The Baseball Parent Guide: Advice From 3 MLB Fathers

[00:00:01]on the screen. We have three head coaches, we have three fathers, and I thought we would do a Father's Day discussion uh about the entryways into the higher levels of baseball. With me, Andy Bedner, head coach, Mars High School in Pennsylvania, and Kevin Griffin, head coach at Bell Haven NCAA Division 3 softball. And what do we all have in common? The Pittsburgh Pirates.

[00:00:29]And so I was fortunate enough to meet Andy uh during Tyler's brief stay uh in 2023 and got to know David. Uh and I've known uh Kevin for years on social media and watch Connor grow up. And so I think what I would like to kind of get parents to understand is three different parents, three different pathways to the big leagues. Andy, let's start with you.

[00:00:52]You've been on both sides of this, Andy.

[00:00:54]You've had a non-drafted uh free agent and you've had a first round draft pick. What was it like as a dad watching your boys grow up, coaching your boys, and then ultimately the college and professional experience?

[00:01:06]>> Um, you know, I use the word surreal all the time and and that's pretty much what it was. And you know, David, uh, getting drafted out of Lafayette of the Patriot League. It was actually the 35th route he got drafted in and then uh you know him going through and climbing the ladders with the Padres's and then uh making his debut in uh 19 with the Padres's and uh the Padres's always told him if you get guys out there's always a place for you and uh he kind of took that and and uh and he ran with that and then in September of uh I'm sorry January of 21 he was traded to his hometown team the Pirates and you know, talk about a dream come true. And you know, a lot of people think that's funny in the baseball world, a dream come true going back to Pittsburgh, but it really was. And you know, during the five years that he was here, we were so blessed to be able to drive 25 minutes to go see him play uh all the time. And and that was just uh I I'll never forget. And I think he really enjoyed his experience here in Pittsburgh. And then Will, on the other hand, was a first round pick out of Mississippi State. and uh he just had some bumps in the road. He's had uh some back issues and everything like that. And I'm really I'm most proud of him for just kind of uh staying the course and um you know just keeping to to work on his craft and you know he started the he was in big league camp started the season in AAA threw well and wasn't throwing a whole lot so they sent him to uh double A and you know he's throwing probably about four innings a week right now. So, uh, in that sense, we're really happy he's throwing the ball well and, um, you know, just hoping to get that opportunity soon.

[00:02:47]>> You know, Kevin, I would love for you to talk a little bit about now Connor was a Team USA, you know, going to LSU, a high-profile first high school pick. Um, what was it? 2024.

[00:03:01]>> And now we're in the big league. So, talk a little bit about your journey as a parent and then ultimately Connor's journey to Pittsburgh.

[00:03:08]Yeah, it was kind of a whirlwind as uh uh you guys would understand uh going through the draft and that sort of thing, but you know, the biggest piece was, you know, everybody thought Connor was going to be a center fielder and then when he got to the minor leagues, they uh put him at shortstop and it just kind of stuck. So, he had to really acclimate himself and learn how to play a position that he didn't have a whole lot of experience at. And you know, that was tough at first because he was bouncing back and forth between center field and and shorts stop. And they uh finally just told him, I think we want you to be our shortstop of the future and that's where you're going to play.

[00:03:49]And I think that helped him a lot. But just the transition to go from high school uh to skip a grade in high school and get to the draft a year earlier and that sort of thing. Uh it took its toll.

[00:04:03]And I always told people that uh everything that he had to go through to be responsible and manage classes and a double load and that sort of thing. if you can handle that sort of thing. Uh, in high school, I wasn't worried too much about how he could handle uh the lifestyle of professional baseball and the daily grind and that sort of thing because I saw him be responsible in uh in the classroom to to get to where he could be drafted in 24 and meet his dreams as Andy said with his boys. And um you know, I wasn't too worried about it from that point forward once I saw how responsible he was with all of that academic stuff.

[00:04:47]>> You know, Andy, uh coincidentally, both our boys were 14th selections for the San Francisco Giants.

[00:04:55]>> Yeah.

[00:04:55]>> Um I I would love for you to share with parents.

