The Closing Pitch Baseball Podcast

PART 2 of the Deven Morgan interview is here!  In this episode, we continue the conversation with emotional validation for youth athletes. One of the best topics we reached was the binary outcome of a game. The win and the loss need to be explained to the athlete. Kids are at a biological disadvantage because their brain is not fully formed, so they're not able to evaluate abstract thought.&n...

In this episode, we have Deven Morgan of Driveline Academy. Driveline is a baseball firm based out of the Pacific Northwest with an appetite for research. We speak with Deven about youth baseball, how he thinks about the player, and where the future of training will be.  This is a two-part series!  In the first conversation, we learn about Deven's background, how he has approached his ow...

Three topics and we're out! In this new episode concept, we tackle three topics that are on our minds from the daily news and our social media feeds. We will be tackling topics that are surrounding areas of interest like sports, business, people, community, and culture.  In this episode, we find ourselves in a Twitter storm with player rankings, a coach acting like he's a major league manager...

Multi-sport athletes are near and dear to our hearts.- We loved Friday nights and hearing the crowd echo the basketball gym, but are the dual-sport athletes becoming extinct! So much so, we were three-sport athletes in high school.?  We pull up a tweet from one of our fellow contemporaries to dive into the topic. Twitter Follows:  Spiker Helms: https://twitter.com/SpikerHelms David Birkb...

Dave and Spike sit down to talk about the things people want. We want to have good health, save time, reduce effort, more comfort, gain praise, feel more loved, and increase status outside of financial freedom. These aspects play into our decisions and help us become better and move forward in our lives.  BUT, can it blind us and cause us to make an impulse decision we will regret? SUBSCRIBE...

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The probabilities of making it into the league are not on the side of the weak-minded. In this episode, we speak with Matt Adams and Rafael Lopez. The two Major Leaguers share their stories. You will be pleasantly surprised with how and which Matt Adams made it to Major League baseball. You'll also have a deeper appreciation for developing the ability to adapt. Watch the show: https://youtu.be/WhS...

Jaws and Raffy are back!  A new conversation around building incentives and influential coaches that change careers. Give us your thoughts! Write us a review on Apple Podcasts! 

NEW EP! 

"REJECTED!" The pleasant sound of TIM KITZROW of NBA JAM rings through my ears. As a defender, you love it, but as the three point shooter from long range you hate it.  Even though this is a video game there's a direct correlation from getting swatted down by 24x24 pixels in the shape of Shaq and getting  cut from a tryout. It sucks.  In this episode, Dave and I talk about not makin...

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN ATTRACT MORE OPPORTUNITY WITH LITTLE ADDITIONAL EFFORT.... Supernatural is relating to an order of existence beyond the visible; it transcends the laws of nature. The uniform's appearance goes beyond how it looks. A first impression can last forever. This invisible agent that the uniform creates is sticky. Think about the differences between going into your local Starbucks...

Three things to consider when moving forward in your career. The struggle is real especially when you're impatient. In this episode, David Birkby, brings forward three aspects of his life experience he wants players to consider.   The hard one is always the path you want to take.

What's up everyone! This is a solo episode where I breakdown how I go through decisions. I also take notice of where there can be pitfalls. All of this is a real life evaluation of how i've made big choices.   Enjoy!   The book I mentioned in the episode

"What did the MRI say?" "I'm getting surgery." It seems like this is an occurring answer whenever you ask someone about the MRI. What if there was a non-surgical approach? This is the episode where I want to know the other option.  We have Dr. Ravi Yadava and Amy Morio of Performance Rehabilitation and Regeneration with us on the Closing Pitch. We DEEP DIVE into the possibility of an athlete...

Rafael Lopez is behind the mic! The former big league catcher shares his journey to the show. An expert in dugout culture, Raffy, gives his formula to making sure the vibe in the dugout is heading in the right direction.  Raffy has seen every dugout culture possible 1. High School  2. Junior College  3. D1- 4 Year  4. Affiliated Minor League Baseball 5. Major League Baseball &n...

Evan Pratte, former division 1 college coach reacts to the culture inside travel baseball. He coaches at Mizzou, SLU, and Missouri State and we have him on the show to make a HUUUUUUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!    HE'S JOINING THE RAWLINGS TIGERS STAFF!!!!!   That's right! A former power 5 division 1 coach is joining the Tigers to handle recruiting, operations, and development. Learn more about what Coach Pra...

It's a baseball podcast! AND we jump into how getting uncomfortable can be one of the best decisions when you have the potential to build something great. If you have an undying passion, YOU CAN'T BE BEAT. The soul with fire has all the power to win. 

In this episode, we have Coachballgame! A master of being able to teach young athletes how to play the game of baseball. He has a unique ability to grab the attention of 30-40 seven-year-olds and get them to love the game of baseball. His primary mission: get kids to love the game as much as he does!  If you're a person who is struggling to provide the joy of the game to your player or are wa...

Give us a review and subscribe! 🚀 Tell us what you think of the episode on Twitter or shoot us an email. Spiker@rawlingstigers.com dbirkby@rawlingstigers.com

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Send Dave a Tweet: https://twitter.com/David_Birkby GIVE US A REVIEW! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've been contemplating what it means to build a community. There's a lot of responsibility from the leader, but it's the people in the community that make it great. It takes everyone... How do you create those communities that just... you know...HAVE IT! It seems like success breeds inside the group, positive experiences are built everyday, and it seems like the participants get better everyday. ...

Ikigai, is an ancient word used by the Okinawan's to help describe the reason for being. Pronounced as eek-e-kai, we explore the idea of how a vin-diagram becomes a golden compass for one's life.    Ikigai Diagram: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrismyers/2018/02/23/how-to-find-your-ikigai-and-transform-your-outlook-on-life-and-business/?sh=12cf7d002ed4 SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW! (YouTube, Ap...

In this episode, we have Sahil Bloom. He is the Vice President of a private equity firm in the San Fransisco area.   He has been making tremendous waves in FinTwit where his twitter threads have been catching the eye of financial industry influencers.   In his most recent thread he laid out 10 competitive advantages that not only helped him in his athletic career, but his finan...

We've reached a point where we need to organize our episodes better. Player development is always in our minds eye.   As some of you might know, we have created a new podcast called the Tiger Interview Series. This podcast is focused on in-game, in-season, and in-career development. This will be the home base for baseball and softball conversations.   The Closing Pitch is movin...