Latest / Chasing Baseball Dreams / Episode #9: Dustin Pedroia | Why Your Son Should Play LESS Baseball
Transcript
- Bobby Minor: All right, welcome to Chasing Baseball Dreams. And today he really needs no introduction, but I'm joined by Red Sox legend, none other than number 15, Dustin Pedroya. Dustin grew up in California, played college baseball at Arizona State, drafted in the second round by the Red Sox in the 2004 draft, which happens to be the year my youngest son was born. you spent your your entire big league career in Boston, rookie of the year in 2007, MVP Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: in 2008. Four-time All-Star, four Glow Gloves, Silver Slugger, three World Series championships, and then you finished your your career a 299 hitter, and you're just inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame. So a lot there, man. But the part of the story that I of your story I really want to talk about is is what happened before all of that. And Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: you know, being a dad of three boys, you know, someone who's co-shoots baseball. just talk about, you know, the path, how it was different, you know, when you're growing up, what it looks like now and what parents can learn from it. But hey, real quick, I just thought of this question. So you finished your career two hundred ninety nine. Have Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: you figured out how many how many more hits would you have needed to finish your career at three hundred? Dustin Pedroia: You know, honestly, I, well, one, first off, thanks for having me on. Two, I think I was trying to play through my knee injury and I went like, honestly, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: I was like five for 70. And so I was at like 304 when I was trying to do it, continue playing. So I don't really look at it. I think I needed like, I think if I go like three for three, I'm good. You know what I mean? But getting through, going Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: three for three in the big leagues, tough to do. Bobby Minor: Yeah. It's kind of crazy. You know, my son, he was a Richard sophomore this year. He played at a JUCO in in California out in Ridgecrest. And he finished he batted two eighty two this year. And we were going through it and I they started their season, I think, in Feb January, February. But I was like, dude, if you would have just got one extra hit, I think January, February, March, April, May, just one extra hit a month, you would have hit three twenty. And it's just crazy. Dustin Pedroia: Yep. Yeah. Bobby Minor: You know what I mean? It's not that much, but it makes a huge difference. So Dustin Pedroia: For sure. Bobby Minor: But yeah, so thank you so much for joining us. And I want Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: to jump in, I want to ask a question that kind of goes back to your Arizona State playing days. And you came up in another interview about a month ago, I interviewed Howard Kinsler, and we were talking about Ian. Yeah. Yeah, and how Ian got bumped from shortstop, but got bumped from shortstop by a certain guy. So Dustin Pedroia: Ian. Ian's dad. Yeah. Yeah. Bobby Minor: here's the certain guy. but so okay, after your freshman year at Arizona State, you gave back your scholarship. Because you wanted the program to be able to use the money to bring in another player that could help you win. Like that's almost to me like it's almost crazy talk because chasing base chasing baseball dreams originally was going to be called chasing D one dreams because I feel like that's the dream of most parents and players when they're younger. You know, they want that they want to play D one baseball, they that D one scholarship. You got all of it, and after a year, you're saying, you know what? I don't need the money. Let's use the money to help make the team better. walk, I guess just walk. Walk me through and help me understand like, you know, what were you thinking and you know, what played into the decision? Dustin Pedroia: Well, it kind of, I don't know, it started at a young age. I I played sports my whole life, right? And, you know, it's hard for me to just talk about that, you know, scenario. I'll just give you a little background. So I grew up in Woodland, California. It's towns about 50,000 people. And we played sports, man. It wasn't just baseball. We played baseball, basketball, football. I played tennis. And we did that seasonally. And then that was that was what we did So around 15 my sophomore year, I stopped all other sports and I just played baseball. So you know Just just getting into the whole background thing So like if you're if you're a parent and you're 12 year olds playing baseball all year long stop doing that Go play sports man. Be a kid 12 12 year old baseball doesn't mean anything. I I and trust me I know I have I have three boys You gotta be an athlete. If you wanna get to the next level, you have to be athletic. You have to be mentally tough. You get mental toughness by playing other sports. Listen, baseball was my number one sport. I was really good on every team I've ever been on. Basketball, I was a point guard. I had to share the ball. Football, I had to be a leader. Tennis, I got that individual fight from tennis. That's what helped me, obviously on defense, give me my ready position, but it helped me one-on-one with the pitcher. If I didn't play these other sports, I wouldn't have been in anything. so it's kind of weird how I got my offers and scholarship. I went to Woodland high school and we were holding the area code tryouts at Woodland high school. Our field was nice. at that time I had played little league. I had played junior Babe Ruth. I had played Babe Ruth and then I played for my high school team. our high school team. We know we're playing in the summer and we played against this team called the Carson city capitals and they had nine D one guys. had Ron McNutt as their coach. They had all these guys and come to find out the leadoff hitter from Woodland was the best player on the field and that was me. So they wanted me to play on their team and I would have to drive to Carson city, Nevada as a 16, 17 year old kid and live there and play 60 games in 60 days. so I asked my high school coach, that's the problem with today's world. Not the problem. That's what we need to start and trusting in is, is the coaches around you find the right coach around you and trust in him that he's going to do the right thing by you. I asked my high school coach, do you think this is a good opportunity for me to go play? If you say no, I won't do it. He said, yeah, I think it's a great opportunity. So I went on this team played, the area code trials was at woodland and our coach said, You got to take my shortstop for the tryout. Otherwise you're not going to have the tryout at Woodland High. So the guy goes, dude, he's five, seven, 130 pounds. That's what I weighed. I was five, seven, 130. And sure enough, they said, okay. So they hit me lead off and it was kind of like the courtesy you're going to hit lead off, play the first two innings and then you're out, right? Of the tryout. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: We'll come to find out. I hit a home run off the number one prospect in the country. I didn't even know who that was. The first pitch he threw it in there. I bought the wood bat at Big five that was a 32. It probably was like balsa wood. It wasn't even good hit a home run go out play defense make three plays. I'm done. I had like 85 scholarship offers when July whatever came around and it was just like that. So you're going to get a chance doing this in this game. You got to be ready for that chance and by playing So much baseball from eight years old to whatever, that's not the chance. That's the grind. That's the big leagues. And you only have a certain amount of time to do that. Baseball is a rotational sport. So getting to Arizona State and giving my scholarship back, I had been a guy that just worked for everything. I played every game to win. There was no anything like, hey, I'm gonna play D1 baseball or I'm gonna play in the major leagues. No, if I had a game to play that day, I played as hard as I can and I played to win. It wasn't looking ahead. I looked at today getting better. And that was the mindset I created through the coaches that I was coached by, my parents, everybody. So when I got to Arizona State, they were planning on me going to college and saving money for that. They had no idea I was gonna be a, I think I had like 91 % scholarship at that time and I was. there was 11.7 scholarships. So I was taking a massive hit of our 35 man roster. And at that time, you need pitching man, not that time, every time. Pitching wins. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: So if you have your shortstop or one of your middle infielders on one scholarship for that many people. So that was kind of common at that time at Arizona State where, hey, you're gonna get some money, you're gonna get some money, certain things like that. You know, I decided to give mine up in the last two years that Arizona State, played, you know, I paid for college. Bobby Minor: Well, that I mean yeah, Dustin Pedroia: Hahaha! Bobby Minor: there's so much there. There's so much there. Like I have like my mind I have to calm my mind down because I have all these questions that Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, for sure. Bobby Minor: I want to ask. hey, I wanna okay, I'm gonna pause here just for a second because I want to ask you something, because you mentioned when we're talking about the difference between hitting 299 and 300 free career, and you mentioned your injury. So I watched I watched the video again this morning. I was just I wanted to kind of refresh my mind. What was the extent of your injury? Because in the video it just looks like I mean like you slid through the bag and like got more like you kind of just got spiked. You know, but Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: obviously there had to be a lot more going on. So what it what like what do we not see in the video? Dustin Pedroia: So in 2016, I tore my meniscus in Toronto. I made a play up the middle and my clee got caught in the turf. So, you know, I had some meniscus damage right out. I played through it the rest of the way. And right after the season, I had, I had it fixed. So they cut out a little bit of my meniscus, you know, came back in 17. Shoot, was playing great and I just got caught in an awkward position. It was one of those plays where You know, like my only downfall playing defense was I tried to turn every double play. so I had my left foot on the bag instead of being like a first baseman and just catching the ball, getting out of the way. I think that when he slid into me, my, my left cleat was kind of touching the base and the ground and my bottom, my cleat just got stuck. And when Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: that kind of jolt it, so I, it tore all the cartilage off of my tibia and my femur right away. So I had an MRI Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: and it was like, They call it kissing lesions, basically the death sentence for an athlete. you're, you're, and it went from hitting. I was literally hitting, I think three 30 and second, the league and hitting at the time to, I don't know how much longer I could play. And then I had a mate I finished up playing. think I played 110 games that year. I hit two 95. but then I had a surgery in the off season that it didn't take. And so I, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: you know, eventually ended my career, but, That's a part of the game. played a long time, man. And I don't think that's what people realize. When you play a long time, there's been 1200 players to ever play 10 years in the major leagues. 1200. Like Bobby Minor: Wow. Dustin Pedroia: people don't realize that. There's been 23,000 players to ever play one day in the major leagues. People don't realize that. Like it is a grind. It is a fight. It is a mental game. That is the game. When you get to a certain level, the people that separate themselves, they're different in their head. You know, they have a mentality that, you know, this isn't be a young kid and put your exit VLO on your Instagram profile. This is, we laugh at that stuff. Like we think that's funny. You know what I mean? Like that is reality for the guys that actually do it. So it's hard, man. Bobby Minor: No, I appreciate you sharing that. I know meniscus, my wife tore men I'm laughing, it's not funny. My wife tore meniscus Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Yeah. Bobby Minor: at at the San Juan Airport in Puerto Rico a couple of years ago. somebody spilled some water, she had on a 20-pound backpack, Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: and it just it's no joke. So, Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: okay, thank you for sharing that. I'm gonna go back to what what we were talking about, you know, the playing year round and everything. So how many so I know you played multiple sports. Let's say from the ages of eight to twelve, how many baseball games a year would you say you played? Dustin Pedroia: I played 20 games a year in Little League. So I would play Little League baseball. We'd play 16 game schedule and then we'd have the playoffs. And then once we got done with that, we went to YMCA basketball. And then once we got done with that, we went to Peewee football. And then I was different because I played tennis too. So I played four sports in the calendar year. And then after tennis was done, I played tournaments and the whole shebang. Then I would go back into my Little League season again. So it was a seasonal thing. I worked on baseball during baseball season, I worked on basketball during basketball season, I worked on football during football season, I worked on tennis. And that helped me, one, learn how to work. That's what kids don't fall in love with. If you wanna be a baseball player, you have to fall in love with the work. This isn't fall in love with the game, okay? And this isn't for your parents. Your parents can't help you when you get in that batter's box, okay? They can't. So. You have to be tough and too when you get to certain levels if you want to be really good It's hard. It's not easy. You're you're not going three for three You're not using the utriple SA bats and it's a springboard effect and no so when you're over three That's when real talent evaluators. That's what we crave I want to see the good player go over four. I don't want to see him go three for three Anybody can go over three or three for three I want to see how they act when they're 0-4-4. I want to see their body language, their reaction, how they do going back to the dugout. I want to see their interaction with teammates after they're 0-4-4. I want to see how they run out to their position. Those are the baseball players. The other guys aren't baseball players. They are, I don't know what they are. They're not going to do it very long. And that, is a reality and it's a fact. So do the right things, act the right way, think the right way, and you'll keep playing. You'll play a long time. Bobby Minor: That's good stuff there. So what would you say to the parents that might say, well yeah, Dustin, I mean, that's the way things were back when you were playing. But now, like, if you're if if you're not playing 80 games a year like everybody else, our son's gonna fall behind. Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. So the only thing that's changed since I played is the parents. It's the only thing that's changed. The only thing that's changed. Everybody wants their son to be the next something. It's like, yeah, well, that's great. How do we get there? We have to do the right things. You will not fall behind. If your son plays 85 baseball games and only plays baseball, he's going to be less athletic. He's going to be slower. He's not going to be the athlete that he would be by playing multiple sports. Now, I'm not saying play multiple sports till you're 18 years old. I'm not saying that. I'm saying from eight to 12, or eight to 13, eight to 14, play them all. Now, at 15, make a decision of what you wanna do, then you're physically gifted, you know, then you hit, you're past puberty. Everybody's on the same level. You're not facing the six foot one 12 year old. Everybody's on the same level, they've all hit their strides, and then that's when the work starts. When you've finished, grow or not finished when you've hit puberty and you're able to go to a hitting coach and repeat mechanics like all these kids going to a hitting coach at 10 years old they're not strong enough to repeat the same swing over and over and do what the coach is trying to tell them to do so technically you're throwing money away because the kids not strong enough to do it so I'd Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: rather the kid take his natural swing and work on his hand-eye coordination if you're 8 to 12 years old or 8 I'm gonna say eight to 13, I'm gonna go 13. If you're eight to 13 years old, for an offensive player, you need to care about two things. Controlling the strike zone, which is controlling your at bat, and how many times you strike out. Only two things I care about, two things. I want ball on bat, I want ball on the barrel. I don't care what your swing looks like, your swing's gonna change 10 times because from eight years old to 15, you're gonna be 75 pounds heavier. So. We can't stress about the little things, guys. Control your back, control the strike zone, put the ball in play. Don't worry about results, nobody cares. Game changer, they're not scouting you on game changer, trust me, I know. So do the right things, but you have to have discipline to do that, and that's a part of the parents. If the kid goes over three and hits two line drives to center and grounds out to short, and he gets in the car and gets yelled at, you gotta look in the mirror, parents, I'm sorry. Like, that's not it. Like the kid's doing what he should be doing for his age group. It's okay. So that's, and it's, but it's hard though, cause I'm a dad. got, my oldest boy plays basketball. He's a junior in high school. And then I have a 13 and 12 year old in it. They play travel baseball from January to June. And I coached them for five years. This last year was the first year I didn't coach them because my, my mom's going through some health things. I didn't have the time. It's time consuming, but. I told the coach, hey, he's playing January to June and then he's gonna go play other sports. Well, we're gonna, we need roster spot. That's cool, man. Go fill him. And no problem. What are you gonna do? Tell Dustin Pedroia no? No problem. But you have to have that confidence that this is the right thing to do. And that's what I believe in and that's what I know and that's what we're doing. Bobby Minor: No, that's good stuff. And I I think it's unfortunate because I mean, like now, obviously like I never played professionally. I played in college and I've coached, you know, high school travel ball, ran an event in the DR with with the son of an MLB Hall of Famer. But but I think that like you know, I know, but there's so many parents out there that don't know, and that's why like I'm not people think I'm negative or I'm anti capitalism and all Dustin Pedroia: Nah. Bobby Minor: these things, and I'm not. I'm just I want parents to understand that this is an industry, and it's not even exclusive to baseball, but it's an industry that preys on the fact that you don't know what you don't know, and it preys on your hopes, dreams, and aspirations and fears when it comes to your son. And that's why, you know, private equity, you know, private equity is not coming in buying everything up because, you know, they want every kid to develop. They're doing it because there's a buttload of money to be made. Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, for sure. I I look at the whole baseball picture right now. And as a dad, I'm gonna do what's best for my kid. But you have to have the intelligence and the humbleness to ask if you don't know. You know what I mean? Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: If I had a, I mean, that's the thing. Like all these, a lot of the kids that are physically developed early, it's fun when they play baseball, because they're home runs, they're throwing gas, they're men amongst boys, right? Those are the kids that actually need multi-sports more than the underdeveloped kids because they need to be more athletic. Otherwise, if they're physically talented or physically gifted at 12, they're gonna stay the same for the next four five years and then they're gonna be who they are at 12 as they are at 16. You know what I mean? And then once the really skilled, undersized kid that hits his peak, he's gonna blossom. So there's ways to do this thing. But you can't, now I get it, it's a, you know, whatever billion dollar, whatever, and dude, I love baseball, I love watching baseball, I don't care what age it is. But you gotta do what's best for your kid. If you feel that it's best for your kid to play 160 games and be ranked and, you know, lead the nation in hits for 13U when the nation's not very big, when not everybody in the nation's playing and that's what you believe in, then do it. It's all good, but. You gotta look in the mirror and say, hey, how can my son get better? What is the end goal? What is the expectations? What do I want out of this? And then you have to form a plan and attack that plan. But I wouldn't do that until they're physically ready for that. It's like the big leaguers, they play 162 games and they call it a grind, right? I don't think our 12 year old should be doing that. He's not getting paid to do that. Because trust me, I played 14 seasons, I had 17 surgeries. in 14 seasons. They paid me a lot of money for those surgeries. I'm not doing that for free. You know what I mean? Like, and I love baseball more Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: than anyone. So I think it's just to set the expectations of what you want and then work for it smartly because that's what baseball is. It's a skilled, mental, everything that way. You know what I mean? It's not football. can't hit anybody. You know what I mean? So. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: You know, that's my thing about it. There's a million ways to do this if you're a young kid and parents, but ask questions. It's okay to ask questions and learn. Ask the right questions. Heck, if you see me at a field, ask me. I'm gonna give you the most intelligent answer that I can give you being a former player and someone educated in the field. I'm not gonna just tell you, have your son go play in showcases when he's not ready to be showcased. Don't showcase yourself until you're ready to be showcased. Don't run the 60 if you're gonna run an 85. Nobody wants to see that. You're only harming yourself. Bobby Minor: Yeah. It's funny, dude. It's almost like like you can read my mind of the questions I'm about to ask you. So so I'm gonna jump into this next one. So I know you told the story about about the Red Sox scout, Dan Mattson watching you over and over and over. Okay, like after a few games he knew you were a good player, but after twenty or thirty games, he realized like you're helping your team win ti or ten different ways. Okay, and I think he probably watched you play maybe a hundred times. Parents today, like you said, they're staring at the exit velo, sixty time, ranking, showcase numbers. So what are we measuring too early? And what are we missing that you can't see in one workout or one weekend? Dustin Pedroia: Well, I think a little bit of that is, like in the professional baseball, a little bit of that, you see the teams that are really successful right now in Major League Baseball, like the Brewers, like the consistent over and over. They draft baseball players. They draft the guys that you watch three times. You're like, he's a good player. You watch them 10 times. You're like, man, let me keep watching. You watch them 100 times, you're like, I want that guy, I need that guy, he helps me win. Those are the guys that you want. Now, then you look at the other side to where we're drafting on projectability, we're drafting on what could be. We're drafting on, my gosh, he