Sports Without Borders®

Learn the Game: Kip Gross on What Baseball Is Losing

What does it really take to make it to Major League Baseball—and stay there?

This week on Sports Without Borders, Mark Mancini and Karla Vasquez are joined by former Major League pitcher Kip Gross, whose professional career took him from MLB to Japan and gave him a front-row seat to very different approaches to the game.

Kip shares stories from his career, including his unforgettable first days in the majors, why he read the baseball rule book every spring training, and how knowing the game helped him win games on the field.

The conversation also tackles some of baseball’s biggest changes. Has analytics taken too much of the human element out of the sport? Are pitchers being taught to throw harder instead of learning how to pitch? And what can American baseball learn from Japan’s emphasis on fundamentals, preparation and attention to detail?

Through it all, Kip returns to one simple lesson for athletes—and anyone pursuing a career: learn your craft, seek knowledge from people with experience, and put in the work others aren’t willing to do.

Plus, in Karla’s Korner, Karla reflects on why the game—and the lessons it teaches—are bigger than the major leagues.