 Rusty Kamori, and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou School Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game, and it's about mindset, leadership, and building a superior culture of excellence. My special guest today is the head coach of our University of Hawaii baseball team. He is Coach Rich Hill, and today we are going Beyond Baseball. Hey Coach Rich, welcome to Beyond the Lines. How's it everybody? Honored to be on your show, Rusty. Thank you so much. Coach Rich, I absolutely love you. You have such an amazing personality. We are so lucky to have you as our baseball coach at the University of Hawaii, and can you first share about some of the roles you had before joining UH? Well, first of all, thank you. I'm honored to be the baseball coach here to serve as the head baseball coach here at the University of Hawaii. It is a tremendous honor and blessing for me and my family. I started out coaching when I was 24. I signed that contract just out of professional baseball and teaching in high school, and was lucky enough to be at Cal Lutheran University for the first six years of my coaching career. Bob Doring, the AD liked me for some reason. I was in his classes a couple years prior, and it was a part-time job. We did some special things at Cal Lutheran, played for the National Championship in 1992, kind of culminated there, went on to the University of San Francisco from 94 to 98, did some great things there, and from then really was blessed to go to the University of San Diego. That's really where people, I guess, would know me from. That's 23 years on the hilltop there at San Diego, and coached some great players, been around some great coaches, and then really had this great opportunity to come to the University of Hawaii and build off what coached last and coached trap had built and maybe take it one step further and a chance to impact this great community, which has meant so much to my family and myself, and here we are. So it's awesome. Well, I mean, I have no doubt you're going to take it to higher levels, and yeah, Coach Rich, the last game of this past season, Ryan Tanaka had invited Judge Peter Fong, myself, and some other guests to be in the VIP room behind home plate, and that's where we met you. I mean, that was such an epic game, right? Oh my gosh, you know, UC Santa Barbara, who, parentally, you know, the last decade, you know, has been at top of the big west, you know, and we had beaten them two nights, you know, prior. It's standing room only, you know, like the old days, you know, there's four deep up on the concourse, there's 4,600 people screaming, let's go bows, you know, the place is just kind of shaking. We're up 9 to 2, they come back, and I think take the lead 12 to 10, it just had everything in that game, you know, and it kind of symbolized, you know, our season. And then in the bottom of the 10th inning, I believe, I think it went extra innings, maybe the bottom of the ninth, you know, lead off guy on, and Stone Meow, local boy, you know, from the state of Hawaii, Big Island, hit his second home run in as many nights, I believe, to have this walk off win, you know, frenzied crowd, everybody stayed late, our guys are walk off at senior night. What a way to end the season and really symbolize, you know, where we have come, you know, as a program here, and what we're really about. Well, Coach Rich, I was so excited to see all of that, I mean, from the first pitch, all the way to that home run, and you know that, I want to ask you about the UH baseball stadium because it's such a nice stadium, I mean, it's beautiful, and the fans, I mean, just, I mean, they get into it, and there's such great energy, right? Absolutely, you know, Coach Les Murakami had the vision, you know, 40 years ago, you know, in 1984 to build this, you know, and the state of Hawaii and the legislature and everybody got behind it, and you know, at the time it was the state of the art college baseball stadium, you know, through the years it has withstood the test of time, you know, it's got that cement feel, it's a huge footprint, when you walk in, it's kind of, it's just still just jaw-dropping, right? You go up on that concourse and you hear the music and you see the beautiful field and the palm trees and the green, it's just crazy, and then, you know, you add the fans, you know, and I really hope the fans are listening here because it is very, very special, and I liken it to a St. Louis Cardinals game. I played with the Cardinals, you know, back in 1985, and they're known as the number one fan base in Major League Baseball, and really because they appreciate good baseball, they understand what a good play is, what a good pitch is, what a good at bat is, they actually clap, you know, for somebody that makes a great play on the other team, and our fans are like that, you go to an LSU game or an Oregon State game, and those fans are mean, you know, and if you lose, they let you know it, and here, winter lose, our fans stayed at the end, they want to see us do the Shakahama and pay homage to the great fans of Hawaii, and they appreciate the good play, and they come down, and they wait for the players, winter lose, to get autographs and have the cakey, you know, experience, you