Transcript
WEBVTT
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Today on the Athlete One podcast Mike Stafford, big Walnut High School Baseball.
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I don't care how hard you throw.
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Honestly, I don't even know if we have a radar gun.
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I haven't even looked in the office.
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I don't really care.
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It doesn't really do anything to me.
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For me, my eyes can tell me whether that's got enough on the fastball to beat a guy inside.
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That breaking ball's got a good enough spin and depth that it can get a hitter out in a different in a certain count.
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So I'm not a big um velocity numbers guy.
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I'm just kind of more of the old school generation which and I'm not saying that one's right, one's wrong, that's just who I am and what's worked for me you're locked in to athlete one a podcast for athletes and coaches coming to you from dublin, ohio, here to bring you expert advice, insightful conversations and powerful stories from guests who play or coach sports.
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Now veteran high school baseball coach and someone who has jumped out of perfectly good airplanes your host, ken Carpenter.
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This is the Athlete One Podcast.
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Now to my interview with former Ohio State Buckeye pitching coach and current Big Walnut High School baseball coach, Mike Stafford.
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Hello and welcome to Athlete One Podcast.
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I'm your host, Ken Carpenter.
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Joining me today is Mike Stafford, head baseball coach at Big Walnut High School in Sunbury, Ohio.
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Coach, thanks for taking time to be on the Athlete One.
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No problem, Ken.
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Thanks for having me.
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Well OCC champs and getting ready to play one of the top schools in the state of Ohio in the state tournament.
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If I told you this a year ago, would you say that that's something you expected?
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Yeah, I thought you thought I was going to say, but no, I did, because my job when I took it was to create a culture that is a winning culture, and in order to do that, you have to promote those things, say those things constantly hey, this is what we're going to do, this is how we're going to do it and this is why, and when that creates momentum and confidence, you could see how it gets like a, a, basically like a.
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You know snowball just keeps getting bigger and bigger and those kids get back on, they get on board on both sides and it just gets bigger and bigger.
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And when you win early and you you work on those things and preach those things early in the season and you win, the guys tie in and buy in a little tighter and I felt like getting us getting off to a good start really helped that to be like, yeah, we can do this, guys, and you know I told them that all the whole time in the winter and the fall, and I feel like they saw it once we started winning and when we opened up with Delaware Hayes who's had really two good arms um, which was going to be a big challenge for us, you know, um, and ended up winning both those games.
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I think those those guys really realized that they could do it.
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So, to answer your question, I did I'm sure those guys didn't or half in and half out, and that's okay.
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Well, you were a very successful pitching coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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How much of an adjustment has it been for you coaching high school players there at Big Walnut?
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It's a lot different, honestly.
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There's a lot more that goes into it.
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You know, in college there's a lot more involved.
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There's a lot more practice time, there's a lot more attention to detail.
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You have a lot more time to work with the guys.
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You're paid on winning and losing games and I'm not saying that's not the case in high school, but it's a little deeper than that when you're in a bigger conference, like I was.
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So a lot of different things.
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You know, I've never coached a kid before this that doesn't want to go on and play at the next level.
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You know, in college they all want to play professional and professional when you get to the big leagues.
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So level.
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You know in college they all want to play professional and professional when you get to the big leagues.
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So it was a little different for me where you have a handful of guys that are just happy being a senior, want to be a part of something special and move on in their life and that's okay.
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So that doesn't mean I'm not going to push them anymore or any less, but I've never really had those kind of guys that I've actually coached.
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Does that make sense?
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Is what I'm saying.
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Oh yeah, that definitely makes sense, because I talked to a previous guest, mike Yinger, and you know I said give me a question that I could ask Coach Stafford and basically you just answered it right there, because you have some guys that aspire to be college baseball players and some guys are just happy being on being on the team and having a great high school experience.
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Yeah, and that's okay.
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You know that's okay.
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They want to be.
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I just wanted to make sure that those guys that don't want to move on not just go through the motions, ride it out into the sunset.
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Let's.
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While we're here, let's try to do something special together.
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So when you guys are 35 years old and you guys are all back at a game or have a reunion, that you guys can remember those good times as opposed to just being a senior having some fun, but let's do something special.
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So that's kind of how I was selling the new culture to those guys.
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And they're going to be a first year, a part of something special that we hope to can carry on.
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Well, I did a little research and your dad, bill Stafford.
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He won two World Series in the 60s with the New York Yankees.
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Talk about how that helped you as a young player coming up, and I imagine there's probably a little bit of pressure that came with that too.
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Yeah, he had a very successful career.
