Moving through life, the baseball podcast

This episode focuses on insights and information for parents and coaches that might be new to junior baseball in Australia. The guys chat with MTL The Baseball Podcast’s co-producer, Jim Strachan, who shares his experiences as a coach and parent and they also talk about advice from mentors, growing the game in Australia, and building resilience in players and yourself as a parent. The episode also touches on the growth of women’s baseball in Australia and the uniqueness of the club ball structure compared to the US. And as always, there are some great stories from Lutzy and Frank’s days with the Reds and their ongoing baseball journey. Then, Frank shares his great new tune, “Almost Blues”.

Franky and Lutzy welcome back former Reds teammate, head of MLB China and current hitting coach for China’s WBC team Ray Chang. This time, they go deep on their experiences and approaches to handling different coaching styles and personalities at different levels of the game. This episode is full of gold for all players, parents and coaches, but is a must-listen for young players transitioning into new systems like high school, representative teams or college. Frank also shares his excellent new song ʻOlekūkahi Morning Loop.

Sharpen your pencil and grab your notebook because there’s a lot of gold dropped in this episode. The guys are joined by current Cincinnati Reds Assistant Hitting Coach and long-time friend and mentor Alex Pelaez for an informative and insightful conversation about the physical and mental sides of hitting and the journey to finding success at the plate. Al shares his thoughts on simplifying your approach, things for young players to work on – including his top areas of focus and the top three things to STOP doing at the plate. Like always, Frank, Lutzy and Al also tell some great stories from their time together in the Reds farm system and Pelaez also talks about working with current Reds like Elly De La Cruz. Then, Frank shares his new song “Fun Again”.

In this episode, Frank and Lutzy cover the highs, lows and in-betweens of confidence, answer a listener question and share confidence-related stories from their careers in major league, minor league and international baseball.​ Frank and Lutzy discuss their chances of suiting up for a stint in the NFL ​ How being confident comes with a sense of being realistic ​ How doubt helps to grow confidence ​ How confidence is not a static thing, it’s a fluid thing​ Lutzy talks about how he bounces back from going 0-20 by hanging in the cage​ Frank and Don answer a question about how athletes can improve their confidence when a new coach puts them into a position they’re not used to​ Frank and Don share their own stories about being thrown into new roles on the field and how they had to adapt quickly to survive​ Frank goes through a day of Spring Training​ Lutzy shares his passion for talking trash while competing​ The guys talk about things they weren’t confident about, but now are ​ How to feel good, play good, and look good!Lastly, Frank shares his new song “Same Team”.

In this episode, the guys catch up with former Reds teammate Chad “Sharky” Rogers, who shares stories about how he got the nickname, his baseball journey, life after baseball and establishing his Galveston-based baseball academy, The Baseball Bunker. They share several stories from their days in the minor leagues and Chad drops tons of gold about his approach to the game and life, coaching styles and dealing with the ups and downs of the game. Then, Frank shares his new song “Hoaka Night Tuning (4,10,2024)”. Warning: Episode Contains Strong Language.

Lutzy and Franky discuss how speed on the bases changes the game for pitchers, catchers, batting stats and more. Frank shares some gold for young players about how to approach the game defensively with speed on the bases, covering topics like angles, timing and positioning from both an infielder’s and outfielder’s perspective. Then the guys answer some listener questions where Lutzy talks about his journey from Germany to the Big Leagues and Frank shares some stories of gratitude about coaches who influenced his running game and approach in general. Lastly, Frank shares a new mash-up of De La Soul and Sam and Dave songs, “De La Soul Man”.

This episode is dedicated to Frank and Lutzy’s former manager, hitting coach and mentor, Ken Griffey Sr. We also celebrate some special birthdays, including podcast producer Jim Strachan, who used to rock #22 on the field. Other honourable birthday shoutouts go to #11 Barry Larkin and #8 Mark Fleury – with some major buzz vibes mixed in. Since this is somewhat of a birthday gift, we won’t be able to tell you what’s in this episode other than our main topic of “Team chemistry within yourself”. Lutzy and Franky also share their advice on how to make hitting simple by passing on knowledge they received from Ken Griffey Sr, who rocked #30 while playing with the Cincinnati Reds, winning two World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. Lutzy also threatens to kick Frank off the podcast if he doesn’t use his rubber-stringed ukulele bass. Please join us to send some birthday vibes out there by sharing this 25-minute long episito with your baseball community.

The guys try a new “mini special” format with a shorter length and more informal tone (if that’s even possible?!) They talk about Lutzy’s line of batting gloves from his new DTL3 brand and introduce the “Velcro breath”. Then, they cover the importance of breathing and awareness in baseball and in life. Lastly, Frank talks about breathing in context of playing live music and the parallels with playing high-level baseball. “New Velcro breath from DTL3 – it’s the pause the refreshes!”

Lutzy and Frank welcome former Reds teammate and 13-year MLB and MiLB veteran Ryan LaMarre to the podcast. Ryan talks about his decision to walk away from the game and how perseverance and resilience helped him overcome injuries and evolve his approach both on and off the field. He also shares some fantastic stories about pitching at Fenway Park (as a position player), hitting an “oppo taco” at Yankee Stadium and his interactions with some of the game’s greatest players like Big Papi, Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge and others. In this episode: - Ryan talks about deciding to walk away from the game - The uniqueness of the Yankees’ player evaluation and development program - Ryan and the guys talk about hitting metrics and the idea of chasing the process instead of homers - The events that led Ryan to consider retirement - Playing with the Red Sox and how their superstars interacted with Ryan - Ryan tells stories about playing for the Red Sox, shadowing Big Papi and working with Mookie Betts - How watching the Astros AAA team’s batting practice led to working with a new hitting coordinator that helped revolutionise Ryan’s swing - Zero to hero – how Ryan’s new swing helped him make the Twins’ opening day roster - Ryan talks about simplifying his swing, loading the hips and bat path - Pitching at Fenway after not pitching for almost a decade - A special mound visit from Dustin Pedroia - Giving up moon shots at Yankee Stadium on Sunday Night Baseball - Ryan reflects on his career and the importance of keeping perspective - Frank shares his instrumental reimagining of the Mos Def and Vinia Mojica song “Climb”

Lutzy and Franky are super excited to welcome their good friend Ray Chang to the show. Their former teammate in the Reds organisation and current head of baseball operations for MLB China, Ray shares stories and perspectives from across his career, including: * We hear the story of how Ray got hurt right before his call up to the show * The guys discuss how failure in baseball builds resilience in life * Mental preparation on game day, whether you’re in the lineup or not * How Ray’s two strike approach became his 0-0 approach * Ray talks about facing Shohei Ohtani in the recent WBC * The story of the game where Ray played all nine positions, including a scoreless inning on the mound * Ray tells his side of the “teaching Lutzy how to field a ground ball” story * Lutzy tells the story of visiting Ray in China and hitting bombs off kid pitchers * Ray talks about coaching in China and building their development programs * Frank shares his new song, “Mālie”