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Episode #013: Ozzie Guillen- World Series Winning Manager and 3X All Star

July 2020 By Evan

Ep. #013: Join Evan and Ozzie Guillén, World Series Winning Manager and 3X All Star as Ozzie shares insight into his 16 season career as a player, his experience as a Manager and some keys to his success in baseball and in his family life. 

What You’ll Learn:

02:38   Ozzie’s experience moving to the U.S. from Venezuela at only 16 to play baseball

09:37   What qualities are needed to be the best

11:24   His trade from the Padres to the White Sox

19:56   How he listened and learned from other champions like Tom Seaver and Carlton Fisk

23:23   All Star Game experience

26:25   On developing quick hands

35:26   Being an MLB Manager

43:49   Ozzie’s all time “Starting Nine”

45:28   His experience as an Analyst

52:02   His commitment to his Family

57:26   Hosting “Being Guillén” with his sons on La Vida Baseball

1:00:03   Ozzie Guillén Foundation and giving back

Thank you for being here with us!  Evan and the Born To Baseball Team are looking forward to celebrating your success and sharing this journey together.

If you enjoyed this episode we’d be really grateful if you’d rate the show and leave a review on Apple or wherever you’re listening here. This will help other ballplayers find the Born To Baseball Podcast and give us more chances to shout out our listeners!  

Now, let’s play ball!

Read show notes here.

Show Links:

Twitter: @OzzieGuillen

Instagram: @ozzieguillen13

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ozzieguillen/

Ozzie Guillén Foundation: https://www.og13.org/

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Episode 013_OZZIE GUILLEN_WORLD SERIES WINNING MANAGER AND 3X ALL STAR

The transcription below was provided for your convenience through an automated service. Please excuse any unintended errors made in the process.

Evan 0:00

This episode of born to baseball is sponsored by the BTB Travel Team and Training Tracker. Are you a parent or player searching for travel teams or training facilities in your area? Or are you a coach looking to expand your reach? And you have to check out the BTB Triple T Tracker at borntobaseball.com Make sure your team is represented. Let's go.

Music 0:24

Calling all ball players. Are you ready to take your game to the next level? Were you born to baseball? Then bring it in, it's game time.

Ozzie 0:39

Hey guys, and welcome to the Born To Baseball Bodcast. I'm Evan. Today we have Ozzie Guillén on. Ozzie was the shortstop for the White Sox, Orioles, Braves, and Tampa Bay Rays and managed eight years for the White Sox and Miami Marlins. Ozzie led the White Sox to their first World Series in 88 years and he is also a pregame and postgame analyst for NBC Sports Chicago. Ozzie, thank you so much for coming on today

Wow, thank you. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure for me to be on. So many people calling me from different places. When they call me as a kid and go to do this, I will love it because I know it's not easy to do that, but to me, it's a pleasure to be with you.

Evan 1:22

Thank you. So you grew up in Venezuela. What was it like playing baseball there as a kid?

Ozzie 1:28

Well, you know, we'd be lucky enough that this only thing we can do we don't have those, those games kids playing now. We, you know me I used to get hit to get into the house, now you got to get hit to get out of the house. It was great, you know me I think we grew up everybody, the only sport we really have down there was baseball. We know how many big league player. I remember parents don't want you to be a baseball player because we don't have that many. But I grew up in a good, you know, good stuff. And I think when I was like from 10 to 12, 11 then I moved to another place and that then, I stopped playing baseball, but uh, do you go to Latin American countries? You know, obviously you play soccer, or you play baseball. I grew up playing baseball when money wasn't around. And I think you got to talk about the love of the game you can say that but, meanwhile, when you start professional is different thing but I grew up loving baseball and play baseball all day long.

Evan 2:38

And you were drafted at 16 years old and you came to the US what was that experience like? And was it what you expected?

Ozzie 2:46

Horrible! Horrible experience, you know me. This is when I realized I really loved the game because first of all, different culture different you know, you know when you go from Spanish to English full English it's not easy 1980s we don't have no video chat, Wi Fi we don't have a phone. Nothing is go by letter. Now you you can be out for six months and you can see your mom your parents and your friends every day. You can make your phone call you can WhatsApp to them, you know so many different things right now is a lot easier. But then it was bad, It was bad, but you know me. I want to play the game I know when I come to United States for the first time, I put everything away. I don't have mami, I don't have papi, I don't have girlfriend or anything. And I was a kid can you imagine having a kid 16 years old come from all the way from Venezuela to the United States is not an easy thing to to go through, you know, it's not easy to go through. The process is very hard, Ah, I put in my mind say I just come here to play baseball not to make friends or speak with Good English you know my English is still bad and my English is very, very, very not understandable but I enjoy it I make up my mind and say I want to be the best player I can be when i'm here. And besides that you know me when you're 16 you not grow up as a baseball player until like you're 20 I mean, you really don't grow up as a person you grow up, you're a baby, you you're underweight, you are not matured you English is not well, when you have meetings in English, you just sit there like, okay. And now they, there's more players in the minor leagues from Latin America, that was there, and I never had a roommate,or i didnt have any teammates to speak Spanish. That's why it was, a little harder for me, but it's a little easier because that make me concentrate a little bit more about the game cause I didn have around.

Evan 4:54

A must have taken some really, really good dedication and just the love For the game, to be out there every day and continue to do what you did best. You are also a true student of the game. What motivated you to really learn strategy and raise your baseball iQ? And how did this help you in your early baseball career?

Ozzie 5:17

When I was in baseball is 20 plus years old coming from college. Obviously, our swimming against the water and I think that I learned a lot from that. I think I said that's the way I will do it. That's the way we should do stuff and play winter league and it helped my a lot because all of a sudden I played there with men I come here to United States, back to United State then I play with guys my age a little bit, maybe two years older than me. I had an advantage, and I come out there It's like I can teach those guy how to play baseball, when I was 18. Well, you know me, I tell to my kids. I go you know what you guys Got college you know me You wanna play baseball. One of my kids is managing now. He was different you know me I had to be smarter and my mind got to be a little higher than anybody out in the game that's why that helped me we got a we got to fight to go through and people believe how good you can be. And people believe you really know about the game about life. I did the hardest thing in baseball to be honest with you is of the field you know me on the field now is harder because all the social media, phones, pictures then we just play baseball now you know everybody, find out who you are, what you do, what you up to what you do wrong, what you will do, right. But, I think baseball helped me to raise a good family and to raise a family we love to make to raise a family with respect because that's the game is about respect and love. In this game everybody. Look at the money. But again oh look at the time you spend with your family. The time you left mommy and daddy home, or your real friends are there in baseball. You have a lot of friendship, but you don't have friends real friends. You can you know I have been in this game. Oh my god 16, I'm 54 years old, 40 years professional since I signed and I have few, I got more friends in music real friends in music and bullfighting. They have a baseball player obviously I know more people in baseball buy real real real friend that people call me on call them everyday all the time. It's not in baseball.

Evan 7:39

That's very interesting and what you said about your family, raising your family with a lot of respect that that just motivates me and I'm sure a lot of other people to really follow that and use that to help us grow just in life.

Ozzie 7:55

Let me let me I will not talk to kids like that. And very, very smart kid like you are. Allways always bring the kids and put up, you know, get up, raise. It is a good standing ovation for those people out there and I push... look at the parents. Kids, they don't realize how hard is for the parents to take them to be a good kid to take them to play baseball. Why you were 11 years old, 10 years old, who take you to the baseball class or baseball practice? Your parents. Who drive you back and forth? Your parents. Who spent Saturday when they can do something different like playing golf or just do something with their friends? No, my kids got a game. You know me, We have to thank the parents. Those are the people we have to say thank you. And thank you to the coaches spend a lot of time with you guys. When we're kids, we had to thank three people, coaches and the parents because that's what people really doing this to make you better and be a good kid that do something You guys want to do. And that's more important thing when you appreciate youra parents, taking their time and take the life of them to to make you guys have fun and do what you guys want.

Evan 9:12

That's really great and to my parents, just thank you for everything and helping me continue to grow as a person and in baseball. So you are in the minor leagues for four years before moving up to the MLB. Can you give us youth baseball players some tips on how to stay motivated while focusing on making it to the Major Leagues?

Ozzie 9:37

No matter what you do one night it does not mean anything the next night. Discipline, 1) discipline. Yes sir. Do whatever they tell you to do whatever it takes to be the be the best. They tell you a be on the line. We stretch at 10 o'clock be there at 9:55 the coach can see you. Play hard, play hard discipline and respect the game. And don't be lazy to do extra workouts to take extra groundballs. I'm good friends with Michael Jordan, and when I see him and a lot of the best and Kobe Bryant, Miguel Cabrera, all those guys. They're not the best because... God gave them ability, but when you want to be the best you got to work harder than anything. No matter how good God gives your talent, talent gets you to be okay, talent help you but work ethic, discipline, and the commitment, that's the thing that is going to take you to the top and and I'm play hard, respect the game no matter what you do in life. You know I talk to my kids you don't have to be a baseball player whatever you shoot to be, you got to be the best you can be you know as a truck driver well you have to be the best truck driver in the world and how you motivate yourself to get what you want to get.

Evan 11:11

That's some great advice from a really big name Ozzie Guillén. What was your reaction when you first found out that you were traded from the Padres to the White Sox?

Ozzie 11:24

Wow. I was I was number three prospect. Tony Gwin R.I.P. Was number one. John Kruk. Kevin Mareno was in the top, I was around there. And when they traded me, first of all, they lied to me because they said you'll be the next shortstop for the San Diego Padres. Gary temper was the shortstop dark great one, a good one. And when the traded me I said well, I always say things happen for a reason. And when I talk to the, to the White Sox and said you have a chance to be the everyday shortstop here. And they give me more responsibility. I give myself more push, and don't let those guys who believe in myself to make those straight to, to make those guys down will do their job or being criticized. Then I say, You know what? I got to be the best I can be and I will be the best I can be to not make those guys fail. And when I come for Chicago, remember, I know nothing you remember, you can't. Luis Aparico and Chico Carrasquel they was playing for the White Sox in the past. Very good shorts are now going to fit those shoes. I told myself I've got to be better than them. Obviously, be better on Aparico. I can't because he's a Hall of Famer, but they remember and they love me now. More than of those guys. Why? Because I played longer, I played harder, and I was the best one. But I gave everything I have every day. In the field. Let me tell you one thing. When you play out there, your kids play there, it's always gonna be a scout. always gonna be a coach. always gonna be another parent always could be your father. Or your mom make them feel proud of you play hard, and you are not going to get a hit every at bat. You know what to make the best play. You will make errors. But if you play hard. Those guys going to go home feel proud of yourself about what you did. And I think that's more important than you going 4-4, you know, be the best on the team. I think around there is going to be people watching all the time. When I was playing, I said I'm going to play hard. And I'm going to play good. The way people should be playing just because somebody pay a ticket to watch me play. Maybe one out of 50,000 Maybe one out of 35,000, 1, maybe one parent takes their son or daughter to the game to say hey, watch number 13 play shortstop that's the way you play the game, that was my my goal when they leave the game, that Father, feel proud to show the kid, look that's the way you do go about your business and that was making my life a little bit better.

Evan 14:24

That's a really, really great way to look at that. There are some people who doubted you in the beginning, because you were only 150 pounds and 5'11" Did you go into your first game feeling like you had to prove yourself to the city of Chicago? Or did you just go there and focus on yourself and what you knew you did best?

Ozzie 14:46

I gotta I gotta think about me. What I what I what I know I can do. I was besides that I was only 19, 20 but I was the smartest guy in the in the field in that moment. Why because I wasn't worried about anything I was in every game, I never lose anything. I was very concentrated in the game, what happened? What's going on, why we lose when we win why did you guys not do this? And because I had to do that, I had to fight you know me, I'm played with you know I played with Ron Kittle, Tom Seaver, Carlton Fitz, those guy hit home runs oh, wow. But me, I had to make everything I had to do everything perfect for people realize who I was. Especially my coaches. I mean, my first manager was Tony La Russa Hall of Famer, Jean Leland he was my third base coach those guys teach me how to play the game right how to be a pro. I was lucky, very lucky kid to grow up playing baseball with mens right now a few Hall of Famers men who care about the game. Love the game, respect the game. And I grew up watching those guys go about their business and I say I don't have the talent they have, but I'm better than then in baseball IQ. And thank God I was thinking that way I always pick the right friends. Something you have to, you know to be careful about at your age. Not because the kids are nice to you and be nice. You have to listen to your parents. Why? Because in life you parents is the only real friend you have. Because whatever happened, who you going to call? Your parents. Not just a you know, is a good friends out there, yes, there are. but there's not good friends either. Maybe kids got jealous that maybe kids don't want you to be who you want to be. Maybe the kids grew up in different type of family. And you had to think about it. The only real friends anybody have. I hope is your parents. You know, I know some kids grew up with bad parents. That's no good. Don't care about drinking and smoking or do bad stuff. But when you grow up with good parents. That's all you have to look up to it and make them feel proud of you made them to love you and make them to to take care of you and do everything for you.

