May 9, 2025 • 16 mins
Coach Penders with Rob & Ben ahead of the weekend series with Butler that begins Saturday at 11:45a on News Radio 1410 WPOP, along with the iHeart Radio & Varsity Apps
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's just start with when when did you notice a
turnaround in this team? And I mean your run has
been amazing, but you know, we just had David Benedict
down the other day and he talked about starting the
season where he played like twenty road games and two
home games. How do you turn things around mentally even
though you played a lot of those early road games.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, and that's really what it came down to. I mean,
looking back, I can see the change happening when we
got home. It was really as simple as that. I mean,
we did not sleep in our own but this is
the third Thursday since January that I've slept in my own.
Bet that'll be tonight. It just it's we were gone
(00:40):
eight in a row, you know, didn't you know? That
is a long time to be on the road, and
when you are home, you're home for maybe forty eight hours,
maybe sixty hours, and then you're turning around and going
on a plane somewhere warmer and supposedly better to play.
But it's challenging, just you know, not just these guys
are young. They can handle the physical stuff to a
certain extent, but it's the mentality and also the thing
(01:04):
that I didn't really do the calculus on sufficiently enough
and learned from now is just to have that many
in a row, We've got to have some. We've got
to have a home series before North Dakota State does,
or before the University of Maine does. We were the
last team in Division one baseball. I think there's three
hundred and ten of us to have a home weekend
(01:25):
series this year. That can't be. And the reason that
I said I didn't do the calculus was we really
missed our facility. We missed the reps. We missed not
just the games, but what happens between the games. And
you don't get that on the road. You know, a
forty minute batting practice pregame does not sufficiently prepare you
(01:46):
or build you up for the season. And one of
the things that we've got to make an adjustment on
is just being here a little bit longer, a little
bit in March, so that the guys can get into
the Riser Performance Center and get their indoor hacks and
you know, get into the training room, the weight rooms
right there and utilize the facility. And you know, Robert's
such a game of repetition and routine. You take the
(02:08):
guys out of their routine and put them on the road.
It just makes it that much harder to play and compete.
And we did not compete well. You know, we had
fits and starts. I mean people got excited, Oh you
beat Vanderbilt or you know, you beat North Carolina, and
those are nice wins. You know. We also we also
played really poorly and didn't win. We played some we
(02:30):
played poorly when we got home a few times and
still won. And that's when I knew, Okay, when you
play poorly and you can still win, you might have
a pretty good team. And we've been able to withstand,
you know, a really poor pitching year frankly, I mean
we have not pitched well, yet we've been able to
outscore teams in the last month or so we have it.
We've defended probably below our standard all year, with the
(02:54):
exception of center fields, where Caleb spur has been just outstanding,
and yet we've been able to score people. And it's
a dangerous way to compete because he can't hitting comes
and goes. But hopefully it's going to stay with us
for a little while longer.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
The one thing that we were wondering about or at
least when we look at the pitching staff is like,
what we see now is not what we thought way
before this season started. What was going to happen as
far as guys and their roles and what they're expected
to do this season and where they are now. When
you have conversations with some of your guys that were
probably penciled in as a Friday, Saturday or Sunday starter
(03:28):
and now find themselves in the pen, or guys that
were in the pen now find themselves as starters, what
were those conversations like and how has that worked throughout
the season.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, and some of them are unusable. You know, some
of those guys that we were planning on just can't
compete right now. They just can't get it done. You know,
gave Van him and feel terrible for he just lost
command to the strike zone. Just the guy that was
just so dominant against Oklahoma, one of the best offensive
teams in college baseball last year and goes to the
(03:57):
Cape League and is a Cape League All Star, which
at him and has a solid fall for us, and
for whatever reason, he just he's really struggling to throw
strikes with anything. And so it's you know, we haven't
been able to use him. We tried to get him
right on a Saturday and a big with a huge
leading against Villanova, and he just just couldn't do it.
So Ian Cook is another guy who's been really good
(04:21):
in spurts for us over his career here. You know,
we were hoping that we could count on him to
be a solid Friday or Saturday starter. He's emerged from
the pen to perform better and so we're kind of
sticking with that formula. But we have had some guys
step up. I don't want to be all gloom and doom.