[00:04:59]>> You know, sometimes parents think when you're the coach, a high school coach, and you're coaching your boys, it's easy. But, you know, there's a lot of dual hats and dual roles that we had to wear as coaches and then as dads. Talk a little bit about how you managed that with both the boys, you know, being a coach and then dad and how did the boys handle that? So, I always say I I actually liked, you know, being able to coach and being on the field with those guys as opposed to sitting in section 115 Park and and and watching the ninth inning or being in the Bronx and Yankee Stadium. Um, but I I always uh enjoyed that part of it, being able to uh to coach them and be around. But I also thought um especially when they were younger um they kind of had to perform uh a little better than everyone else and then some, you know what I mean? And uh >> one of the things about David, David probably is a sophomore. probably was good enough to be our one or two guy, but it was just like we had another senior who was good. He was a good high school pitcher. And uh the one thing that came out of it was we saved some bullets with it with uh with David as a as a sophomore. We didn't use him as much. And then Will on the other hand uh Will was a little bit more advanced in high school than David was uh at at the early high school years. And I got to a point, it was a little later in the year, and I said, I'm confident, you know, as a coach that he gives us the best opportunity to win as a sophomore.

[00:06:35]And I went with it. And and there was some uh grumblings in the stands and everything like that. And you know, there's always incidents. I know my daughter had she was only about eight, nine years old and she had to hear some of it from the other parents. And you know, that was that was tough on her.

[00:06:51]And um you know I think once you know he was flashing in the low 90s as a sophomore it was just like yeah okay he's not bad. So um Will kind of Will made it easy you know what I mean? And Dave kind of uh it just took a little bit longer and just kind of Dave was more just staying the course. But, uh, I'll never, um, you know, I I always enjoyed having them, uh, you know, on the mound and, you know, being able to call their pitches and stuff and, you know, I'll never forget that. And my kid, David now, uh, you know, he was pitching yesterday against the Indians in the ninth and he did an inside move that was just not very good. I'm like, do do we need to work on that a little bit because that was not what you learned in high school? And he's, yeah, Dad, we're we're good.

[00:07:40]So, you know, Kevin, I would love for you to discuss because, you know, Team USA and the the all of the social media and things of that nature. You've been living this as a father now uh for probably the last three to four years where you had the expectations from the rankings, the perfect games, the PBRs, and then Team USA and LSU and then the draft. talk a little bit about being a dad in the background and watching adults, uh, you know, being the critical, uh, kind of scouting people, you know, all throughout Connor's career and how that kind of has escalated as he's become a big leaguer for the Pirates.

[00:08:24]>> Yeah, Walter, we we learned real quickly you had to have a small circle of people that you trusted and uh, don't let anybody else in it. Um, if you wouldn't ask their advice, then there's no reason for them to be in your circle, and why should you care what anybody outside that circle thinks? Um, the biggest thing for me as a dad, I I didn't really get caught up in all the rankings and that sort of thing because I knew that all those people making those rankings and those decisions, they were not the ones drafting players. So, um, most of the time that stuff don't even work out the way that that they line it up. But the biggest thing for me as a dad was just to try to instill not just in Connor but but all of my boys um you got to you got to find a way not to let it become an ego. And I always told him that ego is edging greatness out. And if if once you started working greatness out by having an ego about rankings and all that stuff is when you start to uh kind of falter in your play and and how you are carrying yourself and that sort of thing. So I think that's one thing as a dad that I tried to instill in my kid is uh don't ever have an ego because once you start doing that you're going to start e edging edging greatness that could potentially be there. you can edge it out of you um not just physically but also in the minds of other people that are making decisions as well. So that was kind of the role I took outside of the coaching role because like Andy it was kind of tough still is for me to uh not coach a little bit. Um at night we get on the phone and we talk about just about every single at bat that he has in a game and uh he gives me access to their video and stuff. So, um, yeah, that's it's hard not to remain a coach, but I try to sit back in section 115, >> you know, >> and, uh, and try to just, uh, enjoy.