Evan 17:11

That's a really great way to appreciate our parents and like you said before, our parents are everything. And us as youth baseball players, we don't realize how much they do for us. So we have to just believe in ourselves as well.

Ozzie 17:29

Look at it this way my kids grew up in baseball and the worst thing for my kids is being "Ozzie's kid" because everybody's expecting them to play like me to have the IQ like me. I'm gonna watch a little league game and people say you're not better than your father you know me that's a very hard way to grow up to you know, it's nice to be a Guillén and it's nice to be a Griffey and it's nice to be you know, somebody name, but in the mean in the back. Inside the house it's not easy. I'ts hard because they look, my kid was managing. I think you saw him manage and everybody thought he was going to manage like I managed because he was my son no, everybody got his own life his own way, his own way to look at stuff. And and as a parent and a coach you have to respect that. But I grew up, I grew up in a divorce. My parents got divorced when I was 10 years old. I got the best I think that divorce helped me. I was obviously you don't want that to happen to anyone. But I said you know what? I got to do what they never did. I raise a family, be with the kids, my kids day in day out I think thanks to that divorce, I am the way I am with my kids and my grandkids and friends and my kids friends. Because I know how hard it is ot be raise almost by yourself. One day is your mom with two days with mom and dad. I put that in the past and say wait. I don't make that excuse "Oh my parents and my mom they got divorced, I got into this I said no. I said, I going to be great when they grow up when I grew up. My parents getting old, feel proud. What I did feel proud what I do, I raising my family. And that's why it's my ultimate goal. Don't fail for that. If something happened to you parents would have problems they do every day. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about that. Normally, that really invalid you because you know what to take anything positive out of that system.

Evan 19:37

It's really great how you do that for your kids. You were only 20 years old when you first broke into the major leagues. How are you able to keep your confidence up when you were facing guys who were much older than you and who had way more Major League Baseball experience, then you

Ozzie 19:56

I always say I'm here for a reason. and I am gonna battle against the best one that's all. You want to be a champion. You have to compete against a champion. You're not going to be a champion competing against no one and that's why like when I got to compete you know what I mean. One day I go to the mound and your dad and your mom can tell you who those guys were, Tom Seaver and Carlton Fisk, two Hall of Famers. I go down to the mound like I own the ballclub like, tell them what to say what to do. But you know why no, people was wrong. I would go to the mound to learn what they say and what they talk about, you know what I mean. My kids would make fun of me because my English was horrible, you know, I'm a little bit better, not better like Wow. But every time I go to the mound my kids ask me like "dad, it's Carlton Fisk and Tom Seaver talking on the mound, two Hall of Famers, they've been in the big leagues for like 15 years. What are you doing there?" And I told my kids I said, you know what I was doing there? Learning. Okay, what are those guys talking about, and I don't say anything. I just listen and go back to my position. And that's how you listen, you listen to the right people, and you go about it and you put everything together, you know. And and you have confidence in yourself. And I don't believe that, by the way, I believe in goals, I don't believe in dreams. Oh, my dream come true. Or Oh my god, you make it to a Big Leagues or you go to high school, or you go to college, graduate from college. Oh, my dream come true. No it's not. . No, that's not your dream that's your goal. Your goal is to be somebody in life because you can dream a different thing every day. You can dream about you was flying the airplane and all of a sudden you wake up, you don't fly anything, but you say I will fly the airplane. And that's your goal and you put that to be your goal. Goal. It's something you can reach dream. I don't know how many dreams you can reach.

Evan 21:55

I love that way of thinking right there. So you were Really amazing in your rookie year, you even won the Rookie of the Year award. What were some of the thoughts in your head when you first found out news?

Ozzie 22:10

I feel proud because, well, my goal came true to play every day in the Big Leagues. Not just to be Rookie of the Year. That's, that's real nice. But, I feel proud because my country, it have a great news in the sport. My parents are going to be, that's going to be there for rest of baseball life. But I feel more responsibility too because every year you have to get better and better. Obviously, you're not. But that's in your mind. I said I got to do better next year. And that will help you. I don't see that many Rookie of the Year finish up careers. I see a lot of Rookie of the Year, the next year they get released. And I said Rookie of the Year to me it was in my mind. It was One good season. That's not gonna carry over for the rest of your career. And that's why you had to turn that thing away. I said, Yeah, I was rookie of the year last year. I got paid last year. This is a new year, and I had to be better and work harder to continue to play this very tough career.

Evan 23:23

That's an amazing way of looking at it. Only three years into your major league baseball career, you were selected for your first All Star game. That's an experience that so many of us youth baseball players dream of. What was that all star game experience like for you?

Ozzie 23:44

I was scared.

First time in my life I was scared because all of a sudden you walk through the hotel. And you see everybody who plays against you. I still, I think I was still young for that. But you see Ricky Henderson, Don Mattingly, ah, George Brett. Ah, oh my god. That one to me, that's the best picture I ever take in a baseball uniform. My first year in the all-star game. You know why because most of the guys, I count one by one, maybe 90% of those guys, they're Hall of Famers. And when you get dressed, and you see those guys like, Oh my God, this guy, is like 6'8" with 300 pounds, just muscles, and you sit next to them like, 152 pounds and 5'11", you're like, Oh, I don't belong here. But uh, but that was a great experience just because you were with the best in the game at that particular moment. And it's just something I feel proud and more than anything, not just because I made the all star game or made the all-star team, it's just because you're next to the good ones, to the great ones and there's nothing, it's the best feeling when you are in the dugout talking to those guys like hey man you know what I mean. Wow when they named you to the line now from the Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillen and you shake all those superstars hand, man it was so great to be part of that. It's one thing I never realized that til I was getting older and showed my kids like look at this picture guys, look at who's next to me you know, Cal Ripken,Tony Fernandez you know what I mean, so many great players around me. That was an amazing, amazing moment. No way you're gonna forgot about it.

Evan 25:41

yeah that's sounds like a really really amazing experience.

Ozzie 25:46

You know it's funny, the guy you hate, you play against them and now they're your teammate for a day. And you know what I mean, Dave Winfield, Oh my God, I look at Dave Winfield on the other side of the ballpark or the field, man I play against him and now I'm playing with him. That's a great great, great accomplishment you can ever have when you sit down and have a couple you know, you have dinner together, all the wives and that moment just, for the all star people, it's an amazing. An amazing experience I ever had with a baseball uniform.

Evan 26:25

You were a dynamic shortstop when you played and you had some really really good hands. What drills did you do to develop really quick hands?

Ozzie 26:36

Okay, working on your feet. The feet. When you work on your feet to try to be quicker, have quick feet. It makes a great fielder. People think oh, it's just great hands. No, I think it's opposite. I think when you have good feet. It's experience I don't think I don't Derek Jeter was a great shortstop. He was a great player to me. One of my favorite baseball players ever. But you see him play short stop, he wasn't good because of his feet it make him good because of his these hands. If I'm gonna teach you how to catch ground balls. I will not teach you the way Derek Jeter was catching the ball. But Derek Jeter's feet was so amazing he made everything look easy. But it wan't his hands it was his feet. I think when you have good feet and you're ready with your feet, ready to throw the ball to first base. Your feet are the ones that make you be great or be okay. If you have bad feet or heavy feet. And you look at a big first baseman, the outfielder, but you look at a good shortstop, the best thing they have is feet. And you gotta work every day. Kobe Bryant show me something. Michael Jordan show me something like oh my god. The best like we talked earlier. They were in theym hours before they start practice and they stayed an hour later after the practice. I didn't do it the way they did. No way I never did. Not too many athletes have that push to be the best, but the only way you'll be better is working.

Evan 28:13

That's really really great insight for us youth baseball players

Ozzie 28:17

Okay, let me tell kids now. Okay, the best thing you can do is hitting.

But the worst thing you can do is run the bases.

And kids love to do what they do best. Obviously to look good. But I think fielders, you know fielding to me was the best thing I ever did. I was the best shortstop for seven years the best in the league and said I didn't even realize that until my kids showed me maybe a year ago like wow, dad you was good defenseively, you was the best in WAR guys and I was like wow, I was doing my job. I was not thinking about being the best I wanted to try and be the best for my team. But You always, always try to work more in something you're weak at. If you're a good hitter but I need to play defense. Nobody likes to play defense. Nobody wants to do stuff they're not good at it. Like when I play golf. I like to drive. Oh my God, look at how far the ball goes. But that's because that's my best part of my golf game. By my short game, it's terrible. I should be working more on my short game than my big game. That's the same way with baseball. Don't fall in love with the things you already know you're good at. Obviously, you you have to continue to work on it. But work on the stuff you're weak at or you think you need work the most and you'll be a better player.

Evan 29:48

That's really great insight and information for us youth baseball players. And yeah, it's it's really important to be committed to the things maybe you don't want to do. At the moment, but you know eventually will get you to the place you want to go.

Ozzie 30:05

Same way when you're at school

when you go to school you always have one class your lost. And because you love and you're good at it, you work in that class, but the one you're not good at, you're like, oh my god, I gotta do this. I gotta do that. No, that's the one you got to concentrate more on and pay more attention to it because the other one you like, they're gonna come natural. But the one you don't like. You know, when I went to school, it was very, Periods, I know it was not that long. I hate English. Hated. But I never worked on English. I should go there and say, I'm gonna be better in my class in English. Because, not because of my future. I don't know why we have English class in Venezuela. when nobody traveled to the united states anyway. But uh, it was my mistake. I should've been better or work harder on my English. I was working on my math when I was already okay. And now that mistake teach me how to get better or to be in the top of my class every day. And the same way it's in baseball. Same way it's in life. Don't do stuff when you're already good at it. Do stuff where you think you're weak and you have difficulty to get better. That's the one you got to work on the most.

Evan 31:36

That's really, really great advice. You never made more than 52 strikeouts in one season. What are some things you worked on consistently to stay at the top of your game?

Ozzie 31:50

I don't think it was good because I was swinging at everything. If I'm born again and play the game again. I will be better than that. Strike out, my problem was every time my bat leave my shoulder that ball is in play. I don't swing and miss that many times. Never. Every time I put my hands out the ball is in play and that cost me my average, that cost me more to get on base, that cost me more walks. And that was my problem. I can be with two strikes as soon as swing I know I'm gonna put the ball in play. And that was a problem I had all my career, taking pitches. Now when I get older I got better but it was a little too late to put that in practice. Once you have two or three thousand at bats in the Big Leagues, but strike out, the strike out thing is every time, you see a lot of guys strike out swinging or strike out foul balls. Unfortunately for me, every time I put the ball in play it's on. Somebody would catch it or somebody will, you know what I mean. That was the problem I had in that particular time. But also it was a great problem. Because my manager knew I was the best contact hitter in the game and he took advantage. He put a hit and run, bunt you know, game situation. And that helped me too in those particular at bats.

Evan 33:22

Yeah, that's also what made you such a great player during your time and ultimately, a really big figure in baseball

Ozzie 33:32

It's a funny thing because I got paid to play. I didn't get paid to be a batting champion. I don't get paid to lead the league in RBI. I don't get paid to to be a homerun leader. I'm paid to play every day and I did. I played 162 games, 155 games. I played every day. A thing that is not easy to do, play every day with my size, my body. How much I weighed. That's why I take care of myself a lot, because I'm getting paid to be in the lineup. I'm not getting paid to, to produce the way somebody else was getting paid. And that's why my goal was staying in the lineup. Every day go out there and play everyday. And that was my proud. So you know, Ah, you lead the league in homeruns. Yeah but I played more games than you did. That's the only ammunition I had to give people and with them, okay, because the way to stay in the big leagues for me, it was to play every day, and I did. It's something, I know, I know, I wasn't going to lead the league in anything. But I got to lead the league in defense. And I got to lead the league in games played. And that was my, my goal, and I did it.

Evan 34:44

And it's important to know our strengths and do what we have to do to contribute to our teams to eventually just put our teams in the best position to win.

Ozzie 34:57

Yes, I think it's the best satisfaction. That's why I got the opportunity to coach and manage more because I was playing for the team. I was the captain of the team in the big leagues and I'm hitting 240, 250. You know, you always captain of the team when you're the guy to produce or you're the guy that makes more money. Just because they know every time I put on a uniform it's about winning it's not about numbers. And I think that made it easy and my teammates respect me the most just because of that.

Evan 35:26

Did you always want to be a manager in the MLB?

Ozzie 35:31

Yes, and I'm not gonna say You know why? Because I played for a lot of bad managers and I'd say if that guy can manage, I can manage. Then, you know, I was managing in the big leagues when I was playing. You know why?

