Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Brian Brownlee.
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Next up on the ABCA Podcast, our first honoree of the abca, Dave Kylitz Ethics and Coaching Award, Grosse Pointe South High School Head Coach Dan Griesbaum. Greasebaum is dedicated 41 years to Grosse Pointe South High School, taking the reins as Head baseball coach in 1984. Grease bottom ranks first in wins for active coaches in Michigan with over 900.
Griesbound played collegiately and was an assistant coach at Central Michigan for Dave Kylitz. This award is named after Dave Kalitz, who was the ABC executive director from 1994 to 2014. Kalitz was the head Baseball coach and Athletic Director at Central Michigan for a total of 24 years and is still one of the best people we have in the baseball industry. I'm sure he's excited about a former player and assistant being honored with his namesake award. Let's welcome Dan Griesbaum to the podcast here with Dan Griesbaum, Dave Kylitz, ethics and coaching honoree, Gross point South since 1984. Over 900 wins, two state championships and eight state record eight appearances. So, Coach, thanks for jumping on with me.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Oh, thanks for having me. Glad to be here.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Hey, Rich Maloney wanted me to ask you about suicide squeeze in the sixth inning at the state championship.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Well, yeah, we're tied 11 and got a guy on third and my batter, Mike Hackett, and didn't like his two swings that he took against that pitcher. So he had a 12 count on him and I gave him the suicide squeeze sign and the pitch was about at head height and he got it down.
We went ahead two to one, held them in the bottom of the or held them in the next inning and won the state championship against Grand Ledge, who was highly favored, I might add.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: Rich said it was one of the most impressive things he's ever seen.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: So it was crazy. It was crazy. People thought I was nuts, obviously, but when it works, I guess they can put up with it.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Live by the sword, die by the sword. I was a big suicide guy as well. I loved it. And especially if you had a. A. What you felt like was a strike thrower for a pitcher. Like, I think it's a no brainer if the guy. Yep, if the guy can execute it.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: Well, the crazy thing is, Ryan, I did it again in a few years later and actually a lot later, it's a district championship against our crosstown rival, Gross Point north, and I had bases loaded, 02, one out.
Fortunately, the guy grooved a pitch and my pitcher, or my hitter got it down and the runner crossed the plate before the pitcher even picked the ball up. I mean, it was just crazy and we went nuts then also, do you still use it?
[00:05:03] Speaker A: Do you still use a suicide.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Oh, I. Yeah, I do. I do.
I've never been real big on the safety. We've done it a little bit, but I'm gonna go all in and just hope that it works out. And, you know, the crazy thing is, the vast majority of the time it has.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: I think both are great weapons.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Yes, yep.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: Especially as. As much as kids are swinging and missing now. Like, I think there's value to both of those options still.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. In both cases, both of the hitters just took kind of weak swings against pretty good fastballs. So I felt they had to do something.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: What does winning this award mean to you? You played for Coach Kylitz. So what does this. Winning this award mean to you?
[00:05:51] Speaker B: I can't tell you, Ryan, I was just so blown away when I got the phone call from Craig. And it means the world to me for what it stands for, certainly number one, and certainly who it's named after. And I have so much respect for Dave Kylitz. He's just been a great mentor to me.
Love playing for him at Central Michigan, love being a grad assistant for him in Central Michigan. And we've kept in contact all this time. So getting this award, I could not think of a more prestigious award that anybody could receive, and I'm just so grateful and humbled by it.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Did you get a handwritten note from Dave after the award?
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Always. Always get handwritten notes from Dave, always. That's what's great about him. He'll take the time. Both state championships he wrote me. Other times we exchanged Christmas cards, all of that. And there's always a personal note from him.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: What are some other things you picked up from Coach Kylitz that you took into coaching with you?
[00:06:57] Speaker B: Basically, how to treat people. He treats people so well and. And is always looking after the needs of others, and. And he's just a great person, caring.
Again, the award is. Is just named perfectly for him. And again, I can't tell you how much I've appreciated his friendship and his mentorship over the years.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: What's a skill set of a successful high school coach now as compared to when you got into it?
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Well, I think now you've got to be everything.
You have to be not only a coach who knows the game.
You have to obviously know how to treat people well to get the most out of them.
You have to know getting parents on your side, I think is really important.
I've got. I've always had fundraising needs and challenges and so on, and I become a businessman almost as well.
You know, we. We run camps, and we do a lot of other things in terms of trying to raise money and, And. But the kids now, as opposed to early on in 84 when I started, I think there's more of a need for personal attention, and they need to trust you. Okay. More than anything else. And I. I really believe the saying, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. I really do believe that. And I have had just tremendous kids over the years and tremendous parents. You know, a lot of coaches have negative comments to say about parents, and I really can't tell you, even though you're not going to please 100% of the people 100% of the time, I really had just a great Great relationship with my parents in this community, and they've been so supportive, and they've given me such great kids to work with.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: How do you cultivate that? You hear that all the time. Well, parents, parents this. And I'm like, well, parents can be a huge advocate and a huge positive for any organization or program. How do you cultivate that with your parents?
