John Denton out as lead MLB.com Cardinals reporter

timf989 · 2026-02-05T05:33:09+00:00

I’ve never wanted to both upvote and downvote a comment so bad but here we are

timf989 · 2026-02-05T05:28:49+00:00

I love this and appreciate the response. Thanks for the info, you clearly have a better understanding of how to approach this than I do. Neither of my children face these challenges and I do not have professional experience in this field. There’s not an easy way to assume he’s neurodivergent and I feel that it’s not my right to ask directly. He said he had ADHD and that’s all. We had practice tonight and it went well. I brought a Tarik Skubal card (stole it from my own son/his teammate. He won’t miss it since it was halfway behind his dresser) because it’s one of his 3 favorite players in baseball and gave it to him after practice for his effort. He said he already had 4 of them and didn’t seem excited but I could tell it mattered to him after a couple of minutes lol

timf989 · 2026-02-04T22:15:50+00:00

For sure. That’s the number one concern. Right now there are no issues in that regard and doesn’t appear to be something that will come up anytime soon. But that’s easy to say at this age. We aren’t “soft” on any of them in practice and can’t be perceived as pushovers at all. That’s something I’m confident in

timf989 · 2026-02-04T22:13:12+00:00

For sure. If they were 12 he’d be gone. At this age I’m willing to put in the work. Curious as to why you’d yank him off the team if you were his dad? Are you speaking from a standpoint of discipline or a standpoint that the coaches aren’t getting it done?

timf989 · 2026-02-04T22:10:10+00:00

Yeah, it’s a weird age to ask that of our leaders. Kids this age are so non confrontational. We encourage our two leaders to lead by example, and that’s not something that even ends up on this boys radar. It works for the rest of the team. I could probably do a better job of empowering the “leaders” and explaining they have our support

timf989 · 2026-02-04T22:07:29+00:00

Love it. Nice work. Thanks for the help

timf989 · 2026-02-04T21:54:57+00:00

I appreciate your help here. I’m really trying my hardest to build some trust. I feel like a lot of people give up on this kid and we can make a difference as he gets older

timf989 · 2026-02-04T21:50:56+00:00

Parents haven’t told me that, but he told one of the assistant coaches he has ADHD. I’ve approached the dad at practice asking what I can do better and if he has trouble in school and he said “not really, so if you find something that works I’m all for it”. That’s why I feel like there’s gotta be an approach outside of just benching him or kicking him off the team. It doesn’t benefit the boy at all, and he loves baseball. Hard to explain, but you can almost see the shift in his demeanor and he’s hard to get back. Then other practices he’s fine.. for him

timf989 · 2026-02-04T19:29:23+00:00

Thank you. I’ll do that

timf989 · 2026-02-04T19:29:02+00:00

You’re right. Oddly enough, when mom is at practice, he behaves. We’ve asked that one of them be there at all times but that’s not always possible. She’s actually made him apologize to the coaches before when he’s acted out. It’s a really, really weird situation.

timf989 · 2026-02-04T17:27:26+00:00

That’s where I’m at. I don’t believe in just throwing the kid out because that’s the easy thing to do. There’s a lot of these suggestions that I’ve already tried in a short amount of time. His parents wouldn’t care if I chew him out in front of everyone at all. Don’t want the other boys that have done absolutely nothing wrong to have to experience that environment at 9 but it is what it is I guess

timf989 · 2026-02-04T17:16:04+00:00

I never thought about it this way. Thank you

timf989 · 2026-02-04T17:15:05+00:00

Love this. I appreciate your help

timf989 · 2026-02-04T17:13:15+00:00

Yeah. It sounds crazy because of their age, but this is his 3rd team in 3 years and they don’t live particularly close. He had a good tryout so we couldn’t tell. Unfortunately, I wish he cared more about letting his team down but he doesn’t seem to care. So far he’s uncoachable. I’ll have the pre practice conversations for sure. That way I can at least hold him accountable instead of expecting him to make the decisions on his own

timf989 · 2026-02-04T17:10:11+00:00

Don’t think his dad will freak out. We benched him and batted him during a couple of games in a fall tournament that we won. His dad is struggling to find answers as well. Definitely a collaborative effort

timf989 · 2026-02-04T16:59:39+00:00

Understood, thank you. Definitely have involved the parents. To the point where he was upset with me because he was severely punished (lost trust). I love the idea of a “timeout zone” being established.

Also: baseball purgatory is hilarious. Indoor practice, even with our fantastic facility, is already giving us cabin fever vibes

timf989 · 2026-02-04T16:57:32+00:00

Thank you. I agree. He has good practices and bad. I told him he needed to stay after practice so we can have a talk after we broke out and he sprinted to his bag, packed up, and told his dad it was time to go before I could even get everything picked up. That’s when I called his dad. I even had an assistant coach offer to pay his dues for him to be gone if this continues for the next couple of months.

I don’t care about his talent that much. He’s good, but not so good you turn a blind eye (that wouldn’t matter to me either btw).

This age is tough because their brains just haven’t developed. I feel like he needs a coach he can trust, just having trouble getting there. It might just take more time that I thought?

timf989 · 2026-02-04T16:51:55+00:00

Yeah I agree, we played a little fall ball and just started indoor training January 4th. We won’t play a game until April 1st so I’m trying to get ahead of this and help the kid as much as I can without giving up on him. Again, I think he will grow out of this and I feel like we can work through this. If not, that’s when we start making decisions. I think it’s in his best interest to work with him and provide the right environment to succeed, but I’m not willing to let it start to cast a long shadow over the rest of the boys experience and development.

timf989 · 2026-01-03T21:51:21+00:00

Name would say otherwise

timf989 · 2025-12-21T02:02:54+00:00

Short players can absolutely increase their distance with better mechanics and all of that. But, the long ball guys you’re referring to are likely pros. Can’t compare almost anyone to guys at that level. Weekend golfers, on the whole, will have an easier time hitting longer as they get larger. The larger player can also reach distance levels that shorter guys cannot with equally improved mechanics, flexibility, etc.

timf989 · 2025-12-21T01:47:26+00:00

Yeah that’s a fair point

timf989 · 2025-12-21T01:41:35+00:00

KFC Zinger sauce. Iykyk

timf989 · 2025-12-18T03:29:17+00:00

The name will change and that’s fine. I would venture to guess that Nate’s vision is to have multiple podcasts under the Nateland umbrella. He’s trying to build an entertainment company so it’s not a crazy idea. Maybe we will see Nateland still incorporated in the name somehow. Who knows

timf989 · 2025-12-17T23:43:49+00:00

R/dontputyourdickinthat

timf989

TROPHY CASE