Razed Sports

Even as his body began to betray him as he grew older, Tim Harkins didn't stop challenging himself, he just changed the nature of the challenge. And that strength was both an example and a blessing for his family until the very end. Listen to all of Season 3: https://www.razedsports.com/season-3 Razed Sports is a proud member of the Story Hangar podcast network: https://www.storyhangar.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Whether encouraging his kids in sports or just sharing general wisdom, Tim Harkins had a way with words, and he always delivered them with humor and humility. Listen to all of Season 3: https://www.razedsports.com/season-3 Razed Sports is a proud member of the Story Hangar podcast network: https://www.storyhangar.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Whether it was his beloved Gonzaga Bulldogs, his friends or his family, Tim Harkins possessed an unending supply of loyalty, always there for support, for guidance and sometimes a helpful push.. Listen to all of Season 3: https://www.razedsports.com/season-3 Razed Sports is a proud member of the Story Hangar podcast network: https://www.storyhangar.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Tim Harkins was not only a competitive person, he was also kind, thoughtful and compassionate. He had “grace.” In Episode 2, we share stories from childhood through adulthood that illustrate how he often handled himself in a way that drew others to him. Listen to all of Season 3: https://www.razedsports.com/season-3 Razed Sports is a proud member of the Story Hangar podcast network: https://www.storyhangar.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

In Episode 1 of Season 3, we learn about how Tim Harkins honed his determination at an early age, and how he used that drive, which sometimes bordered on bullheadedness, to build a reputation as a hard-nosed athlete who always gave his best. That trait would later be a key part of his personality that he brought to his battle with cancer. Listen to all of Season 3: https://www.razedsports.com/season-3 Razed Sports is a proud member of the Story Hangar podcast network: https://www.storyhangar.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

He was an athlete, a leader and a mentor. Most of all, he was my Dad. We lost my father, Tim Harkins, to cancer in the spring of 2020.  He was a good person, an excellent father, a great man. But he wasn't a self-promoter, so I decided to do it for him. I decided that his story needed to be shared. Because quite frankly, the world could use more people like him. Ep. 1 drops Sept. 14. For more on the podcast, go to https://www.razedsports.com/. Razed Sports is a proud member of the Story Hangar podcast network. Learn more at https://www.storyhangar.com/. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Having wrapped up Season 2 just as spring training was starting to crank up, it was time to catch up with Cole Uvila. So I headed out to Surprise, Arizona, and on Feb. 22, Cole and I sat down for a more traditional interview. Cole caught us up on everything that had happened since the end of the Arizona Fall League, touched on goals he has for the 2020 season and shared his thoughts on how much he has grown as a pitcher over the last year. Listen to all of Season 2: https://www.razedsports.com/listen-2 Subscribe: https://www.razedsports.com/subscribe --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

In our season finale, Cole Uvila heads home to begin his offseason, taking with him a new-found momentum after a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. That showing included one eye-opening pitch in the league's All-Star game that not only bested the top prospect in the AFL, but also grabbed the attention of some scouts, reporters and analytics experts across minor league baseball. Listen: https://www.razedsports.com/listen-2 Subscribe: https://www.razedsports.com/subscribe --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Cole Uvila finds himself navigating the slippery world of sports agents, going to one breakfast meeting after another, hearing pitch after pitch, searching for an agent who believes in him as much as he believes in himself. Meanwhile, his outings in the Arizona Fall League go so well that he lands the biggest honor of his pro career, a selection to the Fall Stars Game. Listen: https://www.razedsports.com/listen-2 Subscribe: https://www.razedsports.com/subscribe --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

As the season winds down in late August, Cole Uvila prepares for the Carolina League playoffs -- with Hurricane Dorian looming -- while also looking forward to competing in the Arizona Fall League, battling some late-season fatigue and reveling in the continuing improvement of his curveball. Listen: https://www.razedsports.com/listen-2 Subscribe: https://www.razedsports.com/subscribe --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