Brady Aftam has been a real bright spot. We thought
he'd be a great closer. He's been better than great,
(04:45):
you know, and he's in his last year with us,
a try captain really happy for him. And then he's
had a couple of guys, a couple lefties step up
in Oliver Pudvar on Fridays and Charlie West the young
guy at young left hander on Sunday who really kind
of steadied the ship, so to speak, with a lot
of help from from guys in the pen, like new
guys like Greg Shaw, you know, kind of steadying everybody.
(05:09):
So we've got. You know, I've got six or seven
guys that we really trust. I need to find a
couple more if we're going to make a run, you know,
and and compete in the postseason. But you know, there
have been some bright spots too. It's not all gloom
and doom.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Talking to Jim Pender's head coach, yukon baseball, you know,
you got another week of games before you start tournaments
and stuff. How how do you get your pitching staff ready?
Like you said, it's been kind of a roller coaster
all season long, and you know, how do you get
some of these guys to get the mindset? I know,
playing with guys, they didn't want to leave the rotation
and go to the bullpen. They think that's some kind
(05:47):
of big emotion. But if you look at the major
league level, you've got eight guys in the bullpen. Now
what's that conversation like? And and are some guys not
receptive to it?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah? I mean we we're constantly communicating, you know, And
really I tell the guys like, listen, you make out
the rotation. I don't make it out. You make out
the bullpen. I don't break it out. You make out
the lineup? I don't make it out. Your performance is
what it is, and they are you know, it can
be somewhat upsetting and shocking to you know, let's face it,
(06:22):
there's a lot of the guys that we have to
recruit that are coming from situations where the baseball is
not merit based or performance based. You know, their moms
and dads are writing checks for forty five hundred bucks
a summer and they're getting their two innings, they're two
at bats every game. And that's just not how it
goes here. Because last time I checked David ben At,
(06:43):
it can fire me if we lose enough games, and
will if we lose enough games. So therefore, it's going
to be merit based. If you're good, if you perform well,
you're going to get the ball again. And I tell
them all, I say, assume that I'm the dumbest coach
in America. And make it blatantly obvious to me that
you belong as the Friday night starter, you belong as
a Saturday starter, you're a closer, or you're o a
(07:03):
sixth inning setup guy or whatever it may be. You know,
make it blatantly obvious to me. And that's the thing
that's been frustrating is that we just haven't had enough
pictures that have made it blatantly obvious this is what
I'm going to do for us. So there's still time,
you know, and we're giving guys opportunities left and right.
We had a couple live hitting performance or live at
(07:25):
bats yesterday the day before, and we're going to have
a couple more here in about an hour, and those
are all recorded. You know. We try to make it
as life or as game like as possible, as the
light's on and pressure and try to simulate that. But
as you know, Rob, there's no substitute for you know,
the light's actually going on and you're having to do
it at seven o'clock in front of a crowd, and
(07:49):
that's when you really find out who can help you
and who can't. So and we're getting down to that time.
You know, every game is really important. I do like
the fact that we have been we've really been competing
in postseason since mid March because we've kind of had
to win every game and almost have. So there's our
backs have be into the wall for a long time.
I think that will serve us well. If we can
(08:09):
if we can kick the door in and get into
that party.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And you've got so many bats you can rely on.
You got the over six guys, seven guys that are
hitting three hundred plus. This is the one thing I
love about your squad is the speed. You've got. See
five guys that have ten stolen bags. You got another
guy with nine, and Doherty two guys and Biller and
Spur that have over twenty bags. Spurs got thirty six.
(08:33):
Right now, I mean, who's the fastest guy on the team, Like,
it's tough to know, Like you don't really line them
up on the on the foul line, but if you do,
like who would win that race?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Spurs probably winning the race. So the numbers kind of
bear out the right way there. Biller is a close second.
But they both I think have the best knack for
understanding when to go, when not to go, who to
set up, who you can't set up, who you can't
set up. Spurs probably the best ive ever coached at
stealing third base. Just really knows when to do it
(09:04):
and has a great feel for that. But yeah, I
mean there's some some Linus were running out there. Seven
or eight guys can can really steal bases. So We've
put a lot of pressure on defenses with that speed
all year, and we finally started clicking in the batter's
box over the last month too, and guys have really
skyrocketed their averages and they're on base percentages and to
(09:27):
be to be frank, the arms that we've seen have
not been as good as the arms that we saw
in the first six seven weeks of the season. So
I think, you know, going up against the teams that
we went up against, Florida Atlantic, for instance, had a
great staff, I mean outstanding pitching. Miami was was decent.
You know, we saw some decent arms down in Puerto Rico.
(09:48):
To open the season. We go out to l A
and c USC and u C. L A and Vanderbilt.
You know, there was some really good competition in there,
so we went up against the best early. I think
it's you know, it certainly continuing to serve us well.
Now we just had to get through the madness. You know,
I've been using the line that March madness for baseball
is something completely different than it is for basketball.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Madness, and it elevates all the coaches blood pressures, and
you know, you try, you just try to get through
it and not bury yourselves too badly. But when we
were seven games under five hundred, it wasn't looking so hot,
but these guys kept fighting, and now we're in a
position to potentially win another Big East regular season title.
We need a little bit of help, but if we
(10:33):
take care of business this weekend, I think we have
a good chance of doing that for a fifth time
in a row and being the number one seed in
the Big East Tournament.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I borrow so much from talking to you coaches, whether
it's Hurley or Gino or Mike Cavanaugh, and try to
apply it to fifteen and sixteen you baseball players, especially
the fundamental stuff, the bunting, the base running and stuff
like that. But I also I like Mike Kavanaugh. He says, listen,
you know, I tried to prepare my guys this year
to taking varsity jobs. You're not going to be, you know,
(11:02):
well liked when you're a sophomore and you take a
senior's job. You know, and I appreciate it because our
listeners need to know, you know, what a d one coach,
what's in their mind, and what you're telling these players,
because it's hard. I coach in all these AAU tournaments,
and you're right, they're paying four grand to play in
(11:24):
these tournaments and they think their kids should be the
leadoff hitter and starting pitcher in every game. How do
you deal with that? I mean, how do you deal
with the parents as well. I know I've asked you
this before, but I want our new listeners to hear this.
You know, when when Johnny's not playing enough, I'm not
happy and you might learn from a parent or something.
What's that conversation?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Like? Yeah, I don't hear from as many parents as
I did when I was a young thirty one year
old head coach or thirty two year old head coach.
You know. Now they're closer to my age and they
might have a harder time. But occasionally you get a
late night email or once in a great while, and
if that happens, then the players know. They sign off
(12:05):
on the fact that I will I pledge to them,
I will immediately contact you if your parent reaches out
with regard to anything baseball related, and we will be
we will. I owe it to you to make sure
that you know because I'm coaching you and not your parents,
and that usually stops it pretty quickly so, and I said,
(12:29):
I'll be happy to meet with you and them, but
I won't speak with them. You know, it's I will
protect you. I'm not going to talk to them about
your play. I'm happy to talk to the parents about
their social development, their academic profile, anything other than baseball.
But we do, you know, and I do feel at
(12:50):
times it feels a little unnatural because we do recruit
the parents with the players, and then you know, I
try not to. I try not to engage with parents
while there while there are players. I mean, I've learned
how to jog quickly, like I'm I have to hurry
to the bathroom or something. If I see a bunch
of parents, the phone up.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Phone call. Phone goes up to the year often when
I see parents and there's nobody on the other line.
But I'm talking talking to myself. And you know, my
father coached at East Catholic High School in Manchester, Connecticut
for forty four years. In one place, he said, the
kids didn't change in those forty four years. The kids
didn't change with the parents changed one hundred and eighty degrees.
