Steve Smith

Rain delays, mercy rules, and extra innings are as much a part of our lives as they are a part of baseball. open.substack.com/pub/hardballco…

This might be the best gift I have ever received… a real Mike Leach call sheet!! Thank you so much Sawyer, this means the world to me.

It needs to be said every year... Nobody. Does. Opening. Day. Like. Cincinnati.

back in our happy place 🏡 #GBO 🍊

Welcome to The Show, Watty. 👊 Our guy @Ryan_Watson_19 has earned a spot on the @RedSox Opening Day roster! 📰 » auburntige.rs/47p2mkz #WarEagle

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes says he does not cuss at his players in an article by The Athletic’s Brendan Marks 🍊 Mark’s article delves into coaches swearing habits in the NCAA Tournament, and a story from Barnes’ past details why he says he does not use foul language any longer. Then-Longhorns coach Rick Barnes called Damion James into his office to discuss what he could do to help Jones break out of a recent shooting slump. James asked if Barnes could use less profanity since he had never had anybody talk to him like that. “I said, ‘Damion, I give you my word, I will never curse again,” Barnes told Marks. “And I never have.” What a story 🔥

May 16, 1963. Gordon Cooper was orbiting Earth alone inside a capsule barely big enough to turn around in, moving at 17,500 miles per hour. He had been up there for over a day. Then the warnings started. First a faulty sensor screaming that the ship was falling — it wasn't. He switched it off. Then something far worse: a short circuit knocked out the entire automated guidance system. The one that kept the capsule steady. The one that was supposed to bring him home. Without it, reentry was nearly impossible. Too shallow an angle and the capsule would bounce off the atmosphere back into space. Too steep and it would incinerate. The margin for error was razor thin — and every computer that was supposed to hit that margin was dead. Down on the ground, NASA engineers watched the telemetry in silence. They could see everything going wrong. They could fix nothing. Cooper didn't panic. He uncapped a grease pencil and drew lines directly on the inside of his window to track the horizon. He looked up at the stars he had spent months memorizing and used their positions to orient the ship by eye. Then he set his wristwatch. Because when you have no computers left, you become the computer. At exactly the right moment — calculated in his head, confirmed by the stars outside — he fired the retrorockets. The capsule shook. The sky turned to fire. For several minutes, no one on Earth could reach him as plasma swallowed the ship whole. Then the parachutes opened. Faith 7 hit the water just four miles from the recovery ship — the single most accurate splashdown in the entire Mercury program. The man with a wristwatch and a few pencil marks on a window had outperformed every automated system NASA had. We talk a lot about technology saving us. And it often does. But Cooper's story is a quiet reminder that behind every machine, there still has to be a human being who can look out the window, think clearly under pressure, and decide what to do next. The final backup was never the software. It was him.

If you want to see what 80 grade speed looks like, watch this video 😳

Texas A&M infielder Chris Hacopian is currently running a 9% whiff rate with an 8% chase rate. He has swung and missed four times this SEASON. He’s got a 114+ max EV and his OPS is north of 1.200. Silly stuff. He’s the No. 12 Draft prospect at @OverSlot_

How many games are impacted by “Positioning” on the field? Does “Positioning” also impact our life? @hardballcoach34/note/c-229747518?r=259rj&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@hardballcoach…

@CoachMarcusHill The question is: Do you love the game? If your actions don’t match your answer, find something you do love & be great at it.

Had a 12 year old for a lesson yesterday. Asked him if he watched the game (only the biggest baseball everybody watched) and he said what game?! When I was 12 I would’ve recorded it and watched it like twice yesterday and today before tonight’s game

🥹🥹🥹 This is SO BEYOND COOL!! Love ya WACHA + @Texiancurtis #Ball5 #RaggiesInternational 🇺🇸

@CoachOakMSU As a Mississippi kid who dreamed of playing at State but was instead blessed to have coached there, I am glad you are the man to now steward this beloved program. Hail State!

It is an absolute honor and privilege to carry on the tradition and legacy Coach Polk built here at Mississippi State and continue on the trail he blazed for all of college baseball. #HailState

As did the SEC!

One of the hardest lessons I learned after my baseball career ended: I had tied too much of my identity to the game. When I played, everything revolved around baseball. If I had a great game, life felt great. If I struggled, it felt like everything was wrong. My emotions followed the same rollercoaster as the game. And the truth is, when my emotions were on that rollercoaster, it did not just affect me. It affected the people I loved the most, because they were the ones who had to deal with it. And when baseball ended, I realized something that caught me completely off guard: I did not know where to find my sense of purpose. That is how powerful this game can be. It pulls you in so deeply that it’s easy to start believing baseball is who you are, not just something you do. Today when I talk with high school and college players, this is one of the main things I see. So many of them have tied their identity completely to the game. One thing I always make sure they hear from me is simple: I am proud of you. And I say that after a great game or a tough one. Because that pride has nothing to do with performance on the field. It has everything to do with the person they are becoming. Sometimes to find perspective, we need to take a step back and look at how far we have come. It is easy to get stuck in the present and focus only on what needs to happen next to advance. But when we pause and reflect on the work, growth, and experiences that brought us here, it reminds us that our worth is not tied to one moment, one game, or one season. The truth is, the game eventually ends for all of us. What matters most has to be bigger than baseball. Faith. Family. Friendships. Those are the things that carry you long after the final out. When your identity is rooted there, baseball becomes what it was always meant to be: A game to love. A place to compete. A platform to grow. Not the definition of your worth.

1987: Mississippi State/Ole Miss

We talk often of athletics being the front porch for broader awareness for our University. If so, there was a lot of traffic this week on the porch thanks to the extraordinary moments shared in socials from our @BaylorAcroTumb program… 22 million views and counting.

We knew there would be excitement, but you’ve responded even stronger than we could have expected. 242 NEW tailgate inquiries since we announced the changes two weeks ago. Momentum is building…Thank you! Renew your tickets by tomorrow to take advantage of the early bird discount: baylorbea.rs/26FBRenewals

A must read for anyone who values college athletics.

30 years ago I started a journey. Not one scholarship offer. The reason? I was deemed too slow. That day I DECIDED nothing would stop me. I found my trainer Jay Schroeder and started an unorthodox training program that tested me physically, emotionally, and psychologically to level I could have never imagined. I lived by the mantra that: Your will to PREPARE for success had to be far greater than your desire for success. I went all in, committed my heart and soul, and 5 years later - 25 years ago - I had my chance to show the NFL how far I’d come. Here the video from my pro day: 40 YD - 4.37 Short Shuttle - 3.83 3 Cone - 6.37 Long Shuttle - 10.77 Pedal Flip - 4.11 I also benched 225 lbs 31x , vertical jumped 39.5", broad jumped 10'10" I literally transformed myself from a nobody to one of the best in the world in 5 years. I post this not to brag but as a reminder. BELIEF is powerful. Don't ever allow or entertain anybody's judgment or narrative about you, even for a microsecond. DOUBLE DOWN on yourself and always put it all on your shoulders. Have immense GRATITUDE for what God has put in front of you. Looking back, I’m grateful I didn’t earn a scholarship, that I had to walk on, that I had to fight and sacrifice to a level I never thought possible... To BELIEVE in myself so deeply that nothing could ever stop me. I have immense pride in that journey... More than in any NFL accolade. It represents defying the impossible and forms the foundation for everything I do in life today. My only regret? Back then, I thought it was all me. It wasn't. Better late than never: all glory to God #AlBundy #GloryDays #Resilience #NeverQuit #NFLCombine