Evan 35:47

interesting

Ozzie 35:48

because because that that was my goal, managing one day. And I said, No, I never thought okay, I would do this. I will do that. I would do the same thing he does. I got my own way to manage. When I was playing, how I talked to the guys, how I approach a player, how I move the guys back and forth, and that helped me to be a great teammate. And when someone is down, I'm always next to him, Like Hey, lets go. Don't quit, because they teach me that way. You know what I mean. Don't put yourself down, you know, you're good enough. You're in the big leagues. Don't let thish thing bother you. Don't let this game bother you. And then that's why, i don't think I was a good manager. I think I was a great, great communicator. And I make you believe no matter how bad you was as a player, I make you believe you was the best. And that's why I think that's why my managing career it was good because I make a lot of friends. They were my players. Because they know I was there for them every day.

Evan 36:55

Yeah, that's awesome. What you did for your players. Either when you were Managing or just playing during your playing career. And as a manager, what factors do you consider when you're about to make a pitching change? And how do you know who you're going to bring in? Because there's so many guys in the bullpen?

Ozzie 37:19

That's a very, that's the hardest moment for any manager. Why am I going to take you ouy, why you're leaving him in. Who are you gonna call who's the hitters? You got everything in your mind. Like, okay, this guy, this guy, because whatever the reason is, use the bullpen, Put those guys in the best moment to have success. That's what my point is okay, I'm going to put this guy in this at bat because he will have success against him. And to create. I will create more confidence in the player. Because when you bring somebody you know was the right guy or the right matchup and it fails, you create, you have doubts in your mind how good you can be. That's why I tried to put those guys out there but the hardest thing or the more uncomfortable thing for any manager is when you go to pinch hit for somebody or you go to remove somebody from the mound. And then that's the two things wow that you know what I mean. Some players don't like to come out but you have to. Or I hate like, oh this guy is gonna pinch hit for you. But wait a minute, I can't hit that guy? Yes, I can hit that guy. Especially if you pinch hit and the guy you pinch hit for strikes out. You're like oh my god, you have to try to put the best guys in the right place and the right posotion for them to have success in the game.

Evan 38:53

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And that's also what made you such a good manager. Trying to put the guys who you feel are going to have the most success in the right positions. So 2005 was a very special year for you because your team won the World Series. What was the chemistry like on that 2005 team

Ozzie 39:17

It's only one chemistry when you win, when you win, great chemistry. When you lose, That's not a good chemistry even if you want to have good chemistry. My thing is, in my clubhouse I had a great bunch of guys. I didn't have superstars. I had good players. But as soon as they put on their uniform, everyday it was about winning. And you got to tell those guys hey listen this is about winning not about numbers. If you win, Numbers are gonna be there. Why? Because when you win that means, you do something good. And your numbers and your ability will take care of that. And I think that from the First day players found out hey this is about winning it's not about numbers. And those players went to my plan, they put it together, they understand my point, they understand how we're going to play the game. And that's what at spring training, we got that philosophy. We don't care if you're 0 for 4. You go to bat and you have to move the guy over, you have to do something for the team that will help everyone.

Evan 40:29

And winning is what players strive for. It ultimately helps them and just the team in general.

Ozzie 40:37

I think when you win, if you are 0 for 4 and you win, you're happy. You might fake it. But the team win. And I think that was very important to everyone. Because you can be 4 for 4 and your team loses. You know, you can not enjoy that with the rest of the guys.

Evan 40:56

Yeah,

Ozzie 40:56

and that's why that's why I think winning is very important than anything

Evan 41:01

at what point in the season did you feel like you had a shot at winning it all with that team?

Ozzie 41:07

Never did, never did because we was like wow, 15 games over .500, 20 games over .500, we know we're gonna win the division. At the end of the division it was kind of hard because Cleveland was playing very good baseball.

But I never did. I never did I remember

we're up three games

against Houston. And I told those guys, I had a meeting with the players and said listen, don't let the duck wake up. Kick'em. Don't let it wake up because you lose this game, they know they're going to have a chance. That happened to Boston and the Yankees. They let those guys win one game. Uh Oh, there we go. If you are there. If you're in that particular World Series you know you won three games in a row before. 3,4,5,6,7,8, games in a row and that's why in the third game I talked to the guys. I said hey, kick them right now. Don't let them get up. Because if you let them, if you leave the guy get up, they might hit you and knock you down. I said let's go I said to me, Every game was important. We, until we had the last out of the World Series. Every day, I never take anything for granted, I never take anything for... Oh, we are up three games, we're fine, we got it done. No this... That's why I think this team went out and win it in four games.

Evan 42:33

That's very interesting and just take it one game at a time.

Ozzie 42:37

That's it. One game at a time and like like what I said. For you you want to play this game, it;s not an easy game but whatever happened the night before or the day before or the week before it doesn't mean anything the next day. You can have 4 for 4 one day and the next day it;s a brand new game. You can be 0 for 4, and that's why this game is not easy, but this game physically and mentally you have to be prepared for that.

Evan 43:04

What would you say your favorite game as a manager would be?

Ozzie 43:10

Wow. So obviously my first game was. My first game I was a manager like I couldn't believe I'm managing the team I played for. I managed in thecity I played all my career for or most of my career. And obviously the last out. We did it in Houston, the last out to clinch the championship. World Series. I wasn't happy for me. I was happy for the players. That's the ones that battle all year long. Stressed all year long. Played hard all year long. I feel proud for the players. And I feel so happy for them more than me

Evan 43:49

That must have been a really special moment for you and your players. If you could put together a dream team choosing players from across baseball history. What would be your starting nine?

Ozzie 44:03

Oh my god. Why do you do that to me.... so many great, so many great players. If I had a dream team. Let me see...catching I'd put Ivan Rodriguez. He was the best catcher I ever see ah. second base Roberto Alomar, shortstop it would have to be Ozzie Smith. I'd like to say Derek Jeter because Derek Jeter is a winner all his life. Third base it would have to be George Brett. In the outfield, my goodness, Vladimir Guerrero, Ken Griffey, Jr. in centerfield, left field Barry Bonds. You know, I left out Rickey Henderson you know what I mean so many great players out there. No, I'll take Barry out and Ricky because I see Ricky play more than I see Barry. I'll put Barry as a DH. First baseman that's only one I'm missing. First base, so many great first basemans out there. I would put Puljols on first base.

Evan 45:16

That's awesome but there are so many great players throughout baseball history.

Ozzie 45:20

So you can ask me tomorrow, you can ask me tomorrow the same question, I might tell you different players

Evan 45:28

as an analyst Is there a different way you see the game because you aren't like in it like playing or coaching

Ozzie 45:34

An analysts is... everything you see is easier from there. Because when you're managing everybody in baseball is managing that game. You and the fans they say why did this manager put this guy, Why did he do this, Why did he do that? I think being an analyst is the easiest way to criticize a player and say the right thing. But I think it's easier for me to watch the game. And when I am an analyst I don't try to be a former manager, a former player, I'm going to be the analyst on that day of the game. I never say oh, I would do this, why he don't do that? I always say why'd the manager do this? I don't say say if I was the manager I would do that. I think that sounds ugly, you know, that sounds ugly because it's easy to think about the game when you're with the mic, next to it. But I always say, You know what I mean, this guy got this guy on the bench, you got this guy in the bullpen. Why he don't use him? I don't say if I was the manager I'd use this guy. Because you sound arrogant. You sound you like you know the game more than anybody else or you sound like, like that manager down there. He don't know, I know more than him. And that's why you have to be careful how you say and when you Say in that particular moment, not because you managed. Or you, because you win the championship, or you managed for so many years, you played for so many years, you're better than the guy that's downstairs in that particular moment.

Evan 47:14

We're really lucky to have an analyst like you, who has a lot of baseball experience.

Ozzie 47:21

There's one thing I will tell you, I will tell the fans the truth. Even the players like it, or the manager like it, because my job is to explain the game to the fans. And whatever they say later if they like me or not, that's their problem. I will never lie to the fans and I never did. I never lied to the fans even when I was a manager. I never lied to the players. When I see something wrong, I let them know right away. And that's why I never have any problem with anyone because they know how I was and who I was. And that's the way my job is right now, to explain to you guys, explain to the fans in that particular game what's wrong and what's right. And if you like it You like it. I'm working for the White Sox right now at NBC. And I told the players if you don't want me to say bad stuff about you play good. If you play good or if you're managing good, what am I gonna say. Not, because you got four hits. Because, I see you do the right thing for the team in that particular game or that particular at bat, that particular pitch. And that's why you got to take this game, pitch by pitch, inning by inning and that's, That's how you can talk on TV. Because fans, fans know about the game. They think they know too much about the game. But when you lie, when you have the mic and you lie or you're protecting somebody, they will find out and they don't like that.

Evan 48:49

I've seen a couple of videos of you joking around around the game baseball. How important is having fun while you're playing the game of baseball?

Ozzie 48:59

Well, if you come from where I come from, and you are where I was. You had to have fun every second of the game. You getting paid. Like I always say, I never worked in my life. Never did. I never worked one minute. Because everything I was doing, I love it. I have the passion I enjoyed. And so far, I'm 56 years old. I don't know that word work, because I never did in my life. Every time I go to the ballgame, I was doing something I really love. I really like I enjoyed it. And I make money out of that. And that's why I say, I always say you know, I'm the luckiest man because I raised a family I create a family which is something I always got to enjoy what I was doing.

Evan 49:50

When you love something and it never feels like work.

Ozzie 49:54

Never did never do it and when you look and I'm one a few of those guys to show up to the ballpark no matter what happened that day. I was the happiest man in the field. I am the happiest man in myself. Because I was doing something I really does and I really loved doing and I was lucky enough to live that life.

Evan 50:17

What would you say your favorite sort of have fun moment is

Ozzie 50:24

have fun moment... when you play! You know how many people play for fun? Now we get paid to play that's, that's extra fun. You, when you get paid a lot of money and people look up to you and people ask for your autograph and people admire you or people appreciate what you did or what you do. That's the funny, The best thing about this game. And I think every time you put a uniform, let's go have fun. Especially you. You know right now, Little League, high school, and I told my kids, you're done with college fun is over. Now when you sign professional ball, you're getting paid for it. Now you have to be better. And that's two things People have to be careful with. Because it's two different things. Now you make money, you will have more responsibility. You gotta you got to expect better for yourself and people pay to watch you play. You cannot let those guys down. And I enjoyed every minute you see me play shortstop, you never see me or have the opportunity to see me play but everybody in the league say who have more fun in baseball? 90% of the players say Ozzie Guillen, play against me or play with me. And I love it because I was like, Well, you know when you go to Disney land. And to me I was going to Disneyland every day. And they say something. That's why I enjoyed the game more than anybody in my time.

Evan 52:02

Yeah, that's so cool. That's awesome. So, family is extremely important to you. What influence have they had on you as a player and in your baseball career?

Ozzie 52:15

Well, because they know, how, you know? It's funny because they know I had a lot of responsibility. I was very, very good in anything I did. And I teach my kids how it's important

to have

how do you say that?

the commitment you make, that's the commitment you're going to be. And you you make a commitment. You have to be a good husband, you got to be a good father. You got to be a great grandfather, that's commitment and I teach my kids that. I say that's the best thing I can say. You know, I was taking the game seriously. Very seriously. But with a lot of fun and to combine those two things, it's not an easy combination. But it worked for me. You know have fun with what you do but have a lot of responsibility what you do, and that's why I think my career lasted longer just because I make this combination. And one thing about it too... whatever happened in the ballpark, stays at the ballpark. Don't bring it to your house. And what happened in your house leave it in the house. Don't, because you are always going to have problems, okay. Like your father, he sings. All of a sudden he's gotta go to work. All of a sudden he has a problem, a fight with your mom for any reason or you know, he was upset with you for any reason. He can't go out there and think about those problems when he performs. Same way when you perform you let, okay, something goes wrong in in the concert. He can't go there and taking you guys what was wrong in the in the concert because you don't have nothing to do with that and then that's the thing with me worked very well. Whatever happened on the field stayed on the field, whatever happened in my house stayed in my house

Evan 54:12

Did you coach your kids in baseball when they were growing up? And were you tough on them?

Ozzie 54:18

I never did. Unfortunately I never do. I wish I could have had more time. I was tough of them? No, no, I wasn;t tough on them, not not all. I say you, I think. Maybe that's a mistake I make or that's a good thing I did. I let my kids be happy and do whatever they want as long as they do it the right way. And but I bet you my grandson and my granddaughter are going to be way better players than they did because now I have the time to coach them. I have time to teach them more. And so it's all about time. You know when I grew up, when they grow up. I watched them play. Yes I watched them play every day. Every time I have an opportunityto See them play I would go and watch it, every, every game. I never stayed home because I was tired. I never stayed home because I was busy. I never stayed home because oh my god I'm tired of baseball I got to see my kids paly. No I never did. I go there and watch like another parent. I never watched my kid like I was Ozzie Guillen. I watched my kids praying like all the parents. All the parents. I don't say hey Put your hands up, do do this, never did. I never put my nose on it. And that's why our relationship has been great. Has been good. And off the field or on the field, I treated my kids like kids. I treat my kids like my sons. And and I think my relationship with my kids is better than my career in baseball.

Evan 55:47

That's amazing. They're they're really lucky to have you as a father.

