BASEBALL COACHES UNPLUGGED
What if you could discover the secrets of the most successful coaches and athletes and become the best in the game. What separates the best coaches and players from the rest? Become the player coaches dream of having on their team. Step inside the dugout with the Baseball Coaches Unplugged, where every episode is a journey of triumph, resilience, and inspiration. Hosted by Ken Carpenter, a 27 year veteran high school baseball coach with a passion for unlocking the secrets of athletic greatness.
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BASEBALL COACHES UNPLUGGED
Inside A Championship: The Power of Honest Communication with Players
Are you wanting to improve your communication with your players? What if an unranked high school team could go all the way to win the state championship against all odds? Join us as we sit down with Brad Burns, head baseball coach at Pleasure Ridge Parkway High School in Louisville, Kentucky, who led his team to the 2024 Kentucky State Championship. Coach Burns shares the heartwarming and inspiring journey of his players, especially highlighting the pivotal roles of nine dedicated seniors, only three of whom played in the title game. You'll gain insights into his strategic focus on maximizing defensive reps in practice and his unique approach to building a cohesive, resilient team.
Discover the character and leadership traits that defined Coach Burns' team as they consistently trailed in elimination games, only to come back with an incredible fighting spirit. Reflecting on the legacy of the legendary Coach Bill Miller, who influenced both his playing and coaching career, Coach Burns delves into the collaborative effort between seniors and underclassmen that made their victory possible. This episode not only honors the past but also showcases the unwavering team buy-in that was essential for their success.
Listen as Coach Burns discusses the philosophy of inclusive coaching, emphasizing the importance of honest communication and role assignment based on players' strengths. From the disciplined practice sessions at Pleasure Ridge Park High School to his collegiate experiences at Murray State University, Coach Burns illustrates how structure and work ethic prepare athletes for success. Additionally, we explore his journey integrating faith with coaching, balancing multiple roles, and the creation of the Baseball Pastor Podcast. To wrap it up, we have a lively debate on the greatest feats in Major League Baseball history, making this episode a must-listen for all baseball enthusiasts!
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You know, I know, as a former player, you know there were times when I wondered okay, what do my coaches feel about me? What do they think about me? What do they, you know, do they think I'm any good, do they think I'm not? And all of those questions I think happen for every single player.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken Carpenter, presented by AthleteOne. Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a podcast for baseball coaches With 27 years of high school baseball coaching under his belt, here to bring you the inside scoop on all things baseball, from game winning strategies and pitching secrets to hitting drills and defensive drills. We're covering it all. Whether you're a high school coach, college coach or just a baseball enthusiast, we'll dive into the tactics and techniques that make the difference on and off the field. Discover how to build a winning mentality. Inspire your players and get them truly bought into your game philosophy Plus, get the latest insights on recruiting, coaching, leadership and crafting a team culture that champions productivity and success. Join Coach every week as he breaks down the game and shares incredible behind-the-scenes stories. Your competitive edge starts here, so check out the show weekly and hear from the best coaches in the game. On Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
Speaker 3:Hello and welcome.
Speaker 3:I'm your host, ken Carpenter, and today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged, presented by Athlete One, national High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year, brad Burns, from Pleasure Ridge Parkway High School in Louisville, kentucky. In this episode, you will learn how nine seniors led their team to a state championship despite only three playing in the title game, how to communicate with your players who don't get much playing time, and how to maximize defensive reps in practice. This and so much more. But before we get to the episode, baseball Coaches Unplugged is powered by the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. The netting pros specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, bp turtles, screens, ball carts and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches and coveys.
Speaker 3:The NETIC Pros are not limited to just baseball and softball. They also work with football, soccer, lacrosse and golf courses. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707. Or visit them online at wwwnettingproscom. You can also check out NETTting Pros on X, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged, presented by Athlete One. I'm your host, ken Carpenter and joining me today. I'm excited to get my first guest from Kentucky and it's Pleasure Ridge High School head baseball coach Brad Burns in Louisville, kentucky Coach. Thanks for joining me on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
Speaker 1:Appreciate you having me Honored to be here.
Speaker 3:Well, I got to start off. When you try to do a podcast, you never know what's going to happen with people, and I really appreciate the fact that you're on your first day of vacation and you're taking the time to do this with me.
Speaker 1:Oh, good man, you know, anytime a coach reaches out, you know how it goes, you do what you can to connect or to serve or help or whatever, and I'm excited to do it. Actually, it probably gives me a little bit more time. At least I'm a little relaxed. I'm not teaching school today, and so a little relaxed anyway. But no, I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 3:Well, you finished the 2024 season with a Kentucky State Championship and you were named the National High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. I believe it was for Region 4, if I'm correct, was that something that, going into the season, you thought was going to happen?
