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And with the 20th pick in the first round, the Oakland Athletics select… Richie Martin, shortstop, University of Florida.

Want to know what it takes to be a first round draft pick?

I’ll tell you what I know about Richie Martin.

I have known Richie and his father for about 12 years. He grew up right here in Valrico, FL in the suburbs of Tampa.

When my 3 boys were growing up, we were Little League park rats.

Every free minute of our time was spent at the local Little League ball park.
Almost every day we were there… playing in games or practicing — throwing, fielding grounders, hitting in the cages.

I mean, we were there a lot…

A whole lot.

And I can tell you with the utmost certainty that I cannot recall a single time when my kids and I were at that park that we did not see Richie Martin and his Dad, Richard.

They were ALWAYS there… in a cage in the corner of the park, toiling away, building the talent that would later get Richie drafted for a hefty signing bonus

Richie’s talent did not happen by accident.
He and his father built that talent through daily sweat and sacrifice.

It wasn’t always peaches and cream for Richie.

There were times during his youth and high school years when he struggled.
But he always kept grinding. He and his father had patient confidence, knowing that if they just kept working… if they just kept executing their process every single day, things would turn out ok.

And last Monday afternoon, they did.

Funny Story:

When Richie was 10 years old, I helped coach the Little League All Star team he led to the Florida state championship game. Richie was a talented, quiet, and well-mannered boy who spoke in a soft child-like voice most of the time.

In the District semifinal, Richie was pitching for us and was having some trouble finding the strike zone. We had scored 3 runs in the top of the first, but in the bottom of the inning, Richie hit a guy, walked a few batters and gave up 2 runs. When the inning ended, I noticed Richie standing in the corner of the dugout facing the field with his face very close to the fence. His head was down and he was crying. It was a very tense moment.

I walked up behind him and asked, “Richie? How are you doing?”
Through his tears and breathless sobs, still facing the field, he said, “I don’t want to pitch any more, coach.”

My head began to spin as I thought, “Oh crap! This team we are playing is really good. If we’re going to have any chance of winning, Richie is going to have to pull it together.”

So I hugged him from behind, and whispered, “I understand, buddy. This is a lot to ask of a 10 year-old boy. How about if I make a deal with you? We don’t need you to pitch the whole game (we really did). We just need you to pitch some of it. In fact we really only need you to make one more pitch. You go out there next inning, and you make one pitch for us. After that, if you still don’t want to pitch, I’ll tell Coach Bullara (the head coach) to come and get you and we’ll let someone else try. OK?”

He turned around, wiped his eyes, and took a deep breath. His sobbing stopped and in the sweetest little voice he said, “Ok coach, I’ll try one pitch.”

When our half of the inning ended and we took the field, I quietly said a prayer. “Dear God, I don’t ask much of you during these games, but if you could see fit to help Richie make this first pitch a strike, I would really appreciate it.”

After a few shaky warm up pitches, the umpire signaled to resume play. The batter dug in and Richie took a deep breath.

He wound up and fired the most beautiful fastball I had ever seen.

Right down the middle of the plate!

The umpire raised his right arm and yelled, “Steeerike One!”

My eyes welled with tears as I marveled at the courage of this shy little boy who, in the face of genuine fear had made the decision to try one more pitch.

I immediately raised my hands over my head, looked up and silently thanked God.

I smiled when Richie looked into the dugout. We made eye contact, and Richie’s eyes lit up. I pointed to head coach Rob Bullara and mouthed to Richie, “You want me to send him out?”

Now grinning ear to ear, Richie shook his head and gave me a thumbs-up.
Reading his lips through my own now watery eyes, I could see him say, “I got this.”

Richie went on to pitch the rest of the game and we won it going away.
The next day we won the championship game beating White Sox 2013 second rounder (my 4th son). Tyler Danish by a score of 2-1 on the locally famous “Bucket Head Play” (I’ll tell you all about that some other time).

You see, many people buy into the myth that talent is born and not developed. Well I can tell you for sure that in the case of Richie Martin, I have witnessed from afar the process by which talent is developed, and I couldn’t be happier for one of the finest families I have ever known.

So do you really want to know how you get a multi-million dollar first round signing bonus?

YOU EARN IT!

If you’re ready to earn your own future success, it’s time to get to The ARMory.

We have 32 pitchers from all over the country that have joined us for our Summer Rocketeer Training Program – the most comprehensive pitcher training plan ever assembled. Most are college guys, but there are a handful of high school pitchers blending in too.

It starts with Lisa Church’s Rocket Fuel Nutrition Planning.
The Rocketeers are consuming thousands of healthy calories to fuel all the hard work they’re putting in.

They are working tirelessly 5 days per week cleaning up movement patterns, and building fast twitch power with our Superhuman Training System. They are adding velocity, locking in command, and learning the intricacies of spin rate and approach angle.

Every day, they spend an hour working on arm care, wrist weights, mobility exercises, and then they log an hour of Matt Abramson’s ARMory Strong (weightlifting for baseball players).

As if that’s not enough, dozens are signing up for Broga (yoga for dudes), and Hardcore Fusion (glutes, core and scaps) classes.

Many of them are even taking advantage of Laura Denovi’s Sports Massage and Active Tissue Release and Dr. Tom Hanson’s mental game conditioning.

THEY ARE BUILDING TALENT!

Are you tired of getting the same old results from your training plan?

Really! Do you even have a training plan for the summer?

Are you ready to start building the talent that will allow you to achieve greatness beyond your wildest dreams?

Then pick up the phone and call Amy at 813-655-3342 and get to the ARMory for The 2015 Rocketeer Summer Training Program. We can prorate the cost for the 7 weeks left in the program, and you’ll catch up to the other guys in no time.

By the way…

On the 3rd day of the draft two ARMory students, Kevin Kelleher and Dylan Barrow realized life long dreams. Kevin was picked in the 12th round by the Red Sox, and Dylan went to the White Sox in the 23rd. Both of these guys’ stories are living proof that underdogs can make it, and that if you refuse to give up, you can achieve your dreams.

I’ll be telling you all about Kevin and Dylan later this week.

Until then,

Make your move.

Call us at 813-655-3342 and get registered.

Regards,

Randy