Swinging Smart: Baseball's Lessons for Investors

Inside Baseball host Jon Brolin, the Founder and Managing Partner of Edenbrook Capital, LLC, shares investing lessons from the game of baseball.   Learn valuable lessons about assessing risk-reward, margin of safety, avoiding strikeouts, having multiple ways to win, concentration, continuous improvement, controlling the controllable and the interplay of process and context in the stories of:   1) David Ortiz 2) Tony Gwynn 3) Ichiro Suzuki 4) Adrian Beltre 5) Art Shamsky 6) Kevin Cash/Blake Snell

Ryan Lavarnway had a fascinating baseball career. He led the country in hitting as a sophomore at Yale, was a premier power prospect in the minor leagues, won a World Series ring and played in the Olympics. He was also called up to the Majors and sent down to the minors 26 times over a 15-year career. Listen to Ryan's story and you will not only gain insights into the gritty reality of being a career grinder, you will also appreciate how he used this experience to improve his own mental framing as a player. Further, you will learn how he now uses that experience to teach leadership and the peak performance mindset in corporate settings and through his podcast, Finding the Way. You can learn more at RyanLavarnway.com

John Stuper went from having no college offers in high school, to pitching a complete game in the World Series as a rookie, to coaching the Yale baseball team for 30 years, retiring as the winningest coach in program history. Hear how John took the lessons he learned as a player and turned them into the foundation for a program that turned out leaders in baseball and all walks of life. Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with John about his path to the majors, his magical World Series game, his preparation for his post-playing career and his 30 years at Yale.

Warren Morris went from being a walk-on player to hitting a walk-off home run that won the College World Series for LSU in 1996. Hear how Warren overcame adversity to deliver the biggest hit in college baseball history. Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with Warren about his path to LSU, his defining home run, his time in the Majors, his reliance on faith and his life's path since the walk-off.

  Kenan Kamwana Holley has directed numerous powerful documentaries at the intersection of sports and humanity. Hear how Kenan's early sports experience as a role player framed his world view and how his family background shaped his perspective on race relations, a topic covered in many of his films. Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with Kenan about how he broke into the industry, the Amazon series he's working on now on the history of the American Basketball Association and where Kenan hopes to go next with his career.  

Eric Holtz overcame incredible odds to lead Israel to its first ever Olympic Baseball appearance at the recent Tokyo Games.     Hear this inspirational and funny story of the intersection of one man's love of baseball, a multigenerational family journey, a nation's emergence onto the world stage and triumph in the shadow of the horrors of the Holocaust and Munich.     Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with Eric about his early days in baseball, chasing the Olympic dream and the power of focusing on what one can control.   Follow the show on Twitter @insidebaseballp

Todd Lieberman is a Hollywood producer at the top of his game, and he's built a career that has included blockbusters and critical darlings.  His first love, however, was baseball cards, and as his film career took off, he's been able to take his collecting to the next level as well. Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with Todd about his early days of card collecting, how his collecting evolved as his day job took off and how he continues to play his cards rights. Follow the show on Twitter @insidebaseballp

Art Shamsky of the Cincinnati Reds set a Major League record by hitting 3 home runs in a game he didn't enter until the 8th inning in August 1966, the most ever by a player who didn't start a game and a record that has never been matched.  In the next game he played, two days later, he entered as a pinch hitter and again hit a home run, tying a Major League record for home runs in consecutive at bats. Three years later Art was an integral part of the 1969 Miracle Mets, helping that magical team to its first World Series championship. Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with Art Shamsky about coming through in a pinch, the Miracle Mets and more.

As a 21-year-old rookie pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1967, Bill Rohr came within one strike of throwing a no-hitter in his Major League debut. No pitcher before or since has gone as far in a debut before giving up a hit since 1900.  A week later he threw another complete game victory, also against the New York Yankees. Rohr never won another game for the Red Sox, but those two wins proved crucial as the Impossible Dream Red Sox won the pennant by a single game. He was in Cleveland the next year as a reliever, and never pitched in the Majors again after June 1968. This is the story Bill Rohr, who shone so brightly for a brief moment and just as quickly disappeared from baseball. In one of the most storied seasons in franchise history, he lit the spark that ignited the Red Sox fan base for generations to come.  Rather than bemoan what might have been, or spend a lifetime wondering about the historical no-hitter that got away, Rohr spent the next 50 years building a successful legal career in Southern California.  The end of his baseball career was just the beginning of the rest of his life.   Join host Jon Brolin as he speaks with Bill Rohr about that magical day in 1967 and the life he built after.