Speaker 1:You know who you have and I think, more than anything, I knew the types of kids that I had and you know, over the last two to three years we saw these young guys grow, many of them, you know. This year our team was made up primarily of juniors and seniors and in the past couple of years we were freshman, sophomore, junior and we played the guys that played this year, we played them in some roles over the last couple of years that we thought, okay, let's get them accustomed to what high school baseball is about, and so on. And so we came into this year knowing we had built a couple of years. We had some disappointments in the postseason, the last couple of years, and we thought, well, okay, we, we know the types of people. We have not sure exactly how we're going to perform in a big game because we've had so many disappointments the last few years. But, uh, but I, I guess I thought you know what, if we can get to our state tournament, we've got a shot because, because maybe at that point our guys will have understood we can do some things, we can win some games. And by that point, of course, if you make it and you keep advancing, as any coach knows, you had to win a few games along the way, and so that was something that I don't think I thought going into the year, okay, we're the favorite.
Speaker 1:We were an unranked team in Kentucky going into the year and you know when? I'm not even in the preseason. You know rankings. I mean we weren't, you know, and also ran. Our program is historically very good, so it's not as if nobody's ever heard of us.
Speaker 1:But at the same time, this year's team was not ranked going in. So I don't know that. We, you know we didn't play with a chip on our shoulder or anything like that. We just weren't exactly sure how it would happen, how it would come together in the end. But I knew the types of kids I had and that's what I go back to all the time. I knew the character and the leadership and the commitment and the hard work and that's just the type of group that we had and I felt good about them in any particular setting as a result of that. But now to answer your original question, there was nothing that we thought, okay, this is our year to win this thing or, to, you know, to show everybody. It was nothing like that. We just thought we've got great kids and let's see what happens.
Speaker 3:Well, you're one of those coaches that you've won a state title for Pleasure Ridge, as a player and as a coach. Is there one that you think might be a little more satisfying?
Speaker 1:There's been a lot of people ask me that you know I got to play for Bill Miller, who you know is my coaching hero and a legend in Kentucky and across the country, especially regionally in our area you know the few states around our area. So many people knew and loved and respected him and I got to play for him and I was a part of his very first so our program's very first state championship when I was a junior in 1994. And then we repeated and won back-to-back when I was a senior in 1995. And so there's something just unique and special about being a part of something for the very first time, and so I remember that fondly. I've got great friends who were my teammates and we still keep in touch and it's just a family-oriented program so that is promoted there. But to win it for him for the first time was something that only that team got to be a part of, and so I think there's something extremely special about that. To be able to repeat was was was obviously a great accomplishment and achievement because I was privileged as a senior in high school to win my last game in high school, which most people of course don't have that opportunity to do. And then you fast forward 30 years and you know, when I was a junior and senior in high school, I didn't anticipate 30 years later being the head coach and having the opportunity to make a run into the state tournament and so on.
Speaker 1:And so this year, to win the first state championship in our program's history without Coach Bill Miller was also unique. I wouldn't call it special, I would call it unique. The one thing that was so incomplete about it is that he wasn't there and so he passed away in 2018. And so, but it was. It was special because we honored his memory throughout and as we made the run and as we played the types of games and strategies and so on that he was, I guess, pioneering in our program years ago. We honored him along the way which that made it, in one sense, special. We honored him along the way which that made it, in one sense, special. So, as a player, to win a state championship, I felt as if I contributed a whole lot more, and that was unique.
Speaker 1:To win this as a coach. I think it makes me maybe a little more satisfied to win it, because you know how much can go wrong at every single turn and how little you can do about everything that can go wrong. And so I was so proud of our guys and our coaches, obviously, to be able to see them be resilient and we trailed in every single game, except from what we call our regional, which is when, I guess, when the elimination games start. We trailed in every game until the state final. Our guys came back every single time. Those were some things that I look back and that's very pleasing and makes me very proud of our guys.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure I could compare the two. I would say they're very, very different. I wouldn't want to give either of those away, but they were two very unique experiences to win one as a player for Coach Bill Miller in his very first state championship and then, 30 years later, to be able to win one in his memory to honor him as we did that. I think they're both standalone experiences, very unique and very special. But I think as a player, you know you have more to contribute. As a coach, you just have to stand and watch and sometimes that's really hard to do.
Speaker 3:No doubt. Well, when I think of PRP, I think of you know, the big power programs that different states have, and I'm just curious how many seniors did you have on that team?
Speaker 1:We had nine seniors this year.
