Downingtown Baseball Club

Official Twitter account of Downingtown Baseball Club / Scott Gorgen 925.360.4766, Rob Welsch 610.350.6476, Todd DiFonzo 610.389.1105

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@RockofAges66 @39_Matt @stewartdantec The score

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@shegone03 @notgaetti @BobFile @twuench @billdubs @SliderDominate @ROXSystem @WillClark22 @TheRealJHair @BLocsports I didn’t play professional baseball, but this really seems to be over complicating everything.

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@PitchingCoachU Looks like his right knee crosses the plane of the rubber, which would be a balk, wouldn’t it?

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@JayCuda “If”…

[Zak Blair @coachzblair10]

Coaches: Stop being your players friend & start preparing them! If you truly love your guys, you should be giving them reality & holding them to the highest standard! Not letting the prisoners run the prison! Discipline & accountability are a MUST for everyone!

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@nut_history Kent Tekulve

[Jacob Turner @TheJacobTurner]

They cut @MikeTrout.

The greatest baseball player of our generation.

The story you have never heard and the lesson to learn:

Back in 2008, I was a high school junior.

I was an up-and-coming baseball player and my first big break was an invitation to the USA baseball team trials.

You see each year USA Baseball brings in 100+ of the best baseball players in the country to try out for the 18u national team.

That year, USA Baseball had arranged for two players each to stay with a host family.

My roommate was a player named, Mike Trout.

Mike had incredible athleticism but was from the Northeast so he didn't come into the event on the "hype train" like some of the top prospects from California, Texas, and Florida did.

We both performed well at the event and made it to the final stage of the trials.

Here USA Baseball chose the final 18 players for the national team.

Mike didn't make those final 18 players.

Fast forward 15 years and Mike is the best player of a generation. A surefire Hall of Famer and arguably one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

Funny, how life works sometimes.

Look the lesson we can all learn from this is life is full of things that are outside of our control.

You will be told no.
You will suffer adversity.
You will face disappointment.

Accept it as part of your journey.

My friends, we focus far too much on the end destination and completely miss the beauty in the journey.

The come up, the adversity, and the struggle are what you will talk about one day.

It makes the destination worth striving for.

So, the next time you face a setback, remember Mike's story.

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@case_of_spades @ottawascot Wrong

[Darren Fenster @CoachYourKids]

Effort is a decision.

[Ben Verlander @BenVerlander]

WOW!!

Nico Hoerner deserves SO much credit here for running 100% on an infield pop-up and scoring from 1st base.

Head up baseball 👏👏👏

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@prospectdugout That’s a hot mess.

[Seth McClung @Seth_3773]

Youth Coaches!

As a coach who’s rebuilding a high school program,(in the last ten seasons 27 % winning percentage) I tell our kids you can’t do anything beyond fundamentals until you get the fundamentals down and cemented in.

We do rep after rep after rep. We haven’t gone over any philosophy yet. We’re just trying to learn how to throw and catch the ball correctly.

I shouldn’t have to be doing this at the high school level. This needs to be done when these kids start playing baseball. We are doing fundamental skills that should’ve been ironed in as a 10 year old baseball player.

I see this problem across the country.

Fundamentals first…

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@shegone03 @MLB @Yankees @AMBS_Kernan @notgaetti @BobFile @twuench @billdubs If he were the Orioles announcer, he would’ve gotten fired after that.

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

@CoachSwit Question, not criticism- do coaches in other sports ask/tell their players to take 3-4 months off and play another sport? I’ve not seen it personally.

[Coach Hill @CoachMarcusHill]

Players/parents looking for recruiting tips etc…our entire 18u team is committed to play in college. We’ve had two division 1 pitching commits in the last few days with more to come and a first round draft pick sign for over three million dollars a few years ago. You don’t have to listen to me but here you go. you can do all the lessons and go to all the showcases you want. Two major things coaches at the next level look for is 1) is he strong and 2) do they move well. The greatest swing or arm in the world doesn’t mean a lot of your kid doesn’t look like he can move athletically, or change direction quickly. Your 14 year old can skip the hitting lesson this week and pick up some weights. Take that for what it’s worth.

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

Effort is a direct indication of your interest.

[Not Gaetti @notgaetti]

What I need You People to understand is that between the pickoff limits, giant bases, and one-knee catchers who can’t make a decision that isn’t written down on an index card, Rickey Henderson would literally steal 200 bases a year in today’s game.

[Matt Bomeisl @RealMattyBo]

At showcases, catcher's pop times are now akin to slam dunk contests: numerous attempts without consequence. One catcher, consistently accurate with times like 1.95, 1.98, 1.94, and 1.97, ranks 10th on a leaderboard. Meanwhile, another catcher, after four botched transfer attempts, records a 1.81 and secures 2nd place on some graphic viewed by thousands of people. This isn't a true 1.81; four potential stolen bases due to dropped transfers and a significant tag delay on the 5th throw.

Pop times should account for accuracy. Off-target throws could add up to 0.5 seconds for tag adjustments, and slightly misplaced throws might add 0.2-0.3 seconds. Multiple Errors like bobbles and drops should be noted with an asterisk on the pop time.

In fact, bring a hack attack machine out. Throw 90mph fastballs, two throws with left handed batters in box, two throws with right handed batter in box. Then switch to breaking balls: 2 throws with lefty in the box, 2 throws with a righty in the box.

You do that and it will be very apparent which players have a chance to catch and throw with accuracy and I promise you won’t need a stopwatch to differentiate between them.

[Trevor Rosenthal @TrevRosenthal]

I had as many conversations as I could with St Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Gibson.

One conversation opened my eyes to another dimension.

Mr. Gibson was explaining to me the level of effort he had while competing.

Simply put he told me after each game he would pee blood. He said this was caused by the level of effort and intensity that went into each pitch.

I thought I was intense with my work. Then I heard this.

We could all adopt this mentality.

When applying our effort and intensity to work, stop and rate on a scale from 0 - pissing blood.

Ok, not literally. But this is a true story! I think something to consider when evaluating, 'Do I have more to give?'.

It is eye opening.

But show me someone who has achieved extraordinary greatness without giving extraordinary effort and I will use a new scale.

What area of discipline can we improve on today?
There is always something.

-TR

[Downingtown Baseball Club @ClubDowningtown]

Congratulations to 2024’s Jon Oxendine and Owen Rhoads both on their commitment to continue their baseball and academic careers at Elizabethtown College. Very proud of you boys! @RhoadsOwen2024 @jon_oxendine7