Trying to create some urgency with our outfielders today. Launching balls behind a fence where they can’t read bat angle or assume I’m hitting directly at them. All I was listening for was communication between everyone.
I miss road trips. Bus rides. Continental breakfasts. Plate meetings. Ballpark music. Pre-game BP. Dugout chatter. Fresh cut grass. Clean white lines. Lineup cards. Scrubbing bubbles. Anthems. Circle drags. Double plays. Walk off celebrations. I/O’s. Competition. I miss baseball.
COACHES-This weekend I chose to take my wife away for a night instead of attending a US tournament w/ my team. Although I probably haven’t had a weekend off since Dec, I felt extremely guilty at first. After seeing how much it meant to my wife & kids, I will apologize to nobody.
When’s the last time you drove by a local field and witnessed a group of kids playing….
Wiffle Ball?
Stick Ball?
Wall Ball?
Home Run Derbies?
I miss the 90’s…
Been home in “isolation” with my wife and 3 kids for the past 6 hours & I’ve come to the conclusion that there might not enough bourbon to get me through these next few weeks. At this rate, my wife might kill me before any virus reaches this household. Be safe friends!
🚨 Attention Junior Colleges - The fact that this kid hasn’t been picked up yet is absurd. Swings from both sides. One of the best defenders in the province. I don’t want to hear about his size! If I tell you he can play he can play. DM serious inquiries only.
15U RHP Thomas Reilly goes 5 shutout innings on 4️⃣8️⃣ pitches tonight…
His teammates placed meaningful butterfly stickers on the back of their helmets tonight in support of the passing of his mother.
She was 4️⃣8️⃣ years old…
#OBJFamily
💙
Competitive baseball in January is ridiculous. Scouts & recruiters to blame. Parents & players have been brainwashed to think this is a good idea. What CDN HS pitchers are actually ready to throw in Jan? What CDN HS hitters will show well when last live AB they had was in Oct?
Celebrating my 6 year olds birthday by being 5 months tobacco free today. This is the longest stretch I’ve gone in 19 years. I figure that’s the best present I can give him. Love you Bambino.
We have visited some AMAZING Division 2 programs & facilities this week.
LSUE, East Central & Tusculum to name a few…
Check the ego at the door kids…
There’s more to life than just Division 1 baseball.
Most underrated quality of a human being -> FEEL. Feel for the room, environment, situation, right & wrong, when to speak, when to shut-up, when to be firm, when to sympathize, when to elevate voice, when to put foot down, when to help & when to let someone learn a hard lesson.💭
Ran into
@inkyjohnson
and his son at the yard today! Had a quick two minute conversation and was blown away with how down to earth he was. Regret not getting a picture with him but didn’t want to be a bother.
#BeInspired
The beauty of coaching, recruiting & scouting is that our opinions and projections on players are not always right!
My hope is that any player I have released over the years will prove me wrong, land on his feet, then flip me the bird for making a poor decision!
Seeing all this baseball being played south of the border sure is depressing for us Canadians. Happy for those kids playing, but sad for ours. I just want to throw BP and hit a damn fungo. Phase 3 can’t come soon enough.
Radar gun in full force at my sons 9U pitching machine game tonight.
Gotta make sure those coaches aren’t turning up the dial between innings!
What the hell are we doing people?
Are you excited that you committed or are you more excited to post your commitment to see how much attention it gets?
Lots of kids signing from many programs across 🇨🇦 lately. Great to see. If it hasn’t happened for you yet, stay the course. Everyones journey is different.
First day of school for my crew in a new province today. The boys are taking the school bus for the first time & I’m not sure how I feel about it! A big thank you to all of the teachers going back to work this week!
Today has been extremely humbling and overwhelming. I just wanted to send a sincere thank you to the ridiculous amount of people who reached out today. Thank you for the continued support. I was not expecting such a reaction. See you on the field soon! ⚾️
Any players with legitimate offers on the table who are “holding” out for something “better”... Nobody is going to feel sorry for you when you’re left with nothing come spring because you chose to be stubborn.
3️⃣ weeks in and finally starting to feel settled. Loving our new neighborhood, home, & how my family is adapting to this change. Great to be back throwing beeps, hitting fungos, and establishing new relationships.
Kohen Eckstein: Class of 2030. Potential two way guy. Profiles best behind the plate or at a corner. Flashes pull-side power. Oppo approach a work in progress. Drinks out of the water hose & carries his own bag. 80 grade swagger.(FB:17MPH CH:10MPH CB:9MPH EV:25MPH LA:22 Degrees)
Our two bambinos met our baby girl today who entered this world at 12:40pm. Mom is doing great after a 37 minute labour! Daddy saw some things he didn’t need to see today 😳Looking forward to the first punk who asks her out on a date!
