Throughout all of baseball, people, from players to coaches, like to blame others for their wrong doings. Caliendo says, “Coaches, I understand that umpires may make some bad calls, but, if you want to argue that much about their calls, maybe you should train your players better. Better coaches for a better game.”

Caliendo then starts in on the players. He says, “Coaches, more than anything, [you] have to let players play the game. Players, you need to educate yourself on how to get better. Don’t rely only on your coaches. Take the game into your hands.”

Where it all Started

At the beginning of the show, Carlucci asks Caliendo about his background: “From 1990-1996 the International Baseball Foundation was given permission to put together and coach some of the teams and coach the USA 16u team in the PanAm games. How has it influenced your teaching?”

Caliendo answers, “That really broadened my horizons. All the countries seemed to play different games, and that gave me the ability to increase my knowledge in the game. It wasn’t easy at the time because we didn’t have the technology we have now; it was a great experience to be an assistant coach as well as a head coach. We have 24 guys in the big leagues; Jason Worth is probably the biggest name.”

Staying Healthy

One thing teams can do to ruin their season is not keep their players healthy. Caliendo says, “When Ichiro Suzuki came over from Asia, it was unbelievable how flexible he was. No wonder he can play so well at the age of 42.”

The better the workout regimes, the more healthy the players will be. Conversely, an injury bug can kill a team on a run to the playoffs. Caliendo says, “A lot of players from Asia have a great work out routine; all of them are very flexible.”

Respect of the game

Caliendo continues, “Another thing I like about Japanese players is that they all seem to have a respect of the game. Here it seems like we have a lot more hot heads. Coaches need to not only teach the game but teach respect for it.”

“The Japanese are very humble players, not a lot of showboating.”

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