Better Begins Now [In the Bullpen]

0:00I read these words on a social media post recently, QUOTE, there are 7 days in the week, and some day isn't one of them, end of QUOTE. Better begins NOW. Welcome to In the Bullpen with Mark Dewey, brought to you by Developing Contenders Ministries. You're listening to the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Thank you for joining us. Each week at the beginning of our worship in the Church that I attend, be as a congregation confess our sins. Yesterday, in doing so, we first gave thanks to

1:05our Almighty God and merciful Father, and we said to him, we are thankful that your mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings deeper than all our sin. And we followed those words by asking the Lord to forgive us of a variety of sins, including we prayed that He would forgive us of our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure. How tenaciously we pursue constant pleasure in our lives. And the thing is, we're often encouraged to do so by our culture. If there is anything that is less than pleasurable, say something that's not easy, something that's not safe, something that may be very costly, we are very reluctant to do it, to pursue it. Maybe we think that soon enough we'll get around to doing what we know needs to be done. We'll begin to pursue good

2:10better and best someday. Whether you are a veteran, major league baseball player who's been a multiple time all-star, or you are a seven-year-old boy playing your first season of baseball, today is the only day you have to begin or continue getting better. And today is the day you ought to do so. There are any number of things we can do today. Not safe or easy, and often very costly, but many things we can do today that can make us better. I'm confident that you can name several, and I'll mention some that may not immediately come to your mind. We can become better, and this is true at baseball, it's true in life, by asking better questions, by demanding better answers, and by challenging assertions made

3:11claiming to be a better way of doing things. This is a paraphrase, but I've heard Joe Madden say on more than one occasion, that not all that claims to be progressive is progress. Now, you may have a question, maybe a question you asked last week, listening to the episode or since last week's episode of In the Bull Pin. You might be asking, isn't In the Bull Pin a baseball podcast? And you might ask that question because you may be thinking, okay, I know that it's from a biblical perspective, and that was very evident last week, but last week you spoke in particular and in depth about an NBA player. And then you also spoke about other people within the NBA and even the NFL, and you only made oblique references to baseball. So why did you have the content that you had in last weeks episode? Let me say this, I cannot with certainty say this is true today. But

4:17when I was playing, if we had come to the ballpark the day after the Jayden Ivy story broke, I can say with certainty that at the very least, it would have been a topic of conversation in the bull pin. And it would be just as likely to have been a conversation started by an unbeliever as by a follower of King Jesus. And in case you've not been listening very long, or maybe you've forgotten, the title of this podcast in the bull pin is about just that, the kinds of conversations that have taken place that could take place in the bull pin. And last week was representative of the type of conversations that we had when I was pitching and sitting in the bull pin. Now, I've never sat with this man in the bull pin, but he is a friend, he's a listener to in the bull pin, and he also hosts his own podcast, Westminster effects, doxology. And he posted something over the past week

5:18on X, and he wrote these words, quote, this fits in well with at in the bull pin's theme of getting better and being in school. I never thought of Turner's comments, but it makes sense. And obviously works for him. And, of quote, those words came and the post came from Cody fields. Now, the clip that he attached and made the comment about is 10 minutes in length, more than 10 minutes actually, about the first six or so were about tray Turner. And about some changes that he has made in the last couple of years, changes he made under the tutelage of one of his coaches, his infield coach Bobby Dickerson. These changes have drastically improved tray Turner's defensive play at shortstop. Now, in this clip, there was some good data and analytics information, giving evidence as to what changes were made and how it helped Turner go from being at the bottom of defensive ratings for short stops to being toward the top.

6:22And overall, it was interesting and informative to listen to. Now, I bet you can sense there is a butt coming and you are right. And it is a big butt. Sometimes players in a sport will do things in an untraditional way. Coaches hate it because it goes against everything you'd learn at a young age in that sport. Some players are just more comfortable doing things in an untraditional way. And sometimes that untraditional way looks fundamentally wrong. What if I told you that the players who are breaking the rules are the ones finding the most success? The fundamentals don't matter and the statistics back it up. All right, that was only 30 seconds in length. And there are a lot of things that could be addressed, maybe even should be addressed. I'll try to keep it brief by keeping my comments to three statements that you just heard. First, coaches hate it. Second, fundamentals don't matter. And then finally, the statistics