[00:09:16] Speaker B: I think really getting them to understand that I'm here for them. I'm here for their kid. Their kid is number one. It's not my record. It's not the championships. It's trying to make every kid feel like they belong. I've had large squads in comparison to a lot of people I play against. I've had as many as 27 on a team, on a high school team, when people were playing at 15, 16, 17. And it's all about making them want to be a part of the program, a part of the culture that we're trying to build there, making them all feel, whether they're a starter or they're just a weekend player or a pinch hitter, a defensive replacement, a baserunner, whatever. It happens to be a bullpen catcher, we need you. We want you, and you're a part of it. And again, when we won the state championships, all 24 or 26 got rings, you know, it wasn't just the starters.
And we try to make everybody feel as much of a part of the program, whether they're a starter or not.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Those role players or those bench players. How are you communicating that with them to keep them engaged?
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Well, first of all, in the beginning of the year, when cuts are involved, we talk to all players individually.
This is what I see your role being at this point. Now, granted, that could change. And we tell them, rules do change. You may not be a starter at the beginning, but you are at the end, and that always happens. But we ask them, are you okay with being a role player? You might not play in the league games during the week, but you'll definitely play in the weekends. That's one thing that, that we've always been a part of is. Is giving kids an opportunity. We don't play the starters all the time. The league games, yes. The playoff games, yes, but we start a whole different crew. The second game of a doubleheader, for instance, all kids know they show up on a weekend, they're going to play.
And I think people have gotten used to that. They've gotten used to the communication, which I think is the key, and telling them what their expectations are and having them agree or not with those expectations. Because at that meeting, if they decide, well, it doesn't look like I'm going to be a starter, maybe I won't play. I very seldom had that. Very, very few kids have ever said, no, I don't want to play.
And vast majority have said, yeah, I'll accept that role. But I also want you to know I'm going to try and change that and I'm going to try and be a starter. And just one quick example of that, I had a player, Joey Naparano, who as a junior, I was considering having him go from JV to varsity, that kind of thing. I said, are you okay with that? He said, yeah, coach, but I just want to let you know I'm going to be a starter. And that kid, his junior year, he ended up being a starter. And how about his senior year? He was all state. That was our state championship team in 2018. That kid was our second baseman, hit about.400 and his first team all state. So roles can change.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Do you feel like it keeps your starters fresh because they're. You're giving them some breaks here and there?
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I think so. And in Michigan, Ryan, we're allowed 38 games.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: It's a lot of games, high school.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: Which is more than most are allowed. So our starters in Michigan, even my starter, and I'm playing a 38. All the time. All the time. And some teams don't because they go, I don't have the pitching to do that. Why didn't you keep more kids? Let your outfielders pitch. Who cares? You know, I've had outfielders throw 2, 3, 4 innings. Who cares? What do you care about the weekend games and so on? Give everybody the opportunity and have some fun.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: Has anything stayed the same with the skill set over the years?
[00:13:16] Speaker B: I think kids are. The skills are better, definitely. The training's gotten better, the weight training's gotten better.
They come to us with a better skill set. And I'm really fortunate, Ryan, that I'm in a community that values baseball. We're a baseball crazy community. You know, our, our sister school, for instance, Grosse Pointe north, they've been to the final four or five times. They've got two state titles. So between the two of us, who got 13 trips to the final four and four state titles, we've got to knock heads with each other, every district to see who gets out of that.
But my community is just a tremendous baseball community. The Gross Point Wood Shores has been to the Little League World Series three, four times.
So I'm Blessed in that regard that it's really a baseball community that values the skill and values the game. And we have kids camps, for instance, we've got some camps, the 21st and 23rd. We've got about 80 in one camp and 100 in the other one. And it's just hitting camp. Second through sixth graders, and they learn the way we'd like them to play early on.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: Do you feel like that helps your incoming freshmen because those kids have been through your youth camps and they kind of know what to expect when they get.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. Every kid that's in our program most likely has been to our kids campsite. Every player and, you know, they look out the kids. The second through sixth graders, we have our kids work the camps, obviously our current players, and they certainly look up to them and want to be them when they get older.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: How are you setting up your kids camps?
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Well, these are just hitting camps, for instance, right now. But I've had pitcher catcher camps as well as all skills camps. These hitting camps, they'll rotate through five, six different stations. Tee work, soft toss, short toss. We have little hitting contests. We have wiffle ball, little wiffle ball game with them.