lights up the radar gun, but he can't throw strikes. my god, he hits 500 foot home runs in BP and he hits at 111 miles an hour. Do those guys translate to wins? I don't know. We don't know, but it's not looking like it. Like I pride myself on being a defensive, like I take away runs on in baseball on defense. Now why in the Sam hell are we having a jugs gun at first base from shortstop? Guys winding up throwing and trying to hit 95 across the diamond. That right there upsets me as a former really good defensive player in the major leagues. That has nothing to do with playing infield defense. at the highest level. So if that's what we're gonna do, we're missing out. The game is missing out on players that really could be game-changing players for baseball. So I think it's structure of how we're evaluating talent, but the cream always rises to the top. They're gonna find you. If you're good, you will get found. You can be the kid that can't afford travel baseball and then you show up and play high school baseball. some coach will see you, they'll go, who in the heck is that? You will be found. You don't need to do anything. You don't need to do it. That's the funny part. Baseball is a game where they will find you. Trust me. Brad Penny's from Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma. And Brad Penny goes, they found me. And if they find him there, they're gonna find you. You know what I mean? It doesn't matter where, if you're from population 400 people, they will find you, trust me. Bobby Minor: Yeah, it's cra I I I had Travis Hafner on my podcast last week, you know, and Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: he's from the town in where he is from in North Dakota is so small they didn't even have a high school baseball team. And Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Yeah. Bobby Minor: they had to like join up with multiple high schools, I think, you know, Dustin Pedroia: For sure. Bobby Minor: to to put a basketball team and everything. So it's kind of crazy. So okay, so I know you've said like your parents did two things really well. They pushed you and they told you the truth. It's unfortunate. I think there's a whole lot of the truth part going on out there today, but but you've also talked about, you know, the pressure we put on a 13-year-old, like when he goes one for four or old for four and mom and dad, the car ride home, you know. So where's the line? Like, like when is a parent helping by being honest? And when is when is that, you know, he become the second coach and his son can never get away from it? Dustin Pedroia: I live by these three rules as a dad and I did as a player its attitude effort and preparation if You have a good attitude and you're running on and off the field and you play with a passion a joy And you prepare meaning You take your bat serious when you practice You take your ground balls game speed when you take batting practice. You're preparing to hit in the game. I don't want and my kids take a major league batting practice. The first round, they're hitting the ball the other way. They're bunting twice, a couple hit and runs. They're getting ready to perform for the game. There's preparation involved. I think that's a lot of our youth is they see the Instagram, the, my gosh, this guy hit it 110 to the poolside. That doesn't necessarily translate in the game. you're facing a number one that throws hard and you take a batting practice like that or you're prepared like that, you will not succeed. You're getting out. So that's the mindset you have to have. Baseball is a game that you have to prepare for the game. And with the parents, if they haven't played, they don't understand that. So I don't fault them. You know I mean? Like that's the hard part. And coaching is a lot of... really good coaches, they don't wanna coach right now in this kind of whatever we're in because it's a lot. Like they're charging a lot, it's a lot of time dedication. You gotta deal with, you know, parents mad about playing time, where they're hitting in the order, what position they're playing, just a lot of things, right? So we're losing out on those guys that impact a lot of the youth. But I think if you're over, overwhelming to your child, you're going to take the love of the game away from him. You don't want that. You want your son when they play to look like they're playing in game seven of the World Series. It should be fun. Like baseball is the best man. Like even the 0 for 4s. I'll do anything right now and just go 0 for 4 in a baseball game. Like you got to love it man. And I see all these youth games when they play every weekend. You you see the teams, the kids are so good. Like they're great players, but they're walking on the field. They're popping a ball up, they're flipping the bat. It's like, what are we doing? Just play the game hard. Maybe don't play every weekend, maybe you'll have more love for it, maybe you'll have more energy for it. I don't know. I don't know the answer, but that's not what it looks like. That's not what it should look like. Now, they probably see that on TV, but guess what? The big leaguers, play 162 games, their bodies are beat up, trust me. Like, they're not gonna give, they're gonna give you a hard 90 when they can give you a hard 90. So. I don't know the answer, I just know I wanna watch kids and the kids that advance are the kids that play a certain way. They have a certain passion, they have a certain preparation, they have a certain attitude, they have a certain effort. Those are the kids that usually end up being there in the end. Bobby Minor: It's good. Man, I hope those parents out there are listening to everybody just taking good notes. Yeah. No. Dustin Pedroia: Well, listen, I'm just saying I don't know everything I'm just speaking as I've done this my whole life and and I can see it You know what mean? I talked shoot. I talked to the Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: Red Sox every other day and they're like, yeah We're this is what we're looking for and I'm like, well then go find it. It's out there It's out Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: there guys like like you look at the Brewers last couple first round picks The the evil brothers from for those are baseball players, man Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: They play baseball. Like the dad's making them play baseball. The way they attack the game, they're playing baseball. In two or three or whatever years, you're gonna see them up there and you're gonna be like, man, I want my kid to play like that guy. You know what I mean? Like Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: just the way they play, the way they go about it is different. And that's what you want out of this thing. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good, man. That's good. Okay, so let's say, so one of your s let's say your son goes over four. What does Dustin Pedroia say in the car ride home? Dustin Pedroia: Well, my eighth grade boy went 0 for 3 in his last game and he smoked the ball his first to bat. The pitcher caught it, turned a first double play. Great at bat, right? Next to bat, he swung out of the zone. He chased. Next to bat, he kind of chased. So the only thing I said to him was, hey, Cole, did we swing at our pitch? He goes, nope. I go, all right, well, when we stay in the strike zone, what happens? He goes, I hit everything hard. I'm like, okay, bud, get them next time. That was the interaction. Bobby Minor: That's good. Dustin Pedroia: And it's not, my gosh, you went 0 3. No, why did you do that? And it's a simple adjustment of, hey, listen, and I know more than anybody, I've gone 0 for 3 more than anybody. But it's the preparation and the mindset and the approach that will get him in and out of whatever, if he's hot, this is why you're hot, you're swinging his strikes. You're getting a good pitch to hit, you're in the right count. So I'm trying to teach them the real game, not the flip your back game. I'm trying to teach them, hey, when you get older, everyone's going to be throwing 90 plus. How are we going to attack those guys? That's how you got a game plan to