Dear Baseball Gods – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, you’re getting another a sample chapter of my new book, Clean Your Cleats: Advice on Baseball and Life for Ballplayers. This chapter is about relationships with coaches. It’s now available everywhere you buy books online. Get your copy today.

In this episode, you’re getting another a sample chapter of my new book, Clean Your Cleats: Advice on Baseball and Life for Ballplayers. This is chapter 2, called Baseball is a Trap.

Is a knuckle-curveball different than a regular curve? And, what does hiding the ball mean for pitchers? Should they try to do it? Should mechanics be taught so that hiding the ball happens?



The EARLY Work program is almost ready for launch. Sign up for my email list to be notified!



To submit a question for the Q&A segment, email a voice recording to Dan at hello@danblewett.com. Want to support the show? Buy a copy of Dear Baseball Gods on Kindle or Paperback, or listen on audiobook. Or, pick up Pitching Isn’t Complicated, his advanced-but-understandable pitching manual. Enroll in one of Coach Dan’s online pitching courses or his mental skills course. Use code BASEBALL GODS to save 20% on any course, just for being a listener. Sign up for Dan’s Email list and get a free pitching checklist, and follow up with him on the interwebs: YouTube Channel | Twitter | Danblewett.com





Transcript: EP102 – What Does Hiding the Ball Mean for Pitchers? And, Is a Knuckle Curve Different?



You’re listening to the Dear Baseball Gods podcast. In this show, I helped parents, players and coaches better navigate their baseball careers.



Hey, welcome back to Dear Baseball Gods. I’m Dan Blewett. And just as a little bit of housekeeping yet, again, be sure to check out the description here. Be sure to check out my email list, which is also there’s links in the descriptions podcast. Releasing a new online strength conditioning program called early work very soon.



And of course, obviously if you’re listening to this video, anytime in the future, it will be already out by time or a year looking for a new strength training program to follow for your son, for your team, for your family. We have different plans in a 14 day free trial, or if anyone wants to check it out, try out the Early Work strength and conditioning program.



This was built by me and a fellow strength coach, a good friend. Mine named coach Andrew Sacks, who is an expert in baseball and softball training. So without further ado, let’s get into today’s episode. So today we have two topics. Number one, what is a knuckle curve? Is it different than a regular curve ball?



And number two also for pitchers, what’s the deal with hiding the baseball? So this is a common term where we say, Oh man, the guy hides the ball really well. But what does this mean? Is it important? Is it something you should try to do? We’re going to kind of demystify that whole bunch. Okay. So let’s talk about the knuckle curve,

Host families, hotels, training room floors, dorm rooms, crowded one-bedroom apartments shared by five teammates? Yep, that’s life on the road. I share some stories from my time living with host families, with a hoarder, sleeping in the clubhouse and spending my summer on an air mattress. Tune in for the real story of the places I slept, and where countless players before me laid their heads.

Kevin Vance returns to the show to talk spin rate and how it affects a pitcher’s arsenal, approach, and ability to get hitters out. We discuss best practices in teaching pitchers to pitch and share stories about how each of us pitched based on our spin rate. We also talked about pitch tunneling, sabermetrics and how baseball analytics are changing the game, and what we can do to bridge the gap between stats guys and baseball guys.

Mike Reinold, one of the world’s experts on pitching injuries and performance, joins us to share some stories from his time as the Athletic Trainer for the Boston Red Sox. Does the public really know what’s going on with Major Leaguers when they take the field? What do guys at the Big League Level do to prepare to play each day? We also discuss pitching injuries and some of Mike’s recent, ground-breaking weighted ball research.

Mitch Osnowitz, current minor league pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, joins us to discuss his big arm and how it has transformed his career. Upon not hearing his name called in the MLB draft, Mitch went to a tryout. A scout asked him to pitch, and he promptly threw 96mph off the mound. Since then, Mitch has been working to convert into a pitcher and bouncing around from team to team as he learns. Listen in as he shares his experience.

Matt Zielinski has played in the Frontier League, Atlantic League, Italian Baseball League, and the winter leagues of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Listen in as he explains how he made his way from a high school in Pennsylvania to a Division-I University, and then came back from injuries to pitch professionally in amazing places against some of the best players in the world.

Former Division-I baseball player, Tom Meaney, comes on the show to discuss the parallel between sports and business. We talk about why motivational books are often useless, why New York bagels are so great, and discuss the qualities that athletes possess that prepare them well for “the real world.” Are on-field skills helping athletes achieve more in business later on in life?

Dan has had Tommy John surgery twice, and he takes 10 popular questions in this Q&A episode of the Dear Baseball Gods Podcast. He tackles popular myths, fears and concerns, layered with a large dose of his stories, experience and wisdom on recovering well, avoiding Tommy John surgery altogether, and on keeping youth pitchers healthy.