Oct 12, 2026 · 15 min · 7 segments
Baseball gets easier when you stop trying to impress everyone and focus on helping your team win. Players don’t need constant criticism—they need encouragement, a clear plan, and the confidence to…
Andy BarkettHost
And so when you're really trying to develop your players and your kids especially, make sure you're encouraging them.
You're building them up as much as you're trying to help them and get them better.
I wouldn't say criticize by any means because we don't want to criticize, but I want to make sure that We are constructively instructing players to improve, giving them a plan because they want one.
And so I encourage you coaches out there and parents, make sure you're building your players up.
People ask me, what would you give advice to a parent who's trying to raise a baseball player? Build them up.
Make sure that you are giving him good advice, that you are finding good people to put around him and train him.
But most importantly, that you're encouraging him, that you're telling him not necessarily he's going to be okay all the time, but you're telling him that you're proud of him and the work that he's doing.
When we take off the mask of criticism and we turn with the mask of encouragement, it can be a game changer for the player.
as a parent and a coach you know i asked one time toby harrah i said what was the greatest advice you ever got um you know from i was looking for for i've been asked that question what's the greatest advice you ever got as a manager to manage in the minor leagues it was from toby harrah i said toby who's your greatest manager and why he said that's easy billy martin why because he told me i was the best shortstop in the american league every day were you no But I thought I was, you know? And so when I heard that, I was like, okay, I need to encourage people.
I started hunting the good stuff, looking for things to be positive about in the way I coached players.
And instead of looking for ways to tell them how they weren't good, that's easy to do, I think.
If you're worth your salt as an instructor, you know what it looks like good and you know what it looks like not good.
And so when you're really trying to develop your players and your kids especially, make sure you're encouraging them.
You're building them up as much as you're trying to help them and get them better.
I wouldn't say criticize by any means because we don't want to criticize, but I want to make sure that We are constructively instructing players to improve, giving them a plan because they want one.
And so I encourage you coaches out there and parents, make sure you're building your players up.
People ask me, what would you give advice to a parent who's trying to raise a baseball player? Build them up.
Make sure that you are giving him good advice, that you are finding good people to put around him and train him.
But most importantly, that you're encouraging him, that you're telling him not necessarily he's going to be okay all the time, but you're telling him that you're proud of him and the work that he's doing.
When we take off the mask of criticism and we turn with the mask of encouragement, it can be a game changer for the player.
as a parent and a coach you know i asked one time toby harrah i said what was the greatest advice you ever got um you know from i was looking for for i've been asked that question what's the greatest advice you ever got as a manager to manage in the minor leagues it was from toby harrah i said toby who's your greatest manager and why he said that's easy billy martin why because he told me i was the best shortstop in the american league every day were you no But I thought I was, you know? And so when I heard that, I was like, okay, I need to encourage people.
I started hunting the good stuff, looking for things to be positive about in the way I coached players.
And instead of looking for ways to tell them how they weren't good, that's easy to do, I think.
If you're worth your salt as an instructor, you know what it looks like good and you know what it looks like not good.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.