BCoachJohn2020 Baseball Drills

12/15/2021

I have been involved in youth and high school sports for 35 years now, and have learned from many different people, and have enjoyed the kids first, and the many parents I call friends.

I also have accumulated some stories along the way, particularly as an administrator for youth sports. I decided to share some of those stories on this page. I hope you get a chuckle out of them....

This story involves “The Needle”. Batter Chatter……Long gone from the scene when my youngest started to play, it became an ancient thing that only folks our age knew of.

I received several emails on a Tuesday night after the games had finished, as usual there were the numbers of complaints about this or that, but one email struck a cord.

The writer took issue with the opposing team, as it seems the Head Coach Doug (who I also knew to be an “older” dad like me) was coaching his kids to yell at the batter. It became clear that the writer was a young mom, who had no knowledge of such an outlandish practice of yelling at the batter for the singular purpose of unnerving the batter.

She asked that I call her, so I did, and she breathlessly explained how the kids would creep up on the batter as he got ready to swing, and yell “Swing Batter Batter Swing!”. I tried to explain to her that what she had seen was an old tradition, back from olden times. I had to hold back a chuckle, as she couldn't possibly comprehend how this could have been a good thing, and how in today's world it could possibly be appropriate.

Doug and I had a good conversation, his heart was all in the right place about trying keep the kids focused and pay attention in the field. We chuckled a little about how the perceptions of the younger parents differed from “our day”. We allowed that he should probably stop doing it, and that was the “Day The Batter Chatter Died”

The moral of this story - there is none other than things change. Times change. We adapt to the changing times some so we stay relevant to the younger age.

Plus it was just a funny story, to imagine the lady on the other end of the phone as I tried to explain the whole purpose of this Batter Chatter and why it made sense. Try to explain it out loud to yourself, and see how it sounds. I’m sure I sounded pretty close to that.

10/16/2021

07/26/2021

Palm up, palm down. Belt buckle to pitcher. 👌🏼

06/28/2021

Learning to HONESTLY self evaluate is vital for long term success. It need to become a habit. Question 12 is a game changer.

06/25/2021

06/25/2021

Wrist weights are a staple of our throwing programs.

They help strengthen the lower arm—which attaches to the elbow and is responsible for keeping the elbow joint stable during the throwing motion.

Here's an exercise cheat sheet⬇️
https://bit.ly/3zYErpA

03/14/2021

02/17/2021

03/25/2020

I have had the building up for sale for a couple of years, with a few interested parties along the way.

I am happy to announce the sale was closed on March 10. The new owner has taken possession, and has already approved a Conditional Use Permit to add apartments upstairs in the retail part of the building.

We took a real leap in the Cleveland area four years ago, and invested into a high quality building. The Frozen Tracks ice cream store was another adventure.

While there are many things we could've/would've done different, the decision to close the restaurant was due to the need to increase the commitment and offerings, or shut it down. Given where we were at in our life stage, we decided we didn't have the level of energy required to increase the business.

The loss of two main tenants to a competing downtown property cemented the decision to sell. The city doesn't have the demand for that much retail space, and my investment was larger making the cost basis too high to compete against a low cost building.

I am happy to say that the new owner will provide a needed spark to what is an excellent property. His cost basis will be much less than what my investment was, hopefully that will give it a better opportunity to be successful as an investment.

Good luck Tyler and to the Cleveland Depot LLC.