7:30back it up. In my 25 years of professional baseball experience, my 50 years of experience in the game at all levels, I don't recall a single coach professionally. I can't remember necessarily as an eight year old, but I don't recall a single professional coach or for that matter, any coach who had success as a coach, hating anything that helps a player become better at his craft. And that is true, regardless of how untraditional it may be. And do say that fundamentals don't matter is an objectively false statement on the very surface of it. And if you don't believe me, let me give you some definitions. First, from the Miriam Webster dictionary. Fundamentals, this is what the dictionary says. Fundamentals refer to the core essential or foundational elements, principles or rules upon which a system or subject is built. They represent the most important

8:32basic components rather than detailed or complex aspects. Synonyms include basics, principles, essentials, foundations, and key rules. Let's go to another Webster. This one, Noah Webster, in 1828. Talking about fundamentals, pertaining to the foundation or basis, serving for the foundation. Hence, essential, important, a leading or primary principle rule law or article which serves as the groundwork of a system. Now, if this man had asserted that there are some times with some players that for them to get better, they need to alter some things. Okay, I could live with that. But a player, a team, the game itself cannot think, let alone function as if fundamentals don't

9:36matter. And if you want proof, just watch some of the things happening in a Major League Baseball game near you. Then he talked about the statistics. The statistics definitely backed up the fact that trade turner has become a better shortstop. And that he has done so after incorporating some untraditional approaches to playing this sport or playing that position. But the statistics do not and cannot back up the adsurbed claim that fundamentals don't matter. Now the clip you heard was from the opening portion of the video. Again, it was much lengthier. These words followed later. This stance was far more comfortable for turner, and working with the Phillies in Field Coach Bobby Dickerson, they decided that for the 2025 season, they would change his approach and try to field more grounders this way, despite it being untraditional. If you're playing catch, basically every catch you have is a backhand. You're always

10:36kind of working towards the ball as a backhand. You're not squaring up the ball and getting in front of it. He wants you to backhand quite a bit of the ground balls you get. And when you do backhand, your front arm is farther out in front of you and you have more room to work with. You can work back a little bit and you can work forward. If you're squaring up, you can only work out so much and then you kind of get stuck a little bit. Traditional coaching will never take into account the fact that sometimes players will do things fundamentally wrong, but will perform better doing it that way. The only way to truly show that is with data. So you heard the man who put together the video who presented the data in analytics. Then you heard in that clip, Trey Turner speaking. And before that, the man who put together the video talked about Bobby Dickerson, and that's who Trey Turner was referring to when he said he. And you also heard, if you were paying attention, the phrase by the man who put this video together, traditional coaching will never take into account. And then he went on. Again,

11:40I have never known a quote unquote traditional coach. And that's true when I was a player. That's true when I coached and it's been about 12 or 13 years playing about 12 or 13 years coaching. I have never known a traditional coach that will never take such things into account. I believe the young man who put together this video slandered some of the best coaches in the best game in the world. Some of the best coaches it has ever seen. And as I mentioned, Trey Turner speaking in that clip said he and was referring to Bobby Dickerson. Bobby Dickerson, who was drafted the same year as I was 1987. And I almost certainly faced him at some point in time in the early 90s at the AAA level. He became a player coach, I believe it was in 1993. Then he became a manager in coach, including being an infield coordinator and instructor. He's been in the game professionally for 40 years.

12:48And a significant reason why Bobby Dickerson has been in the game professionally for 40 years is because he is continually learning, daily striving to be better, both himself as a coach and help his players like Trey Turner get better every day they are at the ballpark. And and don't miss this many days when they're not at the ballpark. And then to make this statement, the only way to truly show that is with data. That statement from my perspective, and I think it's objective, I'm not just being a grumpy old man, is either arrogant, ignorant, or arrogantly ignorant. I have no idea. I guess and I presume that this young man knows analytics, but I'm wondering if he's ever heard of men like Davey Lopes and Ron Washington. Last week, Davey Lopes left this earth at 80 years

13:49of age. And it was just yesterday that we got the news that Phil Garner also did. Not long ago, Davey Lopes left baseball. It was 2017 after the end of the 2017 baseball season. And when he left it, the game of baseball, he left it better than when he entered the professional ranks all the way back in 1968. He spent a half century in the game as a player and coach. And he could see and demonstrate things after he had already done them as a player. He could see and demonstrate things very important things that data cannot see and demonstrate. As a player, Davey Lopes stole 557 bases. That's impressive enough, but how about this? His success rate in stolen bases was 83%. And then as a coach, he told multitudes of baseball players

