Great to run down one of my favorite minor league coaches during my career and also a fellow Long Beach State Dirtbag! Edgar was recently promoted to become the Major League Hitting Coach for the Minnesota Twins which was a huge accomplishment for him and his family. Edgar is an LA guy and grew up in San Gabriel during his childhood years. He spent time at LA City College before transferring to play infield at Long Beach State. He was drafted in 2002 and played a few years in the minors before becoming a coach. He was with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization for 10 years. He coached me back in 2009 and 2010 in West Virginia for the Low-A Affiliate, the West Virginia Power. He climbed the ranks and levels in the minors as a coach and eventually was lucky enough to become the minor league coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. We talk about the different mindsets that you can have as a player coming up and realizing the opportunity you have in front of you every single day. Also, he explains the mentality of "Hunting The Good Stuff". Finally, we dive into what the difference is between a minor league hitter and a major league hitter. It's all about 1 thing! Check it out to hear what it is!

Sometimes we need to be reminded of our history to appreciate everything we have today... This episode will do just that. My guest is Peter Fertig, who is the Founder of the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award Foundation. His foundation honors Hall of Fame Baseball players who also served their country during the World Wars and other battles in our country's history.

Peter started the foundation back in 2013 after he had met HOF pitcher, Bob Feller, who shared his story with Peter and was blown away. We discuss Feller's life and many other greats that you've heard of throughout the years including: Yogi Berra, Jackie Robinson, Tommy Lasorda, Ted Williams, Jerry Coleman, Joe DiMaggio and many more who all served for their country.

Not only does the foundation honor the 37 Hall of Famers who served but current officers and armed forces members every year who are nominated for the award by their peers for Acts of Valor.

My first play-by-play guy on the on the podcast and he's on his way to Amarillo yet again this year to be the Double-A broadcaster for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the minor league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sam Levitt is my guest and he is also fresh off of his March Madness duties as he heads back for another season in the minors as the lead broadcaster.

Most people forget that the staff members have to live the same grueling schedule in the minor leagues as the players do. Bus trips all over the place, eating crappy food in the middle of nowhere  and living out of a suitcase for 6 months+. Not an easy life, but these announcers and play-by-play guys are trying to move up as well. Sam has some great stories about how he went to Northwestern originally for Pre-Med, but ended up at their world renowned broadcast/journalism school and fell in love with it. 

He began his journey as a broadcaster in independent ball with the Gateway Grizzlies outside of St. Louis and made the switch to Corpus Christi in the Texas League 3 years later.

He gives us a behind the scenes look at the differences between doing college basketball and pro baseball including what it's been like to cover the Cinderella Story over the past few years in Loyola-Chicago during their March Madness recent runs.

It's not often that you and your guest both play pro ball, independent ball, have the same college coaches at different times, both get selected in the Rule 5 Draft, and are now both podcast hosts... But today my guest, Keith Ramsey and I, go through all of those things that shaped our lives and careers. Keith is a true LA guy and spent time as a standout High School soccer player and baseball player. He chose to pursue baseball at LA Harbor College before signing on with the University of Florida to finish his collegiate experience there and ultimately was drafted both of his years with the Gators.

Keith is one of a few pitchers to throw a Perfect Game in the minors and did it on the last day of one of his seasons in the High A, Carolina League. He ended up playing in the Indians and Rockies organizations before moving onto independent ball for a few years. His career ended in Taiwan and he has some great stories on the episode today about the shadiness of that business over there as well.

He is now the head coach at Mira Costa High School and has been successful since he took over that job. Keith is also the host of the Heading for Home Podcast which focuses on baseball and his guest's lives post career as well.