NFL Football is upon us!

The NFL Season begins in less than three weeks.  This means my fantasy football leagues are getting going now.  I am an owner in two different leagues.  One is full of my former teammates and fellow fantasy football gurus.  It is very competitive.  I have the 12th pick overall.  The other league is the Banker Bowl at work.  It is a ten team league and I am the defending champ.  Here is the trophy I picked up last season for my efforts.

It Just Comes Natural

Most kids I work with have one thing in common.  They LOVE the game of baseball.  If we are honest, most of the kids love it MORE if they are naturally good at it and successful on the field.  A lot of the skills we have in this game come natural and should be seen for what they are, a God-given gift.  I believe in God's sovereignty over everything.  If He has put a passion in you for this game AND given you the ability and skills to do it well, then work hard at it for His GLORY.  I think Nolan Ryan understood this.  Check out these quotes from Nolan when asked about the ability he has been given:

“Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of kids who had unbelievably great arms but never made much of it all. They either got injured or were never able to master the principles of throwing. When you get to the top level, there’s not a lot of separation in the physical abilities of players. It’s the mental approach to the game that separates people.

“If you’re blessed with the ability to throw hard, you have to consider all the factors. It’s a gift that you did nothing to earn. I mean that. It was given to you and what you do with it is up to you.

“Once I realized that I said to myself, ‘Hey, this is a gift and I’m going to take advantage of it and be the best I can be for as long as I can.’ A lot times professional athletes, even people in general, don’t realize what a blessing they have and they don’t utilize it to the fullest.”

This is some sound theological commentary here.  I could elaborate on that on a different blog, but we will stick to baseball on this one.  It is a gift.  With hard work and that fuel of passion, those gifts can reach their fullest potential.  Let's get to practice!

Limited Spots

There has been a lot of interest in the Pitchers Off-Season Program.  To be fair to the kids and make it manageable I have to set the maximum participants at 14.  That is around the number of pitchers on a staff in professional baseball.  This will allow me the ability to work them in the proper way.  If you haven't contacted me to save a spot, please do by email as soon as possible.  I'm going to set the age limit at 11 years old (age for 2013 season).  Any younger would probably be too much work to handle.  Email me with any questions or comments. 

Pitchers Off-Season Program

I am finishing up the final touches and details of my off-season program to start this fall.  As pitchers and baseball players in general, we have to work even harder in the off-season to improve.  It is important to "keep the rust off" of our arms by adhering to a throwing program.  This will condition and strengthen the arm in the proper way as we look forward to a new season.  Also, fall and winter months are a time to build strength and endurance for yourself.  My program will be an edited version of what we used with the Orioles for so many years.  I spent ten seasons with them and never experienced any stint on the disabled list due to injury.  I credit some of that to my off-season work.  The program will include (but not be limited to):

1. Fundamentals (fielding, throwing, holding runners, pick-off moves, mechanics)
2. Conditioning (cardio exercises, plyometrics, endurance, quickness..)
3. Strength (arm exercises, upper and lower body, core)
4. Throwing Program (long toss, flat ground, mound work (the last week or so) )

I believe the Start Date for this will be the week of October 15th and 10 weeks finishes on December 21st.  Each session will be 1.5 hours and we will meet twice a week (with one day of homework assigned each week).  I will need a minimum of six kids to make this happen, with a maximum of twelve or fourteen to keep it at a manageable size.  Please contact me via email at gtmitch19@yahoo.com or call me if this interests you for your son.  I am still deciding on a price for the program.  Frequently visit this blog or follow my posts for news about this or anything baseball related.

Thank you.

Schedule

I am putting some serious thought into developing a Fall/Winter Off-Season workout program for pitchers in the area.  It would include conditioning drills, a long toss schedule, and some field/mound work.  More details will be coming about that opportunity.  As for this summer, I will continue to give individual lessons out of Gametime and also run one or two more Pitching Clinics.  The next available date is Friday, July 20th.  Please visit my Andy Mitchell Pitching facebook page if you need to leave me a question.  Thank you.