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Obviously he played in the 60s, where baseball is a different game now, but um played with some good players.
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You know manel maris barra ford.
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You know he was involved with a lot of um big games and world series games, um, and that was very put on me as far as how he went about teaching me the game.
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Respect the game, the game doesn't.
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You know, I don't coach energy, I don't coach attitude.
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That's a given, that should be a given.
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We're going to stay into the, the minor.
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You know the, the details, the mechanics, a lot of discipline, a lot of.
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I could do better Speaking in my dad's case, like hey, you did this, but you could do this better.
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So there's always something to get good at.
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You know he'd always tell me you know when you're content, you get passed and you know if you have a two good or three good games in a row and you're not still doing your routine because that's what gotten you where you're at and you get in a relaxed mode this game will pass you up and some players will as well.
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So, just that constant, like every day, try to get better.
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Um, attention to detail and the little things make a big difference, kind of thing as a whole well as a player.
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You left the state of michigan and came down to Ohio State and talk about how you talked to the coach and it was great the communication you had where you said I can help this team as a pitcher.
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Yeah, so when I got down here, I got recruited as a first baseman at Ohio State and in my freshman year we were 49-9.
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We were 25-2 in the Big Ten and we're second in the country.
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By the end of the year, had two all American first basements in front of me, ryan Menino and Jonathan Sweet, and then Dan Simons came along as well.
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So I kind of got put behind.
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You know the depth chart, which was totally deserved.
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I belonged where I was.
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Those guys were better players than I was and we had, I think, matt Beaumont, Kevin Cannon and maybe Mike Bealy.
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Three left-handed pitchers got taken in the draft that year and we didn't have many lefties on staff.
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So I went into coach Todd's office and I said hey, listen, coach, I know where I'm at on the depth chart offensively.
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I know we lost some arms.
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I think I can help us on the mound next year, moving forward.
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And his response was I'm good with that.
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Why don't you use this summer to pitch and transition over, see how it goes and then in the fall, see if you can make the club then, or see how it goes and then in the fall, see if you can, you know, make the club then.
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And it ended up turning out pretty well.
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I ended up grabbing the closer's job was all Big Ten got drafted and it was almost like I just wasn't really expecting it, you know, and it just kind of happened that way.
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But I knew I could help the team in some way and it was pitching.
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I had a good background in pedigree from pitching, through my dad, obviously, and I was able to help us win a championship and go to a regional the last two years.
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Well, some players, when their baseball career comes to an end, want to get away from the game.
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What drew you into coaching?
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I wanted to still be a part of the game and help younger guys get to where I wanted to go and my dad went.
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I felt like I wasn't a gifted player, so to say, I didn't have an arm like my dad did.
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I didn't throw hard, so I had to find ways to get guys out, which was pitch ability, setting up hitters, reading you know strengths and weaknesses as a hitter, what tendencies do they have?
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And I felt like that could really go far in teaching the younger guys how to do that and how to pitch to your strengths.
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And just because you don't throw 95 miles an hour, it doesn't mean you can't get to where you want to go.
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You got to be able to where's both sides of the plate, hit with a secondary pitch, you know whatever it might be.
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And I felt like that was something I still had passion with in the game and honestly, Ken, everything that I have in life is because of this game, you know, is because of this game.
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Um, you know, whether it's from professional baseball to coaching, um, everything that I own or everything I have is because the game of baseball, and that's kind of just who I am.
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Well, you talked about the player's response to your adjustment with the culture.
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How is the community there in Sunbury?
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How have they responded to you as a coach?
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I feel pretty good.
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Um, they've been nothing but supportive.
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The athletic department has been nothing but supportive.
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Obviously, when you win, good things are usually the case, not bad.
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We had a good crowd last night.
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I had a few older gentlemen that I wasn't really a good game coach doing a good job.
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You know people are noticing.
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I don't really spend too much time looking in the stands and seeing who's here, who's not.
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I don't really spend too much time looking in the stands and seeing who's here, who's not, but feeling like our guys in our community, there's been some kind of I don't know.
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there's a form of a smaller wave getting bigger with the game of baseball that's kind of re-erected, resurrected, I guess you want to say.
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Well, I know from coaching there in Delaware County when I was at Buckeye Valley.
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Delaware County has a big response to baseball.
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They love their baseball, perry, and you stepping into the job that you're in right now has got to be a lot of excitement for the guys.
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And you know, talk a little bit about your pitching.
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What are some of the priorities for your high school pitchers if they want to find time on the mound?
