Episode 33: He Threw a Perfect Game in AAA. Now He Asks One Question First.

EPISODE 33 | BEER LEAGUE LIVE

🎧 Listen to Episode 33 or watch: https://tr.ee/z8vINiDwaR

There's something Brandon Hynick says at the end of every first lesson.

Not "here's your mechanics report." Not "here's what college coaches want to see."

Just this:

Are you having fun?

After 8 years in professional baseball — rookie ball in Wyoming, a perfect game in AAA, a trade to the White Sox a week after getting engaged, a shoulder injury, a release with a six-months-pregnant wife waiting at home — that's the question he leads with.

Because he knows what happens when the answer is no.

👋 Meet the Guest

Brandon Hynick is a pitching instructor at Showtime Sports Academy in Franklin, TN.

He was an 8th-round pick of the Colorado Rockies in the 2004 MLB Draft.

He earned Pitcher of the Year in back-to-back seasons — rookie ball and High-A — skipped Low-A entirely, and threw a 7-inning perfect game in AAA Colorado Springs.

He pitched alongside Jake Peavy, Mark Buehrle, and Bobby Jenks. He faced Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton, and warmed up across the outfield from Randy Johnson.

He retired at 27-28.

And he couldn't watch baseball for years after.

🔢 The Number That Matters

By age 13, 70% of kids have quit youth sports.

Not because the games got boring.

Because somewhere along the way, it stopped being theirs.

Brandon sees it every day in his lessons. Jean Lindscott — clinical child psychologist and co-author of What Is the Goal? — sees it in her practice. Kids as young as six and seven being brought in by parents asking:

"How do we get them to stop crying about going to practice?"

That's not a kid who needs therapy.

That's a kid who needs someone to ask if they want to play.

💰 The System Is a Business. Act Accordingly.

Brandon didn't come in swinging. He came in honest.

He didn't travel into the club system because he thought his son needed it early. He went because his son was heading into middle school and would have aged out of rec ball while still playing younger kids.

"I did not feel like I made the right decision after that first half season."

Sound familiar?

The travel baseball ecosystem — Perfect Game, Game 7, single-A through Majors brackets, $15 admission fees on top of thousands already spent, teams flying kids in to pitch — isn't organized around your child's development.

It's organized around revenue.

Some clubs make over a million dollars on a single tournament weekend. If your club is a nonprofit, their tax returns are public record. You can look up exactly what the directors are earning on ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer.

You should know what you're funding.

🏆 "Elite" Means What, Exactly?

On any given weekend in youth baseball, there are multiple simultaneous "elite" tournaments all claiming college coaches are watching.

Brandon's been around long enough to call it plainly:

"Those teams are flying kids in to pitch. That is a real thing that has happened."

Elite is a marketing word. Not a standard.

The clubs know it — because if you put "Elite" on the registration form, you can charge more. And parents pay it, because they don't want their kid to be the one who missed the opportunity.

That fear is the product.

🧠 What It Does to the Kids

Brandon started pitching at 14. Not because he was late — because nobody pushed him before he was ready.

His work ethic didn't ignite until 8th grade, when he attended a Bigger, Faster, Stronger camp and came home and nailed tarps to the basement ceiling so he could throw in the dark.

His parents didn't make him do it. He decided.

"It changes things when it shifts from the parents making kids do things to when the kid decides on his own that he wants to do it. There's a different level of work there."

That's not a coaching philosophy. That's a psychological reality.

When parents drive the train too long, kids become what Dr. Jean Lindscott calls people-pleasers — going through the motions, faking enthusiasm, playing to avoid disappointing Mom and Dad.

The sport becomes a performance. Not a passion.

And eventually, they quit.

🎯 The Perfect Game Lesson Nobody Talks About

Late July, AAA Colorado Springs. Brandon throws a 7-inning perfect game.

Five days later. Same team. Same stadium. First pitch of the game — leadoff double off the wall.

"I did not have the same preparation for that game that I had in previous good outings."

He uses it in lessons constantly. Not to talk about the perfect game — but to talk about what came after.

The moment you think you've made it is the moment you stop doing the things that got you there.

He saw it in himself at every level. The year he got cocky after back-to-back Pitcher of the Year awards and posted a 5 ERA in AA. The spring training after the perfect game when he thought too highly of himself heading into Double-A.

"I was always much better when I had that chip on my shoulder."

That's not a baseball lesson. That's a life lesson.

💬 The Most Important Question of Every Season

Brandon. Dr. Jean. Same answer. Different careers.

Ask your kid — every season — if they want to play.

Not after you've already paid. Not assuming yes because they went last year. Not because you've built your whole spring around the schedule.

Before any of that.

"It really should be the child's decision. Hands down." — Dr. Jean Lindscott

"My goal is not to ever get anybody to college or the big leagues. My goal is just to get you better — and make sure you're having fun while you're doing it." — Brandon Hynick

If you can't take no for an answer, that's worth examining.

🏁 So What IS the Goal?

Brandon's three kids — all still playing today. In pickup games, adult leagues, beer league.

That's the goal.

Not the scholarship. Not the elite club banner. Not the tournament trophy photo.

A lifelong love of the game.

And a kid who chose it.

🔗 Resources from This Episode

⚾ Book a lesson with Brandon Hynick at showtimesportsacademy.com — schedule directly on the site

🌐 Youth Sports Hub — beerleaguelive.com