Life At The Ballpark

In this episode of Life at the Ballpark you'll hear from 3rd generation baseball "Lifer" Mike Berger.

Mike is currently a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers and previously was a Farm Director. He's played in every baseball league other than the American and National League. He was also offered the manager's job for the Florida Marlins but turned it down because he thought he wasn't ready for that level yet.

Mike's father worked for the legendary Branch Rickey who created the baseball farm system, was minor league general manager, and PR director for the Pirates, and was involved with the company that created the first batting helmets. He was also the first person to greet the future Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente after he landed in the USA.

Mike's grandfather was the artist who designed the World Series program for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

You'll love hearing the fantastic stories Mike shares in this episode of Life at the Ballpark.

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Catch up on previous episodes of Life at the Ballpark with John Frost.

What does it take to persevere through the ups and downs of life? How do you make it in business through the setbacks that can leave you discouraged and feeling like giving up?

In this episode, you'll hear from Mike Capps who's watched many young baseball players come up through the Minor Leagues during his 22 seasons announcing over 3,000 games for the Texas Rangers AAA team, the Round Rock Express. During this time he's learned to spot the "Grinders." These are the young athletes who he can tell were never going to give up. Many of them ended up bouncing back and forth between the minors and the big leagues. You'd see them in the box scores but then they would disappear to AAA or even AA. But it's these ball players who Mike's grandfather called "the engine that drives baseball's bus."

We all can learn so much about success in life from baseball's Grinders. How to persevere through the challenging ups and downs of life pursuing a dream that you just can't shake.

Listen to this episode of Life at the Ballpark and grab a copy of Mike's book on Amazon: Grinders: Baseball's Intrepid Infanty

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Catch up on previous episodes of Life at the Ballpark with John Frost.

Rick Hummel shares a wrap-up of the 2022 Spring Training for the Cardinals. Plus he shares his conversation with Albert Pujols and his concerns about returning to the Cardinals and how he'll be received by the club.

Hear about the misunderstanding that started Rick's relationship with Lou Brock on the wrong foot and how they resolved it and built a great relationship.

There are so many great insider stories about the Cardinals in this episode.

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Listen to more episodes about the St. Louis Cardinals:

Ben Frederickson - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist St. Louis Cardinals' fans will enjoy this conversation with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson as he shares stories about the Cardinals' offseason moves including a managerial change, the drama of the lockout, resigning Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, and then the explosive news of signing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.

Rob Rains - St. Louis Cardinals Sportswriter The veteran of 40 years covering MLB shares insights on the Cardinals' upcoming season and tells stories from his 30 books about Cardinal legends like Ozzie Smith, Jack Buck, Albert Pujols, and Red Schoendienst.

Ben Frederickson - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist Ben Frederickson shares his perspective on the trade that brought Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals. Perhaps the best trade-in Cardinals' history?

Ben assesses the Cardinals' strengths and weakness as they prepare for Opening Day 2021. He also shares about how the pandemic affected baseball last year, and the importance of signing Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina for another season.

Tom Ackerman - Sports Director at KMOX in St. Louis KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman joins Life at the Ballpark to share some unique stories about St. Louis Cardinals' legends. Tom also revisits the time when his father passed away during his high school years and then receiving a call from Bob Costas who went through a very relatable situation.

Mike Claiborne - St. Louis Cardinals Broadcaster Cardinals broadcaster Mike Claiborne joins John Frost to tell stories and reminisce about Cardinals legend and Hall of Famer Lou Brock.

Ben Frederickson (Pt. 1) - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist & Broadcaster What does a sportswriter write about when there are no sports? Ben Frederickson shares his insight into covering the St. Louis Cardinals during the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020.

Ben Frederickson (Pt. 2) - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist & Broadcaster Ben Frederickson is a Sports Columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and broadcaster at The Big 550 KTRS where he covers the St. Louis Cardinals. Ben shares some great stories about Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa, and we kick around some ideas of what the Cardinals' lineup may look after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

Dan McLaughlin - St. Louis Cardinals Play-by-Play Announcer Mid-America Emmy award-winning Dan McLaughlin shares stories from his more than two decades of calling Cardinals' baseball, his first when he was only 23. Dan shares about his most embarrassing moments (involving A.J. Burnett's nipple rings), his friendship with Tim McCarver, advice given him by the legendary Jack Buck, and his love of the game and the team he grew up rooting for (Ozzie Smith was his favorite player).

Rick Hummel "The Commish" - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist and Hall of Fame Inductee Rick shares his observations about how spring training has changed over the 42 years he's covered the St. Louis Cardinals. He shares stories about Cardinal greats Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Albert Pujols, and gives insights to how roster decisions are made during spring training. Rick also shares stories from his Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown, New York in 2007, along with Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken.

St. Louis Cardinals' fans will enjoy this conversation with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson as he shares stories about the Cardinals' offseason moves including a managerial change, the drama of the lockout, resigning Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, and then the explosive news of signing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.

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Catch these other episodes about the St. Louis Cardinals:

Rob Rains - St. Louis Cardinals Sportswriter The veteran of 40 years covering MLB shares insights on the Cardinals' upcoming season and tells stories from his 30 books about Cardinal legends like Ozzie Smith, Jack Buck, Albert Pujols, and Red Schoendienst.

Ben Frederickson - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist Ben Frederickson shares his perspective on the trade that brought Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals. Perhaps the best trade-in Cardinals' history?