Ozzie 55:52

Sometimes they do sometimes they don't.

Evan 55:56

Your your son Ozney. He actually followed your footsteps and became a manager. What was your reaction when you first found out?

Ozzie 56:04

I was very proud? Very happy. Not because very proud because, he did it himself. I don't help him in anything. He did it himself, he just win the championship in Colombia. I was more proud more happy when that happened then when I won the World Series. because I see my kids have success. I think Ozney right now knows more of the game than me because he was into the game, the new stuff coming out right now. He knows about the game very well and I think he has a good future doing it. But you know what I mean say, he asked me questions, Yes. I answer the way I should answer yes. But we always discuss about the problem. I never right or you never right. We talk about it. We get together we talk. No, you're wrong. I say not because I say I'm right not because I played that many years in the big leagues I'm right not because I win two championships I'm right. And that's one thing you have to put on the side. Don't try to put together like I was better than you because of this, no, I think everybody have his time everybody thinks, but I always talk to him about the game. Yes. I always talk to, when he asks me a question. I answer. I never ask any question why you do this in the game why you move this guy, or why you take these guys out? Nope. I never did.

Evan 57:26

And I just want to say I watch LaVidaBaseball. And I love the dynamic between you and your sons. I think it's really special.

Ozzie 57:34

Don't miss it, it's gonna be better and better every day. Because we just not talk about our game. We just talk about life. We talk about something, we not agree with each other. And I love that. Everybody has a different way to look at the game. And that's why we put the show together just because it's fun. And I'm not right, because I'm the guy who knows baseball and everybody has their opinion. And the opinion they have is very good. And the opinion they have, if I don't agree I will say it but not because I don't agree I'm right. And I think the show it has been pretty good. And hopefully we'll continue to do it.

Evan 58:17

I really love lavidabaseball with you guys.

Ozzie 58:20

Well ask questions, you know what next time ask question we will respond to you

Evan 58:27

I definitely will

Ozzie 58:28

Yeah, do it, we will respond and I'll be aware if you are gonna ask questions and that's the part of the show. When you have people ask questions, it makes the show more fun. Because that's why we are there. For now you don't have one opinion in the show you have four. And that's why you can pick out of the four opinion, you can pick the one you like. You know what I mean, maybe you pick Ozney's opinion. And that's what the show is all about.

Evan 58:55

So Chicago has been your home for a number of reasons. Now. What makes that city so special for you?

Ozzie 59:04

Oh my god. Well, two things. I can do whatever I want in the city. At the park you know people be nice to me. People be nice to my family. They grow up here. I can you know, that's the first winter I spend in Chicago. You know it was not something we wanted to experience but when we stayed as a family we going to enjoy and I think that Chicago is a very calm city. Very nice city. Chicago, it's like a small New York and I told you guys I told Bobby Allende I told your dad why you not move out of that city, out of New York and come to Chicago but I think Chicago, I will. I will live here for the rest of my life. Now I have grandchildren. Now. I stay in the city more. I love this city. People respect me. One thing about it, I don't care if you love me or not. as long as you respect me? That's the only thing I care.

Evan 1:00:03

Can you talk to us about the Ozzie Guillen foundation and what its mission is

Ozzie 1:00:10

It start with, that foundatiotn start with Ruben Blades because I was doing a lot of stuff in my country without people notice and Ruben Blades come to me and say you got to let people know you help your community you help the town you help your city, yohelp your country and thats where it start. We start with kids with AIDS and cancer in Venezuela. That's why I love all the musicians that help me doing that. That's why I think I have more friends in the music sides than I have on the player side. And I was teaching my kids how to help the people that need help. Because we are lucky enough to have less problems than a few people. And that's how the foundation started. You know what I mean. We help a lot. We go through. It's not easy to do it, my wife, especially my wife, my wife is the one involved a hundred and Ozzie Jr. go a hundred percent. I just help and. And I think that's one of the best things my kids are going to carry from me, help others when they need help. And that's why I think that foundation is going to be long, you know what I mean. I don't do the foundation to be famous, I don't do the foundation just to be to be my, people talk about, oh look at Ozzie how great guy he is. No. I did it for my family. Make sure they have responsibility, make sure they care about people next to them, people around them, and every year it's stronger and stronger and, and people help me a lot. I got people, they put money on it. Do more stuff more important than me. And that's what the foundation was all about it. It's all about teaching my kids how to give something to the people really, want, need to.

Evan 1:01:53

That's a really great in an important lesson that all of us can learn for. Just to give back to People who may not have as much as we do, and even just the community we grew up in, you give back to others.

Ozzie 1:02:08

It's just something you feel you feel good. You feel like oh my god when we donate anything, you can donate one pencil, one book or you can donate a baseball field. No matter it's one million or $1. Every time you donate something to make the community better it's a great feeling. It's a lot of work. It's a great great feeling and I thank all the people that help that foundation without... it's a friend. You know, they never charge me anything. They never say hey, I want to do this or no. I think that Foundation, it comes from friends and you make good friends when you're a good guy. And, and so far, they know all the money go to somebody. I know have a Secretary I don't have any office, anything. You, We make a hundred thousand dollars we give away a hundred thousand dollars, we made $2 we give away $2. It doesn't matter, it's about helping and make family happy. Maybe sometimes you donate people you, you donate money to kids. They don't know. But the parents know the people around them know. And that's a great satisfaction.

Evan 1:03:21

Well, now I want to move into the rapid fire questions. You ready?

Ozzie 1:03:26

I'm always ready, brother.

Evan 1:03:29

So first, what was your favorite season as a player?

Ozzie 1:03:34

My favorite season to play my first year, you know, first year because finally I make it to the big leagues.

Evan 1:03:40

What's your favorite food from Venezuela?

Ozzie 1:03:43

Oh, from Venezuela, obviously like everybody else I love arepas. Arepas is the best one because I grew up eating that. And you talk about black beans, rice and meat. Everybody in every country eat that. In Puerto Rico, New York everything but arepas, I think that's my favorite.

Evan 1:04:01

And if there was a blockbuster movie made about your life so far, what would you want it to be called?

Ozzie 1:04:08

Oh my god the real Ozzie

because nobody, Yeah, because nobody knows exactly who I am. They got the, expecting different things, love me, hate me. But "Meet The Real Ozzie" that's the movie it should be making that's gonna be the name. And the guy, the guy worked hard, and he's a great. I'm not gonna say I'm great in everything. But I think I'm great, most the thing is I'm a great husband and great father and great grandfather that's that's my responsibility. I'm willing to do it. And that's, I think I want people to love me more with what I do with my family and my friends than what I did on the field.

Evan 1:04:48

What are some of the things that you're currently working on?

Ozzie 1:04:51

I work on my golf swing. I'm terrible, but I work on it. I work on it and I work on it to be the best grandfather I can be. I work on it everyday to be the best I can be because they're my blood. That's the people they're gonna look up to me and that's the people we're gona raise.

Evan 1:05:10

I know you're you're almost everywhere. Are there certain places where people can reach out to you and learn more about you?

Ozzie 1:05:17

Well, I'm a very home made guy. I stay home all my life that's why the quarantine don't hit me that bad because I always stay home the most I can. You can reach me and my Twitter. Or you can reach me on my Instagram, my Instagram I don't work on it that much. My Twitter Yes. And to be honest with you. This is my second, my second podcast I ever did something and when your parents and my friend Bobby asked me you want to do it, I feel like it's on. Just tell me what they because right now in that particular time, that's the thing people are doing now. They asked me from every part of the world, every media, every friend. To be honest, and I say no I don't want to be on it because It's one hour, you will enjoy it. But you never know what happened. But to be with you, and the questions you asked me, to me, that's very important. I always do that to my friends, be next to them and talk to them. They asked me any question they want, but if they want to reach me Twitter and Instagram.

Evan 1:06:20

Ozzie, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. And I'm so honored to be here with you on the podcast today

Ozzie 1:06:29

Believe me it's not your honor, it's my honor. Because I went through a lot of media and they talk to me and the question you used, I know you were very prepared for this. To me it was on honor, hoppy and glad to do this. And now now you guys know a little bit about myself, the real Ozzie who is the Ozzie off the field. And when that question comes from a kid like you and to me it's more important to teach them how to be a better kid, not how to be a better player. Thank you so much to give me the opportunity to be with you and have a great, great time with you and very proud of you, man.

Evan 1:07:10

Thank you. Thank you all for listening in. We really hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to hit the subscribe button and be the first to know when new episodes launch. Check us out at born to baseball.com for free resources and new gear. And of course on social media at born to baseball where we can connect live now let's play ball

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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Episode #005: Nelson Figueroa: Part 2- Former MLB Pitcher & Sports Analyst

April 2020 By Evan

Ep. #005: Listen to Part 2 of the interview with Nelson Figueroa, Former Mets pitcher, Emmy Award Winning Analyst and co-host of “Amazin’ But True: A NY Mets Podcast”. Nelson takes us further behind the scenes into his experience as an MLB pitcher. He also shares training tips for youth players and highlights the value of maintaining a strong mindset.  

What You’ll Learn:

1:01    Winning the inning and staying focused  

4:16    A peek into the mindset of a relief pitcher entering the game in a big spot

10:52  World Baseball Classic

12:07  Favorite MLB moment as a player

13:32  Fantasy camp and building relationships built with other MLB players

14:50  Ideal arsenal of pitches for a youth pitcher to have. Master 3 pitches

17:07  Mindset of a MLB pitcher going into an at bat.

20:50  MLB players who had impressive 2019 seasons that youth ball players could learn a lot from by watching

25:40  The importance of building a strong lower half and training your body properly

28:20  Working with youth pitchers in person and virtually

Listen to Part 1 of the Interview with Nelson Figueroa here.

Thank you for being here with us!  Evan and the Born To Baseball Team are looking forward to celebrating your success and sharing this journey together.
 
If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple or wherever you’re listening here. This will help other ball players find the Born To Baseball Podcast and give us more chances to shout out our listeners!  
 
Now, let’s play ball!

Read show notes here.

Show Links:

Nelson’s Twitter: @figgieny 

Listen to Nelson on the Amazin’ But True: A NY Mets Baseball Podcast 

Born To Baseball Links:

Born To Baseball Website

BTB Travel Team & Training Tracker

Instagram: @borntobaseball 

Facebook

Twitter: @bornto_baseball

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Episode 005_NELSON FIGUEROA FORMER MLB PLAYER AND SPORTS ANALYST PART 2

The transcription below was provided for your convenience through an automated service. Please excuse any unintended errors made in the process.

Evan 0:00

This episode of born baseball is sponsored by the BTB travel team and training tracker. Are you a parent or player searching for travel teams or training facilities in your area? Or are you a coach looking to expand your reach? And you have to check out the BTB triple t tracker at borntobaseball.com Make sure your team is represented. Let's go.

Calling all ball players. Are you ready to take your game to the next level? Were you born to baseball? Then bring it in. it's game time.

Welcome to part two of my interview with Nelson Figueroa here he dives deeper into building a positive mindset to build resilience and confidence situational pitching and hitting focus, maintaining mental toughness at the plate and in big situations. And he shares some special moments and fun facts I bet very few people know about hope you enjoy. You talked about this earlier also, when you pitch a great game and all of a sudden teams down, but your team starts hitting behind you. What does it do to a pitcher when the team' starts hitting behind you and scoring runs for you?

Nelson 1:15

Oh, it makes it fun. I mean, it makes it a lot more fun because then you start saying everything that happened before when they were down there picking you up right now they're picking you up. So you want to try and do keep up your end of the bargain. From here on out. I'm putting up zeros. For every run, you guys score, I'm gonna keep them down and we can win the rest of this ballgame. One of the things that I do as a coach or as a manager, I always talk about winning the inning, right? We might, we can if we can win, we might lose the inning. And the first inning say when you give up three or four runs, but if we win the next five innings 1-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 We're going to wind up being ahead at the end of the ballgame. So you can win. The inning and then you worry about, Okay, the first half of the game is over, let's win the second half of the game, there's so many ways to divide it up in so many mental ways to kind of keep that focus. Because the game is so crazy that your focus has to be done in such small spurts. I had a pitching coach who wants broke it down and said, it's 18 minutes of actual focus for a pitcher if you're pitching seven innings in a game, because it's 30 seconds at a time to make that one pitch. And if you think about it that way, and all you're trying to do is make these pitches, and he's requiring in that 30 seconds because you're delivering a pitch within 30 seconds. That's the new clock that's coming out right? Well, the focus that you really have to make is on executing that pitch. Everything before it is usually your head spinning on Oh, I made a bad pitch or I give up ahead or what's going on. Get all that out of it. You can't focus on that focus on executing that pitch. And while you're executing that pitch, that's once you come set, you're about to throw that pitch, maximizing that pitch to that location. That's the focus he talks about. And it's an 18 minute amount of focus for the game, the game maybe three and a half hours. But my job in that game is to focus on throwing my pitch to my location, getting the ball back, reset, focus on that next pitch, keeping it as simple as that, where it's something that you can control each and every single time really shrinks down. I guess the bigger game outside of it, and especially when you're pitching in front of 40,000 people, and you're not kind of overwhelmed by it. I think the most nerve wracking time will be when you go from what's before 60,90 for you guys

Evan 3:44

50,70.