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Throw strikes, first pitch strikes, hit with a secondary pitch at least 50% of the time.
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Be able to control the running game, be able to field your position.
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Pretty simple.
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There's a lot of different things that go along with that, but we train to those three or four things and have different things we talk about, we chart, we work on, we talk about mentally, because a lot of it's mental just as much as it is mechanical and physical.
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So if those would be the things that I would think are important, I don't care how hard you throw.
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Honestly, I don't even know if we have a radar gun.
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I haven't even looked in the office.
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I don't really care.
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It doesn't really do anything to me.
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For me, my eyes can tell me whether that's got enough on the fastball to beat a guy inside.
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That breaking ball's got a good enough spin and depth that it can get a hitter out in a different in a certain count.
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So I'm not a big um velocity numbers guy.
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I'm just kind of more of the old school generation which and I'm not saying that one's right, one's wrong, that's just who I am and what's worked for me when you talk about the the mental toughness side of it.
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What are some things you do with maybe not just your pitchers but the team in general to develop that mental toughness?
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Put them in uncomfortable situations, discomfortable situations where they're not comfortable, and I think that will show you what certain guys are made of, what's their character.
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Are they willing to give up?
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Like, what do you do when the headphones come off?
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Kind of deal.
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Like when you're listening to music before a game.
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You got your headphones on, you're getting jacked up.
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Like what do you do when they come off?
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Like, how do you keep yourself moving, how do you keep yourself motivated?
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Um, and put them in certain situations where you know that's not a scripted practice, where, hey, we might be doing this and then we're running over here and doing that.
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So like, for example, let's say we're inter-squad and kid knows he's going to throw two innings.
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The other kid knows he's throwing two innings, he gets up on the mound and I said, all right, I'm going to hit a ground ball to.
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First you have to get over and cover the bag and then pitch, start your inning, which start your inning, which you know he's.
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Well, I got six warm-up pitches, or eight warm-up pitches.
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Throw it down, yeah, but the first play of the game the guy gets over.
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Now your heart rate's up.
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You're not used to that, you're.
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And now you got to go and try to get three outs, like different things like that, where they're not really expecting that.
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But that might be the first pitch of the game.
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You make a turn, you got to cover first, you got a little bit of heart rate going and now you got to start the inning.
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Just little things like that that we try to do to not make things so manila, kind of make sure that they're not comfortable at times and put them in situations and see how they respond.
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I like that.
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That's interesting.
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When you were the pitching coach at Ohio State, you had some great pitchers that went through your system and gone on to the MLB.
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What did a high school pitcher need to show you during the whole recruiting process?
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Because all of our players now are just focused on D1 or bust and wanting to go on and play at the next level.
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I can remember when I was coaching a summer team.
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You know seeing you out and when you look at a pitcher, how can you tell this guy is d1 material?
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um, I can, I, as the older I got, I, I look more at routine, um, body type athleticism.
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Um, does he compete?
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Um, what happens when adversity hits in a game?
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Um, those are the things that I look like at the most because obviously, if I'm looking at a pitcher, most of the time they're going to have enough fastball and an off-speed pitch to to get guys out when I go watch a guy right.
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So those are the things that I like to kind of solidify my thinking on whether I want to offer this guy or continue to recruit him, or he's off the board.
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You know, body language is a huge thing for me because those things, you know, these kids have not really have understanding.
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Like, when you get to that level, you're going to get hit around in the fall.
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You know there's going to be juniors and seniors that have four or five hundred at bats under their belt in division one.
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You're coming out of high school like these guys are going to hit you around a little bit.
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How are you going to respond to those situations?
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Are you going to be able to get through adversity?
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Um, and not, you know well, the umpire missed that call.
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It's hot out.
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The ball slipped.
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Um, I thought that was a strike, whatever it might be.
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Or you know, next pitch, next play, let's get back up there.
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You know it is what it is.
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We can't control it.
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Body language was big for me too.
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So I would watch these games and there is some coaching and and you can make adjustments with kids on that.
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But there's also some guys that you know you think maybe that's probably going to be a stretch because of how animated they are, how you know kids putting their hands up If they're not getting a call, like that kind of stuff is.
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That was stuff that was real important to me.
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Routine was big.
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I would get there really early see how they go about their business from a starting standpoint.
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Do they have a routine?
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Are they messing around, throwing knuckleball, you know, whatever it might be, do they have a plan?
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Because to me, you're going to have to have that at the next level.
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So that's something that kind of showed me how important the game was to them when they have something structured like that.
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Did you take into account the parents and how they are, because you know some parents can be pretty rough when it comes to you?
