Baseball Brilliance Podcast: How To Survive & Thrive in the World of Professional Baseball

Today is the Path Through Pro Ball episode with Justin Byrd - a current starting outfielder for the St. Paul Saints of the American Association of Independent Baseball.

This episode was recorded in the back in March, at the time of the recording Byrd was getting ready to play for the Texas Airhogs (also of the American Association of Independent Baseball). 

A short while later, the Airhogs' season would, unfortunately, be canceled due to the effects of COVID19 - leaving Bryd as a free agent. But his free agency didn't last long as the St. Paul Saints were sure t scoop him up and got themself an awesome ballplayer, and an even better human being.

Justin Byrd and your co-host, Aaron Brill, met during the 2019 season as members of opposing teams but eventually end up being teammates at the end of that same season.

It was during the time as teammates Brill saw just how special of a guy Byrd is - from his work ethic and sheer talent, down to how he treats those around him. Justin Bryd is absolutely someone you need to take the time to learn from.

So turn the volume up and listen carefully to learn from Byrd's:

• Grind Story about the level of perseverance you need to stick around professional baseball (this man lived in a tent for 2 weeks while waiting to get housing during the season!) 
• Covering The Bases on how you can handle your baseball career, which Justin says starts with being a quality person.
• And his Inside the Clubhouse look at how he learned there are a TON of talented ballplayers out there and how grateful you should be for the opportunity to play professional baseball if you ever get the chance.

Make sure you tune in next Monday, August 17th, for the next episode of the Baseball Brilliance Podcast.

Until then, we'll catch you next time.

Links From Today's Show & Full Show Notes Coming Soon

Today's episode is another installment of the Hit and Run segment of the Baseball Brilliance Podcast.

As a reminder, Hit and Run episodes are shorter episodes that take a deep into one specific topic by one of your co-hosts - Joe Torre or Aaron Brill. 

Today's Hit and Run is led by Aaron Brill on the topic of Sleep Optimization; Aaron and Joe briefly discussed this topic a little while back during an Instagram Live Q+A session which had a ton of interest so they decided to dive in deeper for you.

Aaron shares his notes on the subject which he gained from reading the book 'Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker, PhD (click to get your own copy), then the show wraps up with some follow-up questions from Joe.

Click here to see an Instagram post from @Baseball_Brilliance on the topic of Sleep Optimization and how it can improve your athletic performance.

Full Show Notes Coming Soon

Today is the Path Through Pro Ball with Chad Rhoades, a former pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization, and then pitching coach in the Miami Marlins organization.

Chad truly has a unique perspective and journey through professional baseball - once you start listening, you are hooked! You can't help but get locked into how approaches baseball and life, all-in, all the time. Although, even Chad himself admits that he had to learn how to tone himself down at times to truly get the best results.

So turn the volume up and listen carefully to learn from Rhoades':

• Grind Story about the sacrifices you need to be willing to make if you're serious about your baseball career.
• Covering The Bases on how you can figure out who you are as a player. 
• And his Inside the Clubhouse look at what it truly means to be a "baseball ballplayer."

Please keep in mind this episode was recorded in the back in March, so developments such as the Minor League Baseball season being canceled for 2020 are not addressed in this episode.

Make sure you tune in next Monday, August 3rd, for the next episode of the Baseball Brilliance Podcast, in which we will be doing the fourth installment of our Hit & Run segment on a topic that is scientifically proven to help with recovery and improve overall athletic performance.

Until then, we'll catch you next time.

Links From Today's Show & Full Show Notes Coming Soon

Today's episode is the Path Through Pro Ball with Mike Pinto, current Manager for the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League.  

Apologies for this episode running a bit longer than usual, but we just could not stop listening to Mike Pinto! He truly provided us with a unique point of view stemming from his experience as a Corporate Motivational Speaker for Fortune 500 Companies, a drummer, and of course his impressive resume as a Manager in Professional Baseball for the last 15 years.

So chop this episode into little pieces, or just set aside an hour to take it all in - either way just make sure you listen carefully to learn from Pinto's:

• Grind Story about taking advantage of the opportunities presented to you.
• Covering The Bases on how you can handle your baseball career (and life) life a professional. 
• And his Inside the Clubhouse look at what he calls 'The 5 Stages of the Independent League Player'.