Nelson 3:45

So 50,70 so when you go from 50,70 to 60,90 because once you get to 60,90 that's what you'll be doing for the rest of your life if you're lucky. Right. So anything that's the biggest, scariest moment when you go from 50,70 to 60,90 once you get to 60,90, and you've been doing it, since you were 13, 14,15 years old, now all of a sudden, the game stays the same. The game is always gonna be the same from then on out, focus on controlling what you can control.

Evan 4:16

Can you walk us through thinking of a Big Leaguer when they come in in a big spot in a game, or they have to really shut down a team to either get the win or get out of a jam?

Nelson 4:28

It's, again, it's a surreal kind of thing, right? Because you're, I'll give you a situation. First time I faced Albert Puljos I remember kind of looking at and taking the signs and the catcher puts down a slider away and I shake my head going No, just watch sports center. You know on Thursday, slider down away, hit it out to right field, fastball in. No he just went up in Big Mac land yesterday against a guy's fastball inside. How about a curve Ball. I don't want to show my curveball yet on the first pitch, I want to save that for later on. And so you start, you can get yourself into trouble overthinking things, right. So you want to kind of again, take yourself out of that moment, not make it bigger than it is because other than Him being a superstar. I've got to make my pitch. He's got to hit my pitch, right?

Evan 5:22

Yeah.

Nelson 5:23

And so if me and the catcher on the same page, and I execute my pitch, that I have total confidence that I'm going to be one of the seven out of 10 times that he makes it out. And I was able to do that. When you come into a big moment in a game for me, I was a long reliever mostly. So I've had one save in my career, which was an extra innings and we were almost out of pitcher so I want to close the game. And then there was another time that I finished a game where I was in Houston, and it was really loud right and a guy left me bases loaded. Nobody out. I wasn't like I said, by any means a flame thrower or anything like that I went in there and a they weren't prepared to see me. I had been starting before that and learning a little bit of relieving. I hadn't been with the Astros, but for maybe a week and I go out there, and I just kind of said, screw, I'm just gonna throw strikes and get ahead and do everything that I've been doing since I was a kid. I'm going to get ahead of this guy, and I'm gonna put them away with my pitch. I wound up striking out the side. And I remember the roar of the crowd was just so awesome. And I told one of our closers who didn't pitch that night, I said, so that's what it's like. That's what it's like to get that kind of that feeling that that buzz you get through your whole body when 46,000 people are going nuts for you. That's really, it's it's hard to explain what it's like, but it's, you're standing there and there's a roar that you feel. You feel the roar of the crowd and I remember my first time pitching at Shea Stadium with a met uniform on. And I got to two strikes on a hitter. And everybody started doing the slow clap like expecting a strikeout. And I remember standing behind the mound just thinking, like, this is what I used to do when Dwight Gooden was on the mound, like he gets a two strikes and you just start clapping because you knew he was going to strike this guy out. And then you could just let out a loud cheer. And all I could think of was I'm not Dwight Gooden. Now. What if I don't strike this guy out, and I let everybody down. And then I wind up striking him out. And I got that roar from the crowd. And it was like, wow, I gotta do that again. Yeah. So that's one of the things where I think as you get older, and as you play this game a lot. The big situations are what you strive for, because you want to show that you're the best guy in that situation. So you want to always have those situations. And if you fail, what do we do? goes in that journal right and we learn from it. Hey, You know what? I was a little too geeked up. That's why I always tell you, what do we put in the journal? The Good, the Bad how you were feeling? Right. And you can talk about that today was a tournament game. And I was too psyched up. I was too nervous. It's okay to be nervous. If you think you think I'm gonna sit here and say I wasn't nervous when I was in the big leagues, in any situation, in every situation in the big leagues, because for a guy like me, if I had a bad game, I might get sent down to triple A. So every game I had to pitch as if it was going to be my last because I never knew if I was going to get another call up. So it was a lot different for me than some of the major leaguers that you'll ever talk to. Because, you know, some guys had nice careers and they were starter and always were a starter reliever and always a reliever. For me it was, I was a pitcher. However you wanted to use me. I was gonna take advantage of that if I started the game. I was a starter, If I finished the game. I was never closer, but I closed a couple of games.

Evan 8:56

Yeah, it's really cool. Just being able to feel the roar of the crowd. Crowd. And just, it's almost what you play for to have the crowd sort of behind you when you play.

Nelson 9:08

And I'm going to tell you that it's, I can't wait for it to happen for you. And you feel that roar and whether it's in a high school championship game in high school, I played in Yankee Stadium for our city championship.

Evan 9:25

Wow.

Nelson 9:25

In my sophomore year, we won the city Championship at Yankee Stadium. And we only had 2000 people there, but it was 2000 people before that, you know, I'm playing in my summer league team, and there's, you know, the moms and the dads. That's it. And so playing in front of 2000 people was really cool. Then I went and I played in the Cape Cod League, and wound up pitching in the all star game and there were 72 scouts behind home plate with radar guns. Thought I instantly got cancer because there's so many radar guns. I had never seen that many radar guns. So there was that kind of thing where Yeah, it could have nerves, but they're at the all star game on being seen through a seven pitch inning, and it was almost like oh my god, that was too few. I didn't even really get going. But I threw at that including a strikeout. So I had, I had had, it was literally a ground ball, two pitches, ground ball out. Three pitches were strikeout, two pitches, ground ball out seven pitches, I'm out of the inning, and that was my All Star game experience in the Cape Cod league. And I was like, well, maybe I could have thrown harder. Maybe I could have done this. Maybe I could have been. You can't second guess it afterwards. Right? It was what it was. And then I always said to myself, I couldn't have done it any better. I honestly couldn't. Because I showed that I'm efficient. I throw strikes, I can strike people out. And I work quick. So it was it was it's a lot of fun when you get that roar of the crowd. It's a feeling like none other.

Evan 10:52

What was your favorite World Baseball Classic moment as a player.

Nelson 10:56

Um, knocking out Team USA They knocked us out in 2009. And I was actually going to be the winning pitcher in 2009. And David Wright happened to be the guy who got the hit. It was teammate of mine, with the Mets, and he blooped in that single and we wound up losing in that ninth inning. And then in 2013, we faced them again and I wound up pitching and I started, beat them 2 to nothing. So that was also a great game.

Evan 11:24

I read you pitched over six shutout innings in that game.

Nelson 11:28

Mm hmm. Yeah, we only had 80 we only had an 80 pitch count, which really upset me, because it's spring training. They wanted to, you know, make sure nobody hurt themselves overextend themselves. And I was cruising after, you know, the 80 pitches through six innings. And you know, Howard Reynolds I think was doing the game and he said that, you know, he could probably thrown the whole game without a doubt the way he was cruising. And for me, it was great because that team alone had so many all stars and guys who won silver sluggers and MVPs and I was able to pitch really Well against them and again, that every time you get an opportunity to show that you belong, you want to be able to rise to the occasion.

Evan 12:07

What for you was your favorite moment playing in the MLB

Nelson 12:16

has to be that first game at Shea Stadium where I got to pitch in front of my family and friends. I had about 120 people there. And you know, it was a little boy's dream, always wearing Mets stuff growing up and pretending that I was going to be a met and always visualizing being met and I had gotten drafted by the Mets in 1995 and got traded, got traded to the Diamondbacks, and I went to the from the Diamondbacks, the Phillies, I got traded then I was picked up as a free agent, off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers and I was a free agent and sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates for two years. So for the next eight years, I had played in the big leagues. And I had played actually against the Mets in the big leagues. But it wasn't the same. I finally got to put on the pinstripe home uniforms, and went out to pitch in front of my family and friends and got my victory at Shea Stadium and everything I said, when I was a kid sitting in the stands that one day I'm gonna be there on the mound, I actually was able to make it come true.

Evan 13:23

It's really cool. It sounds cool. That moment where you're standing there and you realize like, this is my dream, and I made it come true.

Nelson 13:33

Yeah, it's one of my greatest things that I get to talk about all the time is that I do fantasy camp with the Mets and I get to hang out with Mookie Wilson, Darrel Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Tim Tuffle, all those guys that I've watched growing up and idolizing I get to rub elbows with them and their coaches with me and I get to joke around with them and actually text them during the season and we talk about you know what's going going on with the Mets and the relationships that I have with those guys now. You know, when I was a kid I'd never in a million years or dream that I'd be able to kind of just pick up my phone and call Dwight Gooden. Hey, Dwight, what's going on how you been that kind of thing. So that that's really one of the most fun parts as a Mets fan is being able to say that I'm a part of the history of the Mets and having the complete game shutout is also really cool. So that was my last game I started so my first game that I started with the Mets was the one that I won in Shea Stadium and my last game that I pitch happened to be the complete game shutout. So it's pretty good book ends.

Evan 14:36

Yeah. So what would be your ideal for pitch Arsenal for a youth baseball player

Nelson 14:45

don't even know if he needs to go for but for me is a four seam fastball command on both sides of the plate, a changeup and making it look with the same arm angle. And arm speed of my fastball. From there some kind of breaking ball or whether it be a little cutter, something that you can change speeds with as well. I think one of the things that people are losing the ability to do and even at the major league level, they seem to be one speed with every one of their pitches, like you could almost, if it's a fastball, it's 96. If it's a slider, it's 91. If it's a changeup, it's you know, 88. And so, for hitter, it makes it pretty easy. You kind of got a gauge on that. The things that I find impressive is that, you know, my max fastball, what's my max, and what's my average velocity, so my average velocity if I can pitch from 88 to 93, a max is 93. But I don't always have to throw 93 I can throw 88 and still get you out with a fastball. It all depends where I put it when I put it and if it's followed up in The order of the pitches of the pitches are used in concert. Everything kind of blends in together. And that's what makes it difficult for a hitter to sit on one pitch or the other. That's what I'm mainly about. So for a four pitch Arsenal, it'd be great if they had a curveball changeup, fastball, and, you know, I was a split finger guy. But I worry about kids incorrectly trying to throw these things too soon, their arms aren't developed enough, the way that they're releasing the ball is changing the way that they're cutting themselves off on their release points is changing. So the four pitch Arsenal's not so important, I take two and a possible third. Honestly, if you can master three pitches, you're going to have a chance at the big leagues. It's really guys that can do 2 can excel. There's very few guys that can do one that was Mariano and probably Bartolo Colon are the only two I could think of I could throw one pitch and get it guys out over and over again with it. But I think you is where I would go. If you start getting into the four and five, you start tinkering a little bit too much master those three.

Evan 17:06

Yeah. So I know you hit a triple in 2009 and not a lot of pitchers get to say they did that. So what is a pitchers mindset going into an at bat?

Nelson 17:20

survival survival, especially at the major league level, you're usually kind of the easy out right? And so I don't want to be an easy out what I want to be is I want to be a spoiler. I wanted to be a guy who could put the ball in play a guy who can handle the bat and bunt the sacrifice bunt was huge for me and for my team because I was able to move guys over and give us a chance to score another run, which only helped me. So I really focused on that I really worked on that I practiced it over and over and over again so that i was i was so comfortable doing it when I got in the box. My main goal was to not strike out. Honestly, like I think nothing makes a pitcher more upset than not being able to strike out the opposing pitcher. You know, even if I just put it in play, I win, like, I'm gonna get out but you didn't strike me out. You know what I'm saying? So and especially against the big pitchers like if I face Curt Schilling and, you know, face Randy Johnson, you face any of those big guys, Pedro Martinez, you face those guys and you're like, Yeah, but at least I didn't strike out against them. You know, no matter all I could walk back in the dugout, hold my head up high and the hitters who've been striking out all day against something yet he couldn't strike me out. So I think that's really what you look for. And usually, if you're able to handle the bat like that, and you're able to put the ball in play, good things happen. You know, the ball finds a hole. I remember my first I had a three hit game. The triple was nice, but my favorite game hitting wise I had a three hit game in Philadelphia, my rookie season, and the third hit happened in like the seventh inning, I hit a ground ball in the hole between short and third. And I'm running as hard as I can beat it out. Because all I'm thinking in my head is I'm going to be 3-3 how many pitchers can say they were 3-3 as I as asked, so I beat it out at first base. I'm all excited, get done with the game. And after the game, ESPN had interviewed me and they said, What do you attribute the three hit game? And I said dumb luck. Honestly, I blooped a single, you know, to right field, I had a base hit to right center. And then the last one, you know, I pulled I think a breaking ball into the hole. And I just ran as hard as I could, because I wanted that third hit. I said, I don't think that's going to happen very often and doesn't usually. So the three hit game was it was phenomenal. And then I think there was one other game where the triple was fun because it was almost a shot at an inside the parker and I should have kept going, but Jon Niese had pulled his hamstring, so they don't want to lose two of us in one game. But there was also you know, just the ability to hit the ball hard at any time. Right. Yeah, it makes it fun because as a kid you train I didn't just dream about being a pitcher. There's no P.O. you know when you're coming up when I when I was growing up and so I always dremt I could handle the bat and I could I could hit off this guy and I could hit off that guy, so I got a chance to do it. And to be a spoiler I have a hit. Here's a nice little bit of trivia that you won't find anywhere. I have a hit off of Greg Maddux, john Smoltz and Tom Glavine. There's not many players on the planet that I'm one of very few pitchers who have a hit off each one of those guys. I won't tell you what the hits were because I think they were dribblers in the infield, and I just beat them out. But hey, nobody needs to know that all they know in the book is that I gotta hit off three Hall of Fame. pitchers for the one of the greatest rotations of all time.