As the regular season winds down, Cole Uvila shares what life is like in the clubhouse of the Down East Wood Ducks, a lighthearted but talented group of players, as they prepare for the Carolina League playoffs. Meanwhile, the time he spent fixing his control problems pays off in the form of an incredible hot streak. It's a run so good that it earns him yet another challenge from the Texas Rangers, precisely the kind of challenge he has been hungering for. For more on the episode: https://www.razedsports.com/listen-2 Subscribe: https://www.razedsports.com/subscribe --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

After an embarrassing four-walk game, Cole Uvila goes to the video tape to try to figure out what's wrong. When he does, he spots a tiny mechanical issue that seems to be at the root of his command issues. Cole's ability to identify and fix problems is a big strength of his, and it comes in part from a mantra he was taught by his late mother, Denise. She told him that there is always a reason for things that happen, and when you understand that you can figure out how to deal with them, and to be better. Cole puts this into practice on the field, and after making an adjustment to his mechanics, he finds the results are even better than expected. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Baseball is often referred to as America’s pastime, but that title could just as easily be applied to another activity -- the card game poker. Like baseball, poker might have its roots in games from other countries, but poker as we know it today is generally considered an American invention, dating back to the early 19th century, and over the years it’s become stamped into the fabric of American culture. Cole Uvila loves poker as much as baseball. In fact, he's actually made more money at the card tables than he has on the mound. In this episode, Cole shares how he got into the game and details how he can take the lessons he learns in poker and apply them to baseball. Meanwhile, as the second half of the season continues, Cole's tinkering on the mound leads to a bout of wildness, prompting him to take a deep look at how to fix it. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

The great Ernie Harwell once said: “Baseball is a lot like life. It's a day-to-day existence, full of ups and downs. You make the most of your opportunities in baseball as you do in life.” As the second half of the 2019 season begins, Cole Uvila finds himself experiencing this truth on multiple fronts. He has to deal with a bizarre outing in which he feels great but the ball does not bounce his way, and he shares what life is like on the bus as his team powers through a series of difficult road trips. But he's not the only person having to deal with the challenges of a long baseball season. His fiancee Kayla, who is clear across the country in the state of Washington working on a career of her own, is also learning to adjust to the baseball life. Cole and Kayla share their thoughts on how they deal with being apart for weeks on end and how they plan for the future in a business that is designed to make that nearly impossible. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

As the Carolina League All-Star break rolled around on the 2019 season, things were going great for Cole Uvila. His Down East Wood Ducks had dominated the Carolina League, winning 50 of their 70 games to take the first-half crown and clinch a playoff berth in the process. Cole had finished strong as well. He had worked on the issues that had been bothering him -- his command, his pitch selection -- and had some good momentum heading into mid-June. In his last seven appearances before the break, he’d allowed just one earned run across 10 innings, striking out 12. But now, as he headed home to Seattle for a brief break, it wasn’t going to be a vacation. He was returning to Driveline Baseball to get back on their mound and fine tune some things. Of all the different factors that had played a role in Cole reaching this point in his career, perhaps nothing – aside from his own determination – had had a bigger impact than Driveline had. “I guess Driveline has a lot of missions," Cole says, "but specifically what started Driveline was the idea that baseball players can be trained and created, not just, that they're born with 100-mph arm.” So Cole returned to Driveline with a very specific mission: He wanted to turn his curveball from merely a complement to his fastball into a dangerous weapon. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

As we left episode 3, Cole Uvila was unhappy with himself. After his promotion to Advanced-A, with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Carolina League, he had started well. But through the bulk of May he had some struggles. After giving up just the second homer of his professional career early in the month, he went through a stretch of five straight appearances in which he allowed at least one run. But when he took a moment to examine his season, and his pro career as a whole, he realized that things weren't quite as devastating as he'd thought. “And I looked and I was like sheesh, all in all if you had told me in a year after I got drafted I'd be in High-A with and done what I've done, I kind of like, 'this isn't as bad as it feels,'" Cole says. "And I was just like, if this month, which had felt like it was the worst I'd pitched ever, has resulted in this, then like I said it's not that bad. It's not career-ending.” Meanwhile, back in Washington, Cole’s father Steve had been deep in a transition of his own – he was getting back into the hobby he loved – drag racing. He had given up his sporting passion in order to help Cole shoot for his dream, but now he had time for racing again. He had bought one of his old cars back from a buddy who’d held onto it for 27 years – yes, the car pre-dated Cole. Steve started tuning it up, taking it to the track again. “It's a white 1967 Camaro called Thumper. And it's got 'Thumper' down the side of it and a big rabbit painted on it." Steve says. "It's kinda old school cool and a lot of the kids love it. It's known around and whatnot. It's been a race car since 1971, so it's got history.” The car has history, just as racing is a part of Steve’s history, and in a way, Cole’s, too. And that history is complex and runs deep. It involves a decision Steve made years ago. A decision that changed everything, though, as we’ll find out, not forever. Sometimes, things can come full circle. That’s what happened on June 2, 2019. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