We do their exit vlo. They love that.
And the skills camps will do infield, outfield, pitching, catching, sliding. We'll do all of that and rotate them through five, six stations in a three hour camp.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: How are you teaching sliding with the little guys? I get this question all the time from the youth coaches.
[00:15:42] Speaker B: Yeah, it's, it's tougher for them. But we have the slide right. You got to have the slide right. And that works really well. We have our, our coaches and our players demonstrate to them. And it's one of the stations, for instance, that we're going to have at our camp this weekend. Teach them how to, you know, approach and tuck the leg and hands up and that kind of thing.
And I think it does help because I don't know about you, when I go to a little league game and I see some of these kids sliding, it scares me, it really does, because I'm afraid somebody's gonna break an ankle or turn a knee or whatever. So we try to teach them the right way to do it.
[00:16:18] Speaker A: How special has it been for you, your son Dan, he's been by your side as a player and now as an assistant.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: It's, I can't tell you. First of all, my best time in coaching was, was the four years that he was at South. Okay. And the crazy thing is, Ryan, we didn't really Win anything huge. Then we wanted a district, a regional league title, whatever, but we never got to the Final Four. But it was the most fun time. And then I was able to obviously watch him at Central. He played there 30 years after I did, was part of a Mac championship and so on. And he kids me, you know, you never got a Mac championship when you were there. And I said, yeah, but I was mvp, so I got you there. So. But it's been great. And he's been with me for 20 years since he got out of college. My other assistant, Matt Reno, has been with me for 25 years. And my pitching coach, John Hackett, has been with me for about 30 years. So in my 42 years there, I've got some guys that have about 75 years of total experience with me, and I certainly could not have done any of this, accomplished anything without them. And my son, just having him around, he's just so good at what he does. He knows the game so well. He's a great hitting coach for us. He knows the catching position and he's just great in terms of a mentor for the kids. And the kids really respect what he does.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: We did a father and son series during COVID where I interviewed a bunch of father and son payers and the dad's all set. Said that was their, their best time.
[00:18:00] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: When they were coaching their kid.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Some challenges, though. I mean, did you guys have some, some. Any bumps in the road?
[00:18:07] Speaker B: You know, I think, Ryan, you know that you're as a coach and you got your kid in the team, you're probably harder on him than, than. Than you are. People think you're going to show favoritism. Well, it was pretty easy because obviously he was a good player. I mean, he played JV as a freshman, but played varsity and started as a sophomore, junior and senior. So when they're a really good player, I think that that is going to be less of a problem. But I, if anything, I might have been harder on them rather than too easy on them.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: I say that a lot. I think, I think the, the other players see a different side of it and I think it brings the team closer together because they do see that the dad is harder on their son than players.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it gives them a.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Little bit of a break too.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: How long has Dan been with the uspbl?
[00:19:01] Speaker B: He left the Tigers about. I think it's six, five, six years ago in that range. So I think it's been about five, five, six years.
[00:19:12] Speaker A: Had some players go through that League, by the way, had some former players playing that league.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
And the games are a lot of fun. It's a great atmosphere and the play. The competition's pretty good. There's some really good athletes there.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Do you consider Gross Grosse Pointe south the best public school in the state?
[00:19:32] Speaker B: I. Of course, I'm a little partial, but, yeah, I think we're. We're up there because in Division one, which is our highest division, we've got more Final Four appearances. The only ones that have more than us are private schools, Brother Rice Catholic Central and so on. And the other thing, too, Ryan, a lot of people don't realize is we're a closed district.
My kids have to live within our boundaries. For instance, if a kid is even in the north district, he can't go to south. He's got to go to North. Okay. And you got all these other schools. Forget about the privates for a minute. We've got all these open enrollment school of choice districts that we're playing. You know, we've been in the Mac Red, which is one of the top divisions in the state leagues in the state, and we're 1100 and some students. Well, Dakota at the top there, they're about 2900.
So, you know, for what we've been able to accomplish, the thing that I'm the most proud of is that we've done it with homegrown kids. I can't go recruit. I can't go get who I want.
Nobody can come in unless they move into the district.
So it's. I think, given that, I mean, there's some great public schools in Michigan, Northville and. And Saline and Grand Ledge and some of those other schools, they're great baseball schools, and they certainly are comparable to us. But our unique thing of. Of being a closed district, I think, sets us apart.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: Do you feel like that helps you develop a little bit of a culture where you all have a chip on your shoulder?
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, definitely. I think when we. And we play the toughest competition we can find, we'll play the brother races and those people.
