Tani Cohen - Manager, Data Quality at Major League Baseball
"Evolution of Technology in Baseball”
Over the course of a decade-long career in the baseball industry, Tani Cohen has worked across several disciplines for organizations such as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Major League Baseball. Beginning his career in scouting and player development for MLB Clubs and analytics companies, he leveraged knowledge in multiple player evaluation methods to introduce the first comprehensive ball and player tracking technology across Major League Baseball (Statcast) and many other levels of the sport. Now working for Major League Baseball itself, Tani manages a Data Quality team that has just developed and launched the next generation of Statcast, and engages in a wide range of initiatives pertaining to the intersection of baseball, technology, and data.
Our featured speaker for January 21, 2021, was the impressive Cletus Coffey, speaking about “The Recovering Athlete.” Cletus is a graduate of Cardinal Newman High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, and track. His Cardinal Newman Career included two trips to the NorCal finals, All-Conference first team honors at receiver and cornerback, a 30-3 record in basketball in one year, and State Finals in track & field for three straight years! He played football at Lewis & Clark for four years and spent four years playing professional football in the Arena league! Cletus is married with three children and is the son of the amazing Past-President Harry Coffey!
Cletus’ first story was about his trip to Evanston, Illinois to visit the headquarters of Rotary International with his dad. While he and Harry were waiting for their tour guide, they wandered and “found themselves” in the President’s office where Harry made himself comfortable in the RI President’s desk. Harry also met with founder of Rotary, Paul Harris. Harris did not get a word in edgewise!
Cletus’ story, however, did not begin until he was forced to retire at age 26. As he said, very few athletes retire voluntarily. Once they are forced to quit, they often have trouble transitioning into the non-sports world. Their dedication to their athletic careers sometimes causes them to focus on their craft and block out distractions. As athletes, they are not encouraged to go out into the world. As a result, they may not have fully learned the key ingredients to success. They sometimes suffer from depression, substance abuse, confusion, a sense of loss, and other personal struggles after they retire. One of the biggest hurdles for a retired athlete is that their lifetime personal identity as “athlete” no longer applies. They are often addicted to their sports identity and lost without it.
Cletus himself also felt the pain and confusion when he retired. He bounced around in sales jobs he did not like. He reached into his own personal history to learn more about himself and what motivated him. He discovered that he is a natural entrepreneur. He successfully started three businesses and began to feel like himself again, even if the businesses were not successful. He also started his present business, “Recovering Athlete,” which focuses on improving the lives of former athletes by helping them overcome the loss of their careers and transition into new careers. It is a 12-step process. The key points are understanding the ‘loss of belonging’ after sports retirement, finding out what else the recovering athlete is good at, and understanding how to find the athletic “high” outside of sports. Cletus also works with others in similar fields, such as retiring musicians and military.
Thank you so much, Cletus, for helping us understand the problems of retiring athletes and how they can start the process of recovery. Well done and good luck!
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
I am not a salesman by nature; I have been an investment property analyst-type of person most of my career, very comfortable talking about numbers and risk analysis, way less so slapping someone on the back and “bro-ing” my way into a business relationship. Since I’ve been in business for myself the last 10 years I have gained a new respect for people who naturally come by being able to do small talk, shoot the breeze and work a conversation around to, “Hey, would you like to buy……….?” Since we are in the thick of our SUPER RAFFLE “sales” effort, I thought I would look online for some tips on sales, just to make sure the Seattle Seahawks beat out other four teams. Here are some pointers I found (with application to the RAFFLE added):
1. Be consistent- