Rocks to Pearls with Mike Bordick

Baltimore native and 5-time winner of the Maryland Sportscaster of the Year Award, Tom Davis sits down with Mike Bordick to share his road to success. Davis discusses influential mentors, such as Vince Bagli, who helped him along his career path and cites hard work, gratitude, and being kind as secrets to his success, Davis talks about his coverage of the Baltimore Colts leaving Baltimore, Cal Ripken's 400th career home run, and a plane hitting Memorial Stadium during the Colts vs. Steelers game, and much more.

This week, Mike speaks with Kolen Spafford, a college student at UMBC. Despite being born with Cerebral Palsy, Kolen set and accomplished goals that many didn't think were possible, and he wants to use his experience to inspire others with disabilities to stay true to themselves and their dreams. Kolen was also one of the first athletes to participate in the League of Dreams, an organization that Kolen says had a positive impact on his life. Join Kolen as he talks with Mike about baseball (particularly the Baltimore Orioles) and the importance of never giving up on one's goals.

This week Mike speaks with former Major League Baseball outfielder, Al Bumbry, who played for the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres from 1972 through 1985. Bumbry was the 1973 American League Rookie of the Year and went on to become an All-Star champion, World Series champion and an inductee of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. More amazing is Bumbry’s service in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. His heroism resulted in being awarded the Bronze Star Medal. It was this experience that gave Bumbry a different perspective on competitive baseball that contributed to his successful and long-standing baseball career.

Join us, this episode as Mike speaks with Baltimore Orioles' great Scott McGregor who candidly shares stories about his early days of baseball, including the time he was "pitching scared" and overcame this slump to his days of finding his Christian faith. A true legend in the field of baseball, McGregor gives advice for those looking to pursue their dreams. A lefty pitcher, McGregor was a major league baseball All-Star, a 20-game winner, and pitched clinching games in both the 1979 ALCS and 1983 World Series.

This week Mike Bordick interviews Tim Bishop, the strength and conditioning coach for the Baltimore Orioles for fourteen years, coaching Mike himself and other baseball greats Cal Ripken, Jr., Eddie Murray, BJ Surhoff, Mike Mussina, and Brian Roberts. Listen as Tim shares his insight on mental toughness and what it takes to be a success.

Join us in this episode as Mike Bordick interviews Jeff Reboulet, whose 18-year professional baseball career included 12 years in Major League Baseball from 1992-2003 including his time with the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. During his time with the Minnesota Twins, Reboulet served his fellow teammates in the role of player representative for the Major League Baseball Players Association. His longtime experience with the MLB retirement and group benefit plans gives him a unique perspective that makes him an invaluable resource for players and agents alike. Since 2004, Jeff has worked as one of ten resource players for Major League Baseball's Rookie Career Development Program, where future major leaguers spend four days with former players learning about financial matters and other aspects of life in the big leagues. He also gives back to his community with his nonprofit REB Sports Academy, where he is heavily involved with coaching and mentoring kids to be successful not only in sport but in life.

Join Mike Bordick as he interviews David R. McDuff, M.D. , long-time sports psychiatrist and mental preparation trainer for the Baltimore Orioles (1996-present) and Baltimore Ravens (1996-2013) and more recently the Performance Medicine Physician for the Indianapolis Colts (2015-2018). He is also the author of the 2012 book “Sports Psychiatry: Strategies for Life Balance & Peak Performance”. For his work with professional and college teams he uses an integrated, on-site-model providing players, coaches, and other staff with specialized services including player selection, team building, life balance, stress control, performance enhancement, mental preparation, energy recovery, injury rehabilitation, pain management, sleep medicine, substance prevention, and mental disorders treatment. In addition to his work at the professional level, Dr. McDuff has worked extensively with Olympic, Professional, Division I, II, & III University/College, elite club and high school athletes and teams. At the Olympic/Professional Level he has worked with golf, tennis, football, baseball, soccer, rugby, windsurfing, and pentathlon. At the college level he has worked at the Universities of Maryland at College Park and Baltimore County, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Towson, Stevenson, McDaniel, & Coppin. For the past three years he has also been a mental preparation consultant to the Teelin Irish Step Dancing School in Columbia and has worked with many of its dancers attending nationals & worlds.

Mike Bordick interviews baseball great Jim Palmer. Jim was an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984). Palmer was the winningest MLB pitcher in the 1970s, totaling 186 wins. He also won at least 20 games in eight different seasons and won three Cy Young Awards and four Gold Gloves during the decade. His 268 career victories are currently an Orioles record. A six-time American League (AL) All-Star, he was also one of the rare pitchers who never allowed a grand slam in any major league contest. [Source: Wikipedia]