Zito Can Teach You About What It Takes

Growing up reading baseball books about Pete Rose, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Steve Carlton and many others, I learned a lot about success, perseverance, grit, teamwork and determination. Through my baseball heroes' stories about their childhood, high school years, and rise to professional stardom I learned about that process that all my coaches kept telling me to trust.

COVID 19 is a great time for aspiring players to check back into reading about more modern era players and their journey. While each player has a unique story, aspiring players will find clues about the process to help them on their own baseball journey.

In The Hard 90 Mindset, I summarized a process and philosophy to achieving your full potential on your baseball journey while learning valuable lessons for life beyond.

In Barry Zito's book Curveball he describes his journey to stardom. Through his journey you can see The Hard 90 Mindset shine through:

1. Barry Zito did his best over a sustained period of time. In the book he describes practicing in his backyard everyday of the year from the time he was 8 years old with his dad.

2. Speaking of his dad, Barry Zito had a team that helped him reach the MLB. This team started with his dad and included guys like Alan Jaeger, John Savage and Billy Beane among countless others.

3. Barry Zito had to overcome adversity. The adversity Zito faced included things like being poor (causing great sacrifices to be made for him to pursue his dream) and injury.

4. Finally, Barry Zito always looked for opportunities to learn. Zito describes video taping all of his bullpens to study, remaking his pitching mechanics with a scout from the Mariners and adopting long toss under Jaeger's tutelage.

The stories from Barry Zito's book and many other baseball greats provide great entertainment and plenty of insight into what it takes to reach your potential on the journey!

The Hard 90 Mindset is a practical and proven strategy for reaching your full potential on the baseball field and in life beyond. The Hard 90 Process and Philosophy are illustrated by anecdotes and insights gained through coaching high school and youth athletes that attained a high level of success on the diamond and in life.

This book combines strategies and tactics utilized in the corporate world and on the baseball diamond to bring to life a strategy for youth athletes to become elite. This book is intended for high school and youth athletes, their parents and youth coaches.

Hard 90 Baseball is a training facility in El Dorado Hills, California. Hard 90 offers classes and private lessons for hitting, pitching, and fielding. In addition to training, Hard 90 fields travel baseball teams for ages 9 to 18. Since its establishment in 2005, over 300 Hard 90 alumni have gone on to play college and professional baseball. www.hard90baseball.com