Many of you may remember, or have seen the highlight of, “the catch” made by Swoboda against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. What you may not know is Ron was a converted infielder who struggled with the outfield in his early days as a pro. However, with hard work and dedication, he transformed himself into an everyday MLB outfielder and the man who made one of the most legendary snares in New York baseball history.

Special thanks to MintPros for arranging this conversation.

By the way, you can purchase a framed and autographed photo of “The Catch” through the Daily News (a great holiday gift idea!). It is a limited edition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the event and the Mets’ first World Series win. A portion of the proceeds go to the Mets Foundation, which funds and promotes educational, social, and athletic programs, as well as other charitable causes.

The conversation with Ron Swoboda can be heard below, and you can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast feed through iTunes.

Tyrone formerly held several front office positions in the Atlanta Braves organization — including Director of Baseball Operations and Director of Baseball Administration — before joining the Cleveland Indians in the role of professional scout.

In our conversation, Tyrone explains how a scout evaluates a ballplayer, what he looks for beyond a player’s baseball skills, how an amateur player can approach a scout, the different types of scouts you may encounter (they’re not all the same!), and many other aspects of the player-scout relationship. In addition, Tyrone also tells the secret of why Ryan Howard fell below the radar as a college junior and slipped to the fifth round of the June 2001 draft.

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

Fritz was known for his outstanding control and quick pace, teaming with Mel Stottlemyre in the mid-1960s to early-1970s to anchor the top of the New York Yankees’ rotation. Fritz was the last Major League pitcher to throw 270+ innings and post a WHIP of under 1.00 (272 IP, 0.996 WHIP in 1969). He also remains the all-time (since 1900) best lefthanded control pitcher — he allowed a scant 1.7 walks per nine innings through over 2200 career innings pitched. He reveals some of the secrets to that great control in this podcast.

Fritz recently published a book called Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven, which is available through MintPros, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

I had the opportunity to discuss that topic and many others related to mental preparation for baseball with one of the leading experts on the subject, Jim Fannin.

Jim’s worked with 24 All-Stars over the years, including Alex Rodriguez, Casey Blake, Barry Zito, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Orel Hershiser, Frank Thomas, Alex Cora, and many others.

You can learn more about Jim Fannin and the services he provides by visiting his website, JimFannin.com.

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.