USA Baseball Blog

Every year, USA Baseball hand picks some of the best baseball minds and instructors in the game to lead our national teams. And every year, those coaching staffs use their incredible wealth of knowledge, passion and skill to take the best players in the U.S. to new heights both on and off the field.

Now, those same coaches are joining us to expand the reach of that instruction to every young baseball player who wants to learn from the best through the USA Baseball Experience.

On the final episode of Offseason Chatter, we catch up with USA Baseball Professional Team alum Brent Rooker. Rooker talks about his training throughout the offseason, an unforgettable home run and accompanying bat flip in last year’s Premier12, and his recent Major League debut. He also shares a few of his favorites from the USA Baseball Shop. Rooker played at Mississippi State University from 2015-2017 where he was the National Player of the Year and a Golden Spikes Award finalist in 2017. With Team USA in 2019, he was named to the All-World Team after hitting .300//.800//.333 with three home runs and five RBIs at the WBSC Premier12.

On the latest episode of Offseason Chatter, we catch up with two-time USA Baseball alum Bobby Hill. Hill touches on what playing for Team USA meant to him, helping Team USA qualify for the Olympics in 2006 and what his career in coaching has been like. He also shares a few of his favorites from the USA Baseball Shop. Hill played for the University of Miami from 1998-2000 where he was a part of the College World Series-winning squad in 1999. In 2006, he led Team USA at the plate in the Olympic Qualifier with a .522 batting average and 12 hits as the U.S. finished with a 6-1 record and clinched a spot in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

On the latest episode of Offseason Chatter, we catch up with two-time USA Baseball alum Matt LaPorta. LaPorta talks about being a part of a star-studded Collegiate National Team roster in 2005, playing in the 2008 Olympics and what his transition out of baseball has meant to him. He also shares a few of his favorites from the USA Baseball Shop.

LaPorta was a two-time SEC Player of the Year, the only person to ever do so, at the University of Florida from 2004-2007 where he is the all-time home run leader with 74. In 2005, he led Team USA’s Collegiate squad with four home runs and 12 RBIs along the way to a 16-4 overall record. He won a bronze medal with Team USA in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games where he led the team with two home runs in the tournament.

On the latest episode of Offseason Chatter, we catch up with USA Baseball alum Paul Sewald. Sewald talks about getting the call to join Team USA, his decision to continue the grind of playing professional baseball and how he owns the offseason both on and off the field. Sewald also shares a few of his favorites from the USA Baseball Shop.

Sewald was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB Draft by the New York Mets in 2012 and made his Major League debut on the mound in 2017. He was a member of Team USA’s 2015 Pan American Games Team where he made five appearances and allowed just one run on the way to a silver medal.