Please keep in mind this episode was recorded in the back in March, so developments such as the Souther Illinois Miner's season being canceled for 2020 are not addressed in this episode.

Make sure you tune in next Monday, July 27th, for the next episode of Baseball Brilliance, in which we will be doing the Path Through Pro Ball for former Pitching Coach for the Miami Marlins Organization.

Until then, we'll catch you next time.

Links From Today's Show & Full Show Notes Coming Soon

Today's episode is the first installment of the new Pro Style Tools & Knowledge segment of the Baseball Brilliance Podcast.

Providing you with access to the tools and knowledge utilized by the Professional Ballplayers is the foundation for not only this show but the Baseball Brilliance brand as a whole.

With that, your co-hosts, Aaron and Joe, look to regularly bring you these stand-alone episodes of compact lists of training tools, books, physical therapy techniques, mindsets, and more that you can start implementing into your baseball career ASAP.

You will also be able to hear more Pro Style Tools & Knowledge suggestions from our future guests, as we will be asking them to give us an example of their own Pro Style Tool at the end of our regular three questions in Path Through Pro Ball episodes.

Click here If you would like to see a visual that goes along with this episode and links to all the Pro Style Tools & Knowledge suggestions mentioned.

Full Show Notes Coming Soon

Today's episode is the Path Through Pro Ball with Dennis Pelfrey, Current Manager for the San Jose Giants of the San Francisco Giants organization.  
Listen carefully to learn from Pelfrey's:

• Grind Story that embodies the life of professional baseball as both a player and manager. 
• Covering The Bases, or what Pelf likes to refer to as Mental Mapping, to survive & thrive in pro ball. 
• And his Inside the Clubhouse look at what you can expect once you get inside in a professional clubhouse. 

Please keep in mind this episode was recorded in the back in March, so developments such as the MiLB season being canceled are not addressed in this episode.
Make sure you tune in next Monday, July 13th, for the next episode of Baseball Brilliance, in which we will be introducing a brand new segment to the show!
Until then, we'll catch you next time.
* If you haven't listened to Episode 2 with Greg Tagert, I highly recommended you do as Tagert and his Path Through Pro Ball Episode are referenced throughout this episode.

Links From Today's Show & Full Show Notes Coming Soon

Welcome back after a quick turn around from the premiere of Season 2 - today, we have the very first Path Through Pro Ball episode with a guest.

As seen in the title, today's guest is Greg Tagert - a 25-year Manager in Professional Baseball and the current Manager for the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

Listen in to hear Tagert take us through his Grind Story that epitomizes the lifestyle of professional baseball, his Covering The Bases advice to survive & thrive in professional baseball, & his Inside the Clubhouse look at a common misconception about professional baseball.

Make sure you tune in next week, on July 7th, to hear the next Path Through Pro Ball episode with a new guest (another current Manager in Professional Baseball - affiliated ball this time).

Enjoy!

* If you haven't listened to Episode 1 from Friday the 26th, I highly recommend you do as it will give you some context for this episode and the rest of Season 2.

** And if you haven't listened to Season 1 yet, what are you waiting for?!?🤦‍♂️


Links From Today's Show & Full Show Notes Coming Soon

After a 2-week break, co-host Joe and Aaron are back with a new Go Find Yourself Friday (GFYF) episode.

If you aren't familiar with GFYF, then I highly encourage you to go back to Season 1 - Episode 4 to get a taste of what you can expect. But as a reminder, essentially, GFYF is where we let Joe Torre go off on whatever is gnawing at him lately.

Please keep in mind this episode was recorded back in March when we weren't nearly as deep into the Coronavirus Pandemic, so anything said about this topic is in reference to what was known at the time of recording.

Be sure to tune in on Monday the 29th for Episode 2 of Season 2 - our first episode with a guest! He's been managing in Professional Baseball for over 25 years so you're definitely not going to want to miss this one!

Links from Today's Show & Full Show Notes Coming Soon

This is Joe's first installment of our Hit and Run episodes, in which he speaks his mind a little bit on why you need to do your research and looking things up - Enjoy!

Click Here For Links From Today's Show & Full Show Notes

This is the second installment of our Hit and Run episodes, which are meant to be quick and to the point on a single subject - hit you with the message and run.

With that said, enjoy this quick insight into the motivation behind the creation of Baseball Brilliance by Aaron Brill.

Click Here For The Full Show Notes