DF Press Releases

Local Helps Win the World Series for Boston Red Sox

By Rachel Cannon

The Denver Coors Stadium was tense with thousands of watchful eyes as the final pitch came down between the Boson Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies. The pitcher tensed up for the pitch while the audience held their breath. The ball flew down the center of the line straight into the catcher's mitt and the crowd went wild with excitement.

Bobby Kielty, a Canyon Lake local, hit the homerun that won the title for the Boston Red Sox.

“It was my first time batting the entire game,” Kielty said with a chuckle. He was- n't able to keep the ball but he did keep his bat as a personal trophy. Baseball has been no stranger to this baseball player's life.

He began playing catch with his dad when he was 3 and rose through the ranks as he grew into a bigger set of cleats. He also enjoyed playing basketball and swimming, but baseball dominated and after graduat ing Canyon Springs high school he went on to play for the Riverside Community College baseball team for two years. Afterwards came USC, Mississippi, Minneapolis, Toronto, and the Oakland. Finally a Boston scout saw his potential and picked up Kielty for half a season.

The success Kielty has achieved can partly be attributed to the hard training that he has to do during the off seasons. Brian Richardson, his trainer, has developed a new and stimulating way of keeping this young base- ball man on his toes.

“Most training lacks the scientific factor that a professional athlete needs,” explained Richardson. “You have to move the sport you're training for into the gym.” For Kielty this means doing unconven tional exercises that most have never heard of or experienced. For example the “fly on the wall” exercise includes the trainer shooting a laser pointer on the wall while the player stands on one leg and tries to “catch” the “fly”. Richardson explained that this helps not only keep the player mobile but it recreates the idea of hand eye coordination on the field utilizing both sides of the brain by seeing and doing simultaneously.

“Sometimes I'll think to myself ‘and why are we doing this' but when I do ask Brian always has a validation for the exercise we are practicing,” said Kielty.

Richardson received his Kinesiology bachelors from San Diego state and decided that sports medicine was just not active enough for this former in-line Olympics skater. So he developed this method of Kinesiology training that has helped Kielty stay in the best shape possible for spring training.

“The hardest part of the routine is coming back to train with Brian at the beginning of the off season,” Richardson said with a laugh. He explained that during the regular season there isn't a whole lot of time to eat healthy and exercise moving from hotel to hotel and only having only one day off for two weeks straight.

Especially hard is not being able to see family as often as possible. His wife Meredith tries to go on the road with him as often as possible but recent additions to the family have made it just a little harder. Kielty currently has two daughters Hailey, 3, and Kailey, 2, with a son on the way in March. The family has definitely adapted to the lifestyle Kielty explained they have a stroller that converts into a car seat.

“We might get an apartment to rent if I'm on the east coast but hopefully things will be local for next season,” said Kielty.

During the off season not only is training going to commence but this means time with the family. While taking the family to the park or the movies in his spare time he also enjoys playing golf socially and for charity. He also enjoys contributing money to the Riverside junior college baseball fund.

For now while in the prime of his training, hanging out with his family and playing a few rounds of golf no one is too sure of where Kielty will end up next. Fans will just have to wait for spring training to see where his baseball career leads to next.

Dynamic Fitness Training Summary

By Brian Richardson

Much athletic success is highly dependent on the rate and speed of muscle contraction, along with the ability to contract the appropriate muscles, at the correct time, and in the proper sequence. Bobby and I use an integrated model which progresses through phases of stabilization, strength, and power referred to as an optimum performance training model (OPT™). Many traditional strength and conditioning programs lack scientific validity. For example, it was once thought that the UBE, or arm cycle, was a great exercise for a pitcher due to the rotary motion. However, the shoulders angular velocity on that particular machine is approximately 600-700° per second. A pitch or throw from the outfield can create upwards of 7000-10,000° per second. As you can see there is very little translation from exercise to sport. It is extremely important that I create a program with situations such as these in mind as my goal is to create as much carry-over from gym to sport as possible. The OPT™ model allows me to make education- based, scientifically valid decisions based on Bobby's current state. A typical day for us would be initiated with 30 min. of aerobic conditioning followed by core strength, balance strength, reactive strength, and SET. As of Monday, Bobby and I were in a strength phase using SET (stability equivalent training). During this phase we are combining a series of stable movements “bench press” with unstable movements “dumbbell flies” on a Dura ball. This has been shown to facilitate an increase in motor unit recruitment, ultimately resulting in an increase in strength.

