I am pasting this from Ben Heller's everything pitching manual I got back in 2014, for my then 9 year old son (yes, I admit it was a bit much for a 9 year old, but a good parent/coach is always a student of the game). Ben Heller is currently a pitcher that made it to the majors (Yankees). He has a great story, see below. You can read other good stories from Phil Rosengren (better pitching) and Ben Brewster (tread athletics).
My Story
I want to begin with my personal baseball story. My story is one that many players are able to relate to, and hopefully be encouraged by. I have always enjoyed hearing success stories of baseball players, and it inspires me to hear the underdog stories or experiences of guys who made huge gains and beat the odds. I hope my story is one that inspires you, and that the average baseball player is able to relate to.
The first thing you should know is that I grew up in southern Wisconsin, which isn’t exactly a baseball hotbed. The most popular sports by far in Wisconsin are football and basketball. In Wisconsin, baseball is like soccer – a sport that a lot of kids play for fun, but nobody really takes too seriously or is truly passionate about. Sure, there are a handful of good players who come out of Wisconsin every year, but it doesn’t even begin to compare to the big time baseball states like California, Texas, Georgia, or Florida. On top of that, I grew up in a town that is small even by Wisconsin standards. I tell you all this just to set the stage and help you understand that I was never really surrounded by great players, coaches, or competition.
Throughout my T-ball and little league years, I didn’t really like baseball all that much. My parents signed me up every year, but I was never too excited for baseball season. When I was lucky enough to get in the game during these early years, I would play right field and bat last in the batting order – I never even dreamed of getting the chance to pitch! This went on all the way until I was 13 years old and in 8th grade. I played “Pony League” baseball, and for some reason my coach decided to give me the chance to pitch. Let’s just say that I was not blessed with a natural pitching ability, but that first opportunity to pitch showed me how fun baseball could be.
My freshman and sophomore years of high school were very average. I wasn’t nearly good enough to play on the varsity team, and I was average even by junior varsity standards. I got the opportunity to pitch every once in a while, but usually didn’t have a ton of success. I definitely never had enough success to stand out to the coaches or earn any more time on the mound. My fastball at this time was between 70 and 75 mph, and I had no idea how to throw a curveball or changeup. Despite my mediocrity, I still loved pitching, and after my sophomore year, I decided it was time to figure out how to get better.
After my sophomore season, I purchased some weighted baseballs and began doing some simple workouts with them. I also began lifting weights, and put on some decent muscle. These workouts are the exact workouts that are given to you in this book, so you now have access to the same thing I did to begin my velocity increase. My junior season I made varsity, and had good enough success at the beginning of the season to earn a spot as the staff ace. My fastball was consistently between 82 and 84 mph, and I would occasionally get up to 86 mph. I should also note that I did grow a couple inches during this time, so puberty most likely had a small part in my growth, but I would find out over the next few years that the workouts I was doing were the main factor helping me gain velocity.
I was so excited and motivated after my junior season that I became even more dedicated and consistent with my workouts. I rarely missed workouts, and I didn’t slack – I did everything to the best of my ability. These workouts were the same exact workouts that I did in the previous offseason, so nothing changed in that regard. By my senior season of high school, I was a well-respected pitcher throughout the conference, and a leader on my team. My fastball my senior year was consistently 85 to 87 mph, and on a good day I could touch 88 mph. I had an extraordinary senior season; I pretty much dominated every outing. Keep in mind, however, that the competition I was facing was relatively poor. I was a great pitcher in southern Wisconsin, but I had no idea what kind of competition I was facing in the rest of the country.
I received a scholarship to Olivet Nazarene University, a small NAIA school in central Illinois. I was excited to have the chance to play college baseball, but the level of competition and exposure was nowhere near a Division 1 school. Just like in high school, I did not play at an elite level that so many players think you must play at in order to advance.
My college career was somewhat of a roller coaster. I was never really considered one of the best pitchers in the country, even though I would have games now and then that proved I had the ability of a truly elite pitcher. Every single offseason during my college career, I was motivated to get better and put in as much hard work as I could. I continued to do the same workouts that gave me so much success during high school, with slight variations each year depending on what I felt I needed to work on.
My hard work paid off every single year in the form of velocity. I added, on average, 2 mph to my fastball every year. I was a starting pitcher all 4 years, and during my freshman and sophomore seasons I had the mindset that I should “pace myself” during my outings. Even though I had the ability to throw in the low 90’s, I would usually sit between 88 and 90 mph during games during the first 2 years.
After my sophomore year I was fortunate to have the amazing opportunity of playing in the Alaska Baseball League, which is one of the top college baseball leagues in the country. That summer, I was the team closer, and I got a whole new mindset when I took the mound. Every time I pitched, I would give every pitch 100% effort, throwing as hard as I possibly could. During that summer, my fastball was consistently 92 to 94 mph, and I had a ton of success against some elite college hitters. It was nice to prove to myself that I could compete at a higher level, but most importantly, I learned a new approach to take when pitching.
My junior season was very memorable. Because of my success in the Alaska Baseball League, I had gained the attention of several scouts. Nobody on my team at Olivet had ever been scouted before, so it was strange to see all these guys with radar guns and clipboards behind the plate every time I pitched. I took my closer mentality and applied it to my starting role. My fastball that year was regularly 93 to 94 mph, and I was even clocked as high as 97 mph a few times. The first time I was clocked at 97 mph, I was in absolute disbelief and shock. I think that is when I knew I had a legitimate chance of playing professional baseball.
To make a very long story short, I was not drafted after my junior season. After having such high expectations the whole year, it was extremely disappointing and frustrating when things didn’t work out the way I expected them to. I was pretty upset for a while, but I knew my only option was to work even harder in preparation for my senior season, and do the best I could. My senior season was much like my junior season in terms of velocity. I would say my biggest improvement was consistency. I was much more reliable during my senior year, and this is also when I started to realize that velocity wasn’t everything. I put in quite a bit of time and effort to developing a changeup and slider that I had confidence in, and these pitches helped me become more successful.
After my senior season, I was fairly confident I would be drafted. Being a senior, I didn’t have any leverage, which meant that I was a risk free draft pick for whichever team chose me. Sure enough, I was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 22nd round of the 2013 MLB Draft. This had been a dream for a very long time, and for it to actually become reality was an amazing feeling.
I learned pretty quickly that getting drafted was only the first step in accomplishing my ultimate goal of playing in the Major Leagues. Professional baseball is extremely competitive, and I am only in my second season of pro baseball, so I still have a lot of learning and developing to do. What I am absolutely positive of is that I will never abandon my work ethic that has gotten me here. I was fortunate during my high school and college years to have found a workout program that worked for me, and to have learned how important a good work ethic is.