[00:10:27]>> I've been in 115, but, I haven't been in either of your shoes. So, uh, the big thing I would love, Andy, for you to kind of share with parents is, okay, now let's look back. you know, you know, you alluded to you have daughter, you you all, you know, more than one son. Uh I have two sons, you know, coming into baseball at the high school, varsity, then college, then professional, and then ultimately that top of the pyramid.

[00:10:55]Looking back, what advice would you give to yourself if you could go back? And what advice would you give to parents that are in that mix now as high school, you know, with all the portal, all the transfer stuff and name, image, and likeness? What would you say to them as far as their experiences today and what you might have done differently or might have done better or more of?

[00:11:18]>> So, uh, I'll kind of I'm a high school math teacher as well and I kind of use this line a lot. I said, you know, success is not linear. It's not the same for everybody. And that best kid at 13, the best kid at, you know, 16, 17 is not necessarily going to be the best kid at 22 and 23. And uh the the one piece of advice as far as development is just really stay in the course. And I coached some travel baseball in the summer. I had a 10-year-old team in the spring and then I have a a 14-year-old team now.

[00:11:50]And I'm like, guys, you just got to stay the course. just keep focusing on getting better every day. You know, winning this, you know, 14year-old tournament means absolutely nothing. Is what's important is you to to stay the course and just get better and, you know, build that foundation in the weight room. Uh, you know, get into a a good throwing program and and lifting program. And um the the one thing about David's development I would say I don't think he really uh developed that found until he kind of became a meatthead in the weight room kind of and that's when things really took off. Um, you know, David was probably 86 to 89 coming out of high school and maybe had a couple of D2 offers and his commitment to Lafayette didn't happen till fall of his senior year. And just a a matter of just kind of keep sticking to his bullpens, his long toss, his throwing program, and um that kind of paid its paid its dividends in college because he just got better every year. And then once he got into pro ball, I think once you get into that throw in every day, you know, I I I wish I played in college and that was it. Once you got to that above that hump is when his re his velocity really took off. And then um Will was fortunate in Mississippi State, they had a a a pretty a really good lifting program and you know, he was all about it and being a starting pitcher, you could have that routine and uh he really took advantage of that. But so the one thing that that that stuck out more than anything is just kind of sticking to the the task, staying with the program. And you know, all too often, you know, we have guys on our high school team and oh, we're playing the number three PBR right fielder. I'm like, I don't care, you know. But, uh, that's the the biggest thing is, uh, you know, guys at ninth grade are not going to be the same guy as 12th grade. I think I saw Sabin talking about one of his defensive ends.

[00:13:53]They showed him at 16 and then they showed him at 23. He's a little different, you know. So, that's the biggest thing that that kind of stuck out with me, I thought.

[00:14:03]>> And Kevin, now you have a unique situation because you're a college coach, so you do a lot of traveling.

[00:14:10]It's with softball. You obviously do a lot of recruiting. Uh you're nationally ranked. You're year in and year out in the regionals at Bell Haven. How do you find it trying to, you know, you have other sons, you're trying to keep up with what the boys are doing, you're trying to keep up with what Connor's doing. How do you make that work uh between Mama Griffin and you and and trying to keep tabs of everybody?

[00:14:33]>> Yeah, it's divide and conquer for sure.

[00:14:35]But um as far as me during my spring season, you know, I'm tied up pretty much from February until we finished in the College World Series last week. So, um, I I've missed a lot of baseball here at the beginning of the year, which is okay because most of the pro ball is all summer long. What I miss more of is my youngest son who's playing high school ball and they're playing the same time we're playing. So, I don't get to see a lot of his games uh during the spring.

[00:15:08]So, I usually, thank goodness, uh, high school live streams in this day and age are amazing. like it's like watching on TV and Jackson Prep where Kaden goes to school where Connor went to school. They do a great job of doing the live streams and that sort of thing. So, you feel like you don't miss a lot since you have that. Um I'll be riding on the bus and we'll have the Pirates games on and my college girls would not like it if I turned it off. they they are very supportive and they want to make sure I'll even set my phone up in the helmet rack in the dugout during my own games and I'll sit there and let somebody else coach third base sometimes and uh just to be able to keep an eye on the game and watch it and um I my girls will huddle around and and I'll have to tell them go play the game. Don't worry about this game. Y'all go play your game. and but it's just you find a way uh to make it work and try to be as supportive as you can of all your kids and um just stay engaged as as best you can during this time of the year.

[00:16:14]>> All right, Andy, I'm going to admit that this was not one of my strongest suits.

[00:16:18]So, I want to kind of get you and Kevin to share your thoughts on this. the all powerful and the all- knowing group behind social media. You know, we know as parents that, you know, if your son has a great game, man, they can't get enough of you. But the minute they start to struggling or if they think he's hurt, everybody's a orthopedic or everybody's an all knowful, you know, what I call scoop, you know, captain scoop writing the scoop. How do you deal with that? As you know, now you have two sons in Pro Bowl and to me it was almost like a a pinata. You know, for Tyler it was like everybody had an opinion, everybody had the solution and it was, you know, open season anytime my kid took the bump. How do you deal with that as a dad? And what advice can you both give to parents? You know, you got the high school parents that deal with social media. Then you get the SEC parents that are in the social media and oh my gosh, Pro Bowl. Holy cow, it's open season. How do you deal with that, Andy? We'll start with you. How do you deal social media as a dad? As a dad, >> you know, it it's it's tough. I I I do my best to stay off it. I I do.

[00:17:25]Honestly, I'm going to tell you, I do my best. But I will just say the New York media compared to the Pittsburgh media is not even close. you know, Pittsburgh was bad because, you know, I would, you know, it's our hometown. We know a lot of people. And you would see um you know, David had kind of probably four good years, one bad year, and there was one little blip and my gosh, they beat the heck out of them. And um you know, it just it just comes with the territory when those last three outs in the ninth are the toughest to get. And then um you know you go to New York and then you follow that a little bit and it's uh that was hard. That was really hard. And I then there's so many different avenues there to to follow. And I kind of compare uh Yankee baseball to Steeler football because the Steel everyone in Pittsburgh just lives and dies with the Steelers. And um it's kind of like that with baseball. And obviously um you know the Pirates not the same with the Pirates obviously but um the the I the best thing I could do and advice I can give I just kind of stay off it. And uh Aaron Rogers feel the current Steeler quarterback just gave it some advice and he said something along the lines of why would I listen to what someone says when I would never ask them for advice. You know what I mean? So that kind of speaks volumes. And then the one that I I kind of get nervous for is Will because, you know, the first round pick, the bust and all that stuff. And you know, he's he's pretty tough mentally. And um uh I just try to keep him as positive as possible.

[00:19:00]And uh the the worst part is when my daughter will get some stuff, you know, hey, you're you're uh tell your brother he sucks or something like that. My daughter's like, what? So like, are you kidding me?

[00:19:13]>> Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. the all powerful, all knowing San Francisco fans, they uh they let you know. Trust me, I I've lived that. I'm right there.

[00:19:21]Right right there beside you.

[00:19:23]>> So now Kev, what you got to give it to me straight now. You're at a different level, but the e the weight of expectation for some of these people.

[00:19:31]It's like you're just going to strap the pirates onto Connor Griffin's back and say, "Okay, big fella, take us to the World Series." But you know, we're a 19 just turning 20 year older. What has that been like for you as a dad to read or listen to all the the crazies?

[00:19:48]>> Well, I had this conversation with my wife five minutes before we came on the air because she she calls me and she says, "What are you doing? Are you Twittering and uh because she calls it doom scrolling while just read?" And you know, I haven't learned yet. I'm still a rookie rookie dad for pro ball. So, I'm uh I'm still trying to learn how to deal with all of it. And I even replied to somebody yesterday that was saying Connor was going to have to have Tommy John surgery, and I just responded, "No, he won't." And uh, man, you would have thought the world had fallen in on the on the media world when everybody saw that. And I I've got to learn to stay off of it and just I have I have to learn really not to even read it. But it's tough because I'm on social media a lot for recruiting purposes with my program and it's right there in front of your face. So, I'm I'm still I'm still learning how to deal with all that. But I try to tell Connor, you can't worry about just like Andy said, don't worry about what people think if you wouldn't ask advice from them. And Connor's done a really good job of getting off of social media. He's taken it all off of his phone, so he's not laying in the bed at night just laying there reading everything that people say about him, good or bad. And I think it's more healthy that way. And I'm proud of him for just getting rid of it all. He still has the accounts, but he he doesn't post or get on there or read any of it. Um, so I need to take his advice and and be that way as well. But, uh, it's hard.