Speaker 3:Okay, so if you had nine seniors, how many of those were starters?
Speaker 1:Well, I'll just go. In the postseason, in the state championship game, we had a senior behind the plate, we had a senior in first base and we had a senior DH, and so those were the only three in the lineup that day. The rest were juniors and we had a freshman playing second base who we DH'd for in that, and so we had juniors around the field except for those three guys. We had other seniors who contributed this year. One was injured about half the year and so when he was playing he was either in the lineup or on the mound for us and made major contributions. We had another senior pitcher who contributed through about 25 innings, I guess it was. He was a PO, but on that championship day we had three guys that were seniors that were in the lineup.
Speaker 1:But what I'm so proud of.
Speaker 1:You look at the guys and you say, well, we had nine seniors, only three of them played. You've got so many guys coming back, but we at the same time we do, and I'm sure we'll address that but we lost a lot in those guys who, even if they didn't play, they were tremendous teammates and that was the one thing about this particular senior group that I was so extremely pleased with that. Many of them didn't see the field very often. They just didn't. It was just the way that it went and you hate it for them in one sense, and yet you're very proud of them for the way that they handled themselves from you know that support role and they did a tremendous job. I mean, that was you know. I could go down the line and just picture their faces and see them cheering on our teammates and being excited when we won and so on. So we had three in the lineup, but we had six that day who were in support roles that particular day, and without them of course we don't do what we did.
Speaker 3:Well, my reasoning for asking the question that way was to me it says a lot about not only the players but you and your coaching staff to have guys that are seniors on a great team and they're maybe not getting that playing time they want, but they're bought in. And can you talk a little bit about what it takes to get players to buy in in that way? Because there's a lot of teams where and across the whole country where if there's seniors that aren't playing, there's some upset parents.
Speaker 1:And it sounds like you do a really nice job of getting the players to buy in. You hope you do. You know it's. I think it's a year to year thing. I think you know we've had, we've had seniors who were not happy before and whose parents were completely unhappy and I'm sure, are still unhappy to this day. I think every coach deals with that. So I don't think there's any particular science to it. That if you do these things and there's the guarantee, obviously, I think it's an individual thing.
Speaker 1:I think one of the things that we try to do is to be sure that each player, regardless of who they are and what their role is on the team, that they receive in one sense this will sound, I guess, a little bit like I'm joking, but an equal treatment. That you know. In one sense, we make fun of all of them. You know we rag all of them. We have a good time with all the guys, if that makes sense, and so we try to make sure that they, whatever their role is, they feel like they're on the team first of all, that they're a part of things. They're not excluded. We don't reduce their amount of reps. You know that they get, or something like that. You know, okay, only the starters are hitting this time or something. We don't do those things. I don't think that's the right thing to do for us. I'm sure, you know, depending upon your numbers, you may maybe you have to do some of that, but we just we try to make sure that all those guys receive, you know, the same amount of reps that they're involved in practice. We coach them all the same. You know, we have the same expectation of of each of them, in one sense that you know they'll perform or they'll give the effort to the best of their ability. And I think one of the things that our coaching staff tries to do is to be honest with those guys and just clearly say this is what your role is. And it doesn't mean that's fun, it doesn't mean those are pleasant conversations.
Speaker 1:But I've had players who've come to me, and one in particular. I remember this year, a conversation. That kid came to me and said coach, I don't feel like you know that I've had the look, you know the opportunity that I've wanted and whatever. And I said, well, you know, okay, here's some of the reasons, and so on. And you know, we just we were trying to be honest. I think those are some things that we saw with these particular guys, you know, trying to be honest with them, trying to have fun with them, guys trying to be honest with them, trying to have fun with them, trying to make sure they're not excluded in any way from what's going on with the team, the reps and so on. And again, I don't think there's any particular science. I think you have to get a feel each day Where's this guy at? How's he doing? Go talk to him, go engage with that guy.
Speaker 1:Don't let him go off on his own and ruminate over everything that he doesn't like and whatever I mean, and that way it opens the door for an honest conversation. I you know, I know as a former player, you know there were times when I wondered okay, what do my coaches feel about me? What do they think about me? What do they, you know, do they think I'm any good? Do they think I'm not? And all of those questions I think happen for every single player, and I think you have to be again, honest with those guys as best you can and then just continue to include them, continue to make sure they're a part of things. Talk about how important it is to be bought in.
Speaker 1:I know some coaches are probably different. We don't do a ton of win-loser stuff at practice. We do some, but we certainly don't try to stack the deck against the guys who are not going to play just to prove it to them. I think there's probably some importance in some of that, letting them see that, okay, here's where you stand and you see it. But if we're honest with them and challenge them to be honest with themselves, I think for the most part, the players understand.