14:49how to be better bass runners, how to be better at stealing bases, how to be better at reading pictures, how to be better at playing the game. And I would bet that that is not only limited to position players, but the Davey Lopes helped a number of pictures as well. Davey Lopes died at age 80. He was one of the star players for the Dodgers in the 70s and the 80s played on championship teams, great little second baseman and one of the great base dealers of all times stole 557 bases. I just wrote a story for espn.com about how you take a lead, a secondary lead, the importance of base running in the major leagues. And Johnny Bench told me that Davey Lopes is the best base runner he's ever seen. Nobody. And I talked to him so many times about this, Davey. Nobody could read a picture better than him. He knew when the guy was going home. He knew when the guy was coming over. He knew when it was time to run. And Davey could really run, but it was

15:53he was so much smarter than everyone else on the field when it came to base running. That was his biggest, biggest reason for his success. And he became a very productive hitter. Jeff, he hit more homers in his 40s than he did in his 20s. Hank Sauer did that. Right. Ulebania's did that. And the last I looked there, the only three who ever hit more homers in their 40s than they did in their 20s. So rest in peace, my friend, Davey Lopes. First of all, it's been far too long since I shared a clip from Tim Kurchin. He is somebody I greatly appreciate both because of his love for the game and his knowledge of baseball. And notice that he said about David, Davey Lopes, he knew he knew he knew not it he knew not the data in analytics. And not only was he smarter than everybody else on the field, he was smarter in these areas than any computer could be any algorithm could be this man knew. Now, if you've been listening to In the bullpen for any length of time,

17:00I hope that you recognize that I am not against data and analytics. And more than that, I believe much good can come from data and analytics. But let me give you my summary of it again. It is this data and analytics are very valuable, but they are not infallible. And neither is any man, only got all my ideas. Data and analytics are very valuable, but they are not more valuable than the person you are trying to help with data and analytics. Davey Lopes and I'm going to assume and I believe rightly that he took advantage of the data and analytics available to him when he was a player and when he was a coach. But he understood the value of the person and he understood how best to help person A and maybe it was a different way to best help person B. Even though he has not yet attained 50 years of experience in professional baseball,

18:04he's at about 45 or 46. Ron Washington also knows a lot about the game and a lot about helping players get better at the game. I had the privilege of being around him for two years or at least part of two years when I played in AAA for the Mets in Tidewater in 1991 and 92. He was the third base coach for the team in those two seasons when I was there. Currently, he is passing on his baseball wisdom as a coach for the San Francisco Giants. He's also doing so as a guest on various podcasts and great superstars bring everybody with him. They really do. They bring everybody with him. They don't leave nobody behind. And in today's game, as you just mentioned, it has come to individualized. It's me, me, me. It's no we. It's no us. Wow. It may not be exactly equivalent to or on the same level of the Robin Yount clip that I often play for you. But it is not far behind

19:09and it is most definitely in line with it. Listen and learn from men like Ron Washington. Ask questions like, is there evidence that he is correct? I think a trust that you know what I believe about that. Now, it's not only the so-called old heads who have so much to give to the game, so much to help those playing it. Old or young. Those who understand pursuing excellence, getting better. Those who understand doing things the right way or for that matter, believing there is a right way to do things. Those who understand what it takes to be better and that the time to get better is now whether they are young or old, whether they've spent 50 years in professional baseball or just a few. Regardless, we can learn from each of them. The routine is not sexy. It's boring. You don't love it, but at the end of the day, if you love the

20:14result, you got to do it. Sometimes it's where it takes, you know, in sports. The boring process, the boring fundamentals. He has this sense of calm because of the fact that he is prepared. Confidence is gained through your routine, your process. It's like a test, right? You study for the test, you're going to be confident going into it. I mean, his routine is boring because it's the same every day, but a 100% tick boring all day long. He's throwing a hundred. He doesn't even look like he's trying. Brilliant's on the field for me is patience. Everything takes patience. There's no instant gratification and a lot of the time it's boring, but greatness is boring. Thank you very much to Paul Schienes, who was featured in that clip along with some of his former teammates, coaches and his former manager. So as we consider a better way, we now have another

21:15word to add to our list. We've already discussed the fact that better isn't easy, that better isn't safe, that better is costly, and now we can say rightfully according to what Paul Schienes just said, which again I believe is backed up, better is boring. As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, better begins now. And that is true whether you are a veteran major league baseball player or playing your first season of coach pitch at a seven year old level. It is also true for those who coach at either level and anywhere in between. Regardless of the roles, regardless of the levels of experience, the skill set, whatever it might be, boring is a part of getting better. And that, of course, along with the other things, means something is absolutely necessary and that is motivation.

22:16Motivation is necessary if you want to get better, but it is not sufficient. More than motivation is needed. And that includes discipline. But that's a conversation for another day. Join us next time for In The Bull Pin on the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Thank you for listening.