Ben assesses the Cardinals' strengths and weaknesses as they prepare for Opening Day 2021. He also shares about how the pandemic affected baseball last year, and the importance of signing Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina for another season.

Tom Ackerman - Sports Director at KMOX in St. Louis KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman joins Life at the Ballpark to share some unique stories about St. Louis Cardinals' legends. Tom also revisits the time when his father passed away during his high school years and then receiving a call from Bob Costas who went through a very relatable situation.

Mike Claiborne - St. Louis Cardinals Broadcaster Cardinals broadcaster Mike Claiborne joins John Frost to tell stories and reminisce about Cardinals legend and Hall of Famer Lou Brock.

Ben Frederickson (Pt. 1) - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist & Broadcaster What does a sportswriter write about when there are no sports? Ben Frederickson shares his insight into covering the St. Louis Cardinals during the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020.

Ben Frederickson (Pt. 2) - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist & Broadcaster Ben Frederickson is a Sports Columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and broadcaster at The Big 550 KTRS where he covers the St. Louis Cardinals. Ben shares some great stories about Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa, and we kick around some ideas of what the Cardinals' lineup may look after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

Dan McLaughlin - St. Louis Cardinals Play-by-Play Announcer Mid-America Emmy award-winning Dan McLaughlin shares stories from his more than two decades of calling Cardinals' baseball, his first when he was only 23. Dan shares about his most embarrassing moments (involving A.J. Burnett's nipple rings), his friendship with Tim McCarver, advice given him by the legendary Jack Buck, and his love of the game and the team he grew up rooting for (Ozzie Smith was his favorite player).

Rick Hummel "The Commish" - St. Louis Cardinals Columnist and Hall of Fame Inductee Rick shares his observations about how spring training has changed over the 42 years he's covered the St. Louis Cardinals. He shares stories about Cardinal greats Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Albert Pujols, and gives insights to how roster decisions are made during spring training. Rick also shares stories from his Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown, New York in 2007, along with Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken.

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Take a walk through the 60-year history of the Houston Astros with veteran broadcaster Bill Brown, author of "Houston Astros' Golden Era" along with co-authors Mike Acosta and Phil Boudreaux.

You'll hear about everything from the expansion franchise Colt 45's in 1962, to reaching the World Series in 3 of the last 5 years. Bill and his co-authors talk candidly about the best and worst trades in team history, Astros' trivia, and their recent championship seasons.

Hear more about the Houston Astros with these previous episodes:

• Take a walk through the history of the Houston Astros with their official team historian Mike Acosta.
  • Part One
  • Part Two
• Houston Astros 30-year veteran broadcaster Bill "Brownie" Brown gives you a very special inside look at the Houston Astros franchise including their worst seasons and best seasons as well as a peek into the careers of two Hall of Famers, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.
  • Listen Here

Catch up on other previous episodes of Life at the Ballpark with John Frost.

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Syndicated radio personality and author Brant Hansen shares his love for baseball and the impact it has had on his life growing up on the Autism spectrum. Batting averages and wins and losses weren't just statistics for him, they became a refuge to escape a chaotic family situation and helped him develop a passion. Once dreaming of becoming a play by play announcer for the Cardinals, life's twists and turns found him at the mic for Cardinals' spring training in his home of Jupiter, Florida.

Clint Hurdle played in the big leagues for 10 years and managed another 17 with the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hurdle began his professional career on a Sports Illustrated cover heralded as the "next big phenom". That unwanted and unexpected spotlight helped create enormous expectations that led to personal struggles.

As a first time manager Hurdle led the Colorado Rockies to their first NL pennant in 2007. He was named manager of the year for the Pirates in 2013 where they reached the post season three consecutive seasons. Clint was hitting coach with the Rangers in 2010 when they won their first AL Pennant. It was with the Rangers that Clint met up with Emmy Award winning TV director Dave Burchett, who joins us on today's podcast. Today they will share about their new project on leadership and faith.

Clint Hurdle is an inspirational and motivational story teller who doesn't shy away from his difficult path to success and happiness.

Robert Ford has been doing radio play by play for the Houston Astros since 2013, when Astros were in the process of losing 100 games three years in a row. The team followed that with three consecutive 100 win seasons in the same decade, the only team to ever do that.

Robert shares about growing up a Mets' fan in the Bronx where all the other neighborhood kids were rooting for the Yankees. He tells how he learned about baseball because his mother, a school teacher, encouraged his reading and he wanted to prove to his schoolmates that he really knew baseball. He talks about his all time favorite call of Alex Bregman's walk-off RBI single in Game 5 of the 2017 World Series.

Robert tells stories from his father's days a pioneer in Hip Hop music, first as a writer at Billboard magazine, then as a producer. He shares about how Hip Hop developed in Harlem from the Disco music scene, and being in the studio with his dad Rocky Ford and meeting Run-DMC, Curtis Blow, and the Beastie Boys.

The veteran of 40 years covering MLB shares insights on the Cardinals' upcoming season and tells stories from his 30 books about Cardinal legends like Ozzie Smith, Jack Buck, Albert Pujols, and Red Schoendienst.

Ben Frederickson shares his perspective on the trade that brought Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals. Perhaps the best trade in Cardinals' history?

Ben assesses the Cardinals strengths and weakness as they prepare for Opening Day 2021. He also shares about how the pandemic affected baseball last year, and the importance of signing Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina for another season.