[00:21:30]It's hard to sit there and listen to people talk badly and say things about your kids that you know is just completely fabricated, not true. Um, and you want to defend them, but if you do so, then it's going to create even bigger fire. Sure.

[00:21:45]>> And I'm So, I feel you on that. And I've got to learn to be better myself for sure. I >> I I've lived with that for 14 years now.

[00:21:55]And I think it's just now that my son is 33 that I I kind of have figured out just to hit the mute buttons on a whole bunch of people and out of sight, out of mind.

[00:22:06]>> The big the big question that everybody's going to want to know, our three boys took three very different paths. Our four boys, you know, you have uh Will and you have David and Connor and Tyler. And every parent wants to know what's the secret sauce because, you know, I try to get parents to understand it's a long road. It's a hard road, but it begins with talent, skill, and work ethic. But if you could reach down into the youth levels of baseball and talk to the parents, I don't really want to be disparaging about any group or any, but what's the one thing that you would want young children to really know that matters? In other words, the camps, the showcases, the tournaments, which are five to seven tournaments on a Saturday and a Sunday, you know, all the things that you might be able to add some insight for parents. What would you share with say the parents of the 10 to 15 year old student athlete that has the dream, all our boys are are living it.

[00:23:07]What would you say to them, you know, as far as, hey, focus on this at 10 to 15.

[00:23:12]Don't don't get caught up in X or Y.

[00:23:16]>> Wow. There's a lot of different ways to go on this one. Um, >> you know, coaching my my I had a 10-year-old team actually during my high school season that I was able to coach and uh the one the guy that runs our program, you know, we always talk about listen, if they come back and they want to come back, you did your job. You know what I mean? And that's the the one thing that you want to do it so that they want to be the ones initiating the the practices and the workouts and because if you're doing it all the time, I I don't think it's going to go as far.

[00:23:52]I I it's just that's my opinion on that.

[00:23:55]And then, you know, they kind of get that love um of the weight room. They get the love of of just the uh doing the everyday things. Uh I I I think if you could get them to do that, I think you you really uh did your job as a as a parent and and just, you know, it's kind of funny. Uh I always looked at my my I had a friend in scouting with the Padres's and whenever Dave would have David would have a bad game, you know, just coming into Pro Bowl, I thought the world ended and he would be like, "Oh, it's a bump in the road. That's all it is." And you know, you feel that way in a 162 game season, but in a high school 18 to 20 game season. You know, one game is everything. You know, you could not make the playoffs because of that. But, um, that's that's the one thing. Just kind of being able to grasp that, you know, you're going to have bad games.

[00:24:48]What do you do? Uh, you know, I always say next pitch, next pitch, next pitch.

[00:24:52]What do you do? Next play, next play, next play. And that those are the things that I think stuck out from from my end with the kids. Um, you know, making them want to do the stuff on their own. That was important. And then just realizing there's going to be some bumps in the road and, you know, kind of getting back to my, you know, success is not linear.

[00:25:11]You know, it might be, you know, horizontal line might go up a little, it might go down a little bit. Um, but yeah, and you could say the same thing about velocity development. Everyone's everyone wants velocity and they want it now. and uh it just doesn't happen that way. So, those are just a couple of items that stuck out with me.

[00:25:29]>> Kevin, >> yeah, just um with our boys growing up, I always wanted to make sure that they they wanted to play whatever sport they were playing at at a given time. When baseball was over, if they wanted to go into basketball, we put the baseball down and let them enjoy something else.

[00:25:46]It it had to be their idea. I wanted it to be their idea and wanted it to be what they wanted to do. And um you know, I felt like we did a good job as parents of not shoving baseball down their throat or basketball or any other sport.

