~ Baseball Coaching ~ Baseball Participation ~
~ Dream It, Believe It, Achieve It! ~

Welcome to theoleballgame.com, a website for baseball coaching youth, and amateur. The information contained within these friendly confines, is created for coaches, players, parents and fans.

This site is here, and bet that you are also, because someone has touched us with this game. A game like no other, it is loved and cherished by those who have, and have not played it. The game is surrounded by a magical, almost mystical presence of all that was, is, and always will be, played out on sand lots and inside stadiums world wide.

Playing or coaching this great game, begins with a dream, that vision of something we wish to accomplish, or a destination we aspire to achieve. Development of that dream requires that we truly believe it can happen.

The pages within are designed to stimulate thoughts on ways to help develop and achieve your dream, take your belief in that dream and turn it into reality, whether you are a rookie or veteran coach, player, parent or fan. I encourage you to engulf yourself in the journey. Your investment in the game, like a good stock, will provide far greater returns than you invested.

While there have been a few original thoughts along the way, most of what has been accumulated was learned from someone, somewhere. Every now and then it's believed there has been an original idea, only to realize it has been forgotten from whom it was learned.

So, pack up your dreams in the "ole" equipment bag, gather around the portable cage, lean on a fungo while traveling "round" the bases in your mind, at theoleballgame.com; inspired by 46 plus, years of experience.

As you focus on the process, the results will take care of themselves, just as they do in the game itself.

May you always slide in, under the tag!

Wishing each of you the best in your journey.

Yours in baseball,

Rick

Tips From The Dugout

A Life Of Frustration Is Inevitable For Any Coach Whose Main Enjoyment Is Winning ( Chuck Noll )

Who Would Have Imagined?

As We Work And Play In This Game, A Good Portion Of Our Life Is Spent Gripping A Baseball, And As It Turns Out, It Was Baseball Gripping Us.

Let That Passion Take You To A Lifetime Of Memories And Experiences, That Money Cannot Buy!

Congratulations To My Alma Mater, Emporia State University, Coaches And Players ~ 2009 NCAA D-II Baseball National Runners-Up!

As a graduate of ESU and a baseball alum, it was exciting to learn of your accomplishment.

On the About Us page for this site, there is a picture of the 1970 team, taken in almost the exact spot as the one above, just aimed at centerfield.

Also, congratulations on the artificial turf. I grew up and played my high school and JC baseball in Arizona. Emporia was my first experience with pouring out diesel fuel, lighting and raking it out.

I am sure all those returning will not miss that aspect of the game.

Again, congratulations to everyone involved. It's a special memory you will have forever!

Yours in baseball,

Rick Bundy, class of 1970

A True Classic

If you located this paragraph, then you probably have had, or currently do have, the "dream". That vision of playing in a stadium the magnitude of Fenway or Wrigley, or a modern day version of the dream, which places you in one of the 28 other stadiums of major league baseball.

Who hasn't dreampt of standing on that mound looking in for the sign, digging into the batter's box in anticipation of turning around a 95 mph fastball, backhanding a ground ball deep in the hole and throwing the runner out at first, or leaping up at the outfield wall to steal a homerun.

As you circle the bases of the ole ballgame, you will find tried and tested ways to improve your game or enhance your coaching experience, all designed to help take you one step closer to your "dream".

Fenway Park has been home to The Boston Red Sox since 1912, making it the oldest major league ballpark in use, with only a few changes since it opened. Along with Wrigley Field, home of The Chicago Cubs, they are the last remaining classic ballparks in major league baseball.

One of the games most notable landmarks, the GREEN MONSTER was part of the original ballpark construction. Painted green in 1947, this 37'2" high, left field wall, was aptly nicknamed.

Fenway was also home to Ted Williams, who played his entire career in Boston. Williams was the last major league player to hit .400, which he did in 1941.

Entering the last day of the '41 season, Williams was hitting .3995, which would have rounded up to .400.

His manager, Joe Cronin, told him he could sit out the double-header scheduled for that day. Williams played, going 6 for 8, ending the season at .406. He would later say that it would have felt like cheating, if he sat out.

The true spirit of the game, and not surprisingly, a great approach to life.

Every pitcher, batter, fielder, base runner faces tough situations. None of them always comes through.

Everyone has emotional reaction. Everyone fails.

The Manner In Which We Approach And Cope With These Situations - The Manner In Which We Control Our Emotional Reactions To Them, Will Indicate The Quality Of Our Mental Discipline. ( Dorfman and Kuehl, "The Mental Game Of Baseball" ( A guide to Peak Performance )