Ep. 1113 Ken Davidoff | Discovering Resilience: How Baseball Shapes Our Identity

·57 min·5 clips

Ken Davidoff walked away from 30 years covering baseball for the New York Post to write a book on life lessons from the game.

The episode begins with host Joel Goldberg introducing guest Ken Davidoff, a retired New York Post journalist who covered Major League Baseball for 30 years. Davidoff explains he left his job in 2022 after a years-long discussion with his family, who noted his unhappiness due to the travel and stress. He describes no longer having 'pinch me' moments about his dream job, feeling mission accomplished. Davidoff now co-authors the book '101 Lessons from the Dugout' with Harley Rothbart, a pediatrician, which uses baseball scenarios to teach life lessons. He also became an adjunct professor at Endicott College after a connection from a tweet. The book is structured into six parts, covering topics like keeping score, starting lineups, and errors. Davidoff shares a story about Mets player Luis Castillo, who made a critical error but smiled and played well the next day, illustrating resilience. The discussion includes metaphors like 'tagging up' for pausing before reacting and 'fielder's choice' for prioritizing tasks. Davidoff reflects on journalism's challenges, including instant deadlines and social media rumors. He answers Goldberg's baseball-themed questions, citing his biggest professional home run as getting the New York Post job and a memorable swing-and-miss as a failed Washington Post interview where he didn't state goals. Davidoff mentions teaching multiple journalism classes and enjoying the team environment at Endicott. He misses solving travel adversities but has no regrets about leaving baseball writing. The episode concludes with a promotion for the book on Amazon.

As heard by us

A grounded baseball conversation about resilience, clubhouse culture, and staying effective through professional setbacks.

Ken Davidoff frames a baseball career as a study in how people hold up inside demanding workplaces. On Rounding the Bases, the retired New York Post journalist connects 101 Lessons from the Dugout to failure, resilience, and the routines that help professionals recover after a…

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Why you'd press play

You get Luis Castillo's rough-night-to-terrific-game lesson, plus a clubhouse-to-office read on resilience.

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