[00:26:01]Uh just let them play whatever was in season. And you know, create an atmosphere where they like Andy said, they want to keep coming back to it. And I didn't ever want my boys to lose the love of the game. Um whatever they were playing. I wanted them to be able to play as many sports as they wanted to play as long as they felt like uh it was not a risk for them to continue doing it. And um we had a I I call it it's bad to say, but at 8 years old, we had what I thought was the best group of eight-year-olds I've ever seen in my life. And we were it's almost embarrassing to say we played like 60some games in a summer. And I would probably talk badly about that in this day and age, but we're like 58 and two and went to Dallas, went undefeated in a little uh national tournament that we played in. Then after the tournament, all the parents got together and they wanted to bust up because we were only practicing once a week and they wanted a professional coach even though I considered myself that because I was a college coach and I did it for a living.

[00:27:11]So, I consider myself um kind of kind of an expert in it, but um they busted that team up and only four of those kids continued to play baseball through high school. And it was the best group of kids I'd ever seen at eight years old.

[00:27:27]Uh, not that that means anything, but you know, I felt like because the parents wanted them to practice two and three times a week and have a paid coach and and all of that, those boys lost the love of the game because two of those practices a week, they might have been wanting to be at the lake or or go fishing or do something else. My kid did it once a week and he continued to love it. and I'm glad that we did it the way that we did um because you know he's still playing today. So, uh if if I had to give any advice to kids or or parents really because they control it is don't allow your kid to fall out of love with the sport, whatever it is that they're playing and uh don't shove it down their throat or they'll start to resent it.

[00:28:16]Well, I would be remiss if I did not ask this final question and I cannot tell you how many times I get asked. Parents today are being sold, you know, all you know, the golden carrot begins at early ages about college and then there's showcases and exposure and and tournaments.

[00:28:36]My question, we're all dads. We're all goodnatured men. We we're all coaches.

[00:28:44]uh you know and I would love for you to share baseball was never a 12 month.

[00:28:50]It's not meant to be a 12 month all year round but parents feel like if they don't play in the fall they're not going to make it in the spring if they're not playing from January through November.

[00:29:00]Uh talk to just share did Will or Dave were they multisport athletes? Did they have other hobbies? Did they fish? Did they hunt? Um, you know, just share about that myth of, hey man, you're going to miss out. Hey man, the competiti, you know, wreck ball is not going to get you where you want to go.

[00:29:18]If you just play at a regular public high school, you're not going to be able to play in college. Talk about the realities. Our boys all took different paths.

[00:29:25]>> Sure.

[00:29:26]>> Um, us two, Andy, are from the Northeast. Jackson Prep in Mississippi, you know, that's a warm weather southeastern part of the country, but all three of our boys are multi-dimensional young men. But Andy, what what did both your boys do when they were going through youth baseball, high school, and then into college?

[00:29:45]>> So, I would say up until about seventh grade, they all played three sports, uh, football, uh, uh, baseball and basketball. And, uh, basketball was kind of the first to go. And then, uh, I was a, uh, I was our ninth grade football coach for probably 20 years. So, I was, uh, quite involved with football. And then um Will Will Will and Dave both played until about 10th grade. Dave stopped because uh he had back surgery at like 15 or 16. So that kind of curtailed his football career. But uh I I'm a big fan of I think of all that crossraining in the different sports is really really helpful. And um you know I and I think it gave his arm a break. And uh and I'll tell you what I do now for our fall guys is we throw it's it's more or less for the guys that if the guys aren't playing any other fall sports, whatever it is, golf, football, whatever, uh we'll come out, we'll have a practice a week and we'll play maybe a game a on a weekend and everyone will get one or two innings and just to kind of get uh the work in. But we never did anything where we were trying to win the fall championship or anything like that.

[00:30:55]But I just thought that was really important for those guys to to do the multiple sport thing uh throughout um the high school uh experience. And I think that's where a lot of the best memories from the high school and growing up come from. And uh you know I can say the same thing for uh the youth baseball that they played. Some of the best memories came from playing with their teammates that they played on the high school team with. And those are some great experiences that I'm glad they got to uh take advantage of and experience.