And if he has a second life, he'd like to
(13:36):
come back as a coach at an orphanage, and he
didn't know who the parents were, you know, when he
first started in the late sixties, because they didn't come
to games. They were working, you know, and and by
the time he finished, there were practices, you know, and
it was a completely different animal. So no, I think
(13:58):
the parents learned very quick. And the ones that don't
get it, those kids don't last, you know, they leave,
and that's fine, you know, they just they just won't
fit in here. But I can't coach your son if
you won't let me. If i'm if, I'm going between
you and him, and it's not going to work. So
it's very hard. And as a parent myself, it's one
of the toughest things, right to turn over, you know,
(14:19):
to to entrust another person to, you know, for the
well being of your your son or daughter, very difficult
to do. But I think it's an absolute necessity if
you're really going to help them realize their potential as
a player and as a person.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Not only are you a baseball coach and a psychologist,
but also I've I've learned over the years the Division
one baseball coach is the best weather man in the
state and you are you and your staff are always
on it. You have to be. It is like a
way of life as a D one baseball coach because
you know, you got to get these games in and
you don't get like help like Major League Baseball does,
(14:53):
and you can't maneuver things as easy. Give me some
weather tips of your staff, like what sites do you go?
Like what do you looking at? And are you are
you a believer in cows laying down equals rain?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
No? I you know what, We've got enough cows in
stores to be able to predict it, I guess, but
I haven't figured that one out yet. We use a
bunch of different sites and we're always arguing about it.
I mean every every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday leading up to
the weekend, we're arguing about it. And today I've got
to be the one that ultimately makes a call about
the weekend. So we have a meteorology that we're fortunate
(15:27):
and that we have a subscription with an actual live
meteorologist that we'll call kind of for the last the
last like look see before we make a decision on
moving gain times or moving game dates. And we did
that this morning. So we thought it was in our
best interest. You know that the meteorologists said he'll be nameless,
but he said, yeah, you're gonna probably have an hour,
(15:50):
maybe two in a row of dry tomorrow. But I
can't tell you when. You know, it looks like it's
going to rain all day, so I don't want to
be looking at Butler across the field in their dugout
and thus in our dugout with the rain drops calling
for you know, falling. So we look, it looks like
we've got a good enough window on Saturday. We hope
your listeners will come out for a Saturday doubleheader at noon,
(16:11):
and then you have another one at noon on another
single game on at noon on Sunday, which you know
hopefully will be playing for for the postseason or playing
for the regular season championship on in one of those
games this weekend. It could be it could be determined
this weekend
Let's just start with when when did you notice a
turnaround in this team? And I mean your run has
been amazing, but you know, we just had David Benedict
down the other day and he talked about starting the
season where he played like twenty road games and two
home games. How do you turn things around mentally even
though you played a lot of those early road games.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, and that's really what it came down to. I mean,
looking back, I can see the change happening when we
got home. It was really as simple as that. I mean,
we did not sleep in our own but this is
the third Thursday since January that I've slept in my own.
Bet that'll be tonight. It just it's we were gone
(00:40):
eight in a row, you know, didn't you know? That
is a long time to be on the road, and
when you are home, you're home for maybe forty eight hours,
maybe sixty hours, and then you're turning around and going
on a plane somewhere warmer and supposedly better to play.
But it's challenging, just you know, not just these guys
are young. They can handle the physical stuff to a
certain extent, but it's the mentality and also the thing
(01:04):
that I didn't really do the calculus on sufficiently enough
and learned from now is just to have that many
in a row, We've got to have some. We've got
to have a home series before North Dakota State does,
or before the University of Maine does. We were the
last team in Division one baseball. I think there's three
hundred and ten of us to have a home weekend
(01:25):
series this year. That can't be. And the reason that
I said I didn't do the calculus was we really
missed our facility. We missed the reps. We missed not
just the games, but what happens between the games. And
you don't get that on the road. You know, a
forty minute batting practice pregame does not sufficiently prepare you
(01:46):
or build you up for the season. And one of
the things that we've got to make an adjustment on
is just being here a little bit longer, a little
bit in March, so that the guys can get into
the Riser Performance Center and get their indoor hacks and
you know, get into the training room, the weight rooms
right there and utilize the facility. And you know, Robert's
such a game of repetition and routine. You take the
(02:08):
guys out of their routine and put them on the road.
It just makes it that much harder to play and compete.
