Baseball is one of the world’s favorite pastimes. Many little boys grow up playing the sport with hopes of making it to the Professional leagues one day. This is certainly true for Art Salazar.
After playing during his younger years, something happened at the age of 12 that he didn’t understand at the time. He had no idea how or why he broke his humerus bone while throwing, nor did he know just how much it would change the rest of his life.
College Baseball and An Opportunity in the Majors
In college, Art had a few chances to play professionally, but nothing too serious. That was until he got the call to play for the LMB (Mexican Baseball League) in Mexico. He was thrilled and felt as if all his dreams were about to come true.
So, he went into his senior year of college, planning to play with the LMB in the fall. That was until he tore his labrum that same year. This left him devastated, with no possibility of following through with his plans.
Little did he know that this was exactly what needed to happen.
In the meantime, Art Salazar graduated and decided to step away from baseball for at least a year.
Easing Back Into The Sport
He slowly began to ease his way back into baseball. His first step was offering lessons at a local park. Art did this for a short time and then moved into a Fontana facility for between 9 and 10 months.
Keep in mind that while he was offering lessons, he also kept working a normal job. This continued until January 2020, when Chaffey College hired him to serve as the pitching coach. The timing was impeccable because, at this point, his lessons had begun starting to gain traction with his students, and he was finally able to gain more clients.
The season continued, and so did the growth of his business. He kept working his normal job until February 2020, when he decided to quit and really pursue his dreams. On the one hand, he was very excited about the change, but he said it was “one of the scariest things” he’s ever done.
Art Salazar kept his faith through everything and now admits it was “the best decision” of his life.
COVID-19 and Progression
The college baseball season was cut short in 2020 due to COVID-19. So, Art knew it was the perfect opportunity to focus 100% of his time on training his players every day. He also continued to study and learn as many new things as he could. He accredits this to the amazing results he began to see.
Suddenly guys who didn’t have colleges looking at them had tons of interest. Guys who didn’t have professional teams on them now did as well.
Perhaps the milestone Art is most proud of is the fact that 15 guys can now throw 90+MPH when they couldn’t before. This number continues to increase, and his main goal is to coach his guys to throw as fast and efficiently as possible without arm pain.
There’s no doubt that Art Salizar feels he’s brought something special to Southern California. For now, he will continue down this path with hopes of one day emulating what driveline and top velocity have accomplished. His story is proof that having someone who wants to bring out the best in someone really can help them achieve whatever they want in life!
For more Information or Pitching Lessons, You can Contact Art Salazar at https://www.theartofpitchingcorp.com or on Instagram @Theartofpitching_.