From Phenom To The Farm

As data filters throughout all levels of the game, some can forget the it's still a game played by human beings. Bob Tewksbury joins to talk the nerves, insecurities and anxieties facing pro baseball players today. Talking points include...

• 80's minor league lifestyle stories.
• Trying to fit in as a rookie on the 1986 Yankees with future HOFers and Lou Pinella managing.
• Pitching against future HOFers in the All Star Game. 
• Pitching in a year with a labor strike.
• The job of a veteran on a bad team. 

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Thanks to Gift Ngoepe for joining the show! Discussion points include...

• Growing up quite literally living at a baseball field in South Africa
• Being beaten down by the heat and workload of the GCL in his first pro season
• Frustration of his glove being big-league ready but his bat struggling to catch up
• Losing his mother during his first AA season
• Becoming the first player from the continent of Africa to reach the show.

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Ty Kelly is our latest guest! Among the talking points...

• The art of being a utilityman
• Making a good decision to transfer after his freshman year
• Tough living and eating conditions in the minors
• Getting the call after a long wait in the minors
• Playing in the WBC for Team Israel
• His work with Advocates for Minor Leaguers

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Today's episode features Brandon Wood, the one-time mega-prospect with the Angels whose career fizzled in the majors. Our wide-ranging conversation talks...

• Coming to terms with the word 'bust'
• Coping with anxiety
• Finding his love for baseball again
• Being recruited by Augie Garrido
• Passing on tough lessons learned to a younger generation

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A.J. Achter was a cold-weather school 46th-rounder with a dream. That dream, making it to the big leagues, was eventually realized, but the road traveled wasn't easy. In our latest episode, Achter talks...

• How to succeed in cold-weather baseball.
• His mentality to make it to the bigs as a 46th round pick
• Valuable Arizona Fall League experience
• The day-to-day life of a MLB reliever
• Life on the fringe of a big league roster
• Relating his experiences to his college coaching

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One of Minor League Baseball's best personalities, Tim Dillard, is the latest guest on From Phenom To The Farm. Among the talking points...

- Life as a draft-and-follow in junior college

- Facing childhood heroes (Mike Piazza and Chipper Jones) as a minor leaguer

- Dealing with the shuffle between AAA and the big leagues

- The mental hurdle of switching to sidearming

- The secret to being a great clubhouse guy

- Playing baseball in front of fans in 2020 for the Milwaukee Milkmen

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Longtime big league righthander Russ Ortiz joins to discuss the mental approach to working on throwing strikes, battling through injuries, and what it’s like to share a clubhouse with Barry Bonds. Among the other talking points...

- Experience pitching in the College World Series

- The best parts of All Star Weekend

- Best food city in MLB

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Over the past few months, we've asked guests of the pod to share their World Series and postseason experiences. We've pieced together the highlights, including fun answers from Brandon Guyer, Billy Butler, Chad Durbin, Russ Ortiz & more.

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Current Cubs 3B coach and former big league outfielder Will Venable joins the pod to discuss his career. Among the topics...

• Balancing baseball and basketball with an Ivy League course workload at Princeton
• Having your dad as your coach in MiLB
• Can thank his mom for giving baseball a shot
• Playing in March Madness against two future NBA players (TJ Ford & PJ Tucker)
• Importance of figuring out what kind of player you are at each level
• How he learned the art of the stolen base
• Which Cubs player he'd want to take on in a game of one-on-one basketball

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Billy Butler carved out a 10-year MLB career in a relatively short amount of time, rocketing through the minors to Kansas City. He talks his big league career, the joys of competing for a World Series juxtaposed to several years spent playing for losing teams, & more. Among the other highlights...

- A run-in with George Steinbrenner at a pre-draft workout

- Hitting his way to the big leagues at 21

- Experience as Futures Game MVP

- How he incorporated video into working on his hitting

- Receiving no free agent offers after his 10th season

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