And we've been in the tougher leagues for the most part. And yeah, it does. It gives you a little bit of an underdog type mentality going into it, but our kids know. And again, the culture that we've tried to instill over the years is that we can play with anybody. We'll go down. And early on, Ryan, I went down, played Cincinnati Molar, and we got our brains beat out. In the beginning. We just got Annihilated but I wanted our kids to see what good teams look like. And, you know, it got to the point where we ended up beating them a couple of times. One of the times when I had Chris Gatz, who was a MLB player, and, you know, he was our closer and through 9092, as a closer, whatever, but played shortstop for us, and we ended up beating Moeller a couple of times toward. Toward the end, but we had to take our lumps certainly in the beginning.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Chris Getz was a freshman at Wake Forest when I was coaching at jmu. And then I go to Iowa the next year, and I look at Michigan's lineup, and I'm like, I know that name from somewhere. I'm like, oh, that kid just wore us out last year. I'm like, what's he doing here?
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, he had a. He had a great career.
[00:22:42] Speaker A: Wake Forest. I don't want to see him in Michigan, too.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: Right, right. Well, his dad went to Wake Forest. That was the connection early on.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Was it Coach Kylitz that kind of inspired you to get into coaching?
[00:22:54] Speaker B: You know? Yeah, I like all players, Ryan. I thought maybe I might be able to play pro ball. You know, I thought I was going to get drafted out of high school. I didn't.
Could have been a number of reasons, but so happy that I went to Central.
Love playing for. For Dave Kylitz. And he gave me the opportunity when I. When I was graduating. He said, how would you like to be a grad assistant? And I thought about it just for about a half a minute, and, you know, my wife and I were, you know, married at the time. You know, we're. We've celebrated over 50 years now, our anniversaries, and she wasn't finished. I could get my masters at the same time and coach. Help coach the freshman team at the time. And. And I absolutely loved it. Absolutely loved it. I thought, wow, I could do this. This coaching in college could be a. A thing for me. But, you know, the good Lord had different plans. Just like, he didn't want me to get drafted. He said, no, I don't want you to do that. I want you to go to college. And. And then, well, I don't want you to coach in college. I want you to be in high school. And that's where he put me. And again, I thank him for knowing better than I. I did the old thank God for unanswered prayers type thing, because I've had just a tremendous, tremendous career at South. I've taught there and coach there. I Coached football as well, a little bit of volleyball.
It's just been a great career for me and I couldn't have asked for anything better.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: What were your responsibilities as a GA then? Were you in charge of running the entire freshman program?
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Basically in charge of the freshman program.
We taught. We had to teach activity classes in the phys ed department. You know, while I was getting my master's, you know, bowling, archery, those type of things, the department chair had me do a golf class. And I, and I said, I've really never been on a golf course. It's all right, you can handle it.
So here I am, never been on a golf course, trying to teach beginning golf. But yeah, it was, it was a great time. I really enjoyed my time as a grad assistant and again, I appreciate Dave Kyla's given me that opportunity.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: Do you feel like that experience then helped you when you moved to the high school level?
[00:25:25] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I think going in just the respect, I think that you, that you get telling them that you're a college player and that you coached at the college level, that certainly gives you an instant degree of credibility. No doubt in my mind. No doubt in my mind.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: What made those two teams that want it special?
[00:25:50] Speaker B: Well, you know, the crazy thing is, Ryan, as we won in 18, for instance, I had no D1 players, okay, no D1 players.
And we beat a D1 Michigan commit. We beat another D1 commit in the semis and so on.
They were just a team that was so unselfish.
Everybody, we had 24 kids on the team and everybody understood and really valued the role.
They were as confident of a group as I've ever had. We had the roughest time getting out of the districts. We had to beat our crosstown rival again. And then another team, University Liggett Private School, they were in our district as well. We had to beat them, beat them five to four. And after that it was like these guys felt, we're going to win, you know, we're going to win it all. And we didn't have a rough game the rest of the time.
In 2001, obviously having Chris Gets certainly helped.
You've got a, a great shortstop like that and a closer and that group basically the same way. Just a real culture of team unity. Believed in themselves, worked really hard.
And again, our talent was certainly not what our opponents were. We were playing grand legend. That, oh, one game and they had six D1 all staters on the team. We had one first teamer and one second teamer and it was just a Group that really believed that they could win.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: What do you feel like helps your kids the most now?
[00:27:39] Speaker B: I think in terms of the game itself, you know, we, we do things in the off season, obviously weight training, hitting pitcher, catchers. But I, but you know what? Also I leave them alone for the most part in the fall. I want my kids to play other sports.
For instance, our 18 state championship team, seven out of the nine starters were also football players. Okay. I like the toughness of a football player, hockey player, the athleticism of a basketball player, tennis player, whatever. I want our kids to play other sports so I leave them alone.
Whether it's basketball in the winter, football in the fall, soccer, whatever it happens to be. I think the athleticism that they get from being multi sport athletes is really important.
