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The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

1KHO 605: Let Them Fall in Love First | Dan Blewett, This Slump Shall Pass

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Parenting, Kids & Family

4.91.8K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kids don’t need earlier tryouts—they need more backyard joy. In this conversation, former pro pitcher Dan Blewett shares how he started “late” by today’s standards, fell in love with the game through free play, and built the grit to endure multiple career-threatening injuries. He argues that early structure can crowd out wonder, and that the deepest resilience is born from neighborhood games, missed catches, and a parent who shows up—often with a bucket of balls. You’ll hear why sampling many sports beats specializing, how to nurture lifelong athletic identity without burnout, and what really keeps kids coming back when competition gets brutal. Dan gets practical for families: give your child “50 at-bats in the backyard,” let the umpire be wrong, focus on development over stats, and don’t wait for Dad—moms can coach, catch, and lead. We explore control vs. surrender, empathy on teams, and why sports should still feel like sunshine and sprinting at age 39. If you’re torn between club fees and simple play, this episode reframes youth sports around love first, training second, and memories that outlast any scoreboard. Learn more about Dan and everything he has to offer here Get your copy of This Slump Shall pass here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:30.3

here we go welcome to the one thousand hours outside podcast my name is jenny yorch i'm the founder of

0:35.4

one thousand hours outside and we are going to be talking today to a professional baseball player. I don't think I've ever talked to a professional baseball player in my entire life. Dan Blewett, welcome. Welcome. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. So sports are a huge part of a lot of kids' lives. And so we've got a lot of parents that are listening in and the kids are doing youth sports and that's adding into their time outdoors which is a wonderful thing

1:00.0

we talk about the benefits of sports that are organized we talk about the benefits of sports that are

1:05.8

organized by the kids like pick up games of sports what What's your story? Did you fall in love with baseball

1:11.1

as a young kid? Yeah, I started, I guess, late by today's standards. My dad was coaching my

1:18.4

brother. We actually, our backyard, like, butted up to a local high school. So they would be

1:24.5

like over the fence practicing at this field that we could see from our from our back fence and

1:29.8

For me at like six or seven I was like nah, I'm good

1:33.0

I'm just gonna go back into the woods and like catch turtles and frogs and I was kind of outdoorsy that kind of stuff

1:38.4

And then one day it just kind of clicked and I started at age eight and

1:43.3

I was good at it. I enjoyed it like slug in a baseball felt

1:47.3

fun and then I had some early success. I had good coordination like getting bat to ball and

1:53.2

you know catch and throw and then from there I just I couldn't get enough I just was in the backyard

1:58.4

every day you know playing you, one-on-one baseball

2:02.3

with my best friend or whatever, get the neighborhood kids over, playing catch with my dad,

2:06.5

all that stuff. But there was a lot of free play, just backyard baseball in my childhood. And I think

2:11.6

that was really important because today, I mean, kids are playing organized sports of all ages

2:16.7

at six you, seven you.

2:19.5

And like, I have a nephew and two nieces and like, God love them, but they're still like, I mean, their attention spans.

...

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