And we did not compete well. You know, we had
fits and starts. I mean people got excited, Oh you
beat Vanderbilt or you know, you beat North Carolina, and
those are nice wins. You know. We also we also
played really poorly and didn't win. We played some we
(02:30):
played poorly when we got home a few times and
still won. And that's when I knew, Okay, when you
play poorly and you can still win, you might have
a pretty good team. And we've been able to withstand,
you know, a really poor pitching year frankly, I mean
we have not pitched well, yet we've been able to
outscore teams in the last month or so we have it.
We've defended probably below our standard all year, with the
(02:54):
exception of center fields, where Caleb spur has been just outstanding,
and yet we've been able to score people. And it's
a dangerous way to compete because he can't hitting comes
and goes. But hopefully it's going to stay with us
for a little while longer.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
The one thing that we were wondering about or at
least when we look at the pitching staff is like,
what we see now is not what we thought way
before this season started. What was going to happen as
far as guys and their roles and what they're expected
to do this season and where they are now. When
you have conversations with some of your guys that were
probably penciled in as a Friday, Saturday or Sunday starter
(03:28):
and now find themselves in the pen, or guys that
were in the pen now find themselves as starters, what
were those conversations like and how has that worked throughout
the season.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, and some of them are unusable. You know, some
of those guys that we were planning on just can't
compete right now. They just can't get it done. You know,
gave Van him and feel terrible for he just lost
command to the strike zone. Just the guy that was
just so dominant against Oklahoma, one of the best offensive
teams in college baseball last year and goes to the
(03:57):
Cape League and is a Cape League All Star, which
at him and has a solid fall for us, and
for whatever reason, he just he's really struggling to throw
strikes with anything. And so it's you know, we haven't
been able to use him. We tried to get him
right on a Saturday and a big with a huge
leading against Villanova, and he just just couldn't do it.
So Ian Cook is another guy who's been really good
(04:21):
in spurts for us over his career here. You know,
we were hoping that we could count on him to
be a solid Friday or Saturday starter. He's emerged from
the pen to perform better and so we're kind of
sticking with that formula. But we have had some guys
step up. I don't want to be all gloom and doom.
Brady Aftam has been a real bright spot. We thought
he'd be a great closer. He's been better than great,
(04:45):
you know, and he's in his last year with us,
a try captain really happy for him. And then he's
had a couple of guys, a couple lefties step up
in Oliver Pudvar on Fridays and Charlie West the young
guy at young left hander on Sunday who really kind
of steadied the ship, so to speak, with a lot
of help from from guys in the pen, like new
guys like Greg Shaw, you know, kind of steadying everybody.
(05:09):
So we've got. You know, I've got six or seven
guys that we really trust. I need to find a
couple more if we're going to make a run, you know,
and and compete in the postseason. But you know, there
have been some bright spots too. It's not all gloom
and doom.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Talking to Jim Pender's head coach, yukon baseball, you know,
you got another week of games before you start tournaments
and stuff. How how do you get your pitching staff ready?
Like you said, it's been kind of a roller coaster
all season long, and you know, how do you get
some of these guys to get the mindset? I know,
playing with guys, they didn't want to leave the rotation
and go to the bullpen. They think that's some kind
(05:47):
of big emotion. But if you look at the major
league level, you've got eight guys in the bullpen. Now
what's that conversation like? And and are some guys not
receptive to it?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah? I mean we we're constantly communicating, you know, And
really I tell the guys like, listen, you make out
the rotation. I don't make it out. You make out
the bullpen. I don't break it out. You make out
the lineup? I don't make it out. Your performance is
what it is, and they are you know, it can
be somewhat upsetting and shocking to you know, let's face it,
(06:22):
there's a lot of the guys that we have to
recruit that are coming from situations where the baseball is
not merit based or performance based. You know, their moms
and dads are writing checks for forty five hundred bucks
a summer and they're getting their two innings, they're two
at bats every game. And that's just not how it
goes here. Because last time I checked David ben At,
(06:43):
it can fire me if we lose enough games, and
will if we lose enough games. So therefore, it's going
to be merit based. If you're good, if you perform well,
you're going to get the ball again. And I tell
them all, I say, assume that I'm the dumbest coach
in America. And make it blatantly obvious to me that
you belong as the Friday night starter, you belong as
a Saturday starter, you're a closer, or you're o a
(07:03):
sixth inning setup guy or whatever it may be. You know,
make it blatantly obvious to me. And that's the thing
that's been frustrating is that we just haven't had enough
pictures that have made it blatantly obvious this is what
I'm going to do for us. So there's still time,
you know, and we're giving guys opportunities left and right.