Evan 20:48

Yeah. Can you name one or two players that had an impressive 2019 season. I sort of have a hint on one of them. You're gonna give that you Baseball players and guys all the way up through college and the minor leagues could really study and learn a lot from

Nelson 21:04

a young man named Pete Alonzo. And the way that he plays the game, the passion that he plays the game with, and the fact that all they talked about was his defense and how terrible of a defender he was. And for me, the home runs were great. We knew he could hit for power. He worked really hard at being a really good defender. I'm not saying he was Gold Glove caliber by any means. But I watched him over the course of the season. And I think one of the biggest stats that's not kept by many is scooping the baseball on those errant throws from the infielders, you know, like those shortstops who can't reach. So he led the major league in a stat that only one group keeps it, the status called scoops and it's not the everyday mundane, nice and easy scoop And you know, you just make that play because that was a ton of them as well. But it's the wow I can't believe he scooped that that was an amazing scoop. He did it more than Rizzo. He did it more than Freeman, because those infielders kind of had better arms and more better defenders. So they have more opportunities to do it. But Pete made the most of those opportunities by being better at just scooping the ball. It's working at your game, and your weaknesses, where it's like Michael Jordan, right. They said he couldn't hit threes. He goes out and he winds up hitting threes and winning the three point percentage for that season. He couldn't win rings, many rings that he went, every time you get a challenge put before you, even if you're at the major league level, it's like, Okay, what can I do to be better, and he continues to do that. He's one of the guys that I watched this year, and I was very, very impressed with him both on and off the field because he's a born leader. You can just tell that about him. So I'm really excited for his future.

Evan 22:58

Maybe now a pitcher

Nelson 23:00

Maybe now a pitcher. Well, I I feel like I'm staying in the same place. Hmm. Well, little guy by the name of Jacob degrom. Who? Well, it's just you watched him over the last two years and you've seen the most consistent pitcher in baseball. Just his ability to command dominate the strike zone with four pitches, pitching up in the zone, being able to take his slider out of the zone, not being rattled, when his team doesn't score him a lot of runs, which they often do not score him a lot, if any runs for a guy who is able to really focus on the task at hand and I just need to worry about what I can do. And he can hit a little bit too, right. A couple home runs this year. He's impressive with the bat handling the bat fielding his position. He does all the things well, so for a national league pitcher, he's the total package It right he does everything well. Those two guys are phenomenal. I think I have to also give a shout out for sure to Cody Bellinger. Cody Bellinger. As a kid, I lived in Chandler, Arizona where he grew up. He went to Chandler High School. And so I watched him through there. I was in the big leagues at the time and when he got drafted in 2013. And so I trained with him before that and saw his progress and seen his progression and seen him go to, you know, his first two years, I think he hit six home runs and his first two years of pro ball, and then something clicked and he hit 33 the next year. Since then, his his swing is just so beautifully violent, as the only way to put it, that and his ability to with two strikes cut down on that swing and put the ball in play and when they're doing the big shift, he's able to hit the ball the other way and take advantage That the way he plays multiple positions, gold Glover in the outfield, plays a great first base as well. It's a kid who can kind of do it all and plays with that still exuberant. exuberance like a little leaguer. I love that about the his kids and he still does it in a respectful way. He's not a big batflip guy. He's more of a go see how far that ball kind of guy. So I'm very I'm a very big fan of Cody Bellenger.

Evan 25:34

What's your if I knew then what I know now I would have

Nelson 25:40

if I knew then what I know now I would have really, really worked out my lower body a lot more. Um, taking care of my lower body a lot more. I was you know, I'm a pitcher, right? Everything is upper body. Everything is my right arm. Everything is trying to I worry about those muscles more than anything. And I think I didn't learn until after I had my surgery when I was 30 years old, and I couldn't run and I put on weight. And so I had to really work my lower body and I started lifting heavy with my lower body and building a better foundation and learning how to use my legs a little bit. So I was a guy who as I got older, my velocity went up. And that doesn't normally happen the other way around, right? You get older and you lose velocity. Every year, I was kind of adding velocity and being able to sustain that velocity because my lower half was a lot stronger. And it wasn't like major power lifting or anything crazy. It was just really getting out on a good route, a routine in the weight room and I was always I hated the weights because I was a skinny kid and weights were just boring and I didn't want to get too big and not that I could but I didn't want to get too big and just get stiff, I want it to be flexible. So nowadays we know how to train better. And I implore all kids to take advantage of training their bodies properly. Learning What, What techniques work, what exercises work, what things that YouTube is a tremendous resource. I would look for the ones that have the largest subscriptions on them, because they usually have a really good information. And also read the comments and see, you know, when there's all kinds of different sites that put out what workouts or what moves are now adding power to your fastball. But you know that, be careful because there's a lot of things that you can type in there and YouTube and they'll say, well, guaranteed 90 mile an hour fastball, and well, every kid was going to want to look at that, right? And that's what they're wanting, they want the clicks and so that you look at it and they make their money off that But I really think if you're able to train and figure out how your lower half works in conjunction with your upper half and you get those things working on the same page, you're going to be able to increase velocity very quickly as well.

Evan 28:15

Would you like to share any projects or that you're working on now or that you have coming up?

Nelson 28:21

I have a several things coming up. Of course, it's the offseason. So what does that usually mean? For me, I'm training some wonderful pitchers like yourself and getting to see the light bulb go off. And even though when I sit there and tell you how awesome a changeup is, and how valuable it'll be, and you don't realize it until you actually start using it in a game and you're like, Oh my gosh, this really works. That everything for me, I love doing that in the in the offseason when I'm not being an analyst, I get a chance to have that time with the kids and teach them as much as I can without overloading them. I can do that as well. I've learned that just too much and make you guys think too much. So I'm learning that happy medium of giving you things to try and learn from. And then we kind of experience those things together. I've got, besides that going on working on an app, where I can sit at home, they send me their videos, and I can analyze their mechanics, over video, give you drills to work on, send me back another video in a couple weeks. And we can see if you can kind of start that development changing in the right direction, and I can help in your development from if you're in California, and I'm here in New York, I don't have to necessarily be there. I'm working with a company now. And we're putting that all together to try and help some travel groups. We want to have them have more time practicing and development rather than just tournament after tournament after tournament after tournament because when it comes to tournament it's really kind of you know, do or die hit or miss, you know, you're either gonna have success or not have success, you don't have time to really focus on training and getting better and working on skills because you're playing games and it's win or lose go home kind of thing. So it's very difficult to do both. So we're trying to get some of the travel teams to take away, you know, one tournament a month and have that weekend where we get to help and help develop skills or fix flaws, and get kids kind of going in the right direction. So that's been exciting project that I've been working with. And last but not least, you know, I'm just looking forward to the upcoming season and seeing what opportunities lie ahead, whether it's in baseball in a coaching capacity in front office capacity, trying to do some more stuff with the Mets here in hometown. I know you love the Mets just trying to do some more stuff because I do think the team had some good success last year and they have Nice, young core and excited to see what 2020 brings.

Evan 31:04

Yeah. Is there anywhere people can follow you or learn a little bit more about you?

Nelson 31:10

Absolutely. Twitter is where mostly figgie that's Figgyny, so Figgy New York, thats on Twitter and I often correspond with the fans and love to get into heated debates about baseball and especially Yankee fans. Oh, they hate me. And it just I love the game of baseball. I love interacting, I love you know, I don't feel like I know everything. I'm always open to learning new things, but I always am receptive and ready to exchange ideas with people readily. And I have a question for you. My question, of course, is doing this podcasts. Is there anything that you've learned so far about doing podcasts that you weren't prepared for earlier?

Evan 32:08

Well, just listening, really being able to listen to other people and taking information to really let it sink in for me and learn and also just the connections it brings and how it can get me better.

Nelson 32:25

Yeah, cuz I tell you what, watching you even asking the questions, you don't look down at a piece of paper for very long. Your preparation, like in baseball, and this is why I always talk about how you play the game is how you also live. So you're all about preparation and being prepared for an interview and the way that you're able to interview confidently is very amazing for someone at your age. I think what the listeners also need to knows when I asked you to do a, you know, a journal pitching journal Got back a pitching vlog. So Evan sends me a video of talking about some of his outings in the beginning of the season and talking about some of the things that we discussed and some tips of how to throw a changeup and long tossing with his changeup to get a better feel for it. And he sat there in front of the camera and just as calmly as can be just spoke and covered, every single thing that I always, you know, talk about the good, the bad, the ugly and how I was feeling. And that is such a huge thing and such a mature thing to be able to do at this age. And it really shows because your teammates have even noticed it. So when I talk to teammates of yours, they notice how prepared you are and they notice how unflappable you are and the big moments in the game. They hope the ball is hit to you, because they know that you'll be able to handle it. And so that's the biggest compliment that a teammate could ever give is that I hope the ball gets hit to him. If I'm a pitcher, and I give him a ground ball, I hope it's to Evan because I know he's gonna be able to A- field it knows where to go with the ball and be able to finish off the play. So, I think kudos to you and your development thus far. And I'm very impressed with what you have going on here. I want to do a podcast.

Evan 34:21

Thank you.

Nelson 34:22

You got it.

Evan 34:23

Thank you again for being here, Nelson.

Nelson 34:25

My pleasure.

Evan 34:26

And are you ready for some ice cream?

Nelson 34:28

All day, brother. Thank you.

Evan 34:32

Thank you all for listening in. We really hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to hit the subscribe button and be the first to know when new episodes launch. Check us out at borntobaseball.com for free resources and new gear. Download the Born To Baseball app to have real time conversations, share your game and video highlights and be celebrated by our BTB team. And of course on social media, @borntobaseball where we can connect live. Now let's play ball!

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Episode #004: Nelson Figueroa: Part 1- Former MLB Pitcher & Sports Analyst

April 2020 By Evan

Ep. #004: Listen to Part 1 of the interview with Nelson Figueroa, Former Mets pitcher, Emmy Award Winning Analyst and co-host of “Amazin’ But True: A NY Mets Podcast”. Nelson shares his journey to the bigs as well as pitching and training tips specific to youth baseball players. He also discusses the importance of self-confidence.

What You’ll Learn:

1:31    Nelson’s baseball journey

4:23    Coaches and mentors on road to MLB

6:55    When can a youth pitcher start to safely throw a curve ball

8:48    Protecting your arm

13:11  His thoughts on P.O. (pitcher only) at the youth level, staying ready, competition and pushing yourself

18:01  Adding Velocity, throwing strikes, exploding to the plate

20:46  Velocity vs location

22:20  Establishing the inside part of the plate and making the hitter uncomfortable 

26:15  Mindset as a pitcher and mental prep before a game

31:16  Learning to deal with failure and looking for the silver lining

Listen to Part 2 of the Interview with Nelson Figueroa here.

Thank you for being here with us!  Evan and the Born To Baseball Team are looking forward to celebrating your success and sharing this journey together.
 
If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a rating or review on Apple or wherever you’re listening here. This will help other ball players find the Born To Baseball Podcast and give us more chances to shout out our listeners!  
 
Now, let’s play ball!

Read show notes here.

Show Links:

Nelson’s Twitter: @figgieny 

Listen to Nelson on the Amazin’ But True: A NY Mets Baseball Podcast 

Born To Baseball Links:

Born To Baseball Website

BTB Travel Team & Training Tracker

Instagram: @borntobaseball 

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Episode 004_NELSON FIGUEROA FORMER MLB PLAYER AND SPORTS ANALYST PART 1

The transcription below was provided for your convenience through an automated service. Please excuse any unintended errors made in the process.

Evan 0:00

This episode of born baseball is sponsored by the BTB travel team and training tracker. Are you a parent or player searching for travel teams or training facilities in your area? Or are you a coach looking to expand your reach? And you have to check out the BTB triple t tracker at borntobaseball.com Make sure your team is represented. Let's go.

Music 0:24

Calling all ball players. Are you ready to take your game to the next level? Were you born to baseball? Then bring it in? it's game time.

Evan 0:39

Welcome to Part One of my interview with Nelson Figueroa here he shares his baseball journey life lessons through baseball specific pitching tips, strategies and safety thoughts on being a pitcher only in youth sports and much more. Hey guys, welcome to born to baseball podcast. Today we have a former Major Leaguer on the show. Nelson Figueroa, he's going to talk about pitching and give us youth baseball players some tips. Nelson, thank you so much for being here.