Speaker 1:I don't ever expect parents to understand. I don't mean that in a bad way. That's their kid. I get it. I have four children, so I understand you're always going to be for your kid. I wouldn't expect anything different, but I do want the player to understand, and so I think we have a lot of conversations, we talk a lot about those things and we try to be sensitive to that because we know it's an important thing, not only for that player, obviously, but also for the team as a whole, as we do want them to be bought in to what's going on. We want them to value winning and to value their teammates and to support and so on. So I guess those would be a few of the things that I feel like our coaching staff did a good job with, of trying to help with our players this year the guys that weren't playing.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, you mentioned that. You know the players. They know as far as the starting lineup who should be in, who should not. They know, as far as the starting lineup, who should be in, who should not. And I always did a thing where I handed out a chart with the field on it and I said and gave one to each player and said, hey, give me your starting lineup. And it was amazing how accurate the players were. And there were players that were, that wouldn't put themselves in the lineup. And you know, I only had it happen one time and I had a parent to come in and wasn't happy and I explained to him you know the reasons. But then I said you're, even your son doesn't believe you doesn't believe he should be in the lineup. And he wasn't sure. And then I brought the paper, I kept that paper and I showed it to him and he, just, he was like it really opened his eyes up. He, you know, because every parent loves their kid and wants to see them out there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely and I would like I said I wouldn't expect anything different. I don't begrudge parents for wanting their kid to play you, you know that's well if. If you don't, then I'm, you know I'm I'm not sure you're doing as right by your kid as you could. So I think those are you have. It's not that you take any of that with a grain of salt, because you have to understand it's a huge factor for that kid.
Speaker 1:But I think that's the reason all the more to to communicate with those kids, uh, to to let them know and to give them open opportunity because at least if somebody can feel heard and seen and, you know, respected as a person, I think that's, you know, there's a, there's a level of of respect there for that player as a person, to be honest with that guy and say, look, here's the deal. And we had a couple of kids this year who played big roles for us, they were starters for us, uh, who I've told at the very beginning of the year look, this is the role that you're going to play for us, this is where we want you to be and here's what we want you to do. And it was. We based that on their strengths as players.
Speaker 1:Here's what you do really well, so this is what we're going to try to do put you in these situations where that strength can be utilized a little bit more, and instead you know, and it's not always that those particular players that you talk to, whether they're going to be in the role and the position and the place in the lineup and so on that they love and exactly they want to be I mean, everybody wants to lead off and play shortstop. But at the same time, if, hopefully, you can be honest with those guys, respect them enough, love them enough, care about them enough to treat them the way that you would like to be treated if you were that guy, then at least, if you disagree on things, at least there was an effort made to show that love and that concern and that respect for that player.
Speaker 3:Well, talk a little bit about the pride in PRP baseball and how that prepared you as a player to go on and have the great career you had at Murray State.
Speaker 1:It's interesting.
Speaker 1:When I was in the eighth grade I wasn't sure if I was good enough to play at PRP, and for some people who are watching or listening, obviously Pleasure Ridge Park baseball may or may not mean anything to you, but in our part of Louisville it was a pretty big deal long before I went to high school, way back in the 60s and through the 70s and had some great players and great teams.
Speaker 1:And then, through the 80s, Coach Miller took over in 1980, finished state runner-up in 82, in 1985, and so I knew of all those things. And my dad grew up in the south end of Louisville, where we live and where PRP is, and so I'd heard all the stories. And you know, I, my dad, grew up in the South end of Louisville, where we live and where PRP is, and so I had heard all the stories. I wasn't sure and so made the decision to go there and certainly it was a life changer for me to be able to be in that program, not only to have the success that we had on the field but to learn the discipline and the work ethic and the expectations and to play against great competition and to play against great competition in practice and played with some great, great players and tremendous teammates back then, and so I felt physically and mentally prepared to move on to college baseball at that point.
Speaker 1:And you know, and then you know, getting to play at Murray State was. You know there's two baseball programs that I love and care about most and that's Pleasure Ridge Park High School and Murray State University. So still have strong ties to both, obviously, and but it was. It prepared me in a lot of ways. I think there were high expectations in high school. There was a lot of hard work. There was a lot of. We spent a lot of time being bored and having to be self-disciplined, if that makes sense. We had a lot of field work and different things that we had to do, but you were expected to do it right then and be and stay disciplined when you fast forward to college baseball. My oldest son is in college and playing ball and he told me we talked the other day and he said you're just kind of on your own and that's the way it is in college baseball. You don't have so many coaches breathing down your neck and people always looking over your shoulder. You're expected to be a man and be disciplined and make sure that you're doing the things for yourself inside and outside the classroom that you have to, and so that was ingrained in me, of course, by my parents, you know, from an early age and then reinforced through high school. And so I did.