get better. And that's it. Like I don't, there's no pressure on them. Are they going to be me? No, no one. Like I don't want them to be Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: me. I want them to be them. And being them is, is, is beautiful. Like be you. You know what mean? And I tell them that all the time. Guys, there's no pressure. If you don't want to play, my oldest son plays basketball. Never played baseball. He played one year Little League, didn't like it. I'm like, guys, you do what makes you happy. I want you to be passionate about what you're doing. And then my little two, they love it. Like they're baseball players, but I make them play every sport. Bobby Minor: That's good, man. wow. That I didn't realize about your older son. okay, what are your this is an MLB question. because the game, so you've been out you've been out of the game for almost 10 years. how much it's changed even in the past ten years is insane. But what do you think? Excuse me. guys now that are batting two ten, that are all stars, that are you know what I mean? Like, it's just Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: crazy to me. Dustin Pedroia: It's different. And I think, you Bobby Minor: Ha ha. Dustin Pedroia: know, it's, it's more of a philosophy change than when I played. You know, I get it. So they're still throwing the same speed as when I played, but there's just more of them doing it. You understand? Like, usually when we'd face Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: a hundred, I'd get, we'd, they, the other team would have two or three guys, two guys out of the bullpen that could throw a hundred and probably one starter, you know what I mean? And then you have the sinker slider guy as their four and five, pitcher, like crafty, getting outs. Now everybody's got velocity, right? They're turning it over. If you blow out, they'll fix you. You know what I mean? So velocity's different. But the way we're training offensively with the uphill swings, which there's nothing wrong with that, I swung more uphill than anybody. but it's controlled, right? Like I was trying to hit line drives, get hits, I didn't want to strike out. So I think every player should have its own kind of way to, you are who you are, right? Like I wasn't a 30 homerun bat. Yeah, everybody Bobby Minor: Player profile. Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: is who they are. And if you stay within what you're capable of doing, you'll be you. I think a lot more players have come outside that realm and tried to be the 30 homerun whatever. And by doing that, you're gonna strike out more, you're gonna hit for less of an average, you're gonna chase out of the zone more, pitchers strikeouts are gonna go up, pitchers, ERAs are gonna go down. So I think that's what's changed a lot to where if you communicate with guys and just be like, hey, I want you to be you because you can't do this. I think they would perform better, I really do. And the way they train, they're, you know, a lot of it's. You know, increased bat speed, increased bat speed, swing heavy bats, like unloader bat, all this. And now you see guys pulling obliques in the cage or hurting their wrists or hurting their forearm. So it's different. But it's still the same game, man. Like baseball has been around a long time. Like there's a multiple ways to win. But if you look at the end, the teams that usually win at the end, they pitch, they play defense, they put the ball in play Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: and they run the bases. So it's getting back to real baseball. Those are the teams that win. It's called winning baseball. And if you're gonna try Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: to be the team that hits the three run homer in the playoffs all the time, which you need the three run homer in the playoffs, trust me, but you gotta get on base. You gotta get pitchers pitch counts up. You gotta get them out of the game. You gotta grind. It's the same winning method is always gonna be there. It's just a matter of the teams wanna do it or not. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah, I noticed you mentioned the Brewers, like even I like you know, teams like the Rays, the Cardinals, seeing them bunt, not only bunt, but bunt multiple Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Yeah. Bobby Minor: times in a game in an inning. And it's you know, I I I like as a baseball fan seeing, you know, Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: get away from like the three true outcomes. Now it's like swing and miss rate is a big deal again. And it sucks to me going to an MLB game and you don't see the players batting average, they're putting their OPS up there because most players' batting averages, you know, you don't want blasted Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: on the scoreboard. Heck, a lot of OPSs suck too. So, but all right. that's a whole that's a whole nother podcast, just Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, right? Bobby Minor: talking about all that. so okay, I know you you said recently somewhere that a great coach has to be a chameleon because like every every every kid has a different body, personality, skill set. But every travel organization, they tell parents we develop players. That's such a you know a fuzzy, vague, you know, saying that. So what should a parent actually see week to week that tells them Hey, this coach is actually making my son better instead of just, you know, running games and collecting a fee. Dustin Pedroia: Well, in my mind, the way to get better in baseball is to work on your weakness. Your strengths will always be your strength, right? Like if I'm 43 years old, if someone throws me a fastball up and in, I'm gonna absolutely hammer it at 43 years old. Down and away, we got problems, right? If you could locate three fastballs down and away, and I'm a career 299 hitter in the big leagues, I'm gonna have trouble. So what did I work on in the case? T, down and away. Working on my weaknesses. If... My arm's not stronger, I'm getting on a throwing program and working arm care, getting my everything strong, rotator, everything stronger, trying to get more carry on my ball. You gotta work on your weaknesses and I think in travel baseball, here's one of the issues that I see. They don't practice enough. Right now it's 80 % play, 20 % practice. It should actually be the other way around. Development, trust me, I've played with everybody. And I talked to David Ortiz, I would talk to Hanley Ramirez about, hey, when you guys are younger, what are you doing? And David Ortiz starts laughing, he goes, I played basketball and volleyball, and then I would go take ground balls for hours, and then I'd hit, but the coach wouldn't let me pull the ball. I'm like, what do mean? He goes, I had to hit every ball the other way. And I'm like, did that help you? He goes, yeah, that made my swing. So I'm like, holy cow. This is what we should be doing. But we're buying so much into, and I don't know what it is. Like I've been out of Major League Baseball for I think eight or nine years or whatever. I don't know why it turned this way to where games triumph development practice. I have no idea why. And I could see the big picture. It's obviously money, everybody, the rankings, the Instagram, you can post. Whatever. But to get better, you have to work at it. You can't play it. You can go play. You know how it is. Let's say your kid's a third baseman. He goes and plays five games on a weekend. He can get two ground balls. He didn't get no better. Like he got a routine ground ball and a chopper hit to him that a fast kid beat out. You're not getting better doing that. I'm sorry. You're not. Like, and I'm not trying to be mean. Listen, I have kids. My kids have played travel ball. They've gone to Florida, Myrtle Beach, Texas. California, we've played everywhere from January to June. And then we do something else. Like you can't consistently just play games and expect a different result. You're to play the same games. It's going to be the same thing all year. You're going to get two or three at bats and from eight to 12, depending on how many kids you hit, and you're going to get three to four balls in your game. And if you miss one of them, everyone's pissed. If you make all the plays, you're great. That's not the game. That's that doesn't get them better. Like working Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: practice, taking 200 ground balls at practice, missing a ball, stopping practice. Hey, let's move our feet through the ball. That gets you better. That builds toughness. That builds the right things that'll make you a better baseball player in the long run. And that's everyone's goal. That's why we're doing this podcast, is to educate people to get better. That's what we want. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Absolutely. And I back to your back to your your point slash question about why is it like this, my opinion is a couple of things. So practice isn't sexy. Winning games is sexy. That's how you can build a brand and you know, get everybody hyped up. But also I think there's so many because anybody and everybody can start a travel team, start a travel org, Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: call it whatever they want. I think you have a lot of guys that they don't know how to develop players. It's anybody can make Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: a lineup card out, in my opinion, but not anybody out there, you know, can can, you know, teach players how to play the game. So so what's what would you say, what's one red flag that you tell a parent, hey, if you see this, this is the wrong coach. I don't care how good the team is. Dustin Pedroia: I think my biggest thing was putting the kids well-being over winning. You know what I mean? If you got a kid out there at whatever his developmental age is and he's throwing too much or you never risk injury for a young kid over winning or losing a game. This is non-negotiable. And two, I think you cause you've seen it, know, lot of like burnout is real. Like you don't ever want your child to come at age, you know, let's say you get, get them through eight to four, they're 14 and they go, mom, dad, I don't, I don't like this. That, that would break my heart. Like I, me hearing stories about that kills me because I love baseball, man. Like I want it to be in the best place ever. I want to see the next Bobby wit. Like I, I, I want to see it. that, that part, I don't like putting injury obviously over. And I think the travel tournaments like PG and all these other organizations, I think they need to get together and put a limit on subbing. A kid shouldn't play on five teams just because he just wants to play. It's like, you're a really good player, that's why you're subbing. We don't want you to get hurt, man. We actually care about you. And I think that would go a long way. You know what I mean? Like in the industry, guess what? They're gonna make billions. They are. But let's protect the game a little bit. I wanna see these guys play 10 years in the big leagues. Because the rate we're going, the chances of Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: you seeing the next Derek Jeter play for 15 years or hell, I played for 14 years. You're not gonna see it. You can't play a rotational sport that long. You only have so many Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: bullets in the tank. So for them to do it from eight years old until 40, It's not gonna happen. So I want, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: purist of the game, I wanna see the next whoever. And I don't know if it's sustainable if that's what we're doing. So I hope at some point they kind of take look at the model and go, let's do this, this, let's give these kids three, four months off and then just run it together. You know what I mean? I think that would be pretty special if they did that. Bobby Minor: So hey, I maybe we we might have to start the the DP fifteen league. Where we can end it where that's I I see it. I see it. Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, right. Yeah. Bobby Minor: you know I mentioned DP fifteen. That was the the first glove, first good glove I bought my son was a DP Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: fifteen off off of off of eBay. So could everybody I gotta have that for joy of it. yeah, Dustin Pedroia: It's still selling wild, man. Bobby Minor: great, great, great model. All right, so this is the I guess last question, then we'll j we'll jump into in and out. Okay, so you got three boys right now. Okay, you've already mentioned that. You said your job is to be their dad, not to raise, you know, future major leaguers or future NBA stars. so put yourself across the table right now. You're sitting across the table from the, you know, the dad, mom or dad of a very talented 11 or 12 year old. Okay. But their parents are scared they're gonna make the wrong decision. So what are two or three things that actually matter right now and what should they quit worrying about? Dustin Pedroia: Well, for one, if they're very, very talented 11 and 12 year old, would, my first comment would be, we are so far away from anything. Guys have, enjoy it, relax. Let your 11 and 12 year old be an 11 and 12 year old. They are, you have no idea how far away you are from anything important. Anything like raise him as a kid. Now, if he has that kind of talent that we're talking about, the talent ain't going away. not going anywhere. You don't need to work like a big leader at 11 and 12. You need to be an 11 and 12 year old. You're gonna have plenty of opportunities to work to be a professional baseball player or a D1 baseball player. You're gonna have plenty of time to do that. 11 and 12 is not the time. Trust me on that. He needs to learn life lessons. He needs to learn how to fail. If he's in an environment where he only succeeds, which if that's baseball right now, that's actually setting him back. He needs to fail. He needs to learn how to act differently and in different environments because it'll make him better at baseball. These are proven facts. These are facts. like, put that kid in a sport that he's gonna struggle at and then support him. Be there for him. Because there's gonna be a time if he's really, really good that let's say he signs day one and he hits a four for 40 stretch, but he's never struggled in his life. You know what's gonna happen in that four for 40 stretch? He's not gonna come out of it because he doesn't know how to come out of it. So then he's gonna end up playing professional baseball for a year and a half and then he's gonna have to find a job at 21 years old because he signed out of high school. Like these are the things that's gonna set him up for future success. But let's say he plays basketball, can't shoot a lick and he shoots 0 for 12. And then he's like, you know what, maybe I need to get rebounds. Maybe I need to set screens. Maybe I need to find another way to help my team win without me being really good at what I'm doing. That makes that four for 40 go, maybe I should take a walk. Maybe I should do different things that's gonna get, make my four for 40, four for 20. You understand what I'm saying? This is what Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: gives them their own kind of pathway and know, successes, failures, and they can pull themselves out of it. Because then they start asking multiple questions to everybody, what am I doing wrong? Which they've never done in their life. Everybody's always told them how great they are. And how am I going to get out of that 4 for 40 at a level that no one's played at? Because that's what's to happen. You're going to face the guy throwing 97 miles an hour and you're going 0 for 4 with three punches. What are you going to do to get out of that? Your mom and dad can't help you. Your travel ball coach, he's not going to help you. The only thing he did was bright your name in the lineup and high five you. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: So they need to go through those struggles at 11 and 12 years old to set the foundation for their success later on down the road. That's what I would tell them. And they could be like, you're crazy. I don't want to have my son fail. Yeah, you do. That's what makes them better. You learn through failure. Trust me, no one's failed more than me. I coached for five years. I told the boys when they struck out, guys, you strike out 900 times before in the major leagues? No. I go, don't worry about it. Do you swing it? Do you swing to strike? Yep. Where I get them next time. We're gonna play from January to June, fellas. We're gonna strike out. You're gonna make mistakes. Turn the page, let's get the next one. So those are the obstacles and hurdles that you want your child at that age to go through. And it's hard to do it. I'm a dad. I don't wanna see my kid struggle. My 13-year-old this year, they started using the drop fives. Beginning of the year, he weighs 100 pounds. He had a month where he struggled. And then all of sudden throughout the year, you're like, geez, it's coming, it's coming. And then by the end, it came. You understand? So there's a process Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: leading up, but he learned so much through that first two or three tournaments that got him to where he was at the end. And if he didn't go to that, then he didn't learn. You know I mean? And that's the beauty. Bobby Minor: No, that's good stuff, man. And I mean, you know, people I don't think a lot, especially if you didn't play baseball or play baseball, even, you know, high school varsity, college level, you don't realize how hard it is to just to hit. You as in your career, you failed seven out of ten times. You know, but but you look at other sports like in football. If a quarter p if a quarterback only completes three out of ten passes, he's probably not gonna be in the lineup very long. You know, basketball Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, he's out, yeah. Bobby Minor: basketball, if you're three for three for ten from the floor, you know, but it's just it's just baseball is different. So Man, so much good stuff here. All right, so let's jump in. This is in and out. All right. You've Dustin Pedroia: Okay. Bobby Minor: you've you've you've taken in and out a few times, I'm sure, throughout throughout your life. Dustin Pedroia: Yep. Too many. Bobby Minor: So four questions, rapid fire, you know, 15 to 20 second answers, but it's time for some in and out with DP fifteen Dustin Pedroya. So first question year round baseball before 14, even if your son's really good. Dustin Pedroia: No. Before 14. Bobby Minor: Yeah, before fourteen, even if he's really good. Dustin Pedroia: No, my kids are good. They don't play Bobby Minor: Never. Dustin Pedroia: year round baseball. Bobby Minor: Okay. all right, second question. dad breaking down the swing in a car ride home after an 0 for four. Dustin Pedroia: No. Am I supposed to elaborate on this? Bobby Minor: Yeah, you can give me a little bit, fifteen or twenty seconds, yeah. Dustin Pedroia: Hold on, can we start over the first question? Start over. Start over. Bobby Minor: Let's start over. Let's start. Let's we're gonna start over. This is the first this this is this is the equivalent of in and out where I've already I've hit a few ground balls. Everybody, you're booting the ball. So we're we're gonna start over. We're gonna start, we're gonna start over. You didn't boot it. I didn't elaborate. Okay. Dustin Pedroia: Alright, alright, alright, I'm in now. Okay. I got you. Bobby Minor: In in and out with Dustin Petroya. First question. what are your thoughts on year round baseball before the age of fourteen, even if the kid is really good? Dustin Pedroia: no, I think at 14, yes. 100%. They're not physically ready to play year round. They need Bobby Minor: Okay. That okay. Yeah. So but Dustin Pedroia: the motor skills, the movements of other sports to make them more athletic and to Bobby Minor: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: get their body under control and to save their arm. You only have one arm. Only got one throwing arm. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Unless you're ambidextrous. There are a few guys out there. Okay. Dustin Pedroia: That it's coming. Bobby Minor: That's not too many. Yeah. That'll be the next Otani. A switch hitting ambidextrous pitcher. It's just gonna Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, no kidding. Bobby Minor: Otani's gonna become obsolete. There's somebody probably some Dustin Pedroia: First try. Bobby Minor: kid in Japan right now that's pitching from both sides and batting from both sides. That hopefully the Rangers sign. So Dustin Pedroia: For sure. Bobby Minor: all right. So second question. So thoughts on the dad breaking down the swing in in the car ride home after an O for four every time? Dustin Pedroia: No, leave him alone. Let him go through failure. He knows. He's running stuff through his mind and it depends on the age. If he's 11 or 10 or 12, he probably just wants to get away. He wants the clarity of, I don't have to play a baseball game. And two, doesn't want, he's trying, trust me, kids want to make their parents proud and happy and leave him alone. Like let them be, now the next day, let's get in the cage and get a little work in. Let's fix the things, but give them time to process, to break it all down. Bobby Minor: Okay, good stuff. Third question parents treating twelve U exit V low and player rankings like a scoreboard for development. What are your thoughts? Dustin Pedroia: that's insane. No. Basically from that age, mean, it's a race to puberty. That doesn't mean it's a race to being really good. Of course you're gonna be good when you're, you it's like you play football and it's unweighted and you weigh 150 pounds and you're hitting a 70 pound kid. You're gonna kill him. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: take, listen, you're far away. That age is so far away. Take what you have, yes. meaning they're very talented, they're very good, but continue to push them, continue to develop them, find a way for them to fail at something so they can learn from that and grow and get better. Don't just overwhelm them with games and overwhelm them with, hey, you're the number one baseball player, because guess what? If you're the number one baseball player at 12, you know how hard that's gonna be to be the number one baseball player at 18? I don't think Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: it's ever been done. I don't think... Bryce Harper was the number one 12 year old and then number one 18. He might have been when he was 14, 15, but not 12. That's hard. That's a lot of expectations Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: to live up to and it's the wrong game for expectations like that. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good stuff. All right, here's the slow roller. What's what's better for a player being the twelfth man on a national elite roster or playing every day just on a really good local or regional team? Dustin Pedroia: you got to play. like the only way to get better is if you play, you know what I mean? Like those are the experiences you need. Now it's, I'm sure it's great being on that team. You get to tell everybody, my son's on this team or this team or whatever. And I'm sure if they practice properly, they will get better being around better players, but they're not getting the in game successes, failures. The, you're not getting the game. You're, you're, you're essentially watching the game. So You know, you're better off getting a ticket to a big league game and watching those players than than watching 12 year old players. You know what I mean? You got to play. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: That's how you learn that the game of baseball is is a game of learning and failing and succeeding and relationships and communication. It's a life metaphor. And that's what I truly believe in. And you got to go through that. Let your child go through that. It's OK. And if he's around the top 10 ranked 11 and 12 year olds, that's great, but that's not end all be all. You could be that top guy four years down the road and those other 11 aren't that guy. You're a long way away from anything important. Bobby Minor: Yeah. That's so man, just such awesome information there. Now I want to clarify something too, and then I'll let you add to this, Dustin. I want parents out there listening a couple of things 'cause we mentioned you gotta play to get better. So we're not saying don't play games, but just the the the ratio of practice to play, 'cause games are where you see where your two weaknesses Dustin Pedroia: Yeah. Bobby Minor: are, but you need to have enough practice time to work on those weaknesses. So we're not saying, you know, like you have to play and you have to practice. It's just out of balance right now. And we're not saying if you if you if your son is the best eleven or twelve year old and he's hitting you know bombs every game, enjoy it. Enjoy it. But just Dustin Pedroia: For sure. Bobby Minor: realize it doesn't mean anything five years from now. Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, well, I think to clarify it, like those kids, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: the 11 and 12 year olds, here's the thing, and this is human nature, right? This isn't just baseball. If you're really, really good at something, human nature tends that people stop working at those things. So that's Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: where you see the 10, 11 and 12 year old. I mean, we've all had them. I've had mine, the guy from Little League that was unstoppable, right? He struck everybody out, he hit all these home runs. He was a Babe Ruth type figure. And then, Four years later, he wasn't even on the team. Everybody has those guys, why? Like, what is the reasoning? Did he stop growing? Did he stop working? Why? And I think those are questions for each individual to ask. You know what I mean? So if you're really good at something, that's when you have to start putting the work in. But that age is not the time to do that 365 days a year. 15 is the age we gotta go. We gotta play, man. Like, 14, it's hit or miss nowadays. Like, you can do it at 14 and just roll, but you've gotta set the foundation athletically for your child to be able to withstand what baseball has, what it offers. And if you're not physically ready, don't do it yet. So have a pulse on your child's physical development. If he's not ready physically to play that many games, do not do it. Let him go play basketball, let him go play football. You're not gonna get left behind, trust me. You're doing your son a favor. You're helping him get to where he needs to be by doing it the right way. Don't overplay him when he's not ready to be overplayed. So that's all I got. Listen, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: it's a great industry, is. Baseball's the best, it's my favorite, obviously. And it's different than when I came up, and I don't know how I would have been if my parents, I don't think my parents would have paid for all these tournaments and everything, but. Just do what's right by the kid and look yourself in the mirror as a parent and go, am I doing what's best for him in the long run? And if you do that, you can't deny your decision. Bobby Minor: That's good. Normally I ask people at the end at the end of the at the end of the show, you know, what's one like what's one parting word of wisdom? But you've dropped so much wisdom and n knowledge throughout this whole thing. I don't even know if I have anything. So I'm gonna ask you I'll ask you the two part question. this Dustin Pedroia: okay. Bobby Minor: is more for fun. So well you've won, I mean, you've won World Series, you know, a part of you know, as a part of a team, you've won, you know, individual awards. What is your whether it's an award or a game or any 'cause I I I I did a video a couple weeks I was talking about my all time favorite baseball memory. Like I was at Adrian Beltray's 3,000 hit game here in Texas. You probably know Beltray. I was at Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, yeah, I've played with Adrian. He's the best. Bobby Minor: yeah Juan Gonzalez, the game he got his 100th RBI before the All Star break. I was there. But I was at Nolan Ryan's seventh no hitter, May 1st, 1991. That is my as a fan, my best baseball memory ever. So what's your what's your favorite baseball memory ever as a player, as a fan, and what's your favorite all time baseball movie? Dustin Pedroia: Also my all-goal movie first, Major League One is my favorite of all time. It's the best. Bobby Minor: Yeah. okay. Yeah. Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: I can't say a favorite moment because I've been so lucky. I've had so many great moments. mean, shoot, been a part of no-hitters, championships, just like special performances, 500 home runs, you know, for guys, teammates. I can't nail them. mean, obviously the World Series wins are amazing, but right after, I mean, I thought it would be different after you win, right? You're like, we did it. But you just sit back, you're so tired. And you're like, I can't believe we did this. You know what I mean? And it's all the work that you put in. And that's the part, like, I try to tell my kids and I try to tell people close to me, like, you don't realize how mentally draining, how long, how... what you go through to be a baseball player. You don't realize it. People don't. They just think, you're on TV. You guys make a lot of money, this, this, and this. It's like, no, every day is different. But it's not. You play the same game every day, but every game your mind tells you something else is going on. And then as you get older, you're adding real life into it. You have a wife, you have kids, you're trying to be a good dad, you're trying to be a good husband, you're trying to... So not one thing... pops up, but I just say, I always try to be true to myself because that's how I was taught. Like I played for Terry Francona. Like he was, you know what I mean? Do the right things, be professional. And that's what he would say. That was our rules. Be on time, be professional. And I'm like, well, what does that mean? goes, being professional, Dustin, is across the board. Like this is how we're gonna act. And I try to live my life like that. And baseball did that for me. And I think, It's the greatest game in the world and I think parents should tell their child that line. Be on time, be professional. And they'll figure it out along the way. They will. Doesn't matter how many games you're playing, they're gonna learn. If you play too much, they'll back off. If you think you need to go to a showcase and you go and you know it's a joke, you won't go. So I think learn from mistakes, learn from successes and you'll in the end be who you are. You are who you are. Bobby Minor: Dude, that that's that's such good stuff. I and I'll say Bull Durham's my favorite all time baseball movie. I'll just have to say that. Yeah. And Phil Yeah. Dustin Pedroia: I mean, you can't go wrong. You can't go wrong. I'm a major league guy. Like, yeah. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Well, and unfortunately, see the thing that tarnishes Major League One for me or Major League Two, Major League Three. Those those those tarnish all right. Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, yeah, little different. Yeah, I know, I hear you. Bobby Minor: So, okay, any words of wisdom. I just turned 60. We share a birthday for people Dustin Pedroia: yeah. Bobby Minor: that don't know August 17th. I turned 60. Next month, actually, a month from today, I'm I'm gonna be playing in a celebrity baseball influencer softball game at the field of dreams. So yeah, so I haven't I I'm gonna start I'm I'm in the gym, I'm working out, I'm I'm gonna take you know take some cuts because I haven't swung I swung a golf club, I haven't swung a baseball catch, but yes. Dustin Pedroia: Hey, how about this, my only advice for you, don't get hurt. Bobby Minor: Okay, I think I'm gonna play catcher. That that'll that's already gonna Lim that's already gonna give me the least Yeah. Okay. Dustin Pedroia: Yeah, that way we don't need no, we don't need any fast movements. We don't need an Achilles going down. Like just let it, just relax. Bobby Minor: All right. All right, Dustin Man, appreciate you so much.