I received a call from Roland Hemond, the heart of Dugout Wisdom and author of the Foreword. Roland is at the SABR convention in Cleveland and checked in to say thank you for creating Dugout Wisdom as it is bringing him so much joy to share the stories with so many baseball lovers. One baseball lover he ran into was the great Bob Feller who was so touched with his inclusion in Dugout Wisdom that he signed five copies for us to use as part of charity fundraisers. Thank you Bob!

I’m leaving CBS Studios in NYC having just completed an hour-long live interview on The Jim Bohannon Show. I’ll refrain from telling you about the interview and allow you to enjoy a condensed podcast of the piece. You can listen to it here: http://www.jimbotalk.net/%7Ejimbhil0/audio/MigalaDan080625.mp3

Walking into the Hall of Fame at anytime is a joyous experience. Walking into the Hall of Fame today was even more special because I was there to sign copies of Dugout Wisdom and was able to share it with my parents. The signing was supposed to start at 10:00 a.m. but, much to my surprise, there were people already waiting when we got there at 9:30 a.m. wanting a chance to talk baseball. The first gentleman was a Navy veteran dressed in his full uniform. He was clutching two copies of Dugout Wisdom and simply wanted to know, after reading the book, if any of the players mentioned their service records during their interviews. Amazing. For the next few hours, I greeted Little Leaguers, grandpas, dads, moms, daughters, sons and was so inspired for their love of the game and life. Favorite signing of the day: A woman from Wilton, Conn., brought five copies of Dugout Wisdom and asked me to sign each one for her son and daugther’s little league coaches as a thank you for their time this summer.

I’ve often wondered what it must feel like to be a player visiting a hospital or doing a meet-and-greet with a sick child. I imagined it being a bit difficult to have someone so in need of hope that knows so much about you and you nothing about them. I got to know firsthand tonight as a speaker at a fundraiser for ALS of Rhode Island. (ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.) They had tables set up for book signings and I had the chance to meet families and patients inflicted with ALS. With each one, I could sense their desire to seek inspiration with a simple story or two about their favorite ballplayer. Selfishly, it was me that began to feel more inspired as they started to inspire me just by validating the book and how it is touching them. One guest was a man in his early 30s who told me his father died of ALS and thumbing threw the pages of Dugout Wisdom made him feel closer to his dad. He said his dad would have liked this book and he feels closer to him simply by reading it. As the book signing led to dinner, I was challenged to give an 8-minute speech that would inspire and provide hope to a group of 400 in attendance. As I sat in the crowd, I realized it was they who were providing hope and inspiration to us all in the same way these ballplayers did for many years. Before approaching the podium, I scribbled down “5-tools: Angels, Emotions, Perseverance, Optimism and Faith.” Ballplayers are often described as being 5-tool players (run, hit, throw, hit for power and hit for average) and I used these five words as a metaphor for how to live a 5-tool life. It was so very clear to me as I took the podium that maybe not everyone in the room will be able to hit a ball like George Brett but, at least for tonight, they all are worth of induction to the Hall of Fame of Life. Favorite signing of the day: I asked a woman what her name was and she said everyone calls her “Bean.” I then asked her what her favorite team was and she said the Red Sox. I signed her book with the inscription: To a Great Red Sox fan, I think Fenway should re-name the Green Monster, the Bean Monster! Dan

The joy of this book is everyday is a new experience and you never know where you will end up. Today, I find myself in the locker room of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Shea Stadium. I am interviewing Doug Davis, the team’s starting pitcher who recently returned miraculously to the rotation after being diagnosed with cancer. I was beyond touched when Doug told me he enjoyed Dugout Wisdom and how it inspired him. I was interviewing Doug for a special Diamondbacks-version of Dugout Wisdom that will include his first-person account of overcoming cancer alongside the other greats of the game. Stay tuned for more on this in the weeks ahead but it is clear there are more great things ahead for this book and the notion that it is touching the players will only spawn more great ideas.

Through the work we both do at St. Jude’s Children Hospital in Memphis, I’ve become friends with former Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller and tonight, I’m her and her family’s guest at the Sports Museum of America where Shannon is being inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. While I’ve been talking baseball non-stop on this book tour, the book really is about living a Hall of Fame life. This is something that Shannon has always impressed upon me and it is clear that whether you hit a ball, are a gymnast or an accountant for a living, you need certain personal traits to be the best you can be at whatever you choose to do. Shannon encapsulates this to me because as accomplished of a gymnast as she is, she is an even better human being. I’ve realized this more and more with the greats of baseball as the character is as important to their successes as their talents are. It’s fitting that I mention two of my favorite interview subjects from Dugout Wisdom: Helen Filarski-Steffes and Dolly Brumfield-White. These two ladies played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and epitomized to me what is being celebrated here tonight. Not just because of the gender similarities but because of the unbridled passion and dedication to a dream. While Shannon is being celebrated by the likes of Billie Jean King tonight, I silently toast to Helen and Dolly to honor them in the midst of this celebration.

Busy day today with travel back to NYC but just a quick mention to share with you on a personal level. I am running to make my flight in the Ft. Myers airport and in the midst of sprinting, I notice a dad reading Dugout Wisdom to his daughter. I just kinda stopped and felt an overwhelming sense of pride (or was it that I was out of breath?!?) and then continued and made my flight with a bright smile on my face. Have a great weekend!

I wake up early at the hotel in Ft. Myers smiling as I have the anxiety of my first pitch behind me and head down to breakfast as a lifetime member of the “First Pitch Club.” Before I could sit down, an elderly man in a Marlins hat, who looked like a modern day, baseball version of Obi-Won Kenobi, gestured towards me and called me to his table. He recognized me from the game the night before and we started talking baseball. He was kind, sweet, thoughtful and had a sparkle in his eye as he listened to me share stories with him about his childhood heroes like Whitey Ford. What a great moment this was and just another of many I expect on this journey of sharing baseball wisdom.

There’s a great line in the movie Field of Dreams when Dr. Archibald Graham delivers this gem, “The best moments in your life move so quickly and brush by you like a stranger in a crowd.” Having now thrown out a first pitch I now know what he meant. All the anticipation. All the anxiety. All the preparation. It’s now in the past as the first pitch was a blur but I’m beyond ecstatic to report that some of the wisdom I gathered in this book must have rubbed off on me because I fired a strike and the scouts at the game said I clocked in at 71 mph. While I couldn’t have been more pleased with the first pitch, I am more proud of the turnout for the book signing. The little kid in me, or “Danny” as my mom might say, always dreamed of fans asking me for an autograph. I’m beginning to feel the impression Dugout Wisdom is having on fans and their desire to essentially touch and feel the stories of the players through a signed book and a discussion. Favorite signing of the night: A six year old boy pensively approached the table, with his mom standing confidently in the background, with a copy of Dugout Wisdom. He asked me to sign it for his dad. When I asked him if his dad has read it already, he replied quickly, “Yes! He reads it in the bathroom all the time.” To which, I smiled and signed the book, “To Timmy’s dad, A man’s dugout is his bathroom. Happy Father’s Day to a Hall of Fame Father!”

It’s fitting that the team’s name where I’m throwing out the first pitch tomorrow night is the Miracle. I’ll be in Ft. Myers at Hammond Stadium for the first of many stadium Dugout Wisdom book signings and it will be a “miracle” if I can deliver a strike. Not much time to write today as I’ve got to go loosen up the arm and get ready for my debut.