Send us a text In this conversation, Johnny Monell Jr. shares his journey from growing up in the Bronx with his father having a professional baseball background to navigating the complexities of the sport as a player, instructor, and entrepreneur. He discusses the evolution of baseball fashion, the challenges of minor league life, and the importance of mentorship in youth training. Monell also reflects on his international experience in Korea and the launch of his own line of batting gloves, ...
Send us a text Summary In this episode of Catch Up with JP, host Jeff Perro interviews former MLB pitcher Steven 'Paco' Rodriguez, who shares his journey from growing up in Miami as a Marlins fan to becoming a key player in the Dodgers bullpen. Rodriguez discusses his college experience at the University of Florida, his transition to professional baseball, the challenges he faced with injuries, and his eventual shift to coaching and mentoring young players. He emphasizes the importance of di...
Send us a text Chris Gissell did not become a recognizable name via a long MLB career. He did, however, become a VERY recognizable name in amateur coaching circles. Through Chris' mindful approach of teaching the game to young players, he has amassed a very large social media following. He has also built a very large library of free documents and educational materials on his website BaseballDudes.com.
Send us a text 10-year MLB veteran Jason Michaels is now running a training center in Tampa called The Big League Approach. In addition to the usual pitch-hit-field curriculum, Michaels' teachings include the mental side of the game. https://thebigleagueapproach.com/ https://www.facebook.com/bigleagueapproach
Send us a text I made this episode of me talking about myself because I don't want to have to talk about myself. I will be the LEAST interesting person on any of these shows, so any time spent talking about myself will be time wasted. This will be the most you ever hear of my voice. I filed this as a "Bonus Feature."
Send us a text Ever Magallanes' advice for active professional baseball players is to "Play until you can't play anymore." He lived that advice. After 8 years playing affiliated professional baseball in the US, he played 12 more years in Mexico. That alone is an interesting story. He also tells us about his 11 days in the big leagues with Cleveland, and his time coaching and managing the Mexican National Team in the World Baseball Classic and other international competitions. He talks about h...
Send us a text Bronswell Patrick pitched professionally for 18 years. In addition to throwing baseballs well, he's also an excellent storyteller. In this episode, we discuss making his MLB debut after a decade in the minor leagues, playing in Korea, Taiwan, and Mexico, and giving up Sammy Sosa's 61st home run in 1998. And many other fun and educational topics. An incorrect version of this episode was posted earlier. This corrected version was posted Wednesday 3/12/2025 at 8:30p...
Send us a text Australian Glenn Williams signed with the Atlanta Braves in 1993 with an attention-grabbing $950 signing bonus. He spent 10 years in the minor leagues before making his Major League debut in June 2005 with the Minnesota Twins. He's also represented his country in many international competitions as both a player and a coach. He was named GM of Team Australia in 2015. In 2021, he became the CEO of Baseball Australia. He now overseas the growth and development of baseball at all l...
Send us a text The man's story needed to be told and there was no one better to do it than himself. So Jim Rushford wrote "The Pizza Guy Delivers." Undrafted out of college, to delivering pizzas, to indy ball, to Milwaukee. Fascinating story. The book is available on Amazon.
Send us a text Dan Otero pitched eight years in the Major Leagues. He is now the Senior Director of On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball. What does that even mean? I worked with Dan in 2008. I was the clubhouse manager, he was the closer until he got promoted to San Jose. It had been 17 years since we spoke. It was great to catch up. I'm happy for him and all his successes.
Send us a text Here it is, the PREMIERE EPISODE of Catch Up with JP. Former White Sox and Phillies outfielder Jordan Danks. Jordan and I talk about his playing career, playing on the White Sox with his brother, and life after baseball, including how he became a firefighter. This conversation was supposed to just be a casual catch up for an article for the website, a podcast was supposed to be down the road. But we had SO much fun I decided to turn this into a podcast episode and put pod...