As Cole Uvila heads into May, he starts to experience some challenges for the first time as a professional baseball player. The umpires of the Advanced-A Carolina League have tighter, more consistent strike zones, and the hitters, who are more experienced, are eager to take advantage of this fact. “The batters are much more disciplined. They have a little bit more of an approach," Cole says. "There's a lot of free swingers the younger guys get. They're a little bit more free swingers. Now I'm facing guys 23, 24, 25 years old with some experience. They hunt pitches.” All of these differences came to a head for Cole in early May, when he allows his first home run of the season and goes on to give up runs in five consecutive appearances.  He knows he has to make some changes -- he can know longer rely on simply throwing his fastball past people. So he goes to work to refine his game. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Drafted as a 24-year-old, Cole Uvila knew he had to start his professional baseball career well to have a chance to stick around. Most pro players his age already had at least a couple of seasons under their belt, and since the Texas Rangers had invested only a $1,000 signing bonus in him and his surgically repaired right arm, they probably weren’t going to have a ton of patience. Cole would get a chance -- a legitimate chance -- but he knew his leash wouldn’t be particularly long. “It was laid out to me really well by my area scout when I got drafted. He said 'listen. you're a 24-year-old, 40th-round pick that signed for $1,000. You have to be the best version of you every time you pitch," Cole said. "They're not going to give you time and years and years of time to develop. It's just the business side of the game. You have to come in and you have to treat every moment like it's your last.” For his first full season, the Rangers assigned Cole to the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League. But privately, he had plans for bigger and better things before the season was out. More on Razed Sports: https://www.razedsports.com/ Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/RazedSports --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

There are about 1,200 players selected in the MLB draft each year -- What happens if you're one of the players chosen near the bottom? What sort of chance are you going to get? Find out in Season 2 of Razed Sports, as we share the story of Cole Uvila, a most tenacious player with a most unusual backstory. In Episode 1, hear the tale of how Cole became a pitcher, how he didn't take pitching seriously until college, how his quest was temporarily derailed by injury and how he fought to heal and get back on track. And follow along as he sweats out the draft, an agonizingly long process in itself that throws some surprises in his path. This episode sets the stage for the rest of Season 2, in which we'll document Cole's first season as a professional baseball player and follow along as he tries to climb the minor league ladder, against all odds, as a 40th round draft pick. More on Razed Sports: https://www.razedsports.com/ Support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/RazedSports --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message

Every young baseball player dreams of playing in the major leagues, but even the best players find out quickly that it takes a lot more than dreaming to get there. It takes talent, of course, but also an incredible amount of patience, hard work and good health -- not to mention luck. Welcome to Season 2 of the Razed Sports podcast, in which host Bob Harkins goes deep into the minor leagues to follow one such hopeful, a hard-throwing pitcher with a most unique story. He'll endure long bus trips and short paychecks, he'll battle the aches and pains of the long season, and he'll constantly tinker with his game, working to adjust to the increasingly tough competition, to improve, to get noticed, to get promoted. How does he stay grounded when things are going well? How does he stay calm when the luck turns bad? Follow along as he tries to prove he has what it takes, all while learning lessons on how to deal with the successes and failures that come with playing America's pastime, not to mention the curveballs of life itself. Episode 1 drops Sept. 5. For more on the podcast, go to RazedSports.com. You can support the show by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/RazedSports. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/razedsports/message