Baseball season arrived, then quit on us. But, this is a bigger heartbreak and a more confusing time than some parents may realize. Identity as an athlete is tricky, and in today’s episode we dive into why so many ballplayers are struggling, how identity as athletes comes into play, how to identify work ethic, and what to do going forward. To submit a question for the Q&A segment, make a voice recording and email it to Dan at [email protected]. Want to support the show? Buy a copy of Dear Baseball Gods on Kindle or Paperback, or listen on audiobook. Or, pick up Pitching Isn’t Complicated, his advanced-but-understandable pitching manual. Enroll in one of Coach Dan’s online pitching courses or his mental skills course. Use code BASEBALL GODS to save 20% on any course, just for being a listener. Sign up for Dan’s Email list and get a free pitching checklist, and follow up with him on the interwebs: YouTube Channel | Twitter | Danblewett.com Full Transcript: Dear Baseball Gods EP83 You’re listening to the Dear Baseball Gods podcast. I’m Dan Blewett, and on this show you’ll learn advanced concepts in baseball. Explain simply, I’m here to guide you on your baseball journey and help you paddle through what’s now an ocean of misinformation guru wisdom, an overly technical diamond babble. in today’s episode of dear baseball gods, the, uh, first episode back as I revive this podcast, we’re going to talk about why we need baseball. And specifically why athletes need it and how they might be feeling. Cause I know a lot of parents, more so than athletes are gonna be listening to this. And especially if you haven’t played, and especially if you haven’t been injured and especially if you haven’t retired, then you probably don’t have quite that perspective except for the, the obvious fact that your son is maybe a little sad and a little disappointed and a little not sure what he is doing with his time right now. So I still remember the day when I woke up and I think my first thought was what my teammates were doing, and then I put my feet on the ground and I stopped. And then I walked into my kitchen and I reached up for my big jug of protein and was going to make a protein shake, and then I stopped. And then a few minutes later as I got dressed, I kind of rude around in my underwear drawer for my compression shorts and then I stopped. And that was the first day of the rest of my life. That was the day after I uttered the words that I was retiring and yeah, it was the first day that I didn’t know what I was doing. I woke up and my routines didn’t make sense. My rituals didn’t make sense. Why would I make her protein shake? I’m not going to go work out.