Life of a Pitcher in the Frontier
League
By: Jonathon Coyle
Lifestyle Topics
“If you play in this
league, you have to
love the game, a lot.”
- Dan Blewett
•
•
•
•
Food
Salary
Hotels
Clubhouses
Food Money and
Common Food
Choices
“I come back (home) at the
end of the season feeling
fat, and yet hungry at the
same time. With just $20,
you can’t go out and have a
nice breakfast at a sit down
restaurant. If you do, you
just pissed away your meal
money for the day. So, lots
of guys stock up on gas
station food, or end up
getting something at the
concession stand at the end
of the game.”
- Dan Blewett
• Players get $20 for food
each day
• Players often get gas
station food or concessions
after games
• Common gas station food
choices include animal
crackers, bags of chips, and
other cheap but filling
foods that do not spoil
quickly
Provided Pre-Game Food
• PB+J sandwiches
• Lunch meat (sometimes spoiled or moldy due
to lack of refrigeration on the bus)
Salary
“If you aren’t
financially smart, you
will not be able to live
with any luxuries.”
- Dan Blewett talking
about living on the
baseball salary in the
Frontier League
• The average salary is $850
per month
• Most players have a side
job besides baseball
Hotels
“Most are ok at best.”
- Dan Blewett
explaining the average
hotel conditions
• Most in the middle of
nowhere
• “Shady figures” roam the
halls at night
• The air doesn’t work in
some (can get up to 100° in
rooms)
• Worst hotels have bed bugs
and/or lice
• Rarely get a nice hotel
Clubhouses
• Conditions change based on if you’re home or
away
• Home clubhouses are sometimes up to 3
times bigger than the away clubhouse
• Some clubhouses are so small the guys have
to stand shoulder to shoulder while changing
Physical and
Mental Aspects of
Pitching
• Fastball
“The baseball gods
reward the pious.”
- Dan Blewett saying
that the player that
works/trains the
hardest will succeed
more than the ones
that don’t.
• Breaking Balls
• Arm strength exercises
• Separation Factors
between a good and great
pitcher
Fastball
• Need to throw about 90mph
• Need to have pinpoint precision with it (be
able to hit an exact spot inside or outside of
the strike zone
Breaking Balls
• Need at least two effective breaking balls
• Most effective in the Frontier League are the
slider, the curveball, and the changeup
Slider Grip
Curveball Grip
Changeup Grip
Arm Strength Exercises
• There are many different exercises for arm
strength
• The best one is long toss (starting at a short
distance and continually get farther apart
from your partner until you can’t get it to
them in the air)
• You should play long toss 5-6 days a week
• You should play for around 80 throws
Separation Factors
Between a Good
and Great Pitcher
“If you have a hitter
with a long, loopy
swing, you don’t
throw him a curveball,
you throw him a
fastball inside”
- Dan Blewett
stressing the point of
needing to be smart
on the mound
• Competitiveness (how bad
you want to win)
• Fearlessness (how much
you trust your abilities)
• Ability to be smart on the
mound
Other Information
• Team Rosters
• How to prevent arm injuries later on in your
career
Team Rosters
• The average team in the Frontier League only
has 11 pitchers
• Lots of stress is put on the pitchers’ arms due
to a little amount of pitchers and the number
of games played in a season (88-90)
How to Prevent Arm Injuries Later on
In Your Career
You should only develop your fastball and
changeup until after high school because these
pitches put less strain on your arm than other
breaking balls such as the curveball while your
arm is still growing/developing.
For More Information Please Visit…
• http://danblewett.com/
• http://frontierleague.com/
Special Thanks To…
Dan Blewett for taking the time to answer my
questions that provided the majority of the
information in this presentation.