5 Innings Staring at a Glove
Six foul balls in the fifth lead to the walk-off. Five innings on a glove for one pitch won.
Note: As we move the GYMR Newsletter this week, excuse the duplicate emails. Tuesday’s class is all about proactive focus on the boring stuff!
Twenty-five years ago, his dad taught him about the “quality at-bat.” Freddie was 11. Decades later, the memory brought tears to the bottom rim of his eyes. Freeman remembered the meaning of the small things—it’s how he approaches his job today.
“My swing is because of him. My approach is because of him. I am who I am because of him,” Freddie told reporters after his walk-off grand slam during the 2024 World Series opener against the New York Yankees on Oct. 25. “That’s mostly his moment because if he didn’t throw me batting practice — if he didn’t love the game of baseball, I wouldn’t be here playing this game.”
The Quality At-Bat
“You’re not measured by you’re batting average! These seven things help us score and win: a hard-hit ball, a 7+ pitch AB, a walk, HBP, RBI, sacrifice (bunt or fly), and hits. Throughout the season, we’ll tally QUABs.”
The kid took this as motivation to build zone discipline and bat control. He took off as a player, understanding the mirage batting average can be. Give breadth to your game. The meaning is in the small jobs that make a big difference.
Connecting Work to the Why
Players today rightly ask, “What job should I focus on?”
Before entering college to save the whales, cure the climate, or run a Fortune 500, sitting up straight in meetings matters. Concentration with hyper-focus for long periods, and eye contact during one of those old-fashioned handshakes, are fundamental. It’s the work before the “moment” that everyone else sees.
“My 12-pitch at-bat in the 5th knocked their starter out an inning early. We got into their pen and came back to win 6–4.”
How many players (or parents) see the quality in the at-bat when it ends in a strikeout?
“Average players want to be left alone.
Good players want to be coached.
Great players want to be told the truth.”—NBA Coach Doc Rivers
Players who want to be left alone might dwell on boilerplate success measures like ERA and average—or worse, PG Player Rankings. If the “why” is clear, hitting .400 is secondary to doing your job well. This separates the good who play from the great—simplify.
Students at Trosky Academy are practicing eye contact and the handshake daily.
Inside Trosky Academy
Baseball is both a metaphor for life and a vehicle to improve it. Lead Instructor at Trosky Academy Rock Hill, Kyle Harris, teaches focus and reflection through simple, profound exercises. Players write three personal core values early in the semester. Each creates a mantra (the “theme” to guide) and a one-word reset.
Coach Harris doesn’t allow the bank account or batting average to define worth. Prompts and single-word anchors reset player control. The Academies are defining solutions to what the best researchers in the world describe as a crisis.
At the University of Toronto, award-winning lecturer Dr. John Vervaeke (Awakening from the Meaning Crisis) and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson (Maps of Meaning) both call it a “meaning shortage”—a gap showing up in students and athletes everywhere. Their conclusion? Far too little time is spent focusing on self-control and the micro—the daily jobs that reinforce purpose. Here’s how we help.
Reach Players Where They Are
The Trosky 365 App launched a powerful program today. Coaching the Coaches & Parents is built to inspire the people who matter most in a player’s life. Through stories from former big leaguers, game-day perspectives, mental performance strategies, and age-appropriate strength training insights, you’ll learn directly from respected voices in the game. Each session provides practical tools to help you guide your athlete through the highs and lows of the baseball journey.
A series of video-based trainings are in the Trosky 365 Daily Training App. For a preview, download the Coaching the Coaches eBook—a good 10-minute read.
The Class: Mental Skills for the Field and for Life
The common mantra is “find yourself.” We’re flipping it to “build yourself.”
Construct more—search less. Before saving the world, players learn fundamentals—sit up straight, focus deeply, and show up with energy and purpose. The small acts won’t make a player a million dollars—they’ll make them worth a million bucks.
Last week’s class built the teammate. Leaders in the making do it in five ways:
Give time to elevate teammates
Give focus to mundane tasks
Give credit to others. Take responsibility
Give up things that keep you from growing
Give to baseball. Expect nothing in return.
Watch Week 4 by clicking the video below:
6 Innings Staring at a Glove
The Class this week makes the bench the driver’s seat to build focus. A simple chart with jobs to do, repeated over 40 game days, creates in-game power like the benchpress builds strength.
“In the 6th I finally got into their starter’s glove. We verbaled the pitch and Freddy hit a double to left to score two. Later, I closed. I got the win by picking his glove, and the save by closing it down.”
—Louis Cohen
Learn how six jobs done well help your team win—and grow skills for a career in baseball:
The Class Meets on Tonight
Tuesday at 5pm PT / 8pm ET join players, coaches, and families in The Class.
Topic: “Lock: Train focus, why it matters now, and three innings from this moment.”
Bring your performance notebook. Set reminders and attend weekly.
Searching for the link the night of? The direct link for The Class is below.
See you in tonight!
On the adventure,
—Greg Moore
greg@troskyedtech.com
TroskyBaseball.com
Upcoming Trosky Elite Infield Camps
Coach Trosky is coming to Illinois, Virginia, and Ohio in October.
Infielders will dive deep into advanced skills and Elite Infield Play with one of the world’s foremost minds in infield development. For more information, visit the camp site and schedule.
If this message hits home, share it with a teammate or friend and have them sign up for the Get Your Mind Right Newsletter. It’s how we grow — together.