Everyone says they want to play at the next level. They say it when they’re hitting well, when they’re confident, and when everything feels like it’s lining up the way it should. They say it when the game is fun, when the results are there, and when the path feels clear. But baseball doesn’t stay there. The real question isn’t whether you want it when things are going well. The real question is whether you still want it when the game starts pushing back. Because it will. Ther

Most people see Jackie Robinson as history, but they’ve never really thought about how rare that moment actually was. A few years ago, I wrote a blog called 👉 Jackie Robinson and the Science of Rainbows In that piece, I connected two things that don’t usually get mentioned in the same sentence: Jackie Robinson and the science of light. The number 42 wasn’t just something we saw on a jersey, it was something that existed in nature, in the way a rainbow forms, in the way light

People say baseball is slow. That’s usually how you know they don’t understand it. Baseball has never been about constant motion, it has always been about constant thought. Every pitch begins with a decision, every swing begins with a calculation and every defensive play begins with anticipation. The players who succeed at the highest levels are not simply the strongest or the fastest. They are the ones who process information the quickest, understand situations and make adju

Let’s stop pretending we don’t see it. If you’ve been around baseball long enough, you’ve seen it, whether you wanted to or not. It shows up in small moments at first, things that are easy to brush off. A lineup decision here, a pitching choice there, a player getting one more opportunity than everyone else. Over time, those moments start to add up, and eventually it becomes clear that what you’re watching isn’t just coaching, it’s favoritism. “Daddy Ball” is one of the most

Baseball has always been a game built on respect. Long before analytics, video breakdowns and social media highlights, players were taught something simple when they stepped onto the field: Respect the game. It sounds like a small phrase, but it carries a lot of meaning. Respecting the game shows up in the little things, the habits players build, the effort they give and the way they carry themselves during competition. Baseball has a way of recognizing who truly respects it

There is something about this time of year that feels different and anyone who has spent enough time around the game can sense it right away. The fields come back to life after months of silence, the rhythm of practice returns and the game slowly reintroduces itself into daily routine. It is not just the start of a season, it is a reset. At the same time, Easter arrives with a message that goes far beyond tradition. It represents renewal, reflection and the idea that no matte

One of the first things he ever said to me caught me completely off guard. At the time, I was playing at Northwestern State University, and like many college programs, we had a strong connection with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. That’s where I met Gerald Long. He wasn’t just someone who showed up once in a while, he and his wife were part of our environment. They were around the team, leading prayers before games, speaking to us during the week and creating moments w

I came across a picture that stayed with me longer than I expected. God handing a baseball to Moses… and the message reads: “Thou shalt not swing at a 3-0 pitch.” At first, it makes you laugh. It’s one of those lines that has lived in dugouts for decades, repeated by coaches at every level, passed down like it’s something that can’t be questioned. It feels like part of the foundation of the game, something that just “is,” but the longer you stay in baseball, especially as a c

Before the Stadium… There Was the Island Long before the game moved downtown and long before baseball in Toronto became what we recognize today, the roots of the sport in this city were planted in a place that required effort just to reach. There were no quick drives to the ballpark or last-minute decisions to catch a game. Attending baseball meant committing to the experience, boarding a ferry and crossing Lake Ontario with a sense of anticipation that built long before the

There are a lot of compliments in this game, but very few actually mean something. Parents will thank you, players will respect you and organizations will highlight you when it fits their message, but those compliments, while appreciated, don’t always come from a place of full understanding. The one that hits different is when another coach recognizes your work. Not because they have to, not because it benefits them, but because they understand exactly what goes into what you

When people talk about development in today’s game, the conversation usually starts with technology. Everything is measured, tracked and broken down. Players have access to tools that give them instant feedback, allowing adjustments to happen almost in real time. But when I think back to my time with the Texarkana College Bulldogs in 1999 and 2000, I remember a version of the game that looked very different. There were no numbers guiding your swing. No video waiting for you a

There is a moment in every competitive environment that changes everything. It’s not when you start winning, it’s not when people begin to notice. It’s when you get close enough to feel what the top actually looks like. That’s where the Toronto Blue Jays are now. The 2025 season wasn’t just a playoff run, it was an arrival. It showed what this group is capable of when identity, preparation and performance all align. It wasn’t built on luck or timing. It was built on a style o

There is something about Opening Day that no rule change, no technology and no evolution in the game has ever been able to replace. Over the years, baseball has changed in ways that previous generations could not have imagined. Today, every swing can be measured, every pitch can be tracked and every movement can be analyzed in real time. Players are more prepared than ever, coaches are more informed than ever and the game has become faster, sharper and more demanding, but whe

Every baseball journey begins somewhere. Mine began in Toronto and, unlike many players today, I didn’t start playing the game at four or five years old. I started when I was 12. My first year was house league with the York Blue Jays. I didn’t grow up in elite systems or year-round programs. I was just a kid learning the game one day at a time, trying to figure out how to catch, throw and hit with players who, in many cases, had already been playing for years. Starting later

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