Looking Back

rz1.....bravo to ryan! what a bright, intelligent, focused young man.....

between you and pgstaff and cleveland dad and a whole slew of others, this site has provided a ton of insight for our son.....i just emailed my class of 2010 rhp the link to that article.....a must-read for sure!

thanks for sharing!

Randy,
That is such a terrific interview!!!
There are parts of Ryan's comments that capture, in my view, so much of what is involved in playing and succeeding beyond high school.
It is the mental part.
From what we experienced with our son, it is really easy to be a parent when they are hitting .400 and everything is going right. The real test for them as a player/person, and for us as a parent, is when they are scuffling, when they are injured, when they are at a level of competition where everyone is just as good and they need to get better, execute better,work harder to get that extra edge.
Ryan gives us very good insights.
To be honest, and I know you are aware of this, it isn't as easy as it might seem from reading his interview.
There can be a relatively fine, and it isn't necessarily a bright line, between making success out of adversity/challenge and having adversity/challenge overcome success.
Ryan Zink made success.
I read that interview to be a great compliment to Ryan.
I read it as being at least as complimentary to his parents for for their support and guidance and all that went before it.Ryan knew he was more than a baseball player and knew/felt he was supported when his success was not being measured by his ERA.
Great stuff.

Nice to see that there are intelligent Yankee players!! I hope he makes the show sometime, always wondered if I could root for a Yankee or not!!

Good stuff rz1.

I especially liked his take on focus... THIS PITCH.

I remember it back when it was first posted. Great stuff!!

Toot away!! Always love hearing the good stories.

rz1 -- thanks so much for posting that interview...I am also forwarding it to my 2009 HS pitching son. Whether or not he ever faces any adversity from injury, the maturity and insights of the other comments on pitching in general are really great. I am also going to see if he would like to forward it to the young man who hosted him last fall for his recruiting visit to the college he will be attending next year. That young man also had TJ surgery, and I think may be throwing by now but may still appreciate the insights, having gone through it. Thanks again and best of luck to Ryan.

By the way, my wife, who doesn't really get the whole "baseball thing", has asked me in the past why I spend so much time on a baseball website when it is not baseball season (although it is now, of course). Gems like this post are a big part of the reason.

rz,

Thank you for the article...your son's maturity and realistic viewpoints just jumped off the page (screen). A copy is already printed and waiting to be handed to my son.

As a life-long "yankee hater", I still cheer for the occasional player. Here's to your son making the "show" and a long and healthy career. (I'd add successful, but he already has that one down.)

Thank you, again.

rz,

I had forgotten about that story. Thanks for posting that. You have a very special son and we should all be pulling for people like him to reach the top.

quote:

There's something about kids reading what other kids are saying rather than listening to adults ramble on.

You're absolutely right, I think we will get Patrick Ebert (who is good at this stuff) to do more of these type interviews.

rz

this is a very mature young man. he is a success.
tj recovery is a long hard road. i'd say the bumpiest parts are over, still long and hard just not as bumpy.

i wish him the best, dirty cleats every day.