Watch Out for Tiger Country: 97 mph Pitcher… Massive Shoulder Blowout
Last week I scrubbed in to surgery with Tampa Bay Rays Team doctor, Koco Eaton to observe one of the most amazing surgical performances I have ever seen. The patient was a college pitcher named Zach. He is a former JUCO guy from Arizona who had previously topped out at 97 mph and currently has a scholarship to a division 1 school.
I first met Zach about 2 weeks into our Summer Program after his mother had called me and said he was ready to eject from the Jayhawk summer league because...
This Is What It’s All About.
If being a baseball coach and instructor was only about teaching baseball, I wouldn't do it.
Recently, I was totally blind-sided by something I truly didn’t see coming.
Let me tell you the story of Danny Muniz.
Danny is a rising college sophomore from the Miami area. He’s a right-handed pitcher who upon graduation from high school was topping at a whopping 82 mph. Not willing to give up on his dream of playing college baseball, he accepted a scholarship to an NAIA school in...
Quintin Time!! Quintin Time!: Another Arm Pain Case Study
Quintin Pile has a new arm and a new walkout "song" for his next season with the Wofford College Terriers.
Picture this: The coach makes a visit to the mound and motions for right hander out of the bullpen. The anxious crowd cranes their necks to get a glimpse of the bullpen gate. Just before it opens, the public address system blares this: Quintin Time!! Quintin Time!
Last winter we worked with one of Quintin's teammates, a Senior righty named Connell Anderson who was operating on the last...
The Dangers Of Training Corruption
More Is Just More:
Last weekend I flew to Houston to help Coach Ron Wolforth at The Texas Baseball Ranch with a 3 day Elite Pitchers Boot Camp. I am honored to be a member of the staff at a place where instructors and students are free to innovate and experiment to find better ways to learn and to teach throwing. They pay me to help them, but I would do it for free just to experience my favorite part of every camp – Julio’s Mexican Grill (Formerly Rico's Hacienda)!
The camps begin at...
Welcome to Pitching Coaches Anonymous
My name is Randy Sullivan.
I’m pitching coach.
And I am a confirmed talkaholic.
I’ve wasted too many coaching years telling kids how to do things, then telling them how to do them better. I have coached some amazing kids over the years and, thank goodness, many of them have survived, and even thrived, despite my “assistance”.
You see, in the past 5-7 years, I have come to learn that in the science of motor learning and human performance, the words get in the way. Very few...
Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
Two mornings ago it rained in Tampa Bay.
Yeah...
I can hear everyone who's ever been to Fort Myers or Disney for tournaments during the summer:
“Rain in Tampa Bay? Shocker.”
I agree, but to have a rainstorm in the morning, especially this time of year is unusual. In the summer, I check the forecast every day. In the spring, not so much.
So this time I was totally caught off guard.
I woke up at 7:30 am to the sound of raindrops on the bedroom window and suddenly...
The Island of Misfit Pitchers
When I was a kid (back when we did our homework on stone tablets) there were no DVDs or Netflix, and we only got 3 stations on TV. One of my favorite parts about the Christmas season were the holiday cartoon shows. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was a classic, and I loved “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.
But my personal favorite was “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. One of my favorite parts was when Clarice told Rudolph he was cute. He danced...
Cankles Are For The Dogs!
Happy Monday after Thanksgiving!
Every year, on Thanksgiving Day I have one job… ONE JOB.
Keep Kathy happy and as stress free as possible in the kitchen.
I wake up when I hear her start rustling pots and pans and quickly assume my role as kitchen steward/porter. I’m sort of the “bar back” of the process. Every time she finishes with a mixing bowl or a utensil, I scarf it up, wash it, dry it, and get it back into play as quickly as possible.
I’m pretty sure I washed this one big...
Amateur Gunslingers: A Dying Breed? Let’s Hope So
In the old Wild West days, if a town had a problem with a gang of outlaws, they often hired paid gunslingers to come in and take care of their dirty business. Many times, however, when the actual bullets started flying, these hired mercenaries with no vested interest in the outcome failed to deliver the desired results. The towns would have been better served to gather a few of the bravest among them, train them on the details of the mission, and let them make a stand to protect those they love...