#parkercaroleckstein
Thanks for keeping it PG-16ish today on our Covid Speaker Series
@esim69
Although some of your posts are outrageous, you do a lot of good things for many minor leaguers and
#jucobandits
Congratulations to Ontario Blue Jays IF Myles Naylor on being selected by the Oakland A’s in the 1st Round of the 2023 MLB Draft (39th Overall).
#MLBDraft
|
#OBJFam
|
@MylesNaylor22
It was a busy couple hours inside our 4,000 sq ft tent tonight. Here’s a little glimpse of how we stayed busy on our first night of defensive work. LOVE having our seniors working with the young lads.
I had a player apologize to me this morning for not doing his medicine ball work that was written out for him to do. I said, “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to yourself”. He then asks, “Why are you not mad”? My response...I’m not here to babysit.
#accountability
#lifelessons
This is COACHING. Firm yet fair. Direct not demeaning. Love not fluff. Go above the job description. This photo reminds me of a 2am phone call I got from a player in 2018. I absolutely love this photo.
#FNL
It’s amazing how powerful twitter is. 10 schools within an hour that contacted me. Are all those schools the right fit? No. But it’s my job to be honest w/ those schools. HS Coaches - Quit being lazy -whether you like social media or not is irrelevant. Help your damn players!
The only reason I get to do what I do for a living is because of this potty mouth, content creating, firecracker.
Our one date night of the year.
#BaseballCanada
💭 If the team you are being recruited by spends more time talking bad about opposing programs instead of talking about their own...usually a red flag that likely speaks to the culture and the human being you’re being recruited by.
#countryclubthoughts
How many coaches screen learning disabilities? Coaches would be surprised with how many athletes have severe IEP’s. Lots of learning types - visual, aural, physical, verbal. If comprehension in classroom is poor, it could be the same in your training environment.
Whatever happened to people working like someone is trying to take it all away from you? If U are willing to do more than U are paid to do, eventually U will be paid to do more than u do. Too many minimum wage work ethics who only show up on pay day.
#eyewash
#spoonfed
#work
If you want to call yourself an ELITE program, no player/parent should feel overwhelmed or pressured into spending additional $ outside of that ORG to develop or be seen. Supply the necessary resources IN HOUSE. What the player chooses to do with those resources is up to them.
Loaded up our house to be shipped across the country today. Surprised
@EcksteinKourtni
hasn’t killed me yet. 7 more sleeps until my truck hits the road. Wife and kids will join me July, 1st. First set of tears might of trickled down these cheeks today.
#softtweet
Come hell or high water, this family will always be ready for baseball season. My 5 year old is the EXPOS this year and he doesn’t want his season to be cancelled! Stop being stubborn, listen to the health officials and try and enjoy some time at home. ✌️
Don’t mask or deny vulnerability & emotion - it can be your greatest asset. Vulnerability is where authenticity lives. Many ppl struggling now more than ever & often times w/ no visible symptoms. Mental illness is not a personal failure & doesn’t define who you are.
#BellLetsTalk
Been quite the journey…
Heard about every rumor imaginable…
Our goal all along was to find a space as close to the GTA as possible and we tried really hard to never venture away from that.
Thank you to all the
#OBJFamilies
(Past, Present & Future) for your patience.
Locked up another international student from Japan tonight!
Looking forward to having 2025 Kosei Ogura join the OBJ program next fall.
🇯🇵
@forthebaseball
My 8 year old came home from school yesterday and told me he’s doing his first school project on the
@WBCBaseball
I hope he looks back when he’s older and realizes what he witnessed last night.
Also woke up this morning and randomly brought this card to breakfast.
❤️
They wanted to be a voice for all athletes, not just OBJ. Whether or not it reaches the appropriate people who have the power to make change - doubtful. The more people to advocate for athletes of all sports in 🇨🇦 right now the better.
Appreciation Post!
We have been fortunate to have Fred from
@GreatCanadianHC
as our driver for the
@OntarioBlueJays
the last couple years.
He has definitely become a part of the
#OBJFamily
Rockin his new digs on our way to George Mason this morning.
Thanks Freddy!
After 13 years, I finally hosted my first ever coaches clinic. For whatever reason, I felt completely out of my comfort zone but still managed to yap for two hours. Thanks to those who attended. Hopefully you were able to steal a few nuggets.
Thank you to everyone who came out last night 🙏. What a great environment for a local HS game.