Nelson 1:07

My pleasure.

Evan 1:08

You had an extended career in the major leagues you played for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball classics. You were sport analyst. And you were the first met to throw a complete game shutout at Citi Field. So could you kick us off by sharing your baseball journey?

Nelson 1:25

All that and the $5 and 50 cents gets me a cup of Starbucks. It was an incredible journey to think, a skinny little Puerto Rican kid from Brooklyn, New York, would play Major League Baseball and have the opportunity to play Major League Baseball so many times I think the part about my journey that is special is I've been up and down from the Major Leagues back to the minors and backup to the majors 11 times in my career, that doesn't really happen for a lot of people. So I think the experiences that I gained from dealing with failure. Everybody always talks about their successes. And you know, it's always great to win. But what do you learn from failure to help you succeed the next time and help you not repeat the same mistakes that created that failure in the past. So I think that my 11 times of going up and down, attributed to me always trying to figure out how I could be better. And even at the major league level, I didn't feel like I was a complete product that I could always be better and strive to be better. So for me, I always realized that baseball was what I wanted to do. since I was five years old. I just wanted to be a baseball player. I think every paper or every assignment that a teacher had put in front of me of, you know, write about goals and things you want to be when you grow up. I was always wanting to be a baseball player. And so when I had the opportunity to sign a professional contract and it was with my hometown team, the Mets You know, the best team in New York? Why are you smiling? So when it was a chance to play for the Mets who I was born and raised a Mets fan, I didn't really look back I said, I was gonna just give it my all the way I did in every aspect of the game before that got a chance to play for the Mets and live that dream of putting on that uniform, just like all my idols did before me. And now, looking back at that baseball career, that roller coaster up and down, I wouldn't trade it for anything because I got a chance to experience traveling all over the world winning championships all over the world. I played in Taiwan. I played in Japan, I played in Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Canada, so I have a win. In I think it's eight different countries. So that's really cool as well. So like, yeah, I mean, the goal was always to play Major League. Baseball. But I think once I got that opportunity and realized that I don't have control over staying in the major leagues, that the goal was to play baseball for as long as I could. And I played until I was 40 years old. So I think that was the best thing that I was able to do.

Evan 4:13

That's, that's really cool.

Nelson 4:15

Thank you.

Evan 4:16

So are there any mentors that you had? And like, what did they really provide for you on your road to the Major Leagues?

Nelson 4:23

I think what you try to do is you take a little bit from each person that you come in contact with. Not everyone has to have been a former Major Leaguer for their words to matter, or for things that they're trying to pass on to they're trying to pass on to some of their experiences, right. So some of your coaches who have played High School ball, college ball, you know, may play be some professional baseball, you know, you always look to learn from other people's mistakes. I think that's really what it comes down to. Because You may not be as good as them. But you can learn from them still and know how to adapt to a situation before it actually happens to you. It's like you've seen it before you've heard it before. So taking a little bit of information and being able to apply it to your experiences, the way that you play the game, having idols in the game. I think for me, coaches that I had, I look back at it now. And I've had a longer Playing career than most of my coaches. But as I was coming up, I respected every single one of my coaches and never kind of we didn't have Google back then I know I'm old, but we didn't have a way to kind of look up other than maybe getting their baseball card and seeing you know how long they played when they played what kind of success they had. So you just knew that they were a coach and you respected their opinion you respected that they were trying to help you get better. That to me is the most important thing that coaches are always trying to help you get better because they want Their team to win they want you to be successful. And whether you go to the Major Leagues or not, or even the next level or not. There are life lessons in baseball that will take you well through their full life, the journey of life and you learn so many things and you become a better person because of these life lessons and you become a better Brother, you become a better father, you become a better just all the way around, you realize that you learned a lot on the baseball field and off the baseball field with that interaction that takes you to another level in life.

Evan 6:37

We have we're lucky to have mentors like you around us, to help us succeed in the game and for them to help us learn more. So I want to start off by focusing on youth pitchers. A lot of youth pitching is about arm care. What would you say the proper age to throw a curveball would be

Nelson 7:00

When they're ready, and I think you've worked with me long enough to know that if you're being monitored properly, and you're learning how to spin a baseball the right way, then there isn't an age because I can't sit here and say, oh, it has to be, you know, when you're 16. Meanwhile, I was throwing one at 10. And, you know, I had success throwing it at 10. But it was the way that I was able to throw my curveball, my breaking ball that I understood how to create spin, how to spin the ball hard not throw the ball hard, is a very fine line, there's an art to throwing a breaking ball. And so for most kids, just getting them to focus and being able to repeat their delivery is a difficult thing just with a fastball, right? So now you take that and you add in that you want to turn the baseball and spin the baseball and they're still trying to throw it for a strike. He's still trying to do all these other things, and the mechanics get out of whack. And that's You start getting into bad habits, which then create injuries. And once you start getting injuries, especially in the throwing arm, and they don't go away very quickly, you lose time on the mound, you lose time on the field, then you kind of lose that love for the game in a way. So to me learning how to throw a changeup properly, will have better benefits in the long run. But for a kid, like yourself, and we've worked on it as well, just getting you to get a feel of the proper way to release the the baseball, it's not a bad thing, unless you're doing it incorrectly. And if you're being taught the right way, then you can start throwing a curveball when you are ready.

Evan 8:41

What would you say the proper amount of days a pitcher rests between pitching appearances.

Nelson 8:47

It's funny because like I'm old school, right? And so it was like oh, I never rested. I played two games at my team and then I'd go play with my friends and then I go pitch again and I understand it more now and it kind of goes back to the Same thing, right? Because everybody wants to try to throw the ball harder, they're more concerned with velocity. They think velocity is really what's going to make them stand out. When you're 12 years old, there was nobody there with a radar gun, going, Wow, this kid throws really hard because you're starting to think if he throws hard now, what happens in three years, if he's getting pushed too much, and he's the guy that's pitching every game and he's throwing really hard and its max effort might burn out. You know, peaking too soon is a thing. I always tell a lot of kids and I'd rather you learn the proper Foundation, proper mechanics to repeat your delivery. And if the balls coming out and you're able to gain a few miles an hour, that's the great part. Then you talk about the days in between throwing. It varies from kid to kid, I honestly think you just have to be honest with yourself. There's a big difference between soreness and pain. And I think until kids learn The difference. And that's where you see more kids thinking that they can still throw and they can throw more. coaches are getting smarter organizations are getting smarter, and there's pitch counts involved. And they're trying to make sure that these kids are going to be able to maximize their ability for a long, long time. And I'm all for that. So the downtime and the rest time they coincide with depending on how many pitches you throw that game before,

Evan 10:23

as youth athletes, many of us we play a position along with pitch, is it okay if we play a position before like right before or right after a pitching?

Nelson 10:35

You know what, at this age? Yes, you're fine with doing both because again, if you're going to go into a game, it's usually if you're coming into a game the games already started. You're not going to be asked to throw 100 pitches and you've already played a ton. You haven't made a ton of throws usually from the infield, because if you did, there'd be a lot more outs and the other pitcher would have to come out. So I think I love my pitchers to play other positions because throwing a baseball. And you know that from training with me, we work on the first few months of just learning how to throw a baseball properly and for different positions, right? So because I always say, Well, I don't want you to be out there. And your coach says, Well, can you play third base? And you're like, No, I've never done it, or I don't, I don't know how to field ground balls properly. I don't know how to make that throw from third base. So we work on all of that, right? Because I want my kids to play every position but left out. So to me, that doesn't matter, per se. Now if you're talking about pitching and catching, in the same game, that's where I have I would have an issue with that because the catcher makes as many throws as the pitcher. Yeah, so you can't really do both of those things. Without with protecting the arm that way. So if you're a shortstop like yourself, and you want to get called into pitch, your coaches are usually looking out and they're monitoring how many pitchers are gonna make you throw.

Evan 11:56

Yeah, it's important just to monitor just How many pitches you throw so you're not overusing your arm? And like you said, peaking too early, and eventually having a chance of burning out,

Nelson 12:07

Their's a, Yeah, there's a, there's a fine line because old school guys will tell you you guys don't throw enough. You're indoors and you're playing video games and you're doing all that stuff. I think they're, it's, you are getting better instruction. Now and there's more of an understanding in the baseball community that you're trying to prevent injuries. There was an epidemic in the major leagues with Tommy John's it was an epidemic more so with kids and the youth. pitchers having Tommy John's just a few years back, and it was because the better pitchers were being asked to throw a lot more and if it was throw, you know, two or three games in the tournament because you wanted to win and so you put your best pitcher out there, you know, coaches were doing it. And I think I'm glad that youth baseball is being monitored much more closely to give these kids a better opportunity at playing baseball for a long, much longer time.

Evan 12:59

Yeah. So eventually, kids are gonna get to the age where certain kids are gonna want to become pitcher. Only. pitchers only when would you say an appropriate age for that would be,

Nelson 13:11

um, it's funny because like I was just saying I would love I love to play the game. And so any position I could play just because I figured well, if the other pitcher has to come out of playing a position or play the position, then I want to play his position. So when I was coming up, I, you know, started out as a shortstop, everybody does moved over the third base because I had a strong arm. Our other pitcher was a first baseman, so I learned how to play first base. So this way when he pitched I could play first base, learn how to play the outfield, because again, I had a strong arm and I could run. I think it's valuable to be able to play a multitude of positions. If you are PO which I just learned is pitcher only. It's very difficult to hone that craft. Because you're not pitching very often, right? When you're playing the game, you're playing every day you learn, you get the reps, when you're a PO, you're usually pitching one day a week. And so it's really the onus is on you of how you practice in between to stay sharp, and to stay ready. So that's a difficult thing for a kid. And it's really strange to me, and I'm getting more and more used to it, especially with the travel groups and the travel teams, that there are such things as PO's, because when I grew up, you know, you had to play another position, because on the roster, you only carried 12 kids, and you want to make sure that everybody got in there. So it's, I'm still trying to see the value and a pitcher only kind of thing, because I don't know in the long run, if it's better for the kids or not.

Evan 14:48

And how can a kid who is a PO train other than that one day a week where they're long tossing and going on the mound and taking a bullpen session?

Nelson 14:58

Yeah, it's They have to realize what the game schedule is, and their availability to pitch. Certain PO's are going to be kind of the the PO's that are going to pitch in the bigger games. And you know, the championship type Tournament game. So like if you get to the semifinals and the finals, there's certain PO's that are going to be used for that. In the meantime, you've got, you know, the days during the week, when you're after school, if your team doesn't practice, you have to find a way to practice and I mean, when I was a kid, we used to draw a box on a wall and work on throwing strikes, work on throwing strikes to one side of the plate or the other, cut the strike zone into quadrants and work on throwing, you know, the 1, 2, 3, 4 boxes instead of it just the one big strike zone box, you know, work on situational pitching, it's just really about preparing yourself and from a kid all the way to a major league player. We throw bullpens on our on our side-work days, and we go through, okay, this is me facing Sammy Sosa with a man on first base, how would I pitch him, me versus Sammy Sosa with a man on third and less than two outs, I know what he's trying to do, he's trying to lift the ball for a sac fly, or a home run, because Sammy Sosa swing, and I'm going to try and you know, make sure that he he hits my pitch at the bottom of the zone and tries to you know, I get them the roll it over maybe jam with a two seamer. So all those things you want to work on in between. So you kind of have to play a game with yourself to really learn how to focus and so that that moment that you're in the game, and it's actually happened, you've already played it out a few times.

Evan 16:33

I think it's also important just for visualization. And so when you do get up in that-

Nelson 16:38

don't don't show off and use big words in front of me. visualization. Yeah, I could have said that word that I said. Yeah, but that is very true. It's very true. And that's something that when we've worked together we've actually worked on right and what do I love more than anything I love when it's a group of 234 kids because then it becomes Competition. Competition is great competition to in those kinds of situations is awesome. And even where, you know, there might not be a hitter in there. But what was our competition? Well, if you didn't throw strikes, and if you walked the batter, you had situps, you had wall sets, you had planks, you got an extra minute of planks. So there's all kinds of things to work for. And competition really drives a team. So I always had you guys focus on, you know, trying to outdo each other. Because I've never been about participation trophies, those are great. But the pyramid kind of gets really narrow up at the top when it comes to getting to the next level. And if you're just happy being at the bottom of the pyramid, hey, that's great for you. But I think everybody's goal is to be that one out of you know, every 500 kids that gets chosen to go the next level. So I think there's nothing wrong with pushing yourself and pushing your teammates, right because you want the best out of them and the best for your team because that's only going to make all of you guys better.

Evan 18:00

So, nowadays, a lot of people, they look at velocity, like you said earlier, velocity is a big part of youth baseball and all the way up to the major leagues. So can you share two tips on how to increase velocity?