Speaker 1:I was so blessed to be a part of PRP's program, you know, during a time when it really reached its pinnacle, you know, in the mid-90s, winning three state championships, and of course that kind of launched everything forward from there. But I was blessed, I really did. I felt that our program prepared me well for college for that being on your own experience and you know. And then, of course, I got to play for some great, great men at Murray State who are still good friends of mine. One, in fact, dave Jarvis, who's the head coach at Belmont, is going into the ABCA Hall of Fame this year, and so congratulations to Coach Jarvis. He was a guy who recruited me and then a couple years later he left for Belmont. He's been there for nearly 30 years now himself so tremendous just again tremendous men that I got to be around and play for both in high school and in college.
Speaker 3:Well, taking us inside your practices, do you set them up and make them competitive? So the guys are. A lot of times your coaches say they want to make practice harder than the game's going to be.
Speaker 1:We try to make it to where, in practice, we are a combination of nitpicking and encouraging Okay, and our practices if somebody were to come to one, they're not that exciting. It's not as if there's anything unique or novel that we do. We, typically our offense, is predicated on doing a lot of little things that put pressure on the other team's defense. It's no secret, this is no trade secret that I'm giving away. That's what we do and that's what we've always done, and largely because that's just the kind of thing we have to do to try to compete and be successful. So you know we don't get all the five star guys. You know we just don't. We've had great players throughout our history as a program, no doubt, and we had great players this year, but we don't get guys that you can just run out there and say, okay, hit four bombs and throw a no hitter and we're good, and so we have to do some little things that you know would be more of the old West Coast style offense, and you know scrambling around and running, and so we try at. You know, the beginning of our practice every day in the spring, we call it bunt and base running school. You know we have four bunt stations and two base running stations that are going at the same time and we rotate between them, we split the players up and there's a different coach at each station and you know that particular station has a purpose. Here's what we're trying to accomplish and there's a combination, again, of nitpicking and teaching, but also encouragement, and there is the expectation and, I guess, the subtle competition. You don't want to be the worst bunter in that group. You don't want to be the guy who in the base running group, is either the slowest or the dumbest. You just don't want to be that guy. Then again, from there we'll move into our positional defense and there's a lot of repetition and a lot of instruction that takes place. We'll go to some team defense periods and we try to build those. The positional defense builds into what we're going to work on in the team defense period, obviously. And then you know, we try to make that as high energy and game paced as we possibly can, you know. And then you know we go into our hitting sessions and so on and honestly, we just try to keep things as simple as we can. This is what it's going to take for us to try to be successful. These are the things we believe in and that's what we work on every day. We just try to keep hitting that nail every single day and hopefully it works out, and if it doesn't, we just try it again the next day.
Speaker 1:One of our coaches is I don't know if we'd say he's our mindset guy, but he has the best mindset of any coach that I've ever seen in my life. His name is Richie Hawks. He's been at PRP for well since I started back in 1992. He's been coaching, you know, forever and was actually the guy who took over for Bill Miller as the head coach when Coach Miller passed away and then he stepped away for a year or two and he's come back now as an assistant. He's just tremendous. But he gives such energy to our practices and so on that we don't do again a ton of cutthroat-type competitions and so on. We have competitive things but we just try to get them to operate at a very high energy level, that they are going hard at every single rep and that you don't take a day off. What have you done today? That's kind of the idea. What have you done today? And if you just keep stacking those bricks high enough, eventually maybe you get a wall that's pretty solid. That's something you can stand on and do something with. I guess those would be some of the basics of how we operate at practice just doing the same little things every day, simple little things.
Speaker 1:Offensively, we want to be good at the small things in a game. We want to throw strikes. We want to try. You know, my philosophy on coaching the infielders is just make the play. I don't care what it looks like, just make the play. And so, whatever that means, you know I don't care, you fall down, it doesn't matter. Did you get the guy out? You know, and if you did, okay, we probably shouldn't fall down next time. A good job, and you know. That's, that's all we. That's it, and you know. And offensively, in our cages, you know we do a lot of stuff that you know, different drills and so on. But you know, our goal is to simply try to hit the ball as hard as we can up the middle. That's it. It's all we try. If our guys can do that, we feel like they'll be decent high school hitters. And if you put enough of bats together, guys, get on base, make a few plays and you put yourself in a position to have a chance to win some games.
