Dear Baseball Gods,

Host families, hotels, training room floors, dorm rooms, crowded one-bedroom apartments shared by five teammates? Yep, that’s life on the road. I share some stories from my time living with host families, with a hoarder, sleeping in the clubhouse and spending my summer on an air mattress. Tune in for the real story of the […] The post EP11 – Places I Slept appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

Kevin Vance returns to the show to talk spin rate and how it affects a pitcher’s arsenal, approach, and ability to get hitters out. We discuss best practices in teaching pitchers to pitch and share stories about how each of us pitched based on our spin rate. We also talked about pitch tunneling, sabermetrics and […] The post EP10 – Spin Rate and Advanced Pitching With Kevin Vance appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

Mike Reinold, one of the world’s experts on pitching injuries and performance, joins us to share some stories from his time as the Athletic Trainer for the Boston Red Sox. Does the public really know what’s going on with Major Leaguers when they take the field? What do guys at the Big League Level do […] The post EP09 – Mike Reinold Shares Big League Stories and Weighted Ball Research appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

Mitch Osnowitz, current minor league pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, joins us to discuss his big arm and how it has transformed his career. Upon not hearing his name called in the MLB draft, Mitch went to a tryout. A scout asked him to pitch, and he promptly threw 96mph off the mound. Since then, Mitch […] The post EP08 – When You Throw 99mph, They Make You a Pitcher appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

Matt Zielinski has played in the Frontier League, Atlantic League, Italian Baseball League, and the winter leagues of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Listen in as he explains how he made his way from a high school in Pennsylvania to a Division-I University, and then came back from injuries to pitch professionally in […] The post EP07 – Matt Zielinski: Pennsylvania To The Dominican, and Back: appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

Former Division-I baseball player, Tom Meaney, comes on the show to discuss the parallel between sports and business. We talk about why motivational books are often useless, why New York bagels are so great, and discuss the qualities that athletes possess that prepare them well for “the real world.” Are on-field skills helping athletes achieve more in […] The post EP06 – Sports and Business: How They Relate appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

Dan has had Tommy John surgery twice, and he takes 10 popular questions in this Q&A episode of the Dear Baseball Gods Podcast. He tackles popular myths, fears and concerns, layered with a large dose of his stories, experience and wisdom on recovering well, avoiding Tommy John surgery altogether, and on keeping youth pitchers healthy. The post EP05 – Tommy John Surgery: Your Questions, Answered. appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

It took me a long time, but doing things the right way, over time, eventually made me into a respected athlete who led by example. A handful of stories illustrate how I grew into my sport, and developed an improved ability to lead. Developing leadership qualities took time, and it took me rising to challenges, sometimes […] The post EP04 – Developing Leadership Qualities As You Grow Up appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

In this episode, we are joined by current University of Rhode Island pitching coach, and former minor league pitcher, Kevin Vance. Listen in as we discuss the deeper side of baseball: transitioning into coaching following retirement, dealing with failure and slumps, what it’s like to be “filler” within an MLB organization, how draft round and […] The post EP03 – With Kevin Vance – Baseball Isn’t Fair, and If You Don’t Like It, Play Better appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

In this episode, Dan tells the story of how he broke into professional baseball. After finishing his college career undrafted and recovering from Tommy John surgery, finding a team to take a chance on him was difficult. Listen in as he reveals how networking, professionalism and seized opportunities helped him get his foot in the […] The post EP02 – How I Forced My Way Into Pro Baseball appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

This story starts on the day of a major crossroads in my career: Undergo a second Tommy John surgery, or hang up my cleats. The post EP01 – The Day I Blew Out My Elbow appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.

In this introduction, I discuss who the “Baseball Gods” are, and why they’re a theme of this show. Dear Baseball Gods is show that will tell the stories of no-name players (myself included) who did big things in sports, but never quite made it into household names. There’s a lot of hard work, talent, resolve and luck […] The post INTRO – What is Dear Baseball Gods? appeared first on Coach Dan Blewett.