We had a couple live hitting performance or live at
(07:25):
bats yesterday the day before, and we're going to have
a couple more here in about an hour, and those
are all recorded. You know. We try to make it
as life or as game like as possible, as the
light's on and pressure and try to simulate that. But
as you know, Rob, there's no substitute for you know,
the light's actually going on and you're having to do
it at seven o'clock in front of a crowd, and
(07:49):
that's when you really find out who can help you
and who can't. So and we're getting down to that time.
You know, every game is really important. I do like
the fact that we have been we've really been competing
in postseason since mid March because we've kind of had
to win every game and almost have. So there's our
backs have be into the wall for a long time.
I think that will serve us well. If we can
(08:09):
if we can kick the door in and get into
that party.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And you've got so many bats you can rely on.
You got the over six guys, seven guys that are
hitting three hundred plus. This is the one thing I
love about your squad is the speed. You've got. See
five guys that have ten stolen bags. You got another
guy with nine, and Doherty two guys and Biller and
Spur that have over twenty bags. Spurs got thirty six.
(08:33):
Right now, I mean, who's the fastest guy on the team, Like,
it's tough to know, Like you don't really line them
up on the on the foul line, but if you do,
like who would win that race?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Spurs probably winning the race. So the numbers kind of
bear out the right way there. Biller is a close second.
But they both I think have the best knack for
understanding when to go, when not to go, who to
set up, who you can't set up, who you can't
set up. Spurs probably the best ive ever coached at
stealing third base. Just really knows when to do it
(09:04):
and has a great feel for that. But yeah, I
mean there's some some Linus were running out there. Seven
or eight guys can can really steal bases. So We've
put a lot of pressure on defenses with that speed
all year, and we finally started clicking in the batter's
box over the last month too, and guys have really
skyrocketed their averages and they're on base percentages and to
(09:27):
be to be frank, the arms that we've seen have
not been as good as the arms that we saw
in the first six seven weeks of the season. So
I think, you know, going up against the teams that
we went up against, Florida Atlantic, for instance, had a
great staff, I mean outstanding pitching. Miami was was decent.
You know, we saw some decent arms down in Puerto Rico.
(09:48):
To open the season. We go out to l A
and c USC and u C. L A and Vanderbilt.
You know, there was some really good competition in there,
so we went up against the best early. I think
it's you know, it certainly continuing to serve us well.
Now we just had to get through the madness. You know,
I've been using the line that March madness for baseball
is something completely different than it is for basketball.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
It really is.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Madness, and it elevates all the coaches blood pressures, and
you know, you try, you just try to get through
it and not bury yourselves too badly. But when we
were seven games under five hundred, it wasn't looking so hot,
but these guys kept fighting, and now we're in a
position to potentially win another Big East regular season title.
We need a little bit of help, but if we
(10:33):
take care of business this weekend, I think we have
a good chance of doing that for a fifth time
in a row and being the number one seed in
the Big East Tournament.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
I borrow so much from talking to you coaches, whether
it's Hurley or Gino or Mike Cavanaugh, and try to
apply it to fifteen and sixteen you baseball players, especially
the fundamental stuff, the bunting, the base running and stuff
like that. But I also I like Mike Kavanaugh. He says, listen,
you know, I tried to prepare my guys this year
to taking varsity jobs. You're not going to be, you know,
(11:02):
well liked when you're a sophomore and you take a
senior's job. You know, and I appreciate it because our
listeners need to know, you know, what a d one coach,
what's in their mind, and what you're telling these players,
because it's hard. I coach in all these AAU tournaments,
and you're right, they're paying four grand to play in
(11:24):
these tournaments and they think their kids should be the
leadoff hitter and starting pitcher in every game. How do
you deal with that? I mean, how do you deal
with the parents as well. I know I've asked you
this before, but I want our new listeners to hear this.