But you know, we try to give them obviously the best training we possibly can. I've got great coaches again. John Hackett got up to double A. Matt Reno was an all conference infielder at grand valley. My son D1 at Central, you know, I played at Central, of course. So I think knowledge of the game and so on. And I, and I have to certainly, Ryan, give credit to the ABCA. I've gone to clinics for 40 years, okay. And I learned something at all of them and I'm just so thankful and blessed that I've had the ability to learn from guys that knew more than I did. And I've tried to pick up something from everybody that I've listened to.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: How do you help those dual sport players get their arms ready for the spring when maybe they haven't picked up a ball in a little bit?
[00:29:23] Speaker B: Well, we try, for instance, some of our pitchers maybe have been basketball players. I try to get 10, 15 minutes with them maybe after basketball practice before, hey, just, just go up and do some throwing, you know, just, just to get you ready.
And we try to, to make it convenient for them to, to work it into their schedule.
And it's really worked out really well. And, and I take things slowly. I don't pitch kids 6, 7 innings the first game of the year. You know, we'll split games earlier in the year, two innings, three innings, four innings, whatever. I want to know who my best nine are when that league starts about two weeks after, you know, mid April. And that kind of, that's when I want everything to be in place. And, and the other part in terms of I let the kids tell me who the starters are going to be because in those preseason scrimmages, preseason games, everybody's going to start. You're all going to get your opportunity, okay? It's going to be up to you to show me who belongs. And by the time that league starts, they know and we know who those starters are. And again, they can change. But generally speaking, we may have to lose some games early on just to show that. But that's okay. I don't care what my overall record is. I mean, it means nothing to me. Yeah, I've got 900 wins, but I've also got about 500 losses. And that's okay. I'm fine with that.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Has your team prep or practice planning changed much over the years?
[00:30:58] Speaker B: I think I've tried to get more detailed, certainly.
And again, that all comes from learning from other people, from other coaches and their practice plans and so on. But I had a great foundation. Obviously, being a grad assistant from Central.
I knew what to do in terms of a practice schedule and how to put it together and so on. But it certainly has evolved over the years to try and be as detailed as it can possibly be.
[00:31:30] Speaker A: When are they first seeing the practice plan for the day?
[00:31:35] Speaker B: Sometimes they'll see it ahead of time, but usually they. They won't see that until before practice. It's posted in several locations. I may send them certainly a practice schedule, obviously with technology now, and believe me, I am no tech wizard, but I'll try to, to do as much as I can in that regard to educate them. Number one, I'll. I'll get a thing from the abca.
I'll forward it to them. Something I'd like them to read from the Texas Baseball Ranch or whatever it happens to be. I'll get that stuff and forward it to them.
But our practice schedules, they normally are seeing those just before practice.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: With the culture of society changing a little bit over the years, how do you balance what's best for the player and what's best for the program?
[00:32:28] Speaker B: Well, you know, I think what's best for the program, what's best for the player can be comparable. Okay.
Because I think they need to understand that they're going to be part of a team their whole life, whether it's going to be a business, whether they're going to own their own business, even if they're the boss, they're going to be part of a corporation, they're going to be part of a team, and they need to understand that it's all for the common good. You have to do whatever you can to contribute to the overall success of your team.
And also that they need to understand that that's best for them as well.
When you feel like you're a part of a team and you're contributing to the better good and that makes you feel special as well. And I just try to get the kids to understand that in life, you know, you're always, you're going to have a role. You may be a. It may be a major role, it might be a minor role, but they're all important. They're all important to the success of the company, the corporation, the team, whatever.
[00:33:45] Speaker A: It may be, had longevity at a place for a long time. So give coaches listening and some tips on how to deal with administrators.
[00:33:54] Speaker B: Well, again, I think that the more upfront you can be, communication is the key.
I really have always believed that it's not what you say, it's how you say it, whether it's with players, parents, whatever it happens to be.
But I think administrative wise, I've just been really blessed because I think early on they recognize that what our program was about was about what was best for the kids. And it wasn't just about teaching skills, wasn't just about winning. It was about teaching them life skills, which, which is really important. And I taught health for many years and obviously the subjects you're dealing with in health, I had kids that I not only had on the field, but I had them in the classroom as well. And I think that was a major factor as well in terms of the credibility because I was trying to teach them how to lead healthy lifestyles along with being a good baseball player. And the administrators, I think, appreciated that.
And they left me alone when they realized that I was for the kids and for the program and what we were doing was right. We're always doing the right things. We had ethics, we had integrity, we communicated, we did things according to the rules, we didn't cheat.
They left me alone and realized that they didn't have to worry about what we were doing.
[00:35:33] Speaker A: We do talk about habits and routines on here. What are some healthy lifestyle tips?
