PINSTRIPEPOWER

HOW THE YANKEES’ BRANDON LAIRD IS CREATING SOME SERIOUS THUNDER IN THE EASTERN LEAGUE (AND THE REST OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL)

By Ed Tseng

So far this season, he has hit for the cycle, ending with a walk-off home run.

He has hit a grand slam and a three-run home run in the same game (twice).

He was named Eastern League Player of the Week and Eastern League Player of the Month.

He led all of professional baseball with 77 RBIs in his first 74 games.

And he’s a slow-starter.

His name is Brandon Laird, #29, third-baseman for the Yankees Double-A Trenton Thunder. (Promoted to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre on 8/1/10)

I have been fortunate enough to spend some time this season with the Yankees’ 27th-round draft pick at his home field, Waterfront Park in Trenton, NJ.

I have spoken to Laird on several occasions, with the first time being on 5/26/10, right before the game in which he hit for the cycle and ended with a walk-off home run. I even threw out the first pitch to him on 7/18/10 when I proposed to my girlfriend Sarah. But that’s another story (you can see the video here: http://edtseng.com/2010/07/message-1091-first-pitch-video).

Each time I spoke with Laird, we sat down in our usual spot — in the hallway next to the clubhouse, underneath the large Yankee logo and lineup of Thunder jerseys of players past, including Derek Jeter’s.  We would talk before games and have in-depth conversations about baseball, mental toughness, success and life.

He told me about how he came from a baseball family in Southern California, and how this was his fourth full season in the minor leagues. And that his older brother, Gerald is the starting catcher for the Detroit Tigers. He also shared his experiences with Pete Rose and Derek Jeter.

All of this information was fine and good, but I wanted to get into his head. I wanted to find out what made him tick, and, most importantly, what his keys to success were.

Here are the 5 Pinstripe Principles I discovered:

1. Persistence: In his first year of high school, Laird didn’t even make his varsity squad. But he (like Michael Jordan) didn’t give up. In fact, they both used failure as motivation and worked even harder.
2. Process/Effort Focus: “I just try to go all-out every day and take one game at a time,” Laird told me. The Yankee prospect does not step up to the plate and try to hit a home run. As a matter of fact, when I spoke to him after he hit the walk-off home run on 5/26, he said he was just trying to get a good swing on the ball and hit a line-drive. “I try to have the same approach every time I come to bat.” I asked what it took to get to this level and Laird said, “Hard work.” When you focus on the process (effort, energy and attitude) you get better products (results).
3. Positive Mindset: “In Spring Training, I was talking to Derek Jeter and he said that baseball is a game of failure and we should try to take away something positive every day,” Laird shared. In pressure situations, Brandon takes a couple of deep breaths and tells himself that he’s been in this situation before and that he’s in control. When he has a bad day, he looks at it as feedback — how he can improve next time.  Then he lets it go. When he leaves the field, he leaves baseball behind.
4. Patterns (Rituals): “I do the same thing every day. I know what I want to accomplish when I arrive at the park (around 1pm for a 7:05 pm start). I relax, get some treatment, hit in the cage, transfer that to batting practice, then transfer that to the game.” This formula seems to be working well for Laird. I asked him if he ever got bored of it or didn’t feel like doing his routine. “I have to say yes, but I suck it up and do it anyway. Then, I get into it and want to play.”
5. Passion: “Baseball is my passion. I know many people who never made it because they didn’t love it.” Talking with Brandon Laird, I could tell that he truly has passion for the game and strives for constant learning and improvement. When you love what you do, you work harder. When you work harder, you get better results.

No one can argue that Laird’s statistics are impressive so far this season, but those results are by-products of having the right approach.

Talking with Laird and watching him hustle on and off the field, go all-out (even when he doesn’t feel like it) and bounce back from failure, I can’t help but think that this guy gets it. He knows what he has to do and he does it.

Laird does so many things well on the field, but the thing he does best, in my opinion, is the same thing that all the great players do…

He inspires the rest of us to become better at whatever we do.

The sky is the limit for Brandon Laird. And time will tell how far he goes.

I have a good feeling about this young man.

Remember the name, Brandon Laird — he not only has all the ingredients to become a great baseball player, but also the tools to become a great person.

That’s a winner in my book.

*NOTE* In Brandon Laird’s first Triple-A game, on 8/2/10, he went 4-for-4 with two home runs and two singles.