My biggest takeaway from this? This is after Fordham was eliminated on Saturday, yet there they were, watching a great ballgame and having fun together. Really cool and a sign of great culture and chemistry.
End of Junior Year
Awards: All District, All Region, All Tournament Team, Memphis Area Player of the year Nominee.
.504 ba (second highest in school history)
113 ABs
.578 obp
1.233 ops
.655 slg
57 H
33 RBI
41 R
20 SB
.920 FPTC at SS
@BoxBoysScout@tnballplayers@PrepBaseballTN
Common story:
Kid loves baseball. Decides to quit other sports & specialize in 8th grade.
Plays spring ball, summer travel ball, & fall ball. Private lessons over the winter. Ends up swinging/throwing 12 months straight.
Does this for 4 years.
48 months straight of the same back/arm stress.
And we wonder why so many HS players have Pars stress fractures and torn UCLs.
Now apply this to volleyball, golf, basketball, etc. We are breaking our kids’ bodies in pursuit of scholarships.
Athletes need an offseason. Especially when they’re 15.
Youth sports is on life support.
If you think it’s fine, you’re not paying attention.
Kids age 10-12 are playing way too many tournaments and travel ball. Parents treat it like the World Series. They need less travel, more rest, fueling, and actual development. They’re 12 YO.
The data backs it up:
❌70% of kids drop out of organized sports by age 13.
❌Professionalization (year-round single-sport focus, heavy travel/tournaments) drives overuse injuries, overtraining, and burnout.
❌Nearly 1 in 10 youth athletes experience burnout; up to 35% deal with overtraining.
❌Early specialization before 12-13 raises injury and burnout risks significantly.
Multi-sport kids who rest and play for fun stick around longer and develop better.
Let them be kids. Prioritize recovery, fun, and long-term health over trophies. The best athletes often sample multiple sports early and specialize later.
Who else sees this?
50+ years in baseball. 17 as an MLB manager. over 2,500 games from the dugout.
I won Manager of the Year and also lost more games than I want to count.
I led teams through losing seasons and took a team to the World Series.
The biggest difference was leadership.
If I could go back to my first day as a leader, here are the 5 lessons I'd whisper in my own ear:
Lesson 1: Be a window when it's good, a mirror when it's bad.
The leaders I respected most shared every win and absorbed every hit.
What this looks like in practice:
• Wins: name the people who made it happen
• Losses: say "that's on me" before anyone asks
• Locker room: spotlight the effort before the outcome
Your team will fight harder for a leader who deflects credit and absorbs blame.
Lesson 2: Nobody hands you trust. You earn it before you coach it.
Early in my career, plenty of coaches tried to fix my swing.
I tuned out every one I didn't trust.
Get to know your people before you try to develop them.
Their hobbies, their family, what makes them tick.
Then the coaching lands.
Lesson 3: Shower well after every loss.
After a losing streak in Colorado, our team president asked me how I kept the clubhouse together.
This was my rule:
• Self-evaluate honestly, were we prepared, did we execute?
• Shower well, wash off the grit, grime, and angst before you walk out
• Be present for whoever you're going home to
Tomorrow is a new opportunity. Don't drag yesterday into it.
Lesson 4: Lead transformationally, not transactionally.
Transactional leaders ask: what can this person do for me?
Transformational leaders ask: how do I put this person in a position to win?
The first builds compliance.
The second builds careers.
When your people start chasing growth instead of your approval, you've crossed over.
Lesson 5: Stay humble before life humbles you.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are humble, and those who are about to be.
Discipline keeps you in the first group:
Skill gets you in the room. Humility keeps you there.
50 years taught me leadership isn't about you.
It's about the people you serve.
@Rockies
3rd base coach:
“Let’s go! Get a good pitch to hit!”
1st base coach:
“Let the ball travel!”
Dad:
“Remember to keep your weight back!”
Grandpa:
“Get that runner over!”
Little bro:
“Hit a bomb!”
Dugout:
“Don’t lunge!”
“Stay thru the baseball!”
“Stay short to the ball!”
“Watch for the 1st pitch curveball!”
“Sit fastball!”
Hitter thoughts:
You gotta block out the noise, have extreme focus, control the pressure and anxiety, have your plan and compete.
Just writing this gave me anxiety, imagine what that young ballplayer is going through in the moment the next time you want to start barking out instructions on how to hit! 🤐
#BaseballTruth
3rd base coach:
“Let’s go! Get a good pitch to hit!”
1st base coach:
“Let the ball travel!”
Dad:
“Remember to keep your weight back!”
Grandpa:
“Get that runner over!”
Little bro:
“Hit a bomb!”
Dugout:
“Don’t lunge!”
“Stay thru the baseball!”
“Stay short to the ball!”
“Watch for the 1st pitch curveball!”
“Sit fastball!”
Hitter thoughts:
You gotta block out the noise, have extreme focus, control the pressure and anxiety, have your plan and compete.
Just writing this gave me anxiety, imagine what that young ballplayer is going through in the moment the next time you want to start barking out instructions on how to hit! 🤐
#BaseballTruth
Went to a HS game yesterday. Had a D1 coach come meet me there to watch a kid.
During the game, the team’s catcher would sprint to his position every inning.
He’s an underclassman, the D1 coach wasn’t there for him, he is now on that coaches radar.
Some things preached at every level -
▪️sprint to your spot between innings
▪️show off your arm in between innings
▪️serious throws in the INF/OF and as a catcher
You can be 0-3 and still make an impression
If you're proud of a player.
Tell him.
If you're disappointed in a player.
Tell him.
If a player is in your doghouse.
Tell him.
If a player role is changing.
Tell him.
If a player does something that bothers you.
Tell him.
Dynamic coaches are dynamic communicators.
They treat players how they'd want to be treated as a player.
#3 They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
And part of caring is being able to admit when you, the coach, fail.
#bebetter#coachemup
Every player I ever coached was asking me the same 3 questions.
They never said them out loud.
It didn't matter what the lineup looked like.
It didn't matter what the scoreboard said.
They just needed to know 3 things.
And every leader, every coach, every parent is being asked the same ones.
Here they are.
Question #1: Can I trust you?
Trust isn't given. It's earned.
You earn it through transparency and honesty not when things are going well, but when things are hard.
How I built it:
• Do what you say you're going to do
• Tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear
• Show up the same way whether you're winning or losing
You lose trust fast. You build it slow.
Question #2: Can you make me better?
This one is on you as a leader.
They're not just asking about their swing or their stats.
They're asking: do you see me clearly enough to help me grow?
Question #3: Do you care about me?
This is the most important one. And you can't fake it.
You can't lead anybody if they don't believe you care about them beyond what they produce on the field.
Three questions. No stat tracks them. But they determine everything.
Georgia Tech has the most dynamic offense in the country.
Why?
They have walked or been hit by pitch more than they strikeout.
Almost unheard of for a team to do this.
It advertises they have the best and most unselfish approach in the country.
Have any other teams in the country walked or been hit by pitch more than they strikeout.
Look at your favorite teams stats and see if they've done it. They're probably not even close.
Georgia Tech has an approach and they are all in.
I had a moment like Coach Deggs did just the other night. Lost my professional bearings because of a comment from an opposing coach. He rage baited me and I bit. Fortunately, the game seems to know what’s what. We proceeded to have a top 7 4-run comeback W. #respectthegame
This goes for first and foremost coaches. Then for players. And by extension parents. A lot of people in our beloved game have forgotten what it means to play with class. To represent the name on both sides of the jersey with honor and integrity. It’s disgusting. Cont….