While the term baseballism has yet to be defined, it will likely change the way the city of Eugene perceives the way the game of baseball should be played.
What started out as a Web site promoting a former player’s love for baseball has transformed into an organization teaching the fundamentals of the game to the youth of Eugene.
Baseballism is a training program geared toward teaching little leaguers how to the play the game the right way.The program is headed by former Oregon All-American Travis Chock and former club coordinator Jonathan Jwayad. The pair purchased the Safe at Home Baseball Camp from former director and Lane Community College professor Robert Sposato in early September and have been trying to reach Eugene’s Little League community since.
“I purchased the camp and started my company because I wanted to put baseball back in the vocabulary of people in Eugene,” Chock said. “We live in a state that produced most of the talent for the Division I NCAA champions (Oregon State), the second best Little League team in the country, and I thought that it was time that Eugene started to catch up to the rest of the state starting from the ground up.”
So far, Chock and Jwayad have been giving private lessons in the Eugene area and are looking to start running both baseball and softball clinics in the near future before Little League tryouts begin in February. They have been in touch with officials that run Little League baseball and have been able to network with many of the teams.
“Since we’ve started the camp, I’ve been getting tons and tons of e-mails for private lessons,” Jwayad said. “It seems like the need is there, and we’re just here to fill the void.”
Jwayad says that the lack of baseball instructors in the area was one of the main motivations for him to start the program.
“I hope to make a difference in these kids’ lives,” Jwayad said. “When I was a kid, I was in a Little League program that wasn’t as developed. I was learning the wrong fundamentals and increasing bad muscle memory – stuff that I had to overcome when I had good coaching. So I hope to become the foundation for these kids and teach them proper mechanics.”
Also helping out is Oregon club outfielder Matt Oss who said he believes his specialty will be teaching baserunning, outfielding and proper mechanics. He said that a group of 20-somethings is more likely to connect with a group of kids than an older coach can.
“I think I can understand what they want to know,” Oss said. “Their attention spans aren’t the greatest, so I like to keep things fun and not just be another strict coach. I think we can relate a lot more to kids than a 40-year-old with a full-time job.”
Chock had originally created Baseballism.com as a Web site where he was able to offer people clinics on the proper way to play baseball. Chock was contacted by Sposato who saw it as an opportunity to give away his camp to a younger generation that would be enthusiastic enough to continue the tradition of the camp.
“He knew that we could do well with his ‘baby’ – that’s what he called it,” Jwayad said. “He started with 20 kids one summer to keep kids off playing video games and get them out there just to play.”
The camp is also a way of popularizing a sport that goes mostly unnoticed by a city that consumes itself with Duck sports rather than baseball.
“We started the company hoping to bring more attention to baseball in Eugene instead of football all the time,” Chock said. “I’ve got nothing against football, but in my opinion baseball is the greatest game on earth. I would also like to give kids baseball role models to look up to since UO doesn’t have a D-I team.”
If the business venture turns out to be successful, Chock and Jwayad plan on expanding the company throughout the Northwest by offering camps and clinics taught by established baseball players in other cities.
Chock’s accolades include being a heavily sought-after recruit from his high school in Hawaii until a freak injury from sliding into second base broke his wrist. After the injury, D-I colleges lost interest so, instead of opting to play for a D-III school, Chock chose Oregon for its academics and earned his degree in Educational Studies last spring. He joined the club team where he became a starter at third base for four years and a two-time All-American. He was offered a chance to play in the independent leagues after Major League scouts saw his potential in an open tryout but he turned the opportunity down.
“My salary would have been $700 a month and it just wasn’t good timing for me to make a move to the East Coast,” Chock said. “Oregon is where I want to be.”
Chock plans to keep Baseballism going for as long as he can, before he needs to find what he considers a real career. Until then, working with aspiring baseball stars brings its own benefits.
“The most rewarding (aspect) for me is seeing the kids improve in front of your eyes and enjoying the game,” Chock said. “Baseball is a tough game to like if you don’t know how to play it.”
[email protected]