OM DENNE EPISODE
Coach Tim Neiman welcomes Jay Jackson to Straight Lines, brought to you by Bluebook Sports, the game's trusted directory since 1909, connecting businesses directly with players, parents, and coaches. Download the app today. Jay pitched for six major league clubs (San Diego, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Atlanta, Toronto, and Minnesota) and spent time in Japan across a seventeen-year professional career. He looks back at what a seventeen-year-old doesn't understand about pro baseball, namely how much of it is a business, and why gratitude and showing up for each day kept him in the game. Jay shares the support system that carried him: his mom's "go take a nap" test for deciding whether a problem is real, and his parents' simple question, "Are you happy?" He also tells the story of a low point, trying to afford a wedding on a minor league salary, and the winter ball offer that arrived right after he asked for a sign, one he says marked a turning point in the second half of his career. Jay talks about his book, Nine Innings to Living Your Best Life, and the SMILE curriculum and app he's building to help young athletes stay in sports longer, build positive foundations, and handle the reality that most kids will never play professionally. He closes with a driving analogy for what straight lines means to him: you're the one behind the wheel, and every pothole is a choice between staying positive and getting it fixed or letting negativity run you off the road.
A must-listen for young athletes and parents navigating the ups and downs of player development, anyone feeling stuck who needs a reminder to build a "positivity snowball," and coaches who want to help kids carry the lessons of sport well beyond the field.
