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Live Chat With Former MLB Outfielder Chad Hermansen
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Steve
10:41
Hi, my daughter lives in Henderson and I really like running on the McCullough trail. What do you miss most abt baseball? And do you ever get together with former teammates?
Chad Hermansen
10:42
Thats awesome! I miss the fellas.  It was always about your teammates and the relationships that you build and wanted to so something amazing with your teammates.  Hitting was a lot of fun too, but of course comes with the struggles.
Wily Coyote
10:42
Is there a lot of mental skills training in MLB? Enough?
Chad Hermansen
10:44
I am unsure exactly how the mental skill coaches work with the athletes.  I think most of them are over the whole organization and they travel from team to team in their organization and basically offer coaching or maybe give a presentation.  I don't anything is required from a players standpoint to work with any of them and is more optional and there if you want it.  I'm sure there are phone and zoom calls going on individually.
Put me in Coach
10:44
Chad, what is your #1 go to when coaching former athletes?  What is the usual suspect that holds them back?
Chad Hermansen
10:47
When I start with a athlete we have conversation about where they are at today.  What is going for them.  They share with me their story and how they are interpreting it.  I am trained in casual coaching which means I sort out the facts of what they are telling me and I then start to put their what they are telling into a model to show them how they are thinking about this story is getting them the results they currently have.  It's really interested when they see what is happening with their mindset that they were unaware of.  So, I use a model to show them their mind and how we can start to work to get to where they want to go.
Ryan
10:47
If you could be 21 again and make your debut, what would you want to do differently? Maybe take a different approach with the hitting coach for example?
Chad Hermansen
10:48
I would have been more bold and just done it "my way" until I showed that it didn't work.  When you get results, nobody says anything.
Jacob L
10:48
Hi Chad,
Who has been your favorite person or people you've interviewied before.
Chad Hermansen
10:50
Oh man I love everyone that I have interviewed.  One of my favorite people in general of all time is Jeff Banister.  He's such an amazing man and has an incredible story.   Today my interview with Bligh Madris came out on Youtube.  You can follow my YouTube channel and podcast at Mental Edge Training Coach. The most successful interview is the one with Greg Maddux.  He's so down to earth for a hall of famer.
BN
10:50
Hi Chad - Do you think MLB is ready to consider mental health issues as a cause to place a player on the IL? How do you think that could be worked out? Similar to concussion protocol, maybe?
Chad Hermansen
10:52
Yes that very well is happening already.  Players that are struggling and they want to cover it up some if you will.  The league seems to be way more open to to discssusing some of these things and we are seeing a guy like Drew Robinson a Vegas native here who shot himself and lived be an ambassador and giving more awareness to this issue.
I’m your #1 fan
10:53
What city did you like playing in the most?
Chad Hermansen
10:53
Chicago for sure.  I never got to play in Boston or at the old Yankees stadium.  They are however are special.
Jay
10:53
Chad, I'm asking this as a Bucco fan.  Why are the Pirates so bad at developing players? Lots of young players never reach their full potential with this inept organization. What are some key differences between the teams that are good at developing (Rays, Cards) and the ones that are bad (Buccos)
Chad Hermansen
10:54
I wish I had an answer for you.
John
10:54
What was your favorite experience in your pro career?
Chad Hermansen
10:54
My first home run in Chicago.  My wife and mother in law were there and they seemed like they were the only two Pirate fans there.
Pitching Guru
10:55
Who was the toughest pitcher you faced in your career, and in the minors was there ever a guy that you faced and thought "wow this guy is gonna be a good ML guy"?
Chad Hermansen
10:56
Randy Johnson, Billy Wagner, Kerry Wood and Rick Ankeil.  Ankeil is the only lefty that buckled me as a lefty with his breaking ball. Wood was electric.
Chris
10:56
Hi Chad, thanks for chatting.  Do you think with the amount of information and technology available to try and optimize a player’s performance would have been a difference maker in your career?
Chad Hermansen
10:58
Possibly.  I wasn't much of a video guy when it came to my swing or watching my at bats.  It was more feel for me and being ready to hit.  It probably would have given me more answers in regards to my swing plane and would have giving me proof that this is the swing and approach I want to take.
