dugoutwisdom.com - Dan's Blog http://dugoutwisdom.com/ Infinity Site Manager en-us 06/26/2008 10:28 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=19 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! 06/24/2008 10:27 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=16 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 06/16/2008 10:27 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=15 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. 06/11/2008 10:26 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=14 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 06/10/2008 10:26 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=13 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. 06/09/2008 10:25 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=12 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. 06/05/2008 10:24 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=11 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! 06/04/2008 10:24 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=10 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. 06/03/2008 10:23 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=9 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!” 06/02/2008 10:22 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=8 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.   05/26/2008 8:20 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=7 I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to honor the memories of three individuals featured in Dugout Wisdom that are no longer with us: Bob Howsam, Buck O'Neil and Kirby Puckett. Each of these men so graciously shared with me a story for inclusion in this book. Bob talked of his lovely wife Janet and how she was his rock through the ups and downs of one of the greatest GM careers in baseball history. Kirby, the day before he passed, told me about thinking about his father throughout his first big league at-bat and how to remove fear from your life and replace it with unconditional faith. Buck reflected back some 80 years to a moment when he was working as a child in a celery field when his dad inspired him to dream big and find a better place. I can't help but think that, like Buck's childhood dream, all of these men are in fact in a better place at this very moment. May their memory and inspiration stay alive...always. 05/21/2008 11:43 PM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=6 I'm riding the 6 train to Yankee Stadium for tonight's Yankees/Orioles game clutching the book. In the midst of a quiet moment, I start thumbing through the book innocently when a handful of people start asking me about it. They are clearly Yankee fans (I'm a Chicago fan for the record). They are clearly drawn to the stories from Whitey, Goose and Guidry but I asked them to take a glance at Bobby Doerr, the Red Sox great, whose story of his father's sacrfices during the Depression paved the way for him to pursue a Big League career, albiet for these guys, with the enemy Red Sox. These big, both in spirit and in actual size, Yankee fans paused and said, "That's a real man. Even if he did play for the Red Sox." Time to get off. Yankees win 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth and more importantly, I feel as though I help bridge relations between Red Sox Nation and Yankees Universe. 05/20/2008 7:37 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=5 Driving to Cooperstown today and there is something magical about arriving in the town that even transcends the baseball nostalgia. The drive itself is worth the trip. It is a journey through rolling trees and such great street names as "Pudding Lane" and "Cherry Blossom Bridge Road" that you can't help but smile. There's a feeling as though you are stepping into a time machine when you arrive on Main Street. (Or it could be the feeling in my stomach as Josh, the Dugout Wisdom business manager, and me are wondering if the meat we just ate at a roadside highway was actual road kill. Jury is still out.) However, regardless of how our tummies are feeling at the moment, the sight of arriving at Cooperstown's one stop light and perusing the collection of jerseys walking the street calms even the most upset stomach. In front of us, is a 40-something year old man in a full early 70s Catfish Hunter jersey, a Cub fan walks behind him with a simple Cubs T-shirt and littered around them are many Yankees and Red Sox fans. Think Pleasantville meets Fenway Park and you get the idea. Off to get a beer at Cooley's and just soak in the atmosphere a bit more and calm that stomach with a few pints. 05/19/2008 7:32 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=4 At the heart of this project is a celebration of every player's "baseball father." For those in the game, this "baseball father" is also known as their scout that first signed them. Whether you are a Hall of Fame player or the stereotypical Crash Davis-type who is a lifer in the minors, a scout, at some point in your youth, saw great potential in you. This book, in many ways, is a celebration of the relationship between scouts and these players. Relationships that go beyond the baselines. One of the benefactors of this book is the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation, a charity that was established to help provide financial support for retired scouts. USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote a brilliant piece on the scouts and their changing role in today's paper. Here's the link for you all: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-05-18-Scouts_N.htm 05/16/2008 7:22 AM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=3 For those of you that have read Dugout Wisdom already, you'll know that many of the stories capture the parent/child relationship. It is these stories, in my mind, that encompass what this book, and arguably, dreams are all about. I'm honored that the players in this book, like Goose Gossage and Phil Niekro recognize this too. I've always been curious, as a fan, as to the personal side of these players. Or more aptly, their mindset before they were stars. I think after reading it everyone will understand that most of these players have had a strong foundation and love at home that allowed them to be their best self. I'm honored to share that Goose also has been proactive in helping us celebrate this life lesson simply by offering this quote for us to use in the promotion of the book as a fitting Father's Day present: "A father's love is the foundation of learning to enjoy a Hall of Fame life. For any son or daughter that has a dad that is a lover of baseball and a dreamer, I can't think of a better Father's Day present than receiving a personalized copy of Dugout Wisdom and a Hall of Fame membership. It celebrates all that's great about family, baseball and life." 05/14/2008 8:36 PM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=2 Don't let the headline fool you, the Mr. Met I'm referring to is Omar Minaya. Omar is the Mets General Manager and I had the pleasure of sitting with him at tonight's game at Shea Stadium. Omar, in my mind, is the perfect modern day GM because he embraces the past legacies of the game while understanding and adapting to the future. An ardent supporter of scouts, Omar gushed when thumbing through Dugout Wisdom upon realizing that each player's scout was recongnized. It was a joy for me to watch him skip to the end of each profile and smile at each name in the same way you and I would recognize long lost friends while flipping through the pages of a old school yearbook. I'll do my best to share with you firsthand experiences like tonight's in this forum but my memory captured most was the glow in Omar's eye when he mentioned Roland Hemond. For those that don't know Roland yet, I'd encourage you to check out this link (http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/team/exe_bios/hemond_roland.html). I simply describe Roland as my very own "Tuesdays With Morie" but perhaps Mike Veeck describes him best when he famously introduced Roland by simply saying, "What Johnny Cash is to music. Roland is to baseball." In addition to all his accolades, Roland is the reason that Dugout Wisdom was born. He wrote the Foreword which I know you will all treasure as our very own Mr. Met did tonight. DBG, 5/14 05/13/2008 1:05 PM http://dugoutwisdom.com/authorblog/index.html?entry_id=1 Paul Molitor shared with me that "dreams are a process built over time." My wish for all of you who read this blog and the book Dugout Wisdom is that, in time, you have a deeper understanding of your dreams and possibilities through the experiences highlighted both in this book and through this blog. I will be using this forum to share with all of you the realizing of my dream of connecting with the hearts and minds of the game's greatest legends. Please know I'm just a fan of the game like many of you and I'm honored for the privilege to sit down with these men and women and understand what it takes to have the perseverance, dedication and passion to pursue a dream not only in baseball but in our lives. I'll be posting some personal stories on this site throughout the summer and encourage you all to post a note of your own or ask any questions as this forum is all about extending my good fortune with each of you. With that disclaimer, I'm proud to say that Dugout Wisdom is officially published!! I'm even more honored to say that our leadoff hitter and first purchase was made by my dear friend Jeff Idelson, the newly named President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Thank you Jeff for your friendship and support and being a Hall of Fame friend. DBG, May 13