There are numbers in baseball that carry weight. 300 wins. 300 strikeouts. 300 batting average. They represent consistency, discipline and the ability to show up when you don’t feel like it. For me, 300 blogs was never something I set out to reach. I didn’t sit down and say, “I’m going to write 300.” This number is simply the result of showing up over time, with something real to say about the game. This wasn’t about content, it was about commitment. Why I Started Writing I d

There’s always a certain energy when rankings are released. Players scroll through them, parents share them, coaches analyze them and for a lot of young athletes, those lists feel like validation. It feels like confirmation that the work is paying off and that people are noticing. I understand that feeling, I’ve been around this game long enough to know how much players want to be seen. But every once in a while, you come across a list that makes you pause. Not because of who

There are certain players in the game who force you to rethink everything you thought you knew about hitting. Joey Votto is one of those players. If you spend time listening to his interviews, studying his at-bats and paying attention to how he prepares, you begin to notice a consistent theme. His approach is not built around simply making contact or producing power. It is built around controlling the at-bat. While he may not have stood in front of a camera and repeatedly use

For many years, the standard for Ontario baseball teams heading south was simple, Florida. It became part of the culture. Every March break, teams would pack their bags, leave the cold behind and finally get on a real field. It was about getting outside, getting reps and starting to feel like a baseball player again after a long Canadian winter. But when you really look at those early trips, the structure was very consistent. Teams would travel south… and then play each other

This March Break, I had the opportunity to return once again to York Baseball as a guest instructor for one of their workout sessions. It’s something I never take for granted. Every time I step back into that environment, it brings a deeper appreciation for where the game started for me and how much those early experiences continue to shape the way I coach today. I wrote in the summer about coming full circle, but the truth is, it’s not just one moment. It happens every time

When Matthew Barry reached out to me to be part of his Heart of a Fan project, I took some time to understand what he was building before responding. What stood out right away is that Heart of a Fan is not just about sports. It is about people. Matthew’s work is rooted in his own experiences growing up around sports in New England, where he saw firsthand how the game could bring people together. From playing in a pep band, to leading student sections, to studying fandom at

Every few years, baseball gives us a version of itself that feels different. Not because of the rules, not because of the talent, but because of what is at stake. The 2026 World Baseball Classic reminded us that when players put on their country’s uniform, the game changes. It becomes more urgent, more emotional and more connected to something deeper than performance. This wasn’t a slow build into a season. This was intensity from the first pitch, where every inning carried m

Every team eventually faces what I call the dugout test. It doesn’t happen when a player is hitting .400. It doesn’t happen when a player is the starting pitcher. It doesn’t happen when everything is going well. The dugout test happens when a player is not in the lineup. Every athlete wants to play, that is natural. Competitors should want the ball, want the at-bat and want to be on the field when the game is on the line. But the true character of a player often reveals itsel

Every time the World Baseball Classic begins, the baseball world changes for a few weeks. The energy is different. Major League Baseball has 162 games in a season. The rhythm can feel long. There are nights where the stakes feel lower, especially late in the year when teams fall out of contention. But the World Baseball Classic? Every game feels like October and for players wearing the maple leaf, every moment represents something bigger than themselves. For Canada national b

When people talk about college baseball today, the conversation is dominated by technology. Bat sensors, exit velocity numbers, launch angles and swing planes. Advanced video analysis after every game. But when I think back to Division I baseball from 2000 to 2003, I remember a very different version of the game. It was a game built on feel. Players learned through repetition. Coaches taught through experience. Adjustments came from thousands of swings in the cage and hundred

There is a difficult reality in baseball that few people like to talk about. Bullying doesn’t only happen to players. Sometimes it happens between coaches and sometimes it is encouraged by the culture surrounding the game. In youth, college, and university baseball, there is a growing problem that many people privately acknowledge but rarely address publicly. Trash talking and personal attacks have become normalized and too often, the adults responsible for setting the tone a

There are numbers in baseball that stay with you forever. For me, that number is .401. In 2001, while playing Division I baseball at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, I finished the season with a .401 batting average, one of the highest single-season batting averages recorded in NCAA Division I history. More than two decades later, it still represents a season where preparation, opportunity and confidence all came together. The Numbers Behind the Seaso