Speaker 3:Do you have a defensive drill that you kind of is like your go-to, where the guys know, hey, we're going to do this drill?
Speaker 1:You know, I guess now you know how things change and you steal stuff from other people and you know that's what that's all it is. We're all a bunch of. You know thieves and and so, uh, you know, I I one of the one of the things that I really like recently that I think helps us isolate some stuff on, just for infielders. I saw a I guess it was a drone shot of a practice at vbilt and they were just showing, you know just the different groups that they had doing different things defensively and whatever, and they had one group off to the side and they had a little high-attack machine that was kind of set low to the ground and they were just kind of scooting some little short-hop type work to the infielders from a very close distance. So you know, it's the old, it's the Ron Washington stuff, I guess. But off a machine and backing them up just a tad. We use that quite a bit and we mix in so many different varieties. But I love it off the machine because you can just keep feeding guys, can work their opportunities through and you can do short work, you can back that up, you can put some top spin on it, you can. Whatever it is.
Speaker 1:I think I think our guys now, they know, every day there's a machine out there. You know, we're at our fall practices and so on. There's an infield machine and we're going to do something with it and uh, you know, I'll, I'll use, I'll use the machine to to fire picks at the end. You know, the first baseman balls with dirt and so on, and uh, you know, I guess that would be something right now. You know, maybe that's a trend for us, I don't know, but we utilize the machine to get a variety of things. And you know, plus, if you, you know, from a coaching standpoint, if you happen to be limited, one day, you know, and you've got two or three guys that are out, or you know we've got to go indoors or whatever it is, those little machine things, you know, they do a lot of good for us.
Speaker 1:So I don't know if there's a particular drill, but the use of that for the short work, and then you can back those guys up, have them run through the ball. You know, we'll do some things, some timing things, where you know when I'm feeding the machine, I'll tell them. You know, when I hold the ball up and I start to move the ball toward the feeder, take off and run, you know, and go, and that's your cue. What we try to do in that is get them enough repetitions to where now they feel how the play should be made. And so then we'll challenge them and we'll say, okay, hold until we say go, Ball comes out of the machine, go.
Speaker 1:Now they just have to make the play whatever it is. So they know the basics of you know, here's how the play should be made in a routine fashion, but here's how you sometimes have to make the play. So I don't know if there's a particular drill, as much as there's the use of those kinds of things that we've kind of fallen into that give us a little more flexibility and the opportunity for a guy to be closer to the players, to be able to coach them, rather than standing up at the plate just swinging a fungo the whole time. That's one of the things I like is to be out there with the guys, and I could even have a, you know another player feed that machine if I needed to.
Speaker 3:That makes sense. I love that. That's, that's great. Well, you know, when I have somebody on the podcast, I typically it's a coach. But you're not just a baseball coach, you're a. You have a podcast and you've got a book out and you know you have a really great message. Could you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, years ago, when I was in college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and I had given my life to Jesus when I was eight years old. And I tell people, aside from Jesus and my family, there's nothing I love more than PRP baseball. And then I think baseball as a whole is right behind that. And so to be able to combine the opportunity to tell people about the Lord through the game of baseball, I think that's kind of it was just a natural fit. I had a good friend when I was the pastor of a church down in West Kentucky had a good friend that we used to talk about these things quite a bit. You know, how can you do that? How can you combine that? How can you give examples from the game that would illustrate here's what this scripture means, here's how to apply this in your life? And so that's where the idea of baseball pastor ministries kind of came from. It was just it sort of happened and during that time when I was pastor at Elm Grove Baptist Church down in western Kentucky, down in Murray Kentucky, was doing a lot of writing, and back then it was just blogging. You know, you wrote on a blog and you put it out there somewhere and it kind of gained some traction a little bit. I guess there were some folks that appreciated those things and maybe learned a little bit or were challenged. So the book that you referenced is a year's worth of daily devotions from the book of Proverbs. When I was a teenager, my youth pastor just challenged us to read a proverb every day. And there's 31, so there's one for every day of the month, no matter how many days in a month there are, for every day of the month, you know, no matter how many days in a month there are. And so you know, basically, what I did was I took the notes that I had made since I was 17 or 18 years old, the notes that I had made in my Bible, uh, next to those Proverbs, and I just turned them into something that was a daily thing and I started writing and, um, you know, highlighting what this means and how it can apply on the field and off the field and so on. And then you know the podcast kind of you know it was just more, I guess expounding on some of those things, some stuff that wouldn't fit into two paragraphs and then kind of going from there. And then you know, you know how the Lord works sometimes.
