Baseball Decoded

In the baseball recruiting world the Showcase events have become a staple for competitive youth, and big business for the companies that operate them.  In this episode Micah and Liam dive into the the Showcase event and analyze how the tested metrics actually compare to baseball skill.  Then they peel back another layer to go through the actual physical attributes that are essential for high performance of each skill.

There is a lot of misinformation about how athletes become faster and more powerful.  The training across sports has advanced to a level where we can now fully understand the inherent characteristics of powerful athletes, and how to develop them from a young age.Liam and Micah explore the relationship between strength and speed, and how they equate to power.This short form episode is the first in a series dedicated strictly to Speed

Jon (aka "Zinger") is originally from Moline, Michigan where he played with the Grand Rapids A's travel team during high school, a team that made it to the Connie Mack World Series in 1998. He played at the collegiate D1 level for the Michigan State Spartans from 1999 to 2002.  After school, Jon was undrafted, but continued to play professionally for 12 years and 14 seasons including Winterball.  Jon began coaching part time in 2002 and has since coached at the professional, college and high school levels.  He started the Backyard Baseball Lab in 2011 which has become the Fuel Factory.  Be sure to follow him on Instagram @fuelfactorysports and @coachzinger

            This audio comes out the archives from when your hosts Liam Mucklow and Micah Gibbs were literally first trying to learn how to use their Zoom Recorder and Adobe Audition.  Listen in as the guys try and convince themselves if they should even attempt creating a podcast.            Listen in as the two of the team members from The BPL share stories from 2020 Spring Training, Micah's time at LSU and playing pro ball, and Liam's time spent coaching PGA Tour players and doing golf club research.  This is where all the madness started.  Enjoy.

         Callix Crabbe is originally from Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the year 200 right out of High School.  Callix opted to play 2 years of college before again entering the MLB Draft and this time signing with the Milwaukee Brewers.  He made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres in 2008 and continued to play professionally through the 2011 season.  In 2012 he began his coaching career with the IMG Academy and by 2018 he was back in the big leagues, this time as a coach with the Texas Rangers.          Callix has a unique, holistic approach, that goes far beyond the basic technique of swinging a bat.  In this episode Liam digs into the differences Callix sees between elite and sub-elite hitters, key skill development activities, and also shares some great stories from his youth and how he made from the Islands to the big leagues.

     Dr Greg Rose is most famous for his work in golf, founding the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, California.  Greg has worked with more professional golfers than anyone on the planet!  He is also trained and certified over 20,000 professionals in golfs body-swing connection.     In 2018 Dr Rose refocused his energy to studying the body-swing and body-pitch connection and founded On Base University.  Since then he has worked with players and coaches on literally every MLB team, not to mention countless NCAA schools.  His knowledge of human performance and its application to sport is second to none.     In the first full episode on Baseball Decoded Liam and Greg compare and contrast the PGA Tour and the MLB, as well predict the future of bat hitting and bat science.

     Eric Walbridge started his pitching career at UC Berkeley in 2010 and while on downtime recovering from a labrum surgery he started helping his team mates relace, break in, and restore their gloves.  Unfortunately Eric return from injury was short lived as he tore his UCL and required immediate Tommy John surgery.     While the injuries cut Eric's pitching career short it did kick start his career as one of the most influential glove modern glove designers.  Eric, aka GloveClowboy's unique ability to blend traditional values and modern features make him one of the most followed "glove junkies" on Instagram.  In this episode Eric walks Liam through the "need to know" aspects of glove design, glove care, and glove construction.