"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours." - Sir Isaac Newton

Good stuff….

If you only teach “up” without first teaching how to control “down,” you create a limited swing. “Down” is not chopping the ball. It is a feel that helps organize the body at foot down: shoulders controlled, hands above the ball, barrel saved, and the lower half able to create pressure into the ground. That organization creates options. It allows the barrel to work through the ball with adjustability for pitch height, location, count, game situation, and conditions. A rise-ball pitcher and a 20+ mph wind blowing in immediately expose a one-option, lift-only approach. You need to be able to control the barrel through the ball, produce hard line drives, use the entire field, move runners, and compete when the ball is not in your preferred window. Power is not removed by learning down. The down becomes the up when the body turns, the front side accepts force, and the barrel releases through the ball. OPTIONS are built from the DOWN!

Rick Pitino was asked what stops people from being great. His answer was one word. "Ego stops greatness. I call it edging greatness out." "In a spiritual sense, ego is edging God out. But ego is edging greatness out." And he made a key distinction: "I'm not talking about confidence. You have to be a confident person." "But ego really gets you to where you think you've arrived. You think you know it all. You stop learning. You stop listening." That's the trap. Confidence keeps you hungry. Ego convinces you that you've already made it. You lose your hunger and humility. "Learning and listening are important for great leaders. Great leaders have to listen and they have to continue to learn and surround themselves with people that are better than them." EGO = Edging Greatness Out The moment you think you've arrived is the moment you stop growing. Stay confident. Stay humble. Never stop learning. (🎥@LewisHowes)

"I was eating a chili dog when I heard Chuck Tanner wanted me to hit. I had chili all over my shirt, so I put on a new one and a pair of pants with no underclothes." Dick Allen. What did Allen do after that? "Sparky Lyle threw me a slider and it wound up in the seats." In the second game of a doubleheader against the Yankees, Chicago already having won the opener, 6-1, White Sox manager Chuck Tanner wanted Dick Allen available to pinch-hit in the last of the ninth inning if needed. Dick Allen at the time was wolfing down a chili dog because he had played in the first game, was sitting out the nightcap and was hungry. When Mgr. Tanner called on him, Dick Allen quickly had to put on a uniform, getting the last of the chili dog all over the top of it, forcing the clubhouse boys to try and rush to find him a new, clean jersey. With two men on and Chicago losing, 4-2, Allen stepped to the plate. On the third pitch from future Sox relief pitcher Sparky Lyle, Allen deposited the ball into the left-field lower deck for a 5-4 win and a sweep of the twin bill. "Dick Allen was not a ‘clubhouse lawyer’ who harmed team chemistry. Dick was the leader of our team, the Captain, the manager on the field. He took care of the young kids, took them under his wing. And he played every game as if it was his last day on earth. Dick Allen was the finest athlete I've ever seen on the field." Mgr. Chuck Tanner. The bat-day crowd of 51,904 , 11th all-time in White Sox/Chicago attendance history, exploded!!!

Dustin Pedroia nails it in this interview from Chasing Baseball Dreams Parent Advice! How many good baseball players are being passed over in favor of Showcase Ponies who can light up the radar guns but can’t pitch or guys that can hit the ball 500 feet in batting practice but can’t actually hit in games? This trend was created by non baseball people eliminating scouting positions in favor of interns with cameras and radar guns! The game has suffered tremendously by thinking throwing Velocity and Exit Velocity are the most important tools in baseball players! #shegone @notgaetti @BobFile @billdubs @iamrags @artofhitting @hittingguru7 @slider_sinker @SliderDom @low_and_outside @TheRealJHair @DMEASrecruiting @VandyonTigers @mikepiazza31 @KevinKennedyMLB @SalMarinello @RVGDag @AMBS_Kernan @TheKineticArm @WillClark22 @MLB @MLBPA @MLBPAA

John Wooden shares one of the greatest definitions of success - and it has nothing to do winning. "The definition I coined for success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you're capable." Because you can always control your effort, your preparation, and your ability to give everything you have. But here is where he really nailed it: "We're not all equal as far as intelligence is concerned. We're not equal as far as size. We're not equal as far as appearance. We do not all have the same opportunities. We're not born in the same environments." "But we're all absolutely equal in having the opportunity to make the most of what we have and not comparing or worrying about what others have." You can't control where you start, but you own how you show up and what you do.' Ownership of your actions, attitude, and approach. Success isn't about being better than someone else. It's about becoming the best version of yourself. The only person you need to be better than is who you were yesterday. (🎥 Academy of Achievement)

Yandy Díaz has one of the more unique barrel paths in baseball. His average attack angle is just 2°, his attack direction works 7° toward the opposite field, and his swing-path tilt is only 24°. That combination creates an extremely flat, directional path through the zone.

Payton Tolle is an absolute gem 😭

Harry Caray: "Here now is Willie McCovey, too big to be a man and not quite big enough to be a horse. McCovey, born in Mobile, Alabama and his hobby is reading comic books." Jack Buck: "And hitting." Caray: "Yeah and hitting." Bob Gibson would later call Willie McCovey the scariest hitter in baseball. Faced only 6 pitchers more than 100 times. Slugged: .680 against Drysdale, .584 against Seaver, .552 against Niekro, .500 against lefty-killer Steve Carlton. From 1967-1972 was the best power hitter of the time with the highest OPS!!

In 1978, my rookie year with the Royals, I spent hours every day under a hitting coach named Charley Lau. He'd already built a reputation as one of the best hitting minds in the game. George Brett and Hal McRae were his students before me, and both went on to have Hall-of-Fame-caliber careers. That season I was a mess in the batter's box. Some weeks I felt like I'd invented the game. Other weeks I couldn't have hit water falling out of a boat. After one hot stretch, I won the American League Player of the Week award, which came with a Bulova watch, the league insignia on the dial, my name engraved on the back. At the ceremony, about a month later, right before I walked onto the field to accept it, Charley put his arm around me. "I'm proud of you, Clint," he said. "Always remember, there are two types of people in this world: those who are humble, and those who are about to be. You've been both. Remain the first one." I wish I could tell you I learned that lesson once and never needed it again. I didn't. I've had the ego kicked out of me more than once since 1978, and each time it gets replaced with a little more humility.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Good advice from Ted.

The wit and wisdom of Tim McCarver -

A look into the process of working with MLB hitters 🧠 @RedSox hitting coach John Soteropulos breaks down his work with Willson Contreras, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela this season.

“It's highly individual... How you get guys to their performance on the field is very, very specific.” 🗣️ @RedSox hitting coach John Soteropulos broke down his process helping to develop Boston's hitters.

And who could forget John, one of the MLB hitting coaches of the Red Sox - in the trenches with Dan back in the day. Love watching these guys succeed and crush it at the highest level!