Hello

Meet The Author

Hello, fellow baseball players and connoisseurs. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Zane Gelphman, and I'm the creator and founder of this blog.

I created this blog to share my struggles and successes throughout my baseball career, along with the experiences of other contributors in hopes to enlighten some of you on ways to overcome some of the challenges of such a mentally taxing sport.

I'm just like all of you. I'm a ballplayer who loves baseball. I've recently entered the professional realm of the game, playing Independent League Baseball; however, at the end of the day, I'm a baseball fanatic just like everybody else. I mean, who couldn't fall in love with such a perfectly perfect game?

I'm just like everybody else, yes, but I also believe I have a unique perspective on the game because of the path I have been on. I started from the very bottom. As a short, chubby, uncoordinated 13 year old, I entered my first year of high school baseball, where I received a grand total of four at bats. The following year, I got cut in the team's first round of dismissals. I wasn't a bad kid. I didn't have a problem with the coaches or players. The coaches weren't idiots. I just wasn't that good. Plain and simple. Working from the lowest of the low, I had to put my head down and work, regardless of how many eyes were watching me. With almost no instruction or coaching from more knowledgable authority, I faced a mountain of adversity. I wasn't bigger or stronger than anybody, I wasn't faster or more athletic than anybody, and I knew my physical tools were not going to make me stand out as a baseball player. Therefore, I had to THINK my way to the top. I had to figure out what others couldn't. I had to outsmart those I played with and against. What came to them naturally, I had to manufacture on my own with little help. So for the next ten years, that is just what I did.

After my sophomore year of high school, I transferred to a place where I would have a better chance at seeing the field. I needed a fresh start. At my new high school, I put up two years of slightly-above-average numbers in a league where a .325 batting average is considered mediocre at best. Receiving only Division III and lower NAIA offers, I chose the junior college route, attending Cabrillo College in the fall of 2014.

I started my college career on the bench, receiving a spot start opportunity here and a pinch hit at bat there. It took six players getting suspended for the rest of the season for me to get an extended opportunity. I ran with it as best I could and was able to put up decent numbers.

My sophomore year I attained yet another starting spot, putting up good enough numbers to earn myself a scholarship to the high-end Division II Oklahoma Baptist University.

OBU is where I truly found myself as a baseball player. There, I amassed two NCAA All-Conference Honors, an NCAA All-Region award, and an NCCAA All-American award, while winning an NCCAA national championship. As an undrafted free agent, I then signed with an Independent League baseball team in the Pacific Association, where I hit 20 homeruns and won Rookie of the Year. My season was enough to earn me a contract offer from the Texas Airhogs out of the American Association, where I will be spending my 2020 season.

Going from not good enough to make a team to playing professional baseball, my struggles have helped me develop the ability to teach others how to rise in this ruthlessly perfect game. I have had to develop a complete understanding of what it takes to progress faster than the people around you and, as a thoughtful and contemplative human being, I believe that I have the skills to articulate what successful life in baseball is like. I hope you enjoy the future posts and articles written by a number of contributors. Please feel free to subscribe to "Headcase" and stay tuned to the valuable information we will share with you in the future!