Over the past 16 weeks, our hitters committed to a process. Not a quick fix. Not a one-day adjustment. A full progression built on repetition, structure and accountability. Every player was pushed to understand not just how to hit, but why they were doing it. What we have now isn’t just a collection of numbers. It’s a reflection of development. Understanding the Leaderboard The graphic shown reflects Week 16 performance, highlighting each player’s most recent testing results

One of the most misunderstood parts of the baseball swing today isn’t bat path, launch angle, or even timing. It’s the gather and the stride. You hear instructors talk about these movements constantly. Social media is full of videos explaining “the load,” “the stride,” and “the move forward.” Many people claim to teach hitting, yet when you watch closely, something becomes clear very quickly. Many instructors don’t actually understand the difference between the gather and the

In baseball coaching circles, you often hear the same leadership principles repeated: The best assistant coaches do three things well. Support the head coach publicly Challenge the head coach privately Serve the players daily It’s a great framework. In fact, it’s one of the healthiest models for building a strong coaching staff, but like many things in sports, what sounds good in a presentation doesn’t always match what happens in the dugout. And that’s where the real convers

Every coach has seen it. A player looks incredible in batting practice. The swing is smooth, the ball jumps off the bat and confidence seems high. Yet when the game begins, that same hitter struggles to square the baseball. Then there is the opposite player, the one who looks average in drills but somehow finds ways to compete when the game matters. This difference often confuses parents and frustrates players. If the swing looks good in practice, why doesn’t it translate int

As we reach Week 16 of the offseason program, the way we evaluate hitters begins to change. Earlier in the program, progress is often measured by improvement. Players are learning new movements, getting stronger and starting to see increases in exit velocity. During that phase, it can feel like everyone is moving forward at the same pace, but by Week 16, that illusion disappears. This is the point in the offseason where development becomes honest. The swings are no longer new

In sports, there is a quote that has been passed down through locker rooms, dugouts and coaching circles for generations: “The name on the front of the jersey is who you play for. The name on the back is who you represent.” The exact origin of the quote is debated. Variations of it have been attributed to different coaches over the years, and similar messages were famously echoed by legendary figures like John Wooden and Tony Dungy. Regardless of who first said it, the messag

In Part 1 (click here) , I wrote about what it means to wear the Team Ontario jersey. Some jerseys are worn, others are carried. Team Ontario has always been one that is carried, but to fully understand the program, you also have to understand its history. Programs do not remain dominant forever. They rise, they stabilize, sometimes they drift and occasionally they have to rebuild. My connection to the Ontario Youth Team spans three perspectives: as a player in 2001 as an ass

Some jerseys are worn, others are carried. Team Ontario has always been one that is carried. This is Ontario’s provincial Youth Team , comprised of the top 17U athletes from across the province. It represents the highest level of provincial competition and serves as a critical step in the national development pathway. Each summer, these athletes compete at the Baseball Canada Cup , Canada’s premier championship for this age group and the primary identification event for the

In last week’s article, How to Choose the Right Baseball Program in Ontario, we explored how families can evaluate programs based on development, coaching, culture and long-term growth rather than perception or branding. If you missed it, you can read it here: 👉 How to Choose the Right Baseball Program in Ontario That conversation sparked an important follow-up question: If a team plays in the strongest league, does that automatically make it elite? It’s an understandable a

In a training world filled with pitching machines, velocity trainers and advanced analytics, one of the most effective hitting tools remains incredibly simple: the self toss. It doesn’t require expensive equipment. It doesn’t rely on a coach throwing perfect strikes. And it doesn’t mask flaws with predictable timing. Self toss forces hitters to control rhythm, coordinate movement and deliver the barrel with precision. And that’s why it works. What Is Self Toss? Self toss is e

Young hitters often believe the harder they swing, the harder the ball will travel. It’s an understandable assumption. Effort feels powerful and when a swing feels strong, players expect the result to match. But in hitting, power is not created by effort alone. It is created by precision. The difference between a weak fly ball and a line drive often comes down to where the barrel meets the baseball. When contact is slightly off the sweet spot, energy is lost. When the barrel

In Part 1 of this series, I explored the origins of baseball in Italy, from the early exhibitions in the late 1800s to the formation of organized baseball after World War II and the growth of the sport across the country. Read Part 1: Italian Baseball — Where It Started and How It Found Its Footing But the story of Italian baseball is not only about Italy. For many families, including mine, the connection to the game happened thousands of kilometres away. For me, that story u