Episode 28: Daytona Bryden and Tommy Parsons

Dec 13, 2018

Welcome to Episode 28 of The Podcast About Division III Baseball. We took six months off but we're back in the middle of December because this is exactly when everyone is talking about D-III baseball. Okay, not really, but our real reason for returning is that we wanted to talk to two of the best players in the country during the 2018 season and hear about how they got to where they are now. 

First (at 2:42), we talk to the d3baseball.com 2018 National Player of the Year, Daytona Bryden. Daytona graduated this spring after an exceptional career at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and recently announced that he has signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association for the 2019 season. Topics include:

• giving Jake credit for predicting him winning Player of the Year before the season started (on Episode 9)
• how he ended up signing with the Explorers after not getting drafted
• when he realized he was pretty good at this whole baseball thing
• how he developed at Whitewater
• the epic extra-inning regional game between Whitewater and WashU in 2016 (click here for the box score)
• whether his dad records every single at-bat or just most of them (YouTube link)
• his professional life outside of baseball
• the pros and cons of growing up with the name "Daytona Speed Bryden"
• how good he thinks Whitewater will be in 2019
• and more!

Next (at 25:49), we bring on Tommy Parsons, one of the most successful pitchers in D-III history and current member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Topics include:

• how a kid in Ohio ended up at a school in Michigan
• when he realized he was pretty good at this whole baseball thing
• how is velocity progressed during his time at Adrian
• why it was helpful to have another college teammate go into pro ball
• the end of his career at Adrian featuring our story of screaming "WHERE'S PARSONS??!?!?!?" in a car in Pennsylvania
• the insane five day adventure of becoming a professional baseball player after not getting drafted
• what his pro debut was like
• and more!

Thanks to Daytona and Tommy for coming on the show!

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