Speaker 1:I got connected with a friend who's still a friend of mine now. He was with the Texas Rangers at the time and got to write some stuff for their coaches and, you know, just be a part of some of their little spring training Bible studies that they did at that time and it was, you know, just some great opportunities that I could have never orchestrated. It. Just, you know, the Lord worked that out. So anyway, that ministry is huge for me as an outlet.
Speaker 1:Now as a coach I'm not pastoring a church anymore and so to be able to maybe connect with some folks on that, I wish I had more time for it now. Teaching school and coaching, of course, are two full-time jobs, so I don't have the time that I used to, but that's kind of how that developed. It just was a natural fit. You know love for the Lord, you know being in ministry and loving baseball and all along the way all those years I was a minister, I was still coaching, you know, coaching my kids and helping out the local high school. I was an assistant at Murray State for a year and, you know, just did some different stuff like that. So it was just kind of a natural fit, kind of how it developed.
Speaker 1:Well, that's great that you do that, and the name of the podcast is yeah, it's the Baseball Pastor Podcast, yeah, yeah, so, and again, I wish I had more time for it and maybe this will inspire me a little bit to get back on it. But you know how it goes, you know what I mean. The Lord gives you opportunities at different stages of life to do some things like that, and so I've been blessed to meet a lot of great people through it. And yeah, it's all at baseballpastorcom the Baseball Pastor Podcast, and it's available on most outlets anyway on podcast stuff.
Speaker 3:I had an opportunity yesterday to listen to one, so I was in my research. I was wanting to make sure I was getting everything covered. Well, too, this is kind of the fun part of the podcast I like to do, and I'd like to get your impressions on these things. Do you hate losing or love winning?
Speaker 1:I think I hate losing. I think you know our coaches can tell you winning is a relief, I think more than a celebration, and I wish it were different. But I think you know you work hard and you know it's just there's so much that goes into it. You hate losing, so bad Winning is just kind of like okay, we won. So I'd say I hate losing and I'm like okay, we won.
Speaker 3:So I'd say I hate losing. The next one is most incredible all-time feat in the Major League Baseball and I'm going to give you four incredible things that have happened in Major League Baseball and tell me what you think is the one that just jumps out to you and I kind of have a feeling I might know the answer Cal Ripken's 26, 2632 consecutive games. Ricky Henderson with 130 steals in 1982. Nolan Ryan with seven career no hitters. Or, and this is kind of this just happened last night but Pete Rose passed away and he's got 4,256 career hits.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what I think. For me, knowing how hard hitting is, I think that's that's gotta be the most impressive and he did it. You know he had what so many 200. And he did it. You know he had what so many 200-hit seasons and did it, for he was in the big leagues for 24 years or something like that. Of course, I think, knowing Ryan through for 27 years and you know all of those are impressive.
Speaker 1:I think I would say that the record that Rose set, obviously, you know, is unreachable in today's game. And you know he was just a guy. You know I was never a Pete Rose fan personally from his personal stuff, but his record and the way he played the game, you know he's a guy that you would hope that you'd be like and you would hope that you would play like that and you want all your guys. And you know I think you know I've heard Rose, you know, in the past talk about. You know he was a part of more winning baseball games than anybody in major league history. He won more games than anybody and that was the stuff that he was really proud of and you know, and he argued for his place in the hall of fame and I felt like that he, you know, he just blew all that because he his personal issues and so on.
Speaker 1:But I would say that, honestly, I think the streak that Ripken had was so ridiculous I don't know Nobody's ever going to do that anymore. But there again, that was more of a physical stamina than it was pure skill. And so I think, rose, with the skill you take Nolan Ryan, I mean he's just up there Guys are scared to death. No wonder they couldn't hit him. And you know, and Henderson played during a time, of course you know, when stolen bases were a thing and he was a great, great leadoff man, got on base all the time and of course then he just took off. So but Pete Rose's record, you know56, as a Reds fan I got to see him play years and years ago when I was a kid that one's going to be hard to beat.
Speaker 3:Well, I heard this morning where I think Freddie Freeman is the closest major leaguer right now to Pete Rose, and he's still 2,000 hits away. It's not going to happen, no.
Speaker 1:Well and today's game is different too. I mean, when Rose played from the 60s through the 80s it was a swing the bat game and it was a contact game and bats were over with in three pitches and guys probably grounded out and popped out a lot more. Now they strike out. It's an all or nothing kind of thing in a lot of ways and you know. But but Rose was, you know, a guy that I think gives hope to a lot of guys like we have, that if you just keep putting the bat on the ball long enough, you know good things can happen.