know, these great role models, so we talk about that in recruiting with our kids from the mainland and say, hey man, this is a fan base like no other, you know, and the closest resemblance is St. Louis Cardinals fans, so that is a great comparison, and something to be very proud of, you know, if you're a fan here in Hawaii. Yeah, it's all about behaving and acting with class, and Coach Rich, I want to ask you about your team's culture of excellence, what are some disciplines, what are some, what are you trying to instill in your team to really strive for that superior culture of excellence? You know, it's, we define culture, you know, our culture, and that's probably the number one thing on the ladder, Rusty, I mean, that's the one, that's the one thing that's controllable, you know, and you know about, you know, the controllables and the uncontrollables, how we focus on that, and really we define it as the way we do things around here, you know, and that's kind of plastered, you know, in a few places, so we call it above the line and below the line, you know, so if we're going to go to the weight room, you know, what does above the line look like, you know, and it looks like everybody's wearing the same thing, everything's tucked in, you know, nobody's got bed head, and we've all got water bottles, and I mean, it's loud, right, and it's enthusiastic, and you know the Bull Warriors, the baseball team is in there getting after it, nobody's sitting down, nobody's yawning, everybody's up, high-fiving, you know, for that hour, what does above the line look like in training, you know, in practice, same kind of thing, there's a level of enthusiasm that is expected, that's controllable, you know, we also call it level 10, right, so we want to be level 10 in our controllable factors, and controllable factors are directly related to excellence, you say, you know, going good to great, Jim Collins, you know, the whole thing, right, so Rusty Komora, his book, you know, talking about a culture or a team or a company that is really good, how do they go from good to superior, you know, I mean, this is 22 championships that you won, bro, I mean, that's amazing, right, so we're trying to get to that point too, we talk about level 10, and we talk about above the line, what does it look like in the dugout, what does it look like in the back, what does your body language look like, because we all know that body language screams, it doesn't whisper, so those kinds of things, really, really focusing on the controllables, being level 10 and being above the line, and all of those controllables. I love hearing those insights, Coach Rich, and, you know, when players start, you know, really young playing baseball, I mean, they start because it's fun, and then as they get good, competition becomes fun. Now, when I'm watching your team, they look like they're really having fun, I mean, they're just, they love each other, what do you do to really keep things fun, I mean, you mentioned part of that just a little while ago, but what do you really do to keep things fun in such a competitive environment? There's two guys, Jim Leland, you know, who's one of the best baseball managers, you know, ever, you know, talked about creating an environment of enthusiasm, you know, and I, one of my greatest mentors, Dave Snow, who's at Long Beach State, went to the College World Series with a couple different teams, talked about the same thing, and if you look at some of these cultures, especially in pro sports, you know, and our companies now, they really, really focus on connection, right, they focus on enthusiasm, you know, I think one of the greatest TV shows, if not the greatest three-season show was Ted Lasso, you know, and creating that environment, you know, where it's fun to come to work, it's fun to come to the clubhouse, you know, baseball's a hard game, you know, and you know, when you're striving to, to, you know, reach that goal, strive to reach the summit, like the Queen said, you know, there's some tough things that happen along those ways, so, you know, these great sports teams will have a ping-pong table, you know, right as you walk in, you know, to the clubhouse, other, you know, teams will have a nerve basketball thing, other cultures will have a, you know, the NCAA tournament basketball, you know, pool, so it's these other little things that, you know, really are fun, don't mean anything, but yet they really, really do, so I think, you know, being level 10 at our enthusiasm, you know, not only for just playing the game of baseball, but for winning, and for accomplishing our goal, we have music, you know, in every drill that we do, we try to compete in every drill that we do, we add little things like Shaka Shaka, T-Express, you know, boba smoothies for the winners, you know, we have plaques for the winners, we have all these kinds of things, these little motivational things that just kind of keep it super fun, you know, because you just said that, not many people do that, that they get that, is, you know, at an early age, you figure out that you're pretty good at a skill, whether it be music, sports, art, and then you start getting into that, you kind of like it because you're good at it, and then the competition part of