Cressey Performance Athletes Excel, Reporters Write About It, Villagers Rejoice

Written on July 21, 2010 at 5:10 am, by Eric Cressey

I don’t know if there is something in the water that the reporters around the country (and particularly the Massachusetts sports scene) have been drinking, but Cressey Performance’s Elite Baseball Development Program has gotten a lot of love in the news this weekend.

Last week, CP athlete Tim Collins was part of a blockbuster trade, as he went from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Atlanta Braves.  Tim didn’t disappoint in his debut, striking out five batters in two innings pitched without allowing a walk, hit, or run.  In a recent posting about Collins in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, beat writer David O’Brien wrote the following:

“I asked [Braves Manager] Bobby Cox if he knew anything about him, and Cox started talking about seeing video of him. Said he’s extremely athletic, a muscular little guy who’s real aggressive. Apparently the video showed him pitching and also working out, because he made quite an impression on Cox and others with the workout portion.”

Apparently, Bobby Cox is quite a fan of the EricCressey.com and Cressey Performance YouTube pages.  Hello, Bobby!

The AJC followed it up with a feature on Tim where my business partner, Pete Dupuis, was interviewed: Pitcher in Escobar Trade is 5-7 Fireballer.

Saturday night, CP athlete Kevin Youkilis had the game-tying and game winning RBIs for the Red Sox in a come-from-behind win at home against the Rangers.

These features were followed shortly by another one – this time on a talented pitching prospect from Worcester, MA, Louisville pitcher Keith Landers.  The Worcester Telegram just did this feature on Keith and the training he started up about eight weeks ago at Cressey Performance as he works his way back from a shoulder surgery.

Landers Rehabbing Repaired Shoulder

(yes, Keith is really almost as tall as I am, even though he’s kneeling)

And, last, but certainly not least, the Daily New Tribue published this feature on CP athlete Travis Dean, who was drafted in the 14th round by the New York Yankees this year: Newton’s Travis Dean Weighs Options as Yankees’ Pitching Draftee.

Finally, here’s a blog post from ESPN.com’s Brendan Hall that features a boatload of CP studs who have had great summer showings: Tyler Beede, Adam Ravenelle, Carl Anderson, Barrett O’Neill, John Gorman, Jordan Cote, Ben Smith, Matt Luppi, AJ Zarozny, and David St. Lawrence.

Click here for more information on Cressey Performance’s Elite Baseball Development Program.

Draft Day Results

Written on June 9, 2010 at 5:40 am, by Eric Cressey

It was a fun day at Cressey Performance yesterday with the MLB draft taking place.  Just wanted to send out a quick congratulations to four Cressey Performance athletes who were selected yesterday: Ryan O’Rourke (13th Round – Twins), Chris McKenzie (13th Round – Nationals), Travis Dean (14th Round – Yankees), and Ryan Rodebaugh (15th Round – Rangers).  Nice work, fellas; lots of hard work rewarded!

Noticeably absent from the draft, however, was CP Matt Blake.  We caught up with him during what amounted to a rough day in his professional career:

Random Friday Thoughts: 11/20/09

Written on November 20, 2009 at 7:12 am, by Eric Cressey

1. Exciting week around here, as it’s getting to be that time of the year when our high school ballplayers – both 2010 and 2011 – finalize some of their plans.

Last weekend, RHP Barrett O’Neill (2011) verbally committed to the University of Virginia on a baseball scholarship, and on Tuesday, RHP Travis Dean (2010) signed his letter of intent to pitch at Kennesaw St. University in Georgia.  A few weeks earlier, RHP/3B Joe Napolitano (2011) had verbally committed to Boston College.  These three comprise 3/8 of our current 90mph+ high school crew – and I suspect that the other five will be following soon!

Also this week, 2B Erik Watkins (2010) committed to Skidmore and CF Billy Bereszniewicz (2010) committed to Binghampton.  Previously, catcher James Alfonso (2010) had accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Hartford.  Plenty more to come soon, no doubt…

2. Speaking of Travis, here is something I love about him: he has INTENT on every single medicine ball throw he makes.  It isn’t just about “tossing” a ball to a wall and rotating your hips.  It’s about getting your entire body into the effort – to the point that you’re trying to break the ball (or wall!) on every single drill.

Once we have taught our guys the technique for the drill, it’s about getting after it.  If you aren’t training rotation aggressively, you might as well not do it at all.

3. I got a lot of great comments from readers on my A Few Days in Arizona on Monday; I’d encourage you to check it out.

4. One of the key points I made was that respiratory function was essential for ideal performance and posture, and I recognize that the concept might be completely foreign for a lot of my readers.  To that end, I’d encourage you check out The Anatomy of Breathing.

It’s a pretty quick read that gives you good insights into the anatomy of the respiratory system and common dysfunctions that occur.  Once you start getting an appreciation for the muscles involved, you can start to see how poor diaphragmatic function can easily lead to overactivity of sternocleidomastoid, scalene, pec minor, intercostals – basically, a lot of muscles commonly implicated in upper extremity dysfunction.  You can just stretch and massage those areas, but it’s just like putting a bucket on the floor when the roof is leaking; it’s better to just fix the roof (aberrant breathing patterns).

5. I also touched on breathing patterns a bit in my seminar this past weekend.  Check out a few great reviews of the event:

Review #1: Bill White

Review #2: Joe Schafer

Review #3:

Yes, it was so exciting that it startled people.

6. Some interesting findings HERE that shows that there may be a strong link between childhood obesity and the development of multiple sclerosis later on in life.  One hypothesis is that it may be linked to the low levels of Vitamin D that one sees in overweight kids, and another that it could be related to the fatty tissue itself.   One more reason to take Vitamin D!

7. We’re all headed to Providence tonight to watch CP client and pro boxer Danny O’Connor try to run his professional record to 10-0.  I think we’ll be setting a world record for the number of professional baseball players in attendance at a boxing match.  Let’s go, Danny!