Behind The Backstop

We pick up our conversation with Zak Blair from B2 Baseball we started in Episode 13. We discuss the mental and physical game, a very simple but important thing parents can do to help their young players, and preparing for school and work through playing sports the right way.

Zak Blair from B2 Baseball gives us the inside scoop on what coaches look for when evaluating players - and their parents! A wide-ranging discussion about how we can make the most of our youth sports experience.

Cheating and dirty play are in the headlines. How should parents react or help their kids learn the right lessons? Bonus: a couple of musical interludes.

Baseball has been called a game of failure. Our kids will have batting slumps, commit errors, have mental lapses, and experience losing streaks. Parents can help them get through it or make things worse. The choice is ours.

Matt welcomes Maheesh from Project High Five to discuss recent research they have done about the state of youth baseball, particularly rec leagues. The study can be found at https://www.projecthighfive.com/thread/0D/state-of-youth-baseball-2018

What can parents do when the athletes our kids admire let them down? Bad behavior isn't hard to find. Are there lessons to be learned? How do we put things in perspective?

This episode is all about the uniforms, what we like and dislike. What is cool "old school" to one might be an abomination to another. Also, Joyce share her secrets to getting those uniforms nice and clean after our little dirt bags play hard.

Matt and Joyce look at the the LLWS (and the TV coverage) to find the good and not-so-great parts of this annual event.

We explore the ups and downs of being the coach's kid. Matt tries to get Joyce to say mean things about his in-laws. Let's show the coach's kid some love.

Matt and Joyce hash out how All-Star players are selected in youth baseball. They also sing.

We cleanse our palates from the pet peeve podcast and promote what is positive! :-)

This is the episode where we get real. We are not calling anybody out - but if it hits close to home just remember we still love you but we would like you more if you would stop it!

We've seen some crazy things at the ballpark involving umpires. We can forget that there is a human behind the mask and chest protector. Hear our tips for keeping cool and respecting the game when you are disappointed with umpires.

Opening Day for the podcast. The topic is 5 Ballpark Essentials.