it becomes fun, you know, and that's where we are, you know, we're at that level 10, the highest level of division one that you can go to, and we strive for that, so I was really glad to hear you say that. Well, Coach Rich, I mean, I am 1 million percent convinced that you are the king of enthusiasm, I mean, you get me excited, I mean, I love, I love when we were able to talk, you know we can talk for three hours, I mean, we've done that. Right, oh yeah, we can go forever. Coach Rich, I want to ask you about pitching, I mean, obviously pitching is one of the most important parts of baseball, what are some of the key details that you focus on to help your pitchers improve, I mean, to really go from good to superior? Well, you know, we have a great pitching coach here, Keith Zuniga, you know, that we just hired, he was the interim head coach at New Mexico State, he's known for, you know, taking these guys who may not have been drafted higher kind of projects, and really molding them into top draft picks and real, real top performers at this level. So the mechanical, you know, part of pitching, you know, I really leave to Keith, you know, and Matthew Troup, who was here the first two years, it's just a unbelievable communicator. You know, what I really want to emphasize, we sit down with Keith and, you know, say, these are the things that are really important to me. And, you know, some of those things would be like tempo, you know, in a delivery, both from the wind up and the stretch, I really believe in balance being balanced over the rubber, you know, having a really good separation, you know, point, and really, really delivering it out in front to create a consistent release point. You know, those things are important to me. And then I really get into controlling the running game. We got to be a one, two, five, or below to the home plate, really believe in picking off guys at first base and second base. But what I really, really get into, right, is the mental aspect of performance. You know, I really consider myself a mental skills coach that happens to be a baseball coach, you know, so picture this, Rusty, you know, are you a, are you a Skittles guy or Starburst guy? What do you like? Well, I like both actually. So let's say, yeah, so this, and that's a good question for our viewers. Some of them are home right now going, Skittles or Starburst, Skittles or Starburst, right? So we pretend, okay, we're going to put one of those tropical Skittles right and stick it right on the glove of the catcher, right? And that's all that we're thinking about. I come from San Diego, Hawaii is a big, you know, a lot of big military island, aim small, miss small, sniper school, same thing with the pitcher. So really everything just goes away, right? And it's just heavy process oriented on driving the ball, be aggressive to your lanes and driving it through the tropical Skittles, right? So now our pitchers have this vision, right of that. And the body really organizes itself. The brain, you know, is just, it's the last frontier, and it's the key really. So the body's going to organize itself, if you can just, you know, really, really focus on that. What we don't want to happen is, okay, we're focusing on all the radar guns behind my girlfriends in the stands, my parents flew in from the big island. I have to impress my coaches, my teammates. I want to win the game. I want to strike the guy out. All goes away, tropical Skittle, let's go and be aggressive on that. So things like that is where I really get into it with the pitchers. Now, Coach Rich, I mean, obviously, the pitcher-catcher relationship is huge. I mean, it's super critical. What are your thoughts about the pitcher-catcher relationship? One word, trust. The pitcher, I think if he really trusts that catcher, and we've got a great one here, Dallas Duarte, you know, you know, a local boy from the big island who can steal strikes a little bit, who the pitcher can really feel comfortable with throwing what we call a stretch change, stretch curveball, which is going to be in the dirt, try to get the batter to chase, right? That that catcher is going to swing around and be able to block everything. So the pitcher has that trust in the catcher. And the other thing is connection, right, and respect because the catcher is going to make five mound trips between three and five per game and really be that coach because we have this limited amount. So that pitcher has to trust and respect that catcher to listen to him, to get settled down a little bit, to get back into the zone, to walk around and to kind of push that reset button. So I think that's probably the biggest thing. I love hearing these insights and Coach Rich, let's talk about batting. I mean, what are some things that you have your players focus on to improve their batting? Well, again, we've got a great hitting coach here, local boy, Dave Nakama, you know, out of Kaiser has been everywhere. Head coach at San Jose State, been to Stanford, up at the University of Washington, we were lucky to get him back. He gets our guys dialed in. Really, we call him the swing doctor, you know, and the gist of it without, I mean, I could talk for 45 minutes to an hour, but we just want to be on time and on plane, you