Packing Pounds for Good Cause

When one thinks of baseball, the equipment needed to play seems simple: baseball, glove, bat and bases. The game itself seems simple: throw, hit, catch and run. The longer you watch the game, the more complex it reveals itself to be.

The list of training tools is complex as well. There are so many tools now being used to improve players’ abilities. They start with a basic like jump rope. Move on to more technological tools.  Video used to diagnose the biomechanics of pitching and hitting. Even the players strive to be a Five-Tool Player. This is someone who excels in: base running speed and knowledge; arm strength; fielding ability; and two types of  hitting – for both average and power.

Renegades absolutely utilize every tool available in order to achieve the player’s highest ability. On June 27 they added an unusual tool to their practice. They added a shovel. Most of the Renegades 14U team spent three hours that day shoveling granola at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. They rotated from shovel duty to scoops which filled plastic bags with 1.5lbs of granola. By the end of their shift they had moved 4470 pounds of cereal into 3060 bags creating 255 cases.

The greatest tool for any baseball player is their mind. Baseball is such a mental game, so much more so then a casual observer first realizes. Shoveling to provide for others builds character. It might not seem like a normal training tool. It could possibly be the one that they use more later on in life than any other. The Renegades put it this way “You don’t do things right once in awhile. You do them right all the time.” That goes for on the field and off.

www.renegadesbaseball.com for information on camps and try-outs in July and August.