Limpert Tech on iHeartRadio 3/26/21 - Kevin Gallagher, Autor 'Teach Your Kids to Hit'

Rick talks to Kevin Gallagher this week.

Baseball and more!

SAVE THE GAME ™ is a grass roots initiative to invigorate Major League Baseball and increase youth participation in the game; the initiative was launched by the nine-year veteran former MLB player Jeff Frye (Rangers, Red Sox, Rockies, Blue Jays), and two New York college standouts - Kevin Gallagher (Pace University) and Pat Geoghegan (Mercy College). Gallagher’s book, “Teach Your Kid to Hit … So they Don’t Quit,” was the genesis of the “Save the Game” ™ movement. The hope is that the initiative will ensure the revitalization of the game toward a healthy business future.

Visit www.savethegameus.com for more information and to sign the petition.
The initiative starts a one million signature petition-for-change effort to gain momentum toward a National movement, while grabbing the attention of MLB executives on a league and team level.  Visit www.savethegameus.com for more information and to sign the petition.
 
Simply stated, Gallagher, Frye and Geoghegan contend that MLB has lost its entertainment value because of its reliance on the power swing and little action between home runs. America’s youth is not engaged with MLB because the game has become too slow for this generation. Without the next generation’s involvement, MLB’s customer base will be diminished and baseball could lose its relevance and becomes a niche sport.
 
SAVE THE GAME ™ group wants to align with MLB on issues it has raised and problems already recognized in a grassroots effort.
Some of the focuses of SAVE THE GAME ™ include:
·       Give a Voice to the American baseball fan.
·       increasing youth participation in baseball with instruction from the book, and aligning with MLB to partner on the message.
·       reaching out to the RBI Foundations of each team (Revive Baseball in Inner Cities) to provide support and tools to help kids play the game
·       developing an app for parents which will provide a process to teaching kids, so they enjoy the game
·       Creating new fans.
 
It is the belief of the trio, and many experts are in agreement, that baseball has lost its luster because of its lack of action and strategy. Once America’s pastime, today it lags in television ratings (down 50 percent since 2003), sponsorship dollars and younger fan interest (only 7 percent under 18 watch baseball).
 
The hope is to revive baseball by bringing it back to its quicker pace of bygone years. The strategy, beginning with a player’s swing in youth baseball, includes: contact hitting and keeping the ball in play instead of swinging for the fences to increase action, thus making the game more entertaining; and by engaging younger fans and instructing younger players on the art of the game from Little League to High School to College.
 
Gallagher gives this example of the current “All or Nothing” approach: “There are only 2.46 home runs hit per game. In a three-hour game, you’re only getting a home run every hour. In between home runs is what is killing baseball. There is no action. We have to restore the game to the way it was historically played.”
 
An advisory board is being formed and a National Save The Game Day will both be announced in February.
 
Thanks for taking a look, John C., 914-260-7436
1.   “Save the Game” ™ is a movement brought about by our concern that Major League Baseball could be irrelevant or just a niche sports in Ameriica in 15 years.
 
2.   The reason is that MLB has changed the Fundamentals of the game that have been successful for 125 years and shifted to an all-power game, reducing the amount of action and entertainment for the viewer.
 
3.   Longtime fans are watching less, and younger people are not watching at all. The game is too boring for the younger generation who has many other entertainment venues from which to choose.            
 
4.   In 15 years MLB will depend on this younger generation to support the game. Unless the trend is reversed, baseball will be a secondary sport in America.
 
5.   We want to “Save the Game”™ by Harnessing the “Energy of Discontent” of the baseball fan across America and collect 1 million digital signatures which we will bring to MLB to help them realize their game is in jeopardy and needs change.
 
6.   We want to give the Fan of America a Voice to MLB.
We will then work with MLB providing solutions to bring back action and engage with the younger generation.     

Limpert Tech "SullyCast" on ALT 105.7 and iHeartRadio 4/25/20 - Joan Ryan, Author, Award-Winning Journalist

Rick talks to Joan Ryan this week. Ryan is an award-winning journalist, author and sports media consultant.