Nelson 18:15

There is as you get older, and as you get stronger if your mechanics are sound, it makes it easier to understand when you're trying to add velocity in your mechanics. You can't just go out there and try harder. It doesn't work that way. It's almost the negative effect. It's like going up as a hitter and saying, I'm going to hit a homerun, what usually happens, strike out right? Taking a bigger swing doesn't necessarily mean you're going to make a better contact. So the idea of is the same for pitching, right, I'm trying to increase velocity. Well, there's a school of thought where what I want to do is really get my muscles to fire in a way And we've worked on it where it's a shorter distance, and you're getting the ball to explode at the right time. Because also working on throwing strikes, it doesn't matter how hard you throw it, you can throw strikes. There's not one scout out there that says, oh, wow, this guy throws really hard, but he hasn't thrown a strike in two innings. Let's sign them. So and there's not a lot of coaches who are going to want you to play for their team, hey, yeah, he throws really hard, but he can't throw strikes. That's the biggest thing. So there's, there's a happy medium. So like everything else, you kind of push the threshold a little bit each time and that's why we start off pitching from shorter distances, right, getting those mechanics as sound as possible, exploding to the plate, releasing the ball as late as possible with as much whip in our arm as we can. So being free and easy at first and repeating that delivery and then realizing what it takes and how the body's mechanics will work and get the most out of your arm speed. You just can't. If you could teach velocity it would come in a box with The big bow on it and everybody would buy it. But you can't right. it, There's not one. There is not one website you can go to. There's not one coach that has made history and said, Every guy that's come to me throws now 95 miles an hour, there's no set formula, some people are born with it. It's about figuring out where you are in your progression and how to activate all the muscles that can get you to fire as hard as possible velocities and something that you can train for. However, that happy medium of strikes plus velocity will get you going a lot further in baseball.

Evan 20:35

So you just spoke about both them velocity and being able to locate which one's more important and why

Nelson 20:44

million times over location. Velocity affords you a mistake to stay in the ballpark. But I think we're seeing more and more. There's never been a generation of pitchers who throw harder in the game, but there's never been more home runs given up The game, right and we're seeing there's a lot more swing and Miss, and so the strikeouts are higher. So you're looking at a happy medium of velocity walks are up in the game as well. So strikeouts and walks are up in the game, home runs are up in the game. So the guys that can do both the Jacob DeGrom's of the world where it's velocity, but it's also a three, four pitches on both sides of the plate controlling the strike zone controlling the bat head to the strike zone. Nowadays, it's more of a expensive game of batting practice when you go to ball games. I mean, the poor Yankees and Red Sox went to you know, represent the United States in the game of baseball over in England right and what happened 15 to 17 was the score something like that. You had a former CY Young Award winner and Ric Porcello who got two outs and gave up nine runs. So that's not a good look for baseball in my opinion. And I think the ability to throw the ball hard is great. The ability to locate the ball where you want, how you want and which pitch you want, is much more impressive in the long run. I've seen a lot of velocity guys come and a lot of velocity guys go guys that can pitch they stay around for a while.

Evan 22:18

You know, a lot of coaches say it's important to establish the inside part of the plate and a lot of that comes with velocity. But what does that really mean?

Nelson 22:28

See, and that's what you would normally think right? Fast balls inside, the biggest thing and establishing the inside part of the plate. And it's more about in this day and age where hitters are wearing the body armor. It's not like it used to be so with the body armor, it's for their protection, but at the same time, there's also no fear for a hitter, to kind of dive out over the plate to get that pitch that used to be down in a way and then that safe spot. There outside diving so you have like smaller hitters who used to kind of hit that ball. The other way for a base hit or a blooper, they're staying in there really well, and they're diving out and they're hitting that ball for a home run to right field for the first time ever in baseball. And you have guys like the Chris Taylor's of the world who went from almost getting released by a team, to making the all star team the next year with the Dodgers they did with Max Muncie as well. And the only thing that makes sense is that they are winning the battle over the outside part of the plate what's over, the outside part of the plate, the barrel of the bat, and that's what happens. And so to make them quicken up, you have to be able to pitch inside you have to make them aware of the inside. You have to make them aware that you will go inside more than once to every fifth hitter. So that's also a lost art because pitching inside when it's just velocity. It's already documented. It's already videoed, how many times you will pitch inside they know before they know the teams especially at the major league level. They know Already, this guy will throw inside 5% of the time. And that's not a number that's nearly enough. You have to make hitters aware you have to make hitters nervous. That's part of the game. And it's not where people are all you're talking about headhunting and going after people own. That's not what I want to do. But I don't want hitters being so comfortable that they're hitting the ball. Aaron judge when he hit the 52 home runs for the rookie record. He got hit six times, the whole season six times the whole season. So what does that mean? He's a guy who's six foot seven, stands up right away from the plate and dives over the plate. And where does he hit a lot of his home runs in Yankee Stadium, right field. How can you keep letting him do that? Right? I mean, he's doing it 52 times in a season. So you got to do something to make him aware of the inside part of the plate, make it uncomfortable for him to dive out there. And it's just a lost art. And every time that someone does go inside, and they hit some One first thing is Oh, he's headhunting. He's trying to hurt somebody. We're not trying to hurt them. intimidation used to be a really cool thing. Like some of my greatest hero pitchers, Bob Gibson, and Nolan Ryan, those guys pitched inside Dave Stewart, who was one of my pitching coaches when he when he was my pitching coach in the Milwaukee Brewers, he used a word for pitching inside. When we pitch inside, we are relentless. And what he meant by that was, the pitch was either going to be inside or in the guys jersey. And there was nothing wrong with that. And he said, We don't miss over the middle of the plate, we don't miss on the inner third of the plate. When I want the ball inside, I want the ball on either the black on the outside on the inside corner, or in off the plate where it makes a guy move. It makes a guy uncomfortable. That's where we win that at bat no matter what next pitch can then be a breaking ball. If it's another fastball in, he's not ready for it. We get the week contact that we're looking for.

Evan 25:57

So mindset on the mound for pitchers is a big key to success. I'm sure you know from your baseball career. So can you walk us through the mental preparation before pitching appearance.

Nelson 26:12

Um, it's funny because some of my most favorite games, the experiences and the word that you always hear a lot is surreal, right? It's like, you're almost watching yourself, do it, it's happening. And you're not really in control of it. And that's when you're kind of in that zone where the all the reps that you do and all the thinking about mechanics goes away, and you're kind of just in the flow of the game and you're feeling like you're at your best, and you wind up having your best games. The mental preparation for someone like myself, where it wasn't my physical tools. I wasn't a guy who threw 95 Plus, I wasn't a guy who had, you know, tremendous swing and miss stuff, but I could throw any pitch at any time. That was my advantage, right? I can use all my pitches. against both hitters, it wasn't like okay, when the lefties come up, I only could throw a fastball, a change up, maybe my curveball. And then when the righties come up, I can only throw my fastball, my slider, and then my split finger, I was able to throw any pitch at any time. And so the the mental preparation was figuring out a hitter strengths and their weaknesses and seeing how my strengths matched up. So I would always kind of watch a team that I was going to pitch against. And back in my day, I know sounds old, but we used to have to go to the VCR tapes and so I would have them if there was a tape of say Greg Maddux because he didn't throw hard, he had nasty stuff but didn't throw very hard. But I would watch how he pitched to a lineup and a right hander who didn't throw 95 whoever that may be, I would watch how they pitched that same lineup, and I would see certain hitters who were aggressive. Certain hitters, I could throw my slow curveball to and check and see, you know if they could handle that certain hitters, I could try and move the ball around there was certain hitters, you know, you had the pitch up in the zone down a zone. So there was a, almost like a trial and error the first time through the lineup, right? And you just didn't want to get yourself into trouble. So it was get ahead. It's the same thing we say to you guys all the time. get ahead, stay ahead and then put them away with your pitch. That's the mental approach, I think and it doesn't matter who the hitter is. Because at your level, you don't know everything about every hitter, right? You don't know which kids swing the bat well or who doesn't. You don't know which ones can hit a breaking ball or change up. What I know is that I know if I put my pitch in my location, it's my best chance to get it out. And every pitch I throw is to get an out. As I get two strikes that I can get in have some fun and try and put them away with a strikeout, but up until that point I'm Trying to let go every single pitch as if if they put it in play. It's weak contact and we can get an out.

Evan 29:05

So pitching a lot of it isn't just the strikeouts, but it's also just getting outs. So that's how you sort of stay in the game.

Nelson 29:12

Yeah. Oh gosh. So you especially these days, right, everybody's looking at pitch counts and even Major League pitchers aren't going very much over 100 pitches, how can I maximize that time I'm out there and in Major League Baseball, it's a little different because they are really kind of stuck on now. The new theory is two times through the lineup and then let's go to the bullpen and then you see what happens to a bullpen kind of like Milwaukee's bullpen, they get burnt out before they get to where they're trying to go in the playoffs. It's 162 is a totally different number than for youth baseball. But even for youth baseball, what you want to be able to do is I want to show that I can pitch three times through a lineup I want to show I can get every guy out over and over again. I want to show that when the game is on the line I want to be the guy out there with the ball in my hand. And so that, to me is the biggest thing is to be there. If I start the game, I want to see if I can end the game.

Evan 30:09

That's that's a cool mindset going just knowing you, you could almost rely on yourself.

Nelson 30:16

Yeah. And it's funny because as I get through the game, and you guys play seven innings, right? When you get to get through the first five, and there's only two more innings left, well, I would kind of flip my mind switch on to be like, I'm my best reliever right now. So I go into my reliever mode. I go into the What do I know about this guy, I got him out two times before with this pitch and that pitch he has still hasn't seen my best pitch might be my changeup. I'm gonna save that and use it when I need learning to be efficient. Right efficiency is awesome as well, because velocity doesn't matter if you're 30 pitches in the first inning, you're probably not going to go very long in that game, right? So efficiency if I can get every hitter out in three pitches or less, then I'm going to be most likely in the seventh inning before anything is really happening and the team is the other team is down and my team has had a chance to put some runs on the board and I'm putting myself in a good position for a win.

Evan 31:15

Yep. So you talked about Greg Maddux earlier. And one of his quotes are the best pitchers have a short term memory and bulletproof confidence.

Nelson 31:27

Yes.

Evan 31:28

What can a pitcher or player do at really any level to have a short term memory and bullet proof confidence?

Nelson 31:35

Um, it's it's really difficult as you're getting older, and you're no longer batting seven 800 right for a hitter, you no longer batting seven 800 and you that confidence gets shaken a little bit. And for a youth pitcher, as you're getting older, you're trying to get more and more outs and you're here how good Kids at the next level, are right, I only give up three hits in my coach took me out of a game. Really, oh my god, I give up three hits in one inning. And you know, I still pitched a pretty good game. It's learning how to deal with failure. And that short term memory is huge. Because you can't change what happened, right? But you can learn from those experiences. And so that's one of the things I preach. And I asked you, you know, early on and your pitching career, that pitching journal right?

Evan 31:46

Yeah,

Nelson 31:47

because you want to learn from those things. Now, am I gonna be in you know, I pitch two weeks ago against this team. And I haven't really pitched that much since then. But the next time I go out there Am I going to be still dwelling about what I did poorly. I try and always look for the silver lining in everything because I want to take up as many positives as possible and learn from my mistakes. But if I can take those positives and build on those, than I'm constantly just kind of putting myself in my mindset in To what I can control. How many times are do we talk about you make a great pitch kid makes an error. What did you do wrong? Why should you get affected that way? Why are you getting upset? Why are you now not able to focus on making the next pitch? You did everything you were supposed to do. Shake it off. I actually try and pick up the guy who just made an error. Let him know. Okay, I'm gonna get you another ground ball right here. Be ready. Because I want him to have his mind. Forgot about the error already. I'm ready for the next ball. And if he gets a double play, man, that's awesome feeling right?

Evan 33:35

Yeah. And anytime where you make an error, it's just to know, be ready for the next one. Just how baseball works. The next one might be coming to you.

Nelson 33:44

And like you said, it's for position players and for hitters because it seems like there's more of an opportunity, right? Because as a hitter, you make out seven out of 10 times you're still an all star batting 300 for pitching if you threw seven out of 10 were balls That's not good. So it's a different dynamic. So what we talk about with failure is maybe you do give up a home run to the team's best hitter. But then you realize after the game, I didn't even have to face him. I had first base open, I could have thrown him, you know, pitches that he could have swung and missed that. Instead, I threw him a first pitch fastball, and he hit a homerun. You don't always have to get everyone out.

Evan 33:52

Yeah,

Nelson 34:09

but get out the guys that you feel like you can get out. Some of the guys are going to be really, really good. I'm not condoning pitching around guys. But situational pitching, smart pitching. That's something that you learn as you get older.

Evan 34:43

Thank you all for listening in. We really hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to hit the subscribe button and be the first to know when new episodes launch. Check us out at borntobaseball.com for free resources and new gear. Download the Born To Baseball app to have real time conversations, share your game and video highlights and be celebrated by our BTB team and of course on social media @borntobaseball where we can connect live. Now, let's play ball.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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