[00:35:38] Speaker B: Well, obviously, you know, we talk all the time about diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep, weight training, all that is just so important. And not to mention the mental health. You know, when I taught health, I talk taught about stress and mental health, depression, suicide prevention, so on, all of that. And we incorporate all of those things that I used to teach in my classroom to the baseball team, to the baseball program. We talk about alcohol and drugs, you know, we talk about depression and bullying and so on and so forth.
And I think that again, they understand that. They know you care and they care you care more about them as a person than you do as a player.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: How do you re engage every year? You've been doing this for a long time. How do you re. Engage with the process every year?
[00:36:39] Speaker B: Well, you know, it. It's been great, Ryan, because, you know, it's always. It's a new group every year. And, and you, you think, oh, boy, what am I going to do? I lost these guys. I lost those six starters or whatever. But, you know, we tell the kids all the time, guys, I don't care how many returning we have, how many pitchers are back, whatever. Our goals are the same. Our goals are the same. I went to the final four with two returning starters. One time we went. We were runner up in the state, and we were 27 and 18 as an overall record.
Okay?
It's, you know, it's all about, again, getting them to, to believe that, hey, you're a part of a culture, of a program that just wins, and that's expected of you, too. Don't think just because that we've got two returning starters that the goals aren't the same. All right? And it really kind of cracks me up when I hear coaches sometimes say, ryan, well, you know, we're a year or two away.
We're rebuilding, okay? Rebuild. Your kids want to hear that. They don't. Your kids want to hear you say we're a year away or we're two years away or we lost this guy and we lost. They don't want you to hear. They want you to believe in them. And that's what we've tried to instill.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: What does the term winning baseball mean to you?
[00:38:12] Speaker B: Oh, I think, again, it's the effort. It's, again, cliche, but it's the journey rather than the destination. Okay. It's. It's about climbing the ladder. You know, I've heard that the other day, you can't just go right to the top. You've got to climb each step, you know, each step of the way, and you've got to be willing to do that.
Everybody wants to win, but what are you going to be willing to do to get there? And every year it's.
It's a challenge because you do have a new group, and you have to learn how each individual is motivated.
It's. It's. They're not. Teams aren't the same.
Some teams maybe are more team players than others, but that's up to you to figure out and how to get the best out of them. And that's, that's the challenge that I Like every year. But I have become much more Ryan in my later years.
More about the journey and the everyday contact with the players rather than the result at the end of the year.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: Yeah, you rewrite. You're rewriting a story every year. Like it's a different.
[00:39:22] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: Every year.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: Exactly. And. And again, you know, Ryan, my. I don't. I'm not ashamed to say my faith has been very, very important to me. And when I realized and just treated kids the way my faith teaches me to treat people and so on, that's when I. The. The bell rung and my. That I really got it. That's when I really got it. And the crazy thing is, a lot of people think that. That if you don't cheat, if you don't lie or whatever, you're not going to win. And then. That is so untrue. It's so untrue. I won more after I felt that I was really doing things the right way. I won more, and I felt better about it, too.
[00:40:09] Speaker A: And it's unfulfilling.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: I don't care what anybody says. Like, if. If you're doing it the wrong way and you're getting results, it's. It's not as fulfilling as doing it.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: No, absolute. I. I've always said I've got to look myself in the mirror. You know, as long as I say I've given my all and I've done it the right way with ethics and integrity and. And putting kids first, I'm happy. I'm happy. Because the results, you can't control. You can't control the results.
[00:40:37] Speaker A: Are camps your main source of fundraising then, or do you have other sources of fundraising?
[00:40:41] Speaker B: We have other. We have outfield signage. We had a fundraiser the last couple years, Ryan. They're. They're called Mr. C's Car Wash Gift Cards. And the company gave us $30 gift cards for 15 bucks each. So we sold the cards for $30, kept $15 a half, and we made eight, $10,000. You know it. We've had.
We have a Hall of Fame dinner. We. We have a yearbook, a yearly yearbook.
We've done a lot of different things. Spring swing.
We've done a lot of different fundraisers over. One of my first early fundraisers way back in the 80s, was selling garbage bags. Everybody needs garbage bags, right? We sold garbage bags, and it helped us get to Florida. So some are more successful than others, but we've had many.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: How's your hall of Fame banquet set up? Do you guys. Do you do auction items with Your hall of Fame banquet.
[00:41:44] Speaker B: We, we do the auction items at our spring swing. But our hall of Fame, we get some sponsors, we induct. We've only started this just recently.
We'll induct five, six people, get them a really nice plaque, nice dinner.
One of my former players is a TV personality here. Ryan Armani Hemcees does a great, great job. And last year, for instance, Chris Getz was inducted into our, our hall of Fame along with three other of our former pro players. And it was just a great, great evening and a lot of fun for everybody.