She was a pioneer in sports journalism as one of the first female sports columnists in the country. She covered every major sporting event from the Super Bowl and the World Series to the Olympics and championship fights. Her sports columns and features earned 13 Associated Press Sports Editors Awards, the National Headliner Award, the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Journalism Award, and the prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award from the White House Correspondents Association for her four-part series about wounded soldiers, "War Without End.’'

   

Her first book, “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters’’ (1995, Doubleday) was a ground-breaking expose named one of the “Top 100 Sports Books of All Time’’ by Sports Illustrated and one of the “Top 50 Sports Books of All Time’’ by the Guardian. The book and Joan were featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes, Nightline, the Today Show, People magazine, the New Yorker, the New York Times, Time magazine and other media around the country.

Have a listen:

Her 2015 book, Molina: The Story of a Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty (Simon & Schuster), was a finalist for the 2015 PEN Literary Award.   

Her current book, Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry, will be published by Little, Brown, in April.   

Joan has been the senior media advisor to the San Francisco Giants since 2008.

Does team chemistry actually exist? Is there scientific or mathematical proof? Is team chemistry as real and relevant as on-base percentages and wins above replacement?

In Joan Ryan's groundbreaking book we discover that the answer to all of the above is a resounding yes. As Ryan puts it, team chemistry, or the combination of biological and social forces that boosts selfless effort among more players over more days of a season, is what drives sports teams toward a common goal, encouraging the players to be the best versions of themselves. These are the elements of teams that make them "click," the ones that foster trust and respect, and push players to exceed their own potential when they work well together.

Team chemistry alone won't win a World Series, but talent alone won't win it, either. And by interviewing more than 100 players, coaches, managers, and statisticians, as well as over five years of extensive research in neuroscience, biology, physiology, and psychology, Ryan proves that the social and emotional state of a team does affect performance. Grit, passion, selflessness, and effort matter -- but never underestimate the power of chemistry.

You can order and pre-order the versions here:

https://www.amazon.com/Intangibles-Unlocking-Science-Soul-Chemistry-ebook/dp/B07W56J313/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Limpert Tech "SullyCast" on ALT 105.7 - New Baseball Tech

Play Ball!

Baseball season is right around the corner.. college baseball is in full swing.

Rick has been in California and Arizona this week covering some Spring Training action. He and Sully talk about what is new on the baseball tech front.
Have a listen:

1. Ball Coach Radar by Pocket Radar - first up is something for us...
www.pocketradar.com

Pocket Radar is a compact radar gun for sports like baseball, volleyball and softball.
Designed to measure the fastest speed of a ball in flight. Works great for baseball, softball, tennis, volleyball, lacrosse, hockey, and cricket. Easy trigger capabilities eliminate any timing requirements: Simply hold the button down well before the ball is in flight, and release once the speed is displayed. Enter Constant-On Mode to provide automatic triggering without the press of a button. Ball Coach measures from 25 mph to 130 mph and is accurate to within +/- 1 mph (+/- 2 kph), has 120 feet of range on a baseball and 25 deep memory. Includes soft-shell belt holster case, wrist strap, 2 AAA alkaline batteries, illustrated quick start guide and 2 year warranty. Visit PocketRadar.com/BallCoach for more information.
 

2. HitTrax
www.hittraxbaseball.com

HitTrax is a hitting service that helps track how and where hitters are putting the ball on the field.
It’ll tell players if the ball they whacked was a hit or an out, and it also measures exit velocity, launch angle, spray charts and the players’ line drive, fly ball and ground ball percentages.

For pitchers, it tracks pitch velocity, spin rate break measurements, percentage of strikes and a strike zone analysis.
 

3. MLB partners with Mitel to improve communications technology on and off the field

Major League Baseball has announced details of a new partnership with Mitel, a global leader in business communications, to power the league's communications tools and connections across the 30 MLB ballparks.
The new partnership will transform the existing 30 independent platforms for dugout, bullpen, video review rooms and press box communications into a common, unified system featuring enhanced security and call recording capabilities. This new system will provide the capability to record and monitor all communications conducted on the phone lines to ensure compliance with all Major League Baseball rules and regulations.
Mitel has already begun working with MLB and Club technology departments to begin installations at all 30 ballparks. The new systems and procedures are scheduled to be in place by Opening Day -- March 29, 2018 -- the first time since 1968 that every team across the Majors will open on the same date.
 