know, and I mean, that really means getting your lower body in position to hit, right, before you start your swing. And when we start our swing, and we want to have that really good spine angle, and I'm still one of those guys barrel above the hand, not all this, you know, launch angle stuff, drop the barrel swing uphill. It's still kind of a Ted Williams, Tony Gwynne, really, really generate bat speed from the legs. So everything kind of revolves and goes from there. Now, okay, mental skills coach that happens to be a baseball coach, we want to step into them. I mean, this is it, step into the box with a clear mind and get our a swing off. Now, if we're in the right frame of mind to really create good vision from the pitchers release point, right, then everything else goes away. It's like on autopilot, you know, we've trained so much in the batting cages, you know, in batting practice, that the body's going to organize itself. We're just going to get into that right frame of mind where I have a clear mind. I'm going to get my a swing off, and I'm going to see the ball and really, really track it. So it's a it's a simplified approach, right, to create real good plate discipline and a swings and really good barrel contact. Well, you and I both know simplicity is key. And that's that leads to big time success. And Coach Rich, you have both of my books. I want to ask you, what are some of the concepts or some of the, the just some of the stories or things that stood out to you in it? Well, I think, you know, just organically, you know, I've had your books for a couple weeks. And I'm just, you know, I'm going through it and devouring it. The thing that stands out, like I said, organically, and I've told you, is there's a lot of information that is very simple. It's in a simplified approach. I mean, if you're doing any kind of activity and want to be great, you want to make a bunch of money, right? If you want to be the best singer, if you want to be an artist, a good volleyball player, baseball, football, then both of these books are like must reads, right? It's everything that, that all of these greatest people in the world right now, but it's like condensed. So that's the first thing. It's like an inch thick, boom, you can go, you know, right at it. I love the part, you know, about choices, you know, because as I talk to young people, you know, the choices are really going to define, you know, who you are and where you're going to be. I like to take that one step further. I think that we all have thousands of choices every day, but then you go to that next level of the video game is what I call it, decisions, right? Do I decide to, you know, take a hit of that bomb? You know, do I decide to get into that? Can I say that on this show? I mean, let's be real, all right? Because that's what I'm dealing with, man. You know, am I going to take that drink of alcohol? Am I going to get in that car with somebody who's been drinking? What kind of decisions am I going to make with my girlfriend or boyfriend? What about nutrition? What about sleep? What about training? What about a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset? So decisions, I got to make it a real action decision on that. So the choices part is amazing. The habits, you know, about developing really good habits, that really is pretty much everything, you know? Can you be self-disciplined enough to, you know, develop these habits? And then when you practice, you know, these purposeful practice type of habits, that leads to the success on the diamond, on the gridiron, or on the court. I love the part about risk, you know? And I've been talking to my players about risk for 30 years. I was presented with a challenge to come to UH. Are you going to mic drop and leave this unbelievable idyllic life and financially stable and built the stadium? And we're going to win forever. And I'm barbecuing in the backyard every day of my life. Absolute comfort for absolute discomfort, you know, at UH, and a completely new recruiting cycle and budget challenges, you know, every day and building this program to where it needs to go. And I said, yeah, boom, mic drop and go. So risk, you know, can you run to risk in your life? So some of these things, you know, are what stood out, you know, in the book. And I didn't have this plan. I'm just going, hey, man, organically, right? What comes to the top of my mind when I think about those book titles, Rusty? I love hearing that, you know, how you brought up about choices and risk and discipline. And you know, that part where I talk about welcoming adversities, because adversities are inevitable, it's going to happen. And you being a mental skills coach, I mean, we have to train our players to really look forward to challenges and adversities, right? I'm going to say no. And I'm going to be one of those guys that it's going to be different in this non dogmatic, you know, type of environment. I don't want to embrace adversity. I don't want to hug it, you know, I don't like it. Right. Now, I have something on my board, you know, that I just erased it, you know, but it's like trials and tribulations are mandatory in your life. They're coming. Right. But misery is optional. Right. So no, I don't think anybody wants