught when to use which arm angles in certain and specific situations

Players of all ages, you can physically show your coaches that you are focused Starts w/ how you enter the dugout/playing field, do you fumble through the transition of starting your day? Eye contact when coach is giving instructions on the day? Are you playing quality catch? Showing him your level of focus starts when you arrive will build a trust that will assist you with him and all other coaches you encounter during your career

No one should be surprised Fitz & his crew are ABSOLUTELY relentless in their pursuit of success Best coaching staff in the country, there is not a close 2nd Fitz is the center of it all, but every person in the building has his back Congrats Stoneman Douglas, history makers

Is there better baseball than South Florida? The big bad bear… the top teams in Florida… I’m sorry no one beats them, no matter where you’re from St Thomas and Douglas Kings of the Mountain Top Congrats to them all, and even Venice, bless that club what a season!!! FLORIDA

Fitz is all guts, the entire family is built like that

Great story of a team, great season. Congrats to Jiwan and his boys!

Congrats to Lazaro and his crew, well fought all the way to the finish Two awesome Florida JC teams, many great clubs this year in Florida

Most college freshman don’t realize until it’s too late, but those who have paid attention this spring see how much physicality matters. They are about to have a summer of desperation Pitchers get your ‘stuff’ to be more explosive and hitters get the ball over peoples heads!

My last year at Broward College was 2018. The program shuttered after I left, killing all athletics of the second largest junior college in the US (60,000 students) Before Fall, I made a conscious decision to show up w/ a packed lunch every day in a metallic Stanley lunch pale Quite simply, I wanted a conversation piece that was visible every day to my players and my staff. What symbolism was I looking to represent? Humble work ethic Arrogance becomes confidence if it is laced with humility in the way you work. If you don’t put the work in, arrogance is just simply that. True confidence is unshakable So… in baseball, you can’t have true confidence without a humble work ethic My Stanley lunch pale continuously provided me the opportunity to have the eyes of the follower look at the leader as competition to see who could work as hard or harder. Imagine me walking around with a metal lunch pale from the 70s and 80s and not noticeably outworking the entire outfit? What a doofus I would look like One day, after the Spring season had come to a close, my assistant Chris De La Rosa asked me if he could use our field on a Saturday to do a workout with EliteSquad. Chris is still with that group and those guys are good and kind folks who know what they’re doing baseball wise. I told him I had a group that was going to be there early but he could bring them in after. I brought my lunch pale and placed it in the dugout. I had my oldest kids with me that day too and they were young, 2 and 5 I believe. Someone had asked me as the first workout was coming to an end to throw BP, so I went out there and was throwing BP as the EliteSquad coaching staff was gathering in the dugout, they were preparing for their kids to arrive and catching up with one another. So I’m throwing BP and I hear one of them recognize the Stanley lunch pale. ‘Yo what is this?!? Are you kidding me look at this thing!’ These dudes were clowning the pale! Let me say though, this was ribbing, not malicious hating… they were just having fun but still nonetheless they were mocking me without knowing it. It was poetry the timing of how I finished up because as I threw my last pitch and the 1st group thanked me for throwing I began to walk to the dugout and landed there in the exact moment their chuckles died down. The 4 or 5 of them said hello to me, we shook hands we all knew each other just from being on the scene in South Florida. So as soon as I finished dapping up the last dude, I walked straight over to the lunch pale, flipped those stiff metallic straps as loud as I could and slung open the top, pulling out a ham sandwich I had made for myself. I turned back towards them and took a massive bite out of it. One of them said to me with a surprised tone, ‘Ben that’s yours?’ I said, ‘Yea I left my hard hat in the office.’ Not a great joke, but enough to elicit a chuckle. This is one of the moments I look back on and it’s really important as to what I took from this and continue to take from this: You can’t give a shit about what people think about you or say about you in this industry. You have to be you. You have to have confidence in the abilities you bring to the table and how those are going to play out in pursuit of your goals. Should you have people who can be critical of you that you can trust? Yes you need that and you need to be able to evolve and improve, but at the end of it you still have to be you. So do it

Congrats to one of the best coaches in the USA, regardless of level Lyndon Coleman does more w/ less Young men need to be taught to be leaders of their future families, baseball is a great tool because of all of the opportunities it provides in that regard Lyndon teaches life