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Know their son when playing baseball.
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Did you ever consider that when you were recruiting?
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As far as what?
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Now, parents, that?
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are Over the top.
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Yeah, parents are over the top.
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Yeah, because I didn't think I would see him very much only on game day, and sometimes it's honestly, I'm the kind of guy that's going to tell you how I feel and honestly, in that regard, sometimes it's healthier to get the dad away from the kid and he plays more loose, he plays fast, he's not afraid to make a mistake.
00:19:12.380 --> 00:19:14.471
You're not going to be perfect and that's my job.
00:19:14.471 --> 00:19:23.201
Um, my job is to you know that you're going to make mistakes and if you don't deal with failure you're not going to be a good player, because you're going to have to.
00:19:23.201 --> 00:19:32.323
You got to fail more than you got to succeed, to be successful, um, so getting away from those pressures, um, I think is not a bad thing.
00:19:33.866 --> 00:19:37.275
You know, especially in college, you're not really seeing the parents very often.
00:19:37.275 --> 00:19:39.990
You know not many parents go to practice not many.
00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:48.096
You know you'll see them on game day, but maybe in the hotel lobby, but other than that there's really not too much interaction with them.
00:19:48.096 --> 00:19:52.583
So you know the kids seem to be themselves understand what are what we want to do with our program, how, what direction we want to go.
00:19:52.583 --> 00:19:57.609
So you know the kids seem to be themselves understand what are what we want to do with our program, how, what direction we want to go, so it really hasn't been an issue too much.
00:19:58.732 --> 00:20:03.303
Well, what is something that has surprised you about coaching high school baseball?
00:20:03.303 --> 00:20:06.519
That you're like wow, it's changed from when I back, when I played.
00:20:08.590 --> 00:20:14.102
Um, I think the ability of the kids think there's more better, a lot better players.
00:20:14.102 --> 00:20:21.363
Um, you know, depth chart wise, I felt like when I played, you know it was more top loaded.
00:20:21.363 --> 00:20:24.977
You know you'd have two or three kids on a team that were decent.
00:20:24.977 --> 00:20:33.553
Um, now, with all the summer ball and all this more year-round stuff, um, I think players have developed a lot more, have a lot of better feel for the game.
00:20:33.553 --> 00:20:40.814
Um, but at the same time I feel like the baseball game in general um has lacked.
00:20:41.154 --> 00:20:43.199
You know it's all about games and making.
00:20:43.199 --> 00:20:52.503
You know playing in tournaments, but the practicing part is the, the part like the iq of player, meaning guy in, second, nobody out.
00:20:52.503 --> 00:20:55.519
Like, why do you think I'm trying to throw you a fastball in?
00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:58.778
Well, I don't know, coach.
00:20:58.778 --> 00:21:03.876
Well, as a hitter, you're trying to hit the ball to the right side of the field to get the guy over with less than two outs.
00:21:03.876 --> 00:21:08.020
As a pitcher, I'm trying to keep you from doing that.
00:21:08.020 --> 00:21:08.912
So I'm going to throw the ball in.
00:21:08.912 --> 00:21:15.748
So if you can pull it on the ground to the shortstop or third baseman and we can look you back and throw it out, we don't have you.
00:21:15.748 --> 00:21:19.057
I don't want to throw a fastball away and just let you stick your bat out and make it easy for you.
00:21:19.077 --> 00:21:28.458
The little things like that, I think, are things that could be taught better, and that's kind of stuff that I really hit home on is reading the game, understanding the game.
00:21:28.458 --> 00:21:33.383
Do I have to give you a bunt sign if you're a good bunter and third baseman's back one?
00:21:33.383 --> 00:21:34.805
If I do, it might throw it off.
00:21:34.805 --> 00:21:37.830
Two, if you're left-handed, you're looking right at the guy.
00:21:37.830 --> 00:21:39.554
You know what you can do.
00:21:39.554 --> 00:21:48.644
You know what your timing is, where you need to be at like, play the game and read the game and find ways to help the team win.
00:21:48.644 --> 00:21:49.708
Like little things like that.
00:21:49.708 --> 00:21:51.713
You know me putting a sign on.
00:21:51.713 --> 00:21:55.233
Maybe that just that just triggers that.
00:21:55.233 --> 00:22:01.775
Hey, get in on the grass, this guy might bunt, as opposed to just get up there and then show late and get it down.
00:22:01.855 --> 00:22:09.460
Like little things like that double cuts, pick off moves, holding runners those are the kind of things that I feel lacked.
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