Prince Fielder The Work Horse Of Baseball

Prince Fielder struck a deal this week with the Detroit Tigers for $214 Million Dollars over nine years. I have to honestly say that Prince Fielder is the work horse of Major League Baseball having played in all 156 Brewers games this season. Yes you could also add Matt Kemp to that list who played in all 154 games as a Dodger but that's it! That's an incredible feat to play in every game while avoiding injury, sickness and any other possible outcome that could step in the way of a day on the baseball field. The last player to play more than 152 games in a season was Justin Morneau in 2008 for the Minnesota Twins who played in 162 games that year.

Fate carried Fielder to Detroit, the town where he launched batting practice homers as a 12-year-old and grew up spending a lot of time around the Tigers and alongside his father, Cecil who played for Detroit. Since those days, Tiger Stadium has been torn down, and Fielder's relationship with his father, Cecil, is non existent. But Prince still has plenty of time to carve a new legacy in the city where his dad once played and burnish some very Hall of Fame-worthy early credentials. It will be fun to watch Prince over the coming years in Detroit and make his mark on baseball. I only wish he landed with my Cubs!







USA Baseball Championship Rings

Today was a great day as I received my PAN AM Championship ring from USA Baseball and I have to say, "It is Awesome!" What a great job USA Baseball did with the ring and it tops off the greatest baseball experience I have had to date!

The top of the ring has the year and age group of our National Team and the center of the ring holds the USA logo surrounded by diamonds. On one side it display's my last name with a folded American Flag and the words "Our Mission" under the flag. The other side of the ring has the score of our championship game USA 12 Venezuela 2 with a picture of the trophy and American Flag under the score. Under the Flag and trophy is our teams tournament record 8-0.

It is a great honor to represent my country and USA Baseball as a member of the 2011 National Team. To wear the USA jersey is an unbelievable feeling and will forever be remembered. Congrats to all my National teammates and I hope you all enjoy your Championship rings as much as I do! Thanks to USA Baseball for this awesome ring and opportunity, I am proud to be part of the USA Baseball family! I look forward to seeing everyone soon and hopefully bringing home some more gold in the years to come! USA Baseball is by far one of the greatest baseball organizations.

Hanging with Gary Sheffield

I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Gary Sheffield this past weekend at the University Of Miami Prospect Camp. Mr. Sheffield was there with his son Justin Sheffield a senior and 2012 grad. Justin is a two way player playing both infield and outfield and displayed some serious pop in his bat! Wonder where he gets that from? LOL!

University Of Miami Prospect Camp

I had the pleasure of attending the University Of Miami Prospect Camp this past weekend to kick off the 2012 baseball season in style! Wow, what a great trip to Miami and it was great to get away from the cold and snow in Chicago. While everyone back home was attending the inside camps and showcases being run around Illinois, I was playing baseball outside at the beautiful University Of Miami and taking in South Beach. I have attended a lot of College camps over the last few years and the Miami Camp was one of the best!

Not only were the coaches on hand for the entire camp, they ran an instructional camp combined with a showcase style event that was awesome! The intensity head coach Jim Morris brought is infectious and they provided us plenty of work stations to get in your reps and they also ran a pro style workout and scrimmage games over the two days. Be sure to check out my website for video and photos of the event.

www.tylerhalas.com

RC Lichtenstein to be Biscuits' pitching coach

Congratulations to my pitching coach RC Lichtenstein on his promotion to the (AA) Montgomery Biscuits for the 2012 season. This will be the 8th season for RC in the Tampa Rays Organization and he has had the opportunity to work with one of the greatest pitching staffs in the major leagues. I met RC and started taking pitching lessons with him when I was eight years old. My brother Nathan went to a catching camp he was running at the Fox Valley Sports Academy and I met him there. The rest was history.

I have been working with RC for the past seven years and the pitching instruction he teaches me is priceless. The way he challenges me to be better is the fuel I need and I love the challenge! There are many pitching coaches in our local area to choose from, but how many of them are actual coaches with a major league team and have worked with all the great arms that RC has seen over the years in the Tampa Rays system.

In addition to pitching lessons, I also go to RC for hitting lessons. Yes that's correct, I go to a pitching coach for hitting lessons! Now I have heard people say "you go to a pitching coach for hitting lessons"? And my answer is simple, yes I do! I ask you this simple question, what is a pitchers job? As a pitcher, I think my job is to recognize the hitters weakness and then pitch to that weakness. So I ask you, why wouldn't a pitching coach be able to teach hitting?