@City_Abbotsford
Over $1,000 for Abbotsford’s Challenger Baseball Division.
@JaysCare
10-3W for the Blue Birds.
@OntarioBlueJays
Is throwing a bullpen with your shirt off a pre-requisite to throwing hard? Quite possibly my biggest pet peeve I see constantly on Twitter lately. Wear a god damn uniform please. Thanks.
Collegiate Fall Trip
#1
✅
10 Games
2 Workouts
Over 3,000 miles on the 🚎
Over 4,400 bullets thrown 🎯 🔪 💪
Thanks to all the gracious hosts & coaches for having us. Lots of life lessons learned for some of these young pups. It’s not for everybody!
Ottawa next week ✌️
Looking forward to coaching at this event next weekend. This province might be the most toxic place I’ve ever seen when it comes to programs disrespecting each other but it sure has a lot of talent!
Would love to see a 15U National Team develop sometime over the next decade here in 🇨🇦. Would take some sponsorship dollars, but could play in all IBAF/WBSC events like all the other countries. Could be used as a feeder/identification system for older team if done properly. 💭
Hitting is timing & adjustability. Why have one hitter stand in when you can have 3? They thought I was nuts when I asked them to do this. Think outside the box while maximizing time & space in a small location. RHH’s on one side, LHH on the other. Hitters wanna hit. Period.
Had an absolute blast w/ this group of players at the Canada Cup. A huge 👊 to my staff and the hosts of Regina for all of your work this week. Congrats to
@baseball_ns
on capturing GOLD for the first time ever! Thanks for making my first year as manager memorable
@Baseball_BC
🥉
Or… Chase… 💭
Being part of a Team & Organization.
Competitive Practice Environments.
Being ready to be seen.
The Weight-room.
Development.
Networking & Relationships.
Competition & Visibility.
Constructive Criticisms.
Discipline over Motivation.
People who care.
Loading Day!
Equipment vehicle heads out tomorrow morning at 6:00am for
@IMGAcademy
Spring Training.
Bus Departure 5:00pm Thursday.
Yes, I’m excited.
@OntarioBlueJays
I wish players would stop posting individual game photos & stats of themselves on SM minutes/hours after they lose a game.
Have a little “feel”…
It’s exactly what’s wrong with competitive sports at the moment.
Priorities are lost.
Thankful that my mom decided to fly out and spend Thanksgiving with us. Being away from family has been the hardest part for all of us, kids included. However, we are grateful for our new
#OBJFamily
and we look forward many years ahead.
Today would of been my last Opening Day w/
@fvbballacademy
for the
@bcpbl1
season. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad. Easily my favorite day of the year. Feeling for all 20’ grads right now. This RED light will eventually turn GREEN. Hope I’m still here to witness it. Be ready!
Please keep one of the hardest working kids I know
@Parkerwakelyn_
in your thoughts this week as he recovers slowly in ICU. No visitors at this present time. Our team is thinking about you champ.
#AC
Proud of this group! Learned a lot about themselves over the past 50 days. Memories & life lessons both on and off the field. 🏆
Huge thanks to ownership, our coaches, & most importantly our parents for trusting us with your kids all summer.
Back in the office on Tuesday!
This “no final season” thing hasn’t hit me yet, but I know it will. In the mean time, I’ve decided to set up a bursary starting in 2021 for one deserving player/family in the Cardinals Organization. It’s the least I could do for what this program has done for me.
@bcpbl1
🙏
I shed enough tears over the week. I should be thanking YOU for all the opportunities given to me over the years. Thank you! That means the world to me. Happy Holidays Dave, Shawn & Scott.
COACHES-Today, I had somebody tell me I’ve lost my “competitive spirit ” with umpires. I would encourage this...Be slow to anger. There’s a difference b/w reacting & responding. Reacting means you have no self control. Responding is about changing the situation & moving forward.
PLAYERS - You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with! Opportunity cares about the doors that you’re willing to build. I’ve made a pretty successful FT career as a “baseball guy” in 🇨🇦 because of relationships, not because I’m a good coach. Invest & network!
My glass is over flowing tonight.
Kohens
@AncasterLL
All-Star T-Ball Team walks off High Park 27-26 in the final.
Good thing I had glasses on when I heard his coach call him Eck for the first time.
✈️ Florida in 10 hours ✌️
7 GMs in 3 days for the 9U Ancaster Angels this weekend.
Lost the Provincial Final in extra innings to a strong North London team.
Grateful for the many life lesson discussions I got to share with Bambino this year.
He’s starting to get it…..
EQ….