[00:42:26] Speaker A: Have the indoor facilities grown in Michigan like they have in the other upper Midwest?
[00:42:29] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely crazy. Oh yes.
We have a small one by us, Lakeside Indoor, where there's basically just four cages and old turfed area and so on which we use, we use during tryouts and in the winter and so on. I'm fortunate enough at South. I've got four cages, two, two big gyms and four cages. But yes, the facilities around here have grown tremendously, especially in the metro Detroit area.
[00:43:01] Speaker A: For parents listening and how should they handle their high school coach that they're their kids are playing for?
[00:43:07] Speaker B: Again, it's communication.
I tell the parents my door is always open. It's always, you want to talk, give me a call. I appreciate that. What I don't appreciate is hearing stuff behind my back or my wife hearing it in the stands, something like that. You know, I want you to talk to me. If you have a concern about the players playing time or how I'm treating them or whatever, I want you to call me and we'll have a conversation with you, me and the player and we'll come to some type of resolution. We also, I tell them about the 24 hour rule, which is nothing new, but if you're upset after a game or whatever, right, cool off. Let's, you know, think about it and give me a call the next day and, and we'll talk about it.
But really the dealing with the parents and again, I've had seriously, Ryan, just so few issues with parents over the years because I think they know our heads are in the right place in terms of their kids.
I'm not going to make everybody happy all the time. I know that playing time is an issue, but as long as they know where we're coming from and where our priorities are and that we try to do the best that we can and be as fair as we possibly can, I think they understand that.
[00:44:31] Speaker A: Does that quote still hold true? Parents want the eight best players out there. And their kid.
[00:44:36] Speaker B: Well, I think they certainly would rather have their kid out there, even if he wasn't one of the best eight, nine players. But they also understand that, that, hey, it's whoever's performing, they're the ones that are going to be out there.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: And because winning is important, too, I know parents don't view it that way, but if your child, whether they're on the field or not, if they're in a winning, that's going to pay dividends for your child later on, right? Because obviously the team culture is there. Whether they're on the field or not. There's. There's going to be some really good collateral things that happen in being in a winning program because that, that success is later on in life.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: And I told you we played Moeller often. And I asked Mike Cameron and I asked him, held, you know, how do you keep all these kids happy? Because no, he's got 26, 28, 30. How do you. They all. He said, you know what, they just want to be a part of the program. They want a uniform. You ask kids, tell, coach, I'll be a bullpen catcher. I don't care. I just want to be a part of a winning program. And I think that's certainly part of it. And, you know, I've tried to even our motto, I saw our motto as tradition never graduates. Well, guess who I stole that from?
Cincinnati Molar is on a sign in their indoor workout facility. And I give them credit for that all the time. But I wanted our program to kind of, as much as we're not private, I can't go out and get who I want. I wanted our program to try and kind of emulate what they were all about.
[00:46:20] Speaker A: Some of the most successful guys I ever coached were the bullpen catchers. Oh, yeah, they're out doing as good or better than anybody else because they, they understood sacrifice and service to their teammates. Like those guys are out crushing it now.
[00:46:33] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Do you have a, do you have a fail forward moment, something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you to grow or move forward? Could be personally, could be professionally. Everybody's got to answer this one question.
[00:46:46] Speaker B: Well, again, when I made a commitment to my faith, that was the turning point for me. It really was and it wasn't. I didn't consider myself a bad guy before then. I didn't consider myself a selfish coach or anything like that. But early on, you know how it is, you're trying to make your mark, you're trying to, you know, just be the best you can be and get your program where you want it to be right away and so on.
And it might have been more about me and the record early on.
Even though I always felt like I had the kids best interests at heart, it wasn't until I really made that strong commitment to my faith that now, hey, I've really got it now I really understand what I'm supposed to be doing and how I'm supposed to be doing it.
[00:47:40] Speaker A: I just think it keeps you on the path. Like, I think there's a centering with that. I think, you know, whatever you call it, a compass, I think it redirects you to the right things when you have a purpose. Like that.
[00:47:53] Speaker B: Right, exactly. And my coaches will tell you this too. We meet, okay, are we doing the right thing here? Are we being fair? Okay, is this the right thing to do? And they help me with that. You know, they help me with that. But that's, that's our main consideration when we're dealing with kids is I wanted. I want them to understand that, that we're trying to be as fair as we possibly can and make the experience a valuable one for everybody.
[00:48:26] Speaker A: Do you have a favorite or any favorite ABCA convention stories?
[00:48:31] Speaker B: Oh, I've. There have been so many conventions I've enjoyed so much. Ron Polk is obviously, he's a great clinician. Love listening to him.
[00:48:42] Speaker A: I actually backed up. I followed Coach Polk at the Michigan Clinic a couple years ago.
