Texas Baseball Ranch October/November 2019

RANCH REVIEW THE

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019

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THE INTERNATIONAL REACH OF THE TEXAS BASEBALL RANCH

First, it was off to Auckland, New Zealand. Next, it was Riccione, Italy. Then, it was Budapest, Hungary. The Texas Baseball Ranch is transformational. Its worldwide allure is in its unique systems and exceptional instructors. The Ranch processes are career- altering. They are life-changing. No one else approaches what we do for young pitchers at the Texas Baseball Ranch. Our training processes have positively changed the careers of Justin Verlander, Scott Kazmir, Barry Zito, Trevor Bauer, Chien- Ming Wang, Erik Johnson, Robert Dugger, Colin Poche, and hundreds of other young men.

Every year for the past six years, we have taken trips abroad to Europe and around the world. These trips have created lifelong friendships and wonderful bonds with athletes and coaches of 17 (and counting) different countries. The game of baseball is an amazing connector. I tell my wife Jill frequently that I can’t believe what the game of baseball has done for two small- town, western-Nebraska kids.

Stay curious and keep fighting the good fight,

–Coach Wolforth

410 attendees throwing > 90 mph

140 attendees throwing > 94 mph

20 attendees throwing > 100 mph

121 attendees drafted by MLB

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‘PITCHING WITH CONFIDENCE’

To get your own copy of this best-selling book, go to Amazon.com and search “Pitching with Confidence.”

The official release of Coach Wolforth’s book

“Pitching with Confidence: A Parent’s Guide to Giving Your Elite Pitcher an Edge” took place in October, and the book reached No. 1 on Amazon Kindle in two different categories, baseball coaching and baseball.

This book is a compilation of the most common baseball pitching questions Coach

Wolforth has received over the past decade and his practical and helpful answers. It includes topics like the following:

The Truth About Pitch Counts The Truth About Throwing Curveballs The Truth About College Scholarships

The Truth About Mechanics The Truth About Showcases …

And much more!

TOO BUSY TO WORK OUT?

5 Simple Ways to Stay Active

REDUCE TV TIME. It can be tempting to plop down in front of the television after a long day at work or after dinner, but you can also use this time to be active. Get the family together for a walk around the neighborhood, take a few minutes to dance to some of your favorite tunes, or do some light cleaning around the house. PUT A SPIN ON DATE NIGHT. Forget dinner and a movie. Instead, try taking your date out for a round of miniature golf, indoor rock climbing, an evening stroll, a bike ride, or dancing. You’ll have more fun while doing your body good. GRAB A LEASH. Having a dog gives you plenty of opportunities to stay active. If you don’t have a dog, try asking a neighbor or friend if they would like their dog walked, start a dog-walking service, or volunteer at a local animal shelter. There are plenty of ways to make staying active a part of your daily routine! With enough creativity and motivation, you can turn any activity into an active one.

Being active doesn’t have to mean going to the gym every single day. An active lifestyle can be as simple as going for a walk around the neighborhood for a few minutes a day. There are plenty of ways to exercise during daily activities like shopping, spending time with your kids, or hanging around the house. PARK FARTHER AWAY. A lot of people will spend several minutes trying to find a parking space as close as they can to the entrance of a store. However, parking a little farther away will help you score a better parking space and make sure you get your steps in for the day.

DO SOME YOGA. You don’t have to push yourself to your absolute limit in order to stay active. There are other, gentler ways to exercise than running 5 miles a day. Tai chi or yoga are excellent low- impact alternatives to keep your body fit and healthy.

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THE TRUTH ABOUT COMMAND How to Nail Down Accuracy

Their movement patterns are clearly FAR from having the classic golf swings of Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus.

To put it simply, honing great command is primarily about developing a repeatable

The answer is thousands of hours of practice and a ridiculous amount of time banging range balls to shape their craft. Through repetition and trial and error, they developed a pattern that worked. It wasn’t necessarily “pretty” or “classic,” but it was effective. If that doesn’t spell it out, let’s take a look at an example from baseball. Juan Marichal and Dan Quisenberry are two of the all-time best in MLB history with regard to giving up the fewest walks per nine innings. In other words, their control and accuracy, or command, is exceptional. Yet, neither one of them are anywhere close to what would be considered by most in baseball as having classic or textbook mechanics. Furthermore, if you look closely, they are both right-handed and are not only far from classic, but also almost opposites of each other.

movement pattern. One builds a repeatable movement pattern ONLY by good old-fashioned deliberate practice and lots of it. Command, control, and accuracy are not techniques. Many in baseball would have you believe you can only have command with “good mechanics.” To think about command as a result of mechanics is flawed. I think that through real-life examples you will see why

narrowing down human movement patterns into an “ideal” movement model is not an exact science to say the least. Personally, I believe it’s a waste of time. In golf, control matters even more than it does on the mound. So, how do we explain how three of the greatest golfers of all time,

How did these legends develop hall of fame command while keeping their unique throwing motions?