adversity. We don't, you know, well, I don't want to hug it. I don't want to embrace it. But I know, right. And I want my young people to know that injustice, that trials, tribulations, adversity is coming your way. And I also call them life quakes. You're going to experience about three to five of them, Rusty, in your life. And I'm talking about divorce, financial hardship, a real loss in your family. So that's coming. But misery is optional. So how do we respond? Right. And it's, you know, I'm going to respond to something rather than react. Right. So now that's where it all starts, the rubber meets the road. And that's where that self-discipline, and that's where your habits, and that's where your mindset, like in your book, that's where you talk about, I'm going to have a growth mindset and say, you know what, I'm going to step back and go, what is this teaching me? How tough, man, I got a tattoo right on the side of my rib cage right here, HTAY. How tough are you? So when the crap's hitting the fan, and I'm just getting whacked, right? And I have been, right? I just look at that and I try to stand up. No, we're going to go. I'm going to be like Rocky Balboa and the ring going like this. Right. Come on. Let's go. I can be bloodied up. I can be whatever, but I'm not going to quit. I'm not going to back down. Right. And that's how I'm going to approach it with the growth mindset. HTAY. I love that. And Coltritch, you know, another thing that I love at your games, I mean, your players always take time to really meet and shake hands with the little kids, I mean, the youth. I mean, it just really helps our community, right? HTAY. Absolutely. You know, and I've got something here on my phone, you know, and again, but Jackie Robinson, right? And, you know, he's got this quote that had just, it always just really stood out for me, you know, and it's, and I might butcher it, you know, right now, but I can't get, bring it up. A life is not important, you know, except on the impact that it has on others, you know, and this is Jackie, right? I mean, and that's always just stuck with me. And what are we really here for? You know, I talked to my players about giving back. I talked to the importance of service, you know, and I was at USD and even here, you know, we worked with the Miracle League, Never Quit Dreaming, you know, which is an organization here on Island, the Firebirds. So our guys learn the importance of giving back to the community and especially anything to do with kids, you know, so we want to volunteer everywhere. We want to have that experience of service, you know, and then taking it one step further, you know, I always say, you know, about giving back to the university, if you've got something out of this place or this program, give something back. It's a great word that I hear in Hawaii called bachi, you know, and I love that. But, you know, when I was at USD, we led the WCC in community service hours, not only in baseball, but in any sport, you know, for a few consecutive years. And that's just one of those things that's a controllable. It is something that I think is, you know, my responsibility and our responsibility as leaders of young people. Oh, Tritch, you had invited our Little League World champions to a baseball, your baseball game, and you had all of your entire team meet the Little League World Champs. How impressed were you about their victory? Oh, man, that's a World Series victory, man. I mean, you know, those coaches and those players representing the 808 and the pride, you know, that those kids had when they took the field to put that uni on and the Hawaiian flags and the stands. I stood to get chicken skin, you know, and it's just an amazing accomplishment and the focus and dedication, you know, that those parents, you know, have had, you know, and the financial commitment and everything really, and parents know what I'm talking about. And then to have those kids perform at that level and those coaches, you know, be able to coach them up like that, you know, adjectives really don't describe. And it was an honor to have those, to have those kids, you know, here. And our guys were excited to meet them, you know, and that's another thing that we talk about. I learned that from my AD at USF, you know, keep your memory green, you know, and all of those players at UH, they remember what it was like, you know, to be in Little League, you know, and to wake up on Saturday morning, eat that cereal and put on that uniform and can't wait to get to that ballpark. So it's pretty cool. Well, Coach Rich, I mean, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the show today. I mean, we are all going to HTAY and I really want to thank you for taking time to join me today. Ah, man, it's my honor, Rusty, you know, and when we met the other day, I was really looking forward to being on your show. And once again, you know, I'm very grateful, you know, and honored to be the coach here and grateful to be on your show. Thanks, Coach Rich. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Coach Rich and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha. Thank you for watching this book, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Check out our website, thinktechawaii.com. Mahalo.