In baseball, hand-eye reaction time is also very important. So, I have developed an exercise called “Fly on the Wall”. Bobby will face the wall in a bilateral stance and react to a laser pointer as I shine it both frequently and from various angles. This allows Bobby to react using very quick motor response as well as moving his body in multiple planes of motion. We frequently use bio-motor or functional exercises. These are multi-planar movements that occur at varying speeds and multiple angles. This allows us to increase neuromuscular efficiency, which does in fact translate to baseball. It is also important to realize that the central nervous system (CNS) was designed to work muscle synergies (groups of muscles together), not isolated robotic movements. This is why “Body Building” regimes do not work for sport, as these are based solely upon “Gym Science”, not “Real Science”.

Following his workout, we will spend approximately 15 min. performing self myofascial release (SMR) along with static stretching in order to soften any tight areas, as these shortened areas will undoubtedly result in injury. This all takes about two hours, and we train four days per week. Remember, when working with professional athletes the number one goal is injury prevention, followed by performance enhancement. My job as a strength and conditioning coach is to make professional athletes better. As tough as this may seem, I don't accomplish this by having them do what they already do well. I seek out their weaknesses, whether it is a musculoskeletal imbalance, a lack of functional flexibility, or reconditioning following an injury. The end result must be a more functional, proprioceptively enriched, injury free athlete.

Santana affects Kielty's Sox future

By Rob Bradford

B obby Kielty, like the rest of the baseball world, spent another afternoon yesterday waiting for news of a Johan Santana trade.

Kielty, a former teammate of Santana in Minnesota, has a particular interest in any potential deal involving the Red Sox [ team stats ] . One of the packages thought to be offered to the Twins for the left-hander includes center fielder Coco Crisp [ stats ] , whose departure would seemingly pave the way for Kielty's return to the Red Sox as a reserve outfielder.

“I'm just waiting it out,” Kielty said. “Unless another team comes in with an unbelievable offer, I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens. I love Boston and I'm hoping something can work out.”

While waiting to see what will transpire regarding Crisp's situation, the free agent has made an important decision regarding his approach for the coming season. The 31-year-old has instructed his agent, Dan Lozano, to tell prospective employers that he is open to hitting exclusively right-handed, at least to start spring training.

“It's something where I can try it for the first few weeks of spring training and if I don't like it I can go back (to switch-hitting),” Kielty said. “It's one of those things that is a catch-22 because I really need to be getting at-bats to be effective left-handed, which I know I can do, but I'm probably more valuable as a switch-hitter off the bench.”

Kielty, who has drawn interest from “three to four” other teams, is just a .228 career hitter left-handed but a .296 hitter from the right side. He was brought in by the Sox last season to serve as their primary righty hitter off the bench, and he highlighted his stay with a pinch-hit home run in Game 4 of the World Series.

Although his preference is to remain with the Red Sox, Kielty might have to look at other options more intensely if Crisp's situation isn't resolved.

Other than waiting to see where he will be calling home next season, Kielty has been very pleased with his offseason. Along with winning the Eddie Guardado Charity Poker Tournament for the second straight year, Kielty said he is in the best shape of his career after implementing a new regimen with trainer Brian Richardson.

“I'm excited about how I feel,” said Kielty, who has been able to work on his legs and mobility more than any point since suffering a torn meniscus in his knee in 2007.

“I'm finally where I need to be.”

Now Kielty is waiting to see if the same can be said regarding his next place of employment. He realizes that might not be decided until Santana finds his next home.

“When I think of the Minnesota Twins, I think of Johan Santana,” he said. “You can't get much better than him.”