The answer — much like with Furyk, Trevino, and Palmer — is countless hours spent throwing balls and perfecting their own personal throwing motions.

The bottom line: If you want great command, you need to practice, practice, and practice some more.

Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, and Jim Furyk have become top performers?

UPCOMING RANCH EVENTS ELITE PITCHERS BOOT CAMPS

THIS MONTH IN BASEBALL HISTORY Ending the Ultimate Dry Spell This is recent history worth recounting. On Nov. 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series title in 108 years against the Cleveland Indians, in a feat often hailed as one of the greatest games in history. The Cubs crawled back from a 3-1 game deficit when it seemed like Cleveland was going to dominate. But Game 7 was a nail-biter from start to finish. The Cubs hit a lead-off homer, and the Indians tied the score in the third. Chicago scored twice in the fourth, then hit two homers to build their lead. Cleveland trailed 6-4 with two outs in the eighth. But they homered to tie again, sending the game into extra innings, where Ben Zobrist put the Cubs ahead with a double. Cleveland scored a run in the bottom of the 10th, but it wasn’t enough. Zobrist was named World Series MVP, and the Cubs finally broke their 108-year dry spell.

Nov. 23–25 Dec. 27–29

Jan. 11–12: Alumni Camp Jan. 18–20

ULTIMATE PITCHING COACHES BOOT CAMP, 20TH ANNIVERSARY Dec. 5–8 ELITE CATCHERS BOOT CAMP – INAUGURAL EVENT Dec. 14–15 OUTSIDE CAMPS Nov. 15–17: Fastball USA Clinic, Chicago, IL

For more information, go to TexasBaseballRanch.com/events.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR OATES SPECIALTIES! EQUIPMENT PROVIDER,

www.OatesSpecialties. com/Durathro

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www.texasbaseballranch.com 5451 Honea-Egypt Road Montgomery, TX 77316

The International Reach of the Texas Baseball Ranch PAGE 1 (936) 588-6762 INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Get Your Own Copy of This Best-Selling Book PAGE 2 Simple Ways to Stay Active PAGE 2 The Truth About Command PAGE 3

How the Cubs Made History PAGE 3

Reggie ‘Mr. October’ Jackson’s Legendary Game HOW’S THAT FOR ODDS?

“I feel that the most important requirement in success is learning to overcome failure. You must learn to tolerate it, but never accept it.” –Reggie Jackson Some people shine brightest in the spotlight. When put to the test, they deliver every time. Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson is one of those people. During the sixth game of the 1977 World Series, Jackson hit three home runs in a row, securing the Yankees’ victory over the Dodgers and winning them their 21st World Series title. The legendary playoff game also earned Jackson the nickname “Mr. October,” which has stuck to this day. Like many stories of greatness, Jackson’s featured a lot of hard work behind the scenes. He dedicated

himself to his sport and constantly worked to improve his play. Growing up, Jackson played baseball, basketball, and football and excelled at all three, though football was his strong suit. He was scouted and given opportunities to go pro straight out of high school, but, on the advice of his father, he went to college on a football scholarship. Thanks to a $5 bet, he tried out for the

baseball team at Arizona State University and made it. Jackson was the first black person on the team, and, even though he experienced discrimination, he never let it stop him.

From the minor leagues into the majors, Jackson’s ambition got him through many tough times, as did the constant support of his father and of Oakland A’s manager John McNamara. Jackson always dreamed of playing for New York, and, eventually, his dream came true when he signed with the New York Yankees in 1976. To this day, Jackson holds many prominent records, including being the first player to earn more than 100 home runs for three different teams (the A’s, Yankees, and Angels). He even has his own candy bar, the “Reggie! Bar,” which debuted during a Yankees game in 1978. Let’s see if any of this year’s playoff games stir up as much excitement as Reggie Jackson’s did in his heyday.

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