Speaker 3:Yeah, just put it in play. You never know, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Pretty good, pretty good.
Speaker 3:Well, what is the funniest or most incredible story for you as a player or a coach?
Speaker 1:Oh goodness. Well, you know, I some of the ones that that you have. You know, of course you can't tell um, because they're, they're just things that you just think. I'm not going to sell that guy out, um, but you know, I don't know if there's one particular thing.
Speaker 1:You know, coach Bill Miller was always so great at at doing funny things. You know things that he would say to you or say about you or whatever it was. Some of those weren't appropriate. They probably would not fly today, if that makes sense, but 30, 40 years ago nobody thought anything of it. You know, some of the things that are the most fun, I think, are just the simple little things. You know that, the guys that that show up and you know they, uh, they may be dressed a particular way or they just act a certain way. Those are, to me, those are the fun things.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure there's the funniest story. That is a great, great question. Um, you know, it's just some of the. Some of the best moments are, you know, in the locker room just hanging out with some of the guys, that kind of stuff. Boy, the funniest moment I'm not sure that I could pick one out Again the guys that played for Coach Miller.
Speaker 1:We tell the same stories over and over and over again. There was one where a guy you know we used to have to run what we called neighborhoods, a little neighborhood around the school, and so he used to get rides. You know he used to have somebody pick him up and drop him off up there at the front of the school and he'd come, you know, jogging in and afterward Coach Miller finally found out one day and of course he, he made him from that point, he made him jog up to mcdonald's. You know all the way it was a long way away to go get me a big mac or whatever it was. You know it. Just, I mean things like that that are more sort of the inside the program type stuff that only the guys who played during a particular time would tell um, I mean, those are, those would be my some of. I again not sure I pinpoint one. That's a great question.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's just so many great stories out there from coaches. Oh yeah, well, I'd have to think about that.
Speaker 1:I'm going to get back with you on that. I will. Maybe, we'll do another recording at some point. I'll get back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there you go. You know, I think about Ricky Henderson with the stolen bases, the record he set, and Harold Reynolds tells a story about when Ricky got hurt and I think Harold Reynolds ended up winning the stolen base record that year and he had like 60 stolen bases and I think he said that Ricky called him up on the phone. He said Henderson here, he says he says he says I'd had that by all-star break.
Speaker 1:So I think some of the characters in the game you know or yeah, you know that's what you lose with with people like Pete Rose or somebody like that who's no longer on the scene. You lose some of those classic characters and you know, and some of the funny stories that you know that came out and that's, of course, the sad part about losing people like that. You just those characters are. You know they're dying out.
Speaker 3:I mean it's you know it's just the way it goes. Yeah, without a doubt, and you know it's amazing because a lot of times you have those characters, whether they're on the high school team or your college team, and there's just so many great stories that maybe don't happen during the game, but you know, like you said, the locker room, the bus rides and all that kind of good stuff which makes it fun. Well, coach, if I could ask you just one more time for the listeners how can they follow you on social media? And just one more time for your podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you can do a search for Baseball Pastor on Facebook or Twitter, instagram, tiktok. Baseballpastorcom is the website. Usually. What I'm doing more now is something called a two-minute Tuesday. It's been on hold for the last couple weeks but I just put out a short little two-minute devotional, again based on Proverbs, something maybe that you can pick up and take a look at or listen to that shows up on the social media platform. So that's on Facebook. It's a short little video on Facebook, twitter, instagram, tiktok, those kind of things. But, yeah, baseball Pastor Ministries that's where it's at. And reach out to me. It's brad at baseballpastorcom and, again, be happy to connect. And you know any resources you know that I might have that could help, or just start a conversation or whatever I can do to help equip players and coaches, I'd be happy to do it.
Speaker 3:Sounds great. Well, coach, there's a reason why, in my opinion, baseball coaches are the best you know. You're taking time out from your vacation to do this and it's Brad Burton's Pleasure Ridge, kentucky high school head baseball coach and he's got a state title under his belt. Coach, thanks again for taking the time to join me on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
Speaker 1:Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 3:Special thanks to Coach Brad Burns from PRP High School in Louisville, kentucky. Special thanks to Coach Brad Burns from PRP High School in Louisville, kentucky. To wrap up, today's show, coach shared, despite starting the season unranked, anything is possible when players buy in to their roles the differences between winning a state title as a coach and a player, and the importance of equal reps for all players. Today's episode of the Baseball Coaches Unplugged podcast is powered by the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or visit them online at wwwnettingproscom and tell them. Baseball Coaches Unplugged sent you. I'm your host, ken Carpenter, and, as always, thanks for listening to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
