Baseball Dad & PR Guy Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit tonymanolatos.substack.comI recently held my first live session for baseball parents. Small group. Big conversation.A baseball dad who pitched for Stanford in the College World Series and spent time in the big leagues shared two stories you won't want to miss. Brian Sackinsky told us about car rides home when he was a kid, and about the time his son told him he didn’t want him to come to his games anymore. He was a coach for his son’s team, but he honored his request.Some things that came up are keeping parents up at night — kids who can’t bounce back after an error, kids obsessed with GameChanger for the wrong reason, players who don’t like their coach, kids who can play but want to walk away.But here’s the good news: it’s all fixable.The full session recording is now available for paid subscribers. So is my conversation with mental performance coach Dave Austin, who works with players at every level on exactly these issues.Two sessions. Real answers.If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to a paid subscription, now’s a good time.Speaking of paid subscribers, I’m late on this because he jumped on board early — but huge thanks to Nimer Saikaly, who was my first paid subscriber. Nimer is not a baseball dad but he is a dad and he correctly pointed out that the lessons baseball teaches transcend the ballfield. Thank you, Nimer!###Youth sports culture is where I live. It’s what Baseball Dad & PR Guy is all about.The adults shape the culture. The culture shapes the kids. Change the adults, you change the experience for the kids.That’s the whole ballgame.⚾️

I sat down with mental performance coach Dave Austin, who works with big leaguers. He told me distractions kill performance—and a lot of the time, parents are the distraction.He also told me every ballplayer feels pressure.“A lot of players think, ‘it’s only me who has the nerves, it’s only me who has the doubts.’ Everyone does! Trust me. I’ve worked with MVPs. I’ve worked with Cy Young winners. Everyone feels the same thing.”The difference?The best players don’t fight it.They learn to use it.“Your nerves become your best friend rather than your biggest distractor.”If you’ve ever watched your kid struggle and felt the urge to step in, fix it, or say something…This is worth your time.@coachdaveaustin | website@tonymanolatos | website Get full access to Baseball Dad & PR Guy at tonymanolatos.substack.com/subscribe