Dirk Hayhurst

Mr. Hayhurst,

I am a 16 year-old ball player from Wisconsin. Baseball is a huge part of my life, and I really loved your book… I’m am a pitcher myself, and have encountered some new adversity in these last few months. Like you, I don’t throw all that hard and rely on pinpoint control and good off speed stuff to win games. Lately, my control has evaporated and my confidence is not far behind. I tweeted you back in May and you told me to “pitch better.” That may have been some of the best advice I have ever received. I tried to simplify things and it worked for a little while, but now I’m back where I was and worse. So I wanted to ask you, someone who has encountered adversity and overcome it, what do you do when you simply cannot pitch effectively? Any response at all will be much appreciated.

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Contact is your friend.

College and high school may have been about showcasing your power arm, but the name of the game in pro ball is getting outs in an efficient, consistent manner. If you’re going to do that, you have to end your romance with the strikeout, and embrace the long, enduring love of pitching to contact.

You know that ever-evolving mass of statistical data that tracks your ability as a player? The one that represents how good or bad you are at baseball according to every nerdy blog site you’ve ever visited? (more…)

There is swearing in professional baseball, not to mention fighting, drinking, drugs, cheating, affairs, pornography, gambling, abuse, lying, stealing and just about everything else that would make your mother weep if she found out you were doing it.

Naked. (more…)

The GM Game.

You sit idly in the bullpen with nothing to do. You’re tired of hustling the locals with quarter toss games. Verbal sparring with drunks has lost its fun. Even the thrill of scouring the stands for hot chicks via your handy-dandy bullpen binoculars is gone.

This listless afternoon could be for a number of reasons. Maybe it’s close to the end of the season and you’re worn out? Maybe you miss your dog? Maybe that one night stand resulted in a rest of your life alimony payment? The possibilities are endless…

Let us, however, assume that today you’re not interested in the standard pleasures of your minor league world because you’ve got something else on your mind, something that could change your situation altogether, if you could just make sense of it. Someone got hurt two levels up. Someone got released. Someone is pitching badly and it’s just a matter of time before they run out of chances to redeem themselves. Change is coming. Turnover, injuries, waiver claims and moves, moves, moves— they all mean something for you and the rest of your half minor league, half domino brothers… but what? (more…)

I was asked to write this as the personal reflection for my senior seminar portfolio for graduation… I wanted to share it with you.

Becoming Someone.

Unlike many who write this personal reflection, I have the luxury of writing about life in college from the years following it. That is to say, I have retrospect on my side. However, if I could somehow go back to those befuddled days of ignorance, hormones and crude, unflinching self-obsession, I might be tempted to write something about how my college career made me ready for professional success. Thankfully, I am in no danger of time travel, and consequently, no danger of lying to you.

I’m happy here in the present, from where I can look back and smile about all the stupid things I thought and did. Things like, “All my classroom learning makes me more than ready for what the real world has to offer.” Actually, I couldn’t say that even if I believed it — I skipped too much class to know. (more…)

When you pitch great it’s easy to walk into the weight room and knock out your postgame maintenance. Heck, sometimes you come into that weight room charged up and raring to do twice as much. You feel like superman, riding out the adrenaline of the game, marinating in your own awesomeness. As you pound out your reps you can’t help but think to yourself and how dedicated you are, how, someday, when ESPN does a story on you, they’ll talk extensively about your dedication to working out hard and how the masterful pitching performance was just another part of your machismo. By the time you get ice on your arm, you’re convinced you’re some sort of war hero ready to shake hands with the president. (more…)

How to get your book signed:

Step 1: At the time of writing this, I am (or was?) a Durham Bull. However, team affiliations in baseball are a fickle thing and change often. I could easily be some other mascot by the time you get around to reading this. To better keep track of what team I belong to, It’s best to go to a website that specializes in following baseball players and their current affiliations. I suggest this one: www.Milb.com. Search for my name and you’ll find my stats, history, and current team affiliation.

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I’m going to give you three scenarios that all have something in common. Can you figure out what?

Scenario 1: Locker rooms are loud, obnoxious places full of multiple conversations in multiple languages, each trying to be heard at the other’s expense. Flourishing card games, trash talking, squealing players. Televisions are routinely cranked up for ESPN highlights, the big club’s game, or that Vin Diesel action flick you’ve already seen 20 times. The Latin portion of the team has hooked up an Ipod speaker dock and is blaring that god-awful Reggeatone while, on the other side of the room, the Republican portion of the team listens to country, trying to figure out ways to get their musical competition deported. You’re trying to read a book about some dorks life story in the minors, but you can’t because you can barely hear yourself think… (more…)