[00:48:47] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:48:49] Speaker A: Wow, that's awesome.
[00:48:51] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's a tough act to follow, believe me. Tough act of follow. And then Jerry Kendall and Skip Burtman and, you know, a lot of those speakers, you know, Rich Maloney is just one of my favorite. People love him to death. And, and of course, my relationship with Dave Kylitz and so on, and, and the ABCA has just been.
It's just been such a great learning tool for me.
And again, you think that after 40 years at going to clinics, you think you know it all, but you don't. And, and if you don't keep up, you're getting behind.
[00:49:32] Speaker A: So what are some things lately that you've seen that, that you weren't doing that maybe you made adjustments on here lately?
[00:49:40] Speaker B: Well, you know, I think the biggest thing probably was was pitcher pitching loads.
And, you know, now in Michigan, for instance, you know, we've got pitch counts where we've never had before. And, you know, you throw more than 25 pitches. You're sitting a day, 50 pitches, two days, 75, three days, and you can't throw any more than 105. Well, did we really pay that much attention to pitch counts before and now? I think that's probably the biggest thing is arm care and making sure they're not overusing your pitchers more than anything else, I think that's probably the biggest thing.
[00:50:22] Speaker A: How are you tracking their workload management? Because you see it all the time. At the end of the year, something will happen in a state playoff game where somebody went over their limit. How are you tracking that to make sure you're staying?
[00:50:34] Speaker B: Well, we have a pitching record. We have to keep a pitching record. Every time they throw, the amount of pitches is recorded.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: Both coaches have to sign off on it at the end.
[00:50:45] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah.
[00:50:46] Speaker A: Keep everybody counted.
[00:50:47] Speaker B: And that's. That's been the biggest thing. So with the way it is, it's almost impossible for us to. To overuse anybody. It really is. It's almost impossible. Certainly all kids are different, but in terms of their load, some kids are better throwing an inning or two in relief more often. Others are better as starters. But I think just the load management there has almost been done for us. Because of these pitch counts.
[00:51:18] Speaker A: Yep. I. I just think it's the way it should be.
[00:51:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: Got to have guardrails on some things.
[00:51:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Because if you don't and you've seen it as well as I.
[00:51:28] Speaker A: High school kid doesn't know. Like, they don't know. Plus they feel great every time.
[00:51:33] Speaker B: And you've got some coaches that have those great arms, and they're going to use them to the best of their advantage. They're going to throw them as often as possible, and that's not good for the player in the long run, even though he might win you a state championship. Yeah.
[00:51:47] Speaker A: But it's going to cost you down the road.
[00:51:49] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly.
[00:51:51] Speaker A: What are some final thoughts before I let you go?
[00:51:55] Speaker B: Well, again, I just am so honored and humbled with this award. It's just the. The best award I think that anybody could ever get. And I give credit. I. I have to give credit to my community, my parents, the players, my administration, my assistant coaches, and especially my wife, Paulette. She's been with me watching me coach or play since I was 16.
And I couldn't have done any of this without her. Her support, her love, her counsel. None of that. I could not have done any of this without her.
[00:52:39] Speaker A: That's amazing. By the way. High school sweethearts.
[00:52:42] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:52:43] Speaker A: Love it. Guys are outliers in the. In this generation of people. My family, it's awesome.
[00:52:49] Speaker B: My family is certainly number one and they've had to make sacrifices for me. My daughter carries. It's just a wonderful young ladies teacher. Also, I've got six grandkids now. Dan has three, Carrie has three. I love watching them play, playing hockey and baseball and whatever else. And again, my, my wife has just been a gem in terms of being able to be so supportive of me all, all these years, these 42 years.
[00:53:18] Speaker A: Love it. Thank you so much for your time, Dan. I'll see you in D.C. man. I'm looking forward to it. It's got to be a special one for you with, with getting this award.
[00:53:25] Speaker B: I'm looking forward to it. Can't wait. Can't wait. Thank you, Ryan, very much. I appreciate you and appreciate the abca. Thank you so much.
[00:53:35] Speaker A: It was a special moment for Coach Greasebaum and for Coach Kylitz.
I'm sure they're going to be able to enjoy this whole week together.
Best of luck this spring to Grosse Pointe south on trying to extend their state appearance record.
Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, Matt Weston, Antonio Walker in the ABC office. For all the help on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me via email r brownleeabca.org Twitter, Instagram and TikTok CoachBCA or direct message me via the MyABCA app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off for the American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks and leave it better for those behind you.
Yep. Wait for another day.
[00:54:31] Speaker B: And the world.
[00:54:33] Speaker A: Will always be turning and your love.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: Is never for yearning and you know that way.
[00:54:45] Speaker A: Wait for another D.
