Washington Rush Manual
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BASEBALL THE RUSH WAY Washington Rush Baseball “Team Manual” Developed, Written & Designed by Red Alert Baseball, LLC About the Developer This Team Manual was the creation of Rob Bowen, Owner and Founder of Red Alert Baseball. Copyright © 2013 Red Alert Baseball, LLC. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on these pages are copyrighted by Red Alert Baseball, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of these pages, either text or image may be used for any purpose other than personal use. Therefore, reproduction, modification, storage in a retrieval system or retransmission, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, for reasons other than personal use, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission. For any questions or inquiries about this Manual, please contact Rob Bowen via email at [email protected]. Make sure to visit RedAlertBaseball.com for other great services Red Alert Baseball has to offer. You can also follow Red Alert Baseball on our Social Media pages. We provide free info, articles, and drills so you can improve your game. On Twitter: @RedAlertCrew On Facebook: www.Facebook.com/RedAlertBaseball On You Tube: Rob Bowen, Red Alert Baseball Washington Rush Team Manual Developed & Designed by Red Alert Baseball About the Developer Rob Bowen is a former Switch-Hitting Major League Catcher that played for the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and the Oakland Athletics. He spent 10 years in professional baseball, including 5 seasons of those in the Major Leagues. Rob broke into the big leagues at the young age of 22 and also had the opportunity to play with the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres in the post season. After playing with and against some of the games best players and future Hall of Famers, Rob has amassed an enormous amount of knowledge along the way. Beginning to play the great game of baseball at 4 years old, Rob didn’t really start to pursue the challenge of playing pro ball until he was 13 as he was being scouted by college and pro scouts in Middle School. By putting in hard work and dedication during his teenage years, Rob won numerous awards including Varsity all 4 years in High School, All-State, All-American, Gatorade and USA Today Indiana Baseball Player of the Year, Team USA 18U Member, Area Code Games Participant and more. After having hundreds of colleges recruiting Rob, he signed a letter of intent to play at Louisiana State University. LSU offered him the highest scholarship ever as a Rob shaking hands with closer, Trevor Hoffman. Rob caught Trevor's record tying 478th save. Freshman at that time. Rob’s goal of playing pro ball came true when he was drafted in the 2nd round (56th Overall) by the Minnesota Twins in the 1999 Amateur Draft. After he retired from baseball in 2009 and to cap off proof of his hard work during his career, Rob was inducted into the Northeast Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. Rob’s incredible journey beginning in Amateur Ball and ending with playing in the Major Leagues is what really inspired him to start Red Alert Baseball. He wanted to share all of his knowledge and experience he has accumulated in professional baseball to help those that are pursuing the ultimate dream and help them get there. The following are some of the people that really impacted Rob’s career and had an opportunity to learn valuable knowledge from. Paul Molitor, Tom Kelly, Joe Nathan, AJ Pierzynski, Johan Santana, Trevor Hoffman, Jake Peavy, Greg Maddox, Mike Piazza, Ryan Klesko, Bruce Bochy, Don Wakamatsu, Floyd Rayford, Tony Gwynn, Merv Rettenmund, Bud Black, Tony Gwynn, Lou Pinella, John Russell, Ty Van Berkleo, Frank Thomas, Vinny Castilla, Rene Lachemann. Washington Rush Team Manual Developed & Designed by Red Alert Baseball Daily Goal Attitude Concentration Effort Each and Every Day! Washington Rush Team Manual Developed & Designed by Red Alert Baseball Table of Contents Page Topic 2 Academic Importance 3 On the Field Conduct !! ! ! ! ! ! 5 Off the Field Conduct 6 Bunt Defenses 10 1st & 3rd Defenses 11 Infield / Outfield Routine 12 Batting Practice Routine 13 Around the Horn 14 Pop Up Priorities 15 Pickoffs / Daylight Play 16 Rundowns 17 Cut Offs / Double Cuts 20 Evolution of an At-Bat 23 The Mental Side of Hitting 43 Base Running 49 5 Tools of a Player 52 What Scouts Look For 58 Stretching Program 60 Arm Maintenance Program 73 Notes Washington Rush Team Manual 1 Developed & Designed by Red Alert Baseball Academic Importance Written by the Founder of Red Alert Baseball, Rob Bowen It should be the focus of every student-athlete that you are a student first and foremost. You are not getting paid to play a game yet. Your focus needs to be on hitting the books and getting good grades. Without good grades you are limiting your options and leverage for colleges and/or getting drafted. The very reason I know getting good grades matter is because I have gone through the process and have seen it first hand. During high school, I got A’s and B’s and finished with a 3.2 GPA. I was a very highly touted prospect out of high school in Indiana. During these years, I was recruited by over a hundred colleges, which included some of the major baseball powerhouses. I signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Louisiana State University, with a 75% scholarship. During that time, it was the highest scholarship given out at LSU. I was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1999 amateur draft with the 52nd overall pick. I also had an array of accolades to go with it including playing on Team USA when I was 18. After I signed my pro contract, my agent told me the reason I was drafted so high and offered the scholarship at LSU was because of not just my talent, but because I had very good grades. My leverage was enormous and therefore I had control of my future. Scouts have stated time after time, without good grades, a player just won’t get drafted as high as he would like without them. Colleges are very picky when it comes to choosing student-athletes. The reason you won’t get into a good baseball school with bad grades is because they don’t want to take a chance on you for you to most likely fail out. They run the risk of losing a precious scholarship. There are plenty more kids around this country and world just as good as you that could have better grades. As you can see, you start losing your favorite choices because they don’t want you- not for your talent, but because of poor grades. If you are wanting to control your own future, you need to take control of your academics and perform at your highest level. Remember you are a student-athlete first! Once you sign a pro contract, you can call yourself just a baseball player. Baseball will only make up a small percentage of your life. Matter of fact, most people end up having another career besides baseball. That is why it is important to get good grades now and use baseball to help you get your schooling paid for. Baseball is a great game and it can treat you very well, but if you are not in a good position academically to take advantage of it, baseball will pass you by. Washington Rush Team Manual Developed & Designed by Red Alert Baseball 2 On the Field Conduct How you present and carry yourself on the baseball field has a tremendous impact on your career. Scouts will notice how you carry yourself and they evaluate you based on your emotions, hustling, and body language. The opposing team will also watch and often times use that data to find out if you are feeling good or not, frustrated, or feeling confident. What I am saying is your body will give off signs showing that you are a strong or weak player. While you are on the field, you want to hustle everywhere you go. Until you sign a pro contract, amateurs should always hustle hard on and off the field. You do not have to sprint and wear yourself out, but a good hard jog is plenty adequate. Players should refrain from yelling and arguing with umpires. Umpires are human and will make mistakes, even though they won’t admit it. You can’t control what an umpire does so let your coach deal with them. The last thing you want is to argue with an umpire and get tossed during a close game. The uniform should be worn with pride. Keep your shirt tucked in at all times while you are on the field, keep your hats straight and not cocked to one side, and fasten your belt so your pants are not sagging. There is a reason you are wearing a belt so use it for its intended use. Again, scouts notice everything and focus on the little things. Looking sharp and keeping a level head on the field will make you stand out from the crowd. If you carry yourself like a true ball player, your performance will increase because you have the right mental mindset. Having the same emotions when you are 4-4 is key to when you are 0-4. Showing signs of remorse for yourself or signs of struggle on the field results in weakness. Other teams will feast on that negative feeling you have and you will continue to struggle because your mind is not in the right spot.