You know, when when Johnny's not playing enough, I'm not
happy and you might learn from a parent or something.
What's that conversation?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Like? Yeah, I don't hear from as many parents as
I did when I was a young thirty one year
old head coach or thirty two year old head coach.
You know. Now they're closer to my age and they
might have a harder time. But occasionally you get a
late night email or once in a great while, and
if that happens, then the players know. They sign off
(12:05):
on the fact that I will I pledge to them,
I will immediately contact you if your parent reaches out
with regard to anything baseball related, and we will be
we will. I owe it to you to make sure
that you know because I'm coaching you and not your parents,
and that usually stops it pretty quickly so, and I said,
(12:29):
I'll be happy to meet with you and them, but
I won't speak with them. You know, it's I will
protect you. I'm not going to talk to them about
your play. I'm happy to talk to the parents about
their social development, their academic profile, anything other than baseball.
But we do, you know, and I do feel at
(12:50):
times it feels a little unnatural because we do recruit
the parents with the players, and then you know, I
try not to. I try not to engage with parents
while there while there are players. I mean, I've learned
how to jog quickly, like I'm I have to hurry
to the bathroom or something. If I see a bunch
of parents, the phone up.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Phone call. Phone goes up to the year often when
I see parents and there's nobody on the other line.
But I'm talking talking to myself. And you know, my
father coached at East Catholic High School in Manchester, Connecticut
for forty four years. In one place, he said, the
kids didn't change in those forty four years. The kids
didn't change with the parents changed one hundred and eighty degrees.
And if he has a second life, he'd like to
(13:36):
come back as a coach at an orphanage, and he
didn't know who the parents were, you know, when he
first started in the late sixties, because they didn't come
to games. They were working, you know, and and by
the time he finished, there were practices, you know, and
it was a completely different animal. So no, I think
(13:58):
the parents learned very quick. And the ones that don't
get it, those kids don't last, you know, they leave,
and that's fine, you know, they just they just won't
fit in here. But I can't coach your son if
you won't let me. If i'm if, I'm going between
you and him, and it's not going to work. So
it's very hard. And as a parent myself, it's one
of the toughest things, right to turn over, you know,
(14:19):
to to entrust another person to, you know, for the
well being of your your son or daughter, very difficult
to do. But I think it's an absolute necessity if
you're really going to help them realize their potential as
a player and as a person.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Not only are you a baseball coach and a psychologist,
but also I've I've learned over the years the Division
one baseball coach is the best weather man in the
state and you are you and your staff are always
on it. You have to be. It is like a
way of life as a D one baseball coach because
you know, you got to get these games in and
you don't get like help like Major League Baseball does,
(14:53):
and you can't maneuver things as easy. Give me some
weather tips of your staff, like what sites do you go?
Like what do you looking at? And are you are
you a believer in cows laying down equals rain?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
No? I you know what, We've got enough cows in
stores to be able to predict it, I guess, but
I haven't figured that one out yet. We use a
bunch of different sites and we're always arguing about it.
I mean every every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday leading up to
the weekend, we're arguing about it. And today I've got
to be the one that ultimately makes a call about
the weekend. So we have a meteorology that we're fortunate
(15:27):
and that we have a subscription with an actual live
meteorologist that we'll call kind of for the last the
last like look see before we make a decision on
moving gain times or moving game dates. And we did
that this morning. So we thought it was in our
best interest. You know that the meteorologists said he'll be nameless,
but he said, yeah, you're gonna probably have an hour,
(15:50):
maybe two in a row of dry tomorrow. But I
can't tell you when. You know, it looks like it's
going to rain all day, so I don't want to
be looking at Butler across the field in their dugout
and thus in our dugout with the rain drops calling
for you know, falling. So we look, it looks like
we've got a good enough window on Saturday. We hope
your listeners will come out for a Saturday doubleheader at noon,
(16:11):
and then you have another one at noon on another
single game on at noon on Sunday, which you know
hopefully will be playing for for the postseason or playing
for the regular season championship on in one of those
games this weekend. It could be it could be determined
this weekend
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