Well RC is one of the best when it come to teaching hitting! He has a gift, the way he breaks down the fundamentals of hitting without getting to technical and makes you understand what he is teaching is as good as anyone I have worked with and I have worked with a number of instructors. My dad says he teaches the (KISS) method of hitting. "Keep It Simple Stupid"! Yes hitting does seem to come natural for me and I love to hit but RC teaches and reinforces the basic principals that needs to take place to excel at hitting without getting to technical or trying to change you into someone you are not!

Thanks RC for all the years of hard work we have done and congratulations on your promotion! I look forward to working with you for many more years!

USA Baseball Creates 15U National Team For 2012

I couldn't have received more exciting news this past week when word came from USA Baseball that the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) has changed the structure of their team format. Due to the new IBAF rules they have eliminated the 14U and 16U National Teams to make way for a 12U team in 2013 and 15U Teams starting this year in 2012.

Great news for myself and my teammates from last years 14U National Team that brought home the Gold Medal in the 2011 COPABE A/14U Pan American Games this past August! Anyone born in 1997 will once again have the opportunity to try and make the 2012 15U National Team through the USA Baseball 15U Championships Tournament. Myself and teammates from last years 14U National Team will have a chance to once again represent our country and bring home more Gold!

This past years experience on the 14U National Team was the greatest baseball experience of my life to date! To now have a chance to do it back to back would be even greater! To do it with many of my friends and teammates from last years Gold Medal winning team would be even sweeter! Guys from last years team, work hard this off-season and make sure you play in the 15U Championships! We have to make the 2012 team and continue the USA Dominance! I feel more Gold on the Horizon! GO USA!

Hanging with Domingo Ayala

Last week I attended the University Of Tennessee Baseball Camp and had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Domingo Ayala. For those baseball fans I am sure you all know who Domingo is and I can tell you first hand that he is just as funny in person as he is in his videos. I had a great time hanging with Domingo and attached is a video we took of our camp workout.

USA Baseball Coach - Butch Chaffin Talking About Showcases & Times & Numbers

During the PBI Showcase USA Baseball Coach "Butch Chaffin" took the time to read a letter he received from his conversation with a Major College Coach on the West Coast about one of his high school players. I found this letter very interesting as I have also witnessed some of the points that the college coach was making in some showcases I have attended and teams I have played on. Why are these people so fixated with numbers? Let me know what you think?

USA Baseball Coach - Butch Chaffin Talking About Making A National Team

At the PBI Showcase we had the pleasure of hearing USA Baseball 18U Coach "Butch Chaffin" talk about what it takes to play for a USA Baseball National Team and the makeup of the players on the National Teams. This past August I had the pleasure of playing on the 14U National Team that won Gold in the COPABE A/14U Pan American Games in San Felipe, Venezuela. It will go down as the greatest baseball experience of my life! Enjoy the video!

2011 PBI Showcase Camp

This past week I once again attended the PBI Showcase Camp in Cleveland, Tennessee. This was the third straight year that I have attended this outstanding showcase camp and I have, by far put this camp at the top of my list each year! The PBI Camp is run annually by Mets Scout "Ash Lawson", Padres Scout "Willie Bosque", Texas Rangers Pitching Coordinator "Danny Clark" and USA Baseball Coach "Butch Chaffin" as well as some top College coaches to include Coach Tom Griffin. It serves as one of the most comprehensive baseball camps around. They do limit the number of players that attend each year which allows the player to coach ratio to be a workable number so that the players attending get that personal attention from the scouts and coaches to maximize the learning experience.

For me the highlight of this camp is the private 1 on 1 sessions that can be taken advantage of before and after the camp each day. To work 1 on 1 with Ash, Willie, Danny, Butch and Tom is a real treat for any players that take advantage. The instruction and information they teach the players is priceless! Besides the great instruction being taught, the coaches and scouts also spend time talking about the other things like recruiting, the mental side of the game and some of their past experiences as players and coaches. This Open forum between the Scouts, Coaches, Players and parents is awesome!

For those of you looking for a great camp, you cant go wrong! Visit: www.pbishowcase.com and if they ask how you heard about their little secret,  let them know Tyler Halas let you know!