Mark Canha
10:58
Any advice for doing long distance with family?
Chad Hermansen
10:58
Mark, are you a player now?
mike
10:58
whats the best fan heckle you ever heard?
Chad Hermansen
11:01
When I was a Pirate I was playing right field in Chicago against the Cubs.  IN right field Sosa was known for standing in the same spot and not really moving or adjusting the hitters. So there was a worn out path out there where it was just dirt. Like an old softball field.  When I went out there I was standing in the path and the fans in right field kept yelling at me "Hermansen get out of Sosa's path."  So would put my foot in and out of it and they would yell back and forth to me it was hilarious.
Scott
11:01
When you were first called up to the Pirates, which players were your mentors?
Chad Hermansen
11:04
Scott, when I first got called up that September I felt pretty much alone in a way.  Then I made the team that following spring and had Jon VanderWall next to me.  He was awesome and would help keep my spirits up some.  I was around Mike Benjamin some on the bus.  It sounds weird but I needed that mentor to help me as I was so young at 21-22.  You hear all time the older guys taking the younger guys under their wing. Guys like Torii Hunter taking Mike Trout under their wing when I was scouting for the Angles.  I think it's really important for offer guys to help the younger guy because they all wondering if they belong there and if they are good enough.
KC24
11:05
Being a life coach now for former players, whats the biggest struggle you see with guys adjusting to life outside of the ball field? Whats one piece of advice you always give guys that are just finishing their career's?
Chad Hermansen
11:07
Shame!  Shame of not becoming the player that they thought they were going to become.  Im just starting out my Life Coach journey if you will, but just talking with a few guys now is that they have a story about how things didn't work out.  I have my story about how things didn't work and it takes some time to work through it, accept it, and start working to putting your thought and feelings around it in a more calm place and take accountability for everything.
Edgar
11:07
Hello, Chad. Thanks for doing this. How was your experience playing in Mexico?
Chad Hermansen
11:09
Edgar, if I am being frank not great all. I was still recovering from a torn labrum in m through shoulder and all I could do was DH.  I was by myself and only was there for 3-4 weeks.
Getting Traded
11:09
Chad, you were traded to the Cubs midseason and from the Cubs during the offseason.   How did you find out about each of the transactions considering different times of the year?
Chad Hermansen
11:12
traded to the Cubs I was in the Pirates clubhouse and got the call to go see skip.  I went to Chicago the next day or two days from that.  Traded from Cubs to the Dodgers I actually had a torn labrum in my throwing shoulder in 2002.  I played through it with cortisone shots but it was killing me everyday.  The Cubs did my surgery that winter and when I woke up in the recovery room the doctor told me that my agent was on the phone. He asked me if I was coherent and I said yes, he said you've been traded to the Dodgers!  I said, do they know I just had surgery.  Yep, they will take care of you.
Class of 95
11:12
Aside from your coaches growing up, were there any other resources you used to learn the game? We didn't have to walk uphill both ways through the snow, but can you imagine having the apps/videos/resources kids do now
Chad Hermansen
11:14
I played with my friends growing top everyday.  I never did a hitting lesson or anything like that. Just played.  I watched a lot of baseball on TV.  As much as I could, couldn't get enough. I could see now players have so much at their disposal it could become to much and they don't know themselves and rely on outside sources to improve themselves rather then them learning who they are and what needs work
Yankee Clipper
11:14
Chad, thanks for doing this, man! Who was the best player you saw in person? How about the most impressive hitter? God bless.
Chad Hermansen
11:15
Barry Bonds hands down!  Griffey right there and a played I was very impressed with was Josh Hamilton.
Jeff
11:15
Did you or teammates ever frequent Wrigleyville bars in your time in Chicago?
Chad Hermansen
11:17
Jeff, I am sure they did.  I am a prude dude, haha I don't drink and was straight back to the hotel for me unless we had dinner plans somewhere.  My big league ages was from 21-26 I think and I was pretty good about not going to places that would get me in trouble.  Plus I was married at 21
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