4. New Stats to look at

No sport is more statistically driven than baseball.
There are some new stats to keep track of:
a. Exit Velocity - the speed of the ball off the bat
b. Hitting with Infield Shifts - pretty self-expanatory
c. Launch Angle - Angle of ball coming off the bat

 

5. Diamond Kinetics
www.diamondkinetics.com

The Pittsburgh-based startup launched in 2013, initially using technology to properly fit amateur baseball players with the correct bat. That idea evolved over the past five years as Diamond Kinetics developed bat sensors to help analyze a batter’s swing. The product is used by more than 15 MLB teams and 52 NCAA programs, in addition to thousands of younger players.

6. Protective Netting to all MLB Ballparks

Major League Baseball announced that all 30 ballparks will have expanded protective netting installed by Opening Day on March 29.

MLB said in a statement that netting will extend to at least the ends of both dugouts. Most teams have gone further than that to try to prevent a repeat of disturbing incidents in which fans have been hit by foul balls.
 

WGST's "The Sully Show" for 7/24/15 - Milwaukee, Miller Park and Major League

Rick happens to be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this week working on some sports travel pieces.
He was at Miller Park for "Major League Night" in Tuesday night, as in Major League the cult Movie from 1989...  he also reviews the new book "The Making of Major League"  and we talk new baseball technology.

Check out @VisitMilwaukee on Twitter and also @TravelWI

And have a listen to Rick and Sully from Friday afternoon:


***  Rick staying at the Milwaukee Hilton City Center this week.... a perfect example of an old Hotel that has been updated and made high tech. Built in 1927, it's the largest hotel in Milwaukee and close to everything.
 


1.  In Milwaukee for some travel pieces and "Major League Night" at Miller Park

Miller Park with its retractable roof, hosted Major League Night as in the movie as the Brewers took on the Indians...  was there a Rick Vaughn sighting?  The "cult" movie still lives on...

*** Plus Harry Doyle Talking Bobbleheads are given away
 

2.  Rick also has a review of the new book, "The Making of Major League" up on Examiner.com

- Authored by Jonathan Knight and a foreward written by Charlie Sheen himself
- A lot of insider info and tidbits in this book   5 Stars!
- The movie was almost never made....
- It was actually filmed mainly in Milwaukee at old torn down "County Stadium" and how Brewer fans really embraced the Indians
- and a ton more

*** New technology in Baseball

3.  MLB Statcast

Now, in every MLB ballpark, a black square box now hangs just above the park’s press box. But that box contains radar equipment which, along with a pair of high-definition optical cameras not far away, may soon revolutionize the way fans understand and enjoy the sport. They’re hardly noticeable, but there’s nothing that happens on a baseball field that they won’t notice.
All 30 MLB parks are now equipped with Statcast technology, an innovation years in the making that should eventually provide unprecedented insight into the game and those who play it.
The radar and cameras don’t just measure the speed of pitches and batted balls, but their spin rates and launch angles. Run through software in the production truck and in MLB Advanced Medias offices in lower Manhattan, they track defensive players’ reaction times, the efficiency of their routes to balls, and the strength of their arms. And they know runners’ top speeds on the basepaths, the size of their leads and the quickness of their first steps.  Being used on MLB Network.

4.  For College Baseball Players

Adidas debuted a light, new bat that fuses golf technology from Taylor Made Golf and baseball. The three-piece foam composite bat's third piece has a recoil system to reduce the "sting" many players feel when they hit the ball off the end.

5.  Self Service Beer Taps at Miller Park

- Leave it to the Brewers and Miller Park to be innovators in terms of beer..
    Fans 21 and older will be able to purchase a $15 or $25 card that will act similar to a credit card. Fans can use their card on one of two machines and can pour up to 24 ounces of beer in a single cup. Beverages available include Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, and Redd’s Apple Ale.

    There is a maximum of two drinks per person per transaction.
 
If you are looking for a cool place to visit, give Milwaukee a look, especially if you are a sports fan.