[00:31:28]>> Yeah. The best thing I feel like we did at a young age was um we played local and we let them play we let them play wreck ball and play with their friends.

[00:31:39]And um we didn't really start doing the whole travel stuff till maybe 12 to where we were really traveling out of town to go play baseball. And even then, we limited it. Um, as as Connor got older, um, you know, you hear you got to go to this event if you want to be noted. We ne we never did Jupiter the first time. Uh, I think Perfect Game hosts some some good events, but we never did Jupiter. And we were always told that it would hurt Connor to not go to Jupiter. Well, we we never did Jupiter. Um, just because I didn't want to be playing baseball in October and November. Um, we turned down a USA event one time. Um, someone called me and wanted him to go to Mexico and I think this was after his junior year. Well, we had shut it down, ramped it. Uh, we we had stopped throwing and they called in, I think October 15th or something like that and wanted him to go to Mexico on November the 5th. And the the stipulation was, well, he had to pitch if he goes. I said, "Well, I mean, he'll go and play a position and he'll hit or whatever, but he's not going to ramp it back up to pitch and then shut it back down again and ramp it back up again in January to be able to pitch for the high school season." And um it was just one of those deals where I put my foot down.

[00:33:03]I said, "I'm not allowing um you know, my kid to risk that kind of injury just to go play in Mexico." Um, but you know, there's certain things I think you have to do and make decisions for your kids that other people don't like and they don't understand, but you got to look out for them first. And it goes all the way back to recruiting. Uh, Connor got a first offer in eighth grade. And in eighth and ninth grade, he had some college coaches putting deadlines and timelines on I need I need you to commit by and this would have been three weeks down the line. And so I put my foot I told Connor I said first of all you're not committing until you've taken your five at the time it was five official visits. You're not going to commit until you take your five visits. and that means you're not committing until your junior year of high school. Um because that's when you can take those visits.

[00:33:59]And we slow played it. We waited and um took the five official visits and then he made his decision that he wanted to commit to LSU. And now I think players can take unlimited official visits. And I don't like it. I think there should still be a restriction on it. But um you know looking back I feel like that as dads we we have to do some things sometimes and make decisions for our kids that they're not mature enough to make in eighth grade and ninth grade and even moving into pro ball sometimes you know they don't understand the value of a dollar and um if somebody's trying to short change them and that sort of thing. So, we still have to advocate for our kids even to this day. Um, even though they're professional athletes and I feel like, um, it creates a good relationship between father son when they know they can come to you and ask you for guidance and that kind of stuff.

[00:34:59]>> I think parents should understand. I mean, I went through that with Tyler.

[00:35:02]They told him, "Don't play football.

[00:35:04]You're going to get hurt. You're going to cost your kid money." Uh, and I looked at Tyler and I said, "Do you love playing football?" He said, "Dad, I've been doing it since I was six." I said, "Okay, so you're going to play." I think we as adults sometimes have to be the bad guy just to allow our kids to, you know, to play and enjoy their childhood.

[00:35:21]And at the end of the day, even though nobody wants to admit it, baseball is a great sport. I think we can all agree on that. But the business of baseball, the underbelly of the baseball world, can be a little intimidating at times. And sometimes dad or mom have to be the the bad guy and uh you know kind of get our children to see the bigger picture as opposed to the short window. Gentlemen, I want to say thank you. First of all, I deeply appreciate your friendship because whether I'm running into Andy at the ABCA or talking to Kevin, you know, softball or baseball throughout the course of the season, I really truly appreciate the little friendship that we've had.

[00:35:56]>> Absolutely.

[00:35:57]>> Over these last years. And Andy, I mean this with every fiber of my being.

[00:36:02]everything you're going through with Will, I have lived it. Still living it to this day and I'm right here for you if you ever need anyone. And >> I can tell you I know what comes with that uh with that that big weight on our shoulders of expectation. So I I thank you very much. Happy Father's Day to both of you. I think you are two of the best fathers, let alone best coaches that I've ever been able to interact with uh within the sport. So, thank you very much for your times today and best of luck to David and Connor.

[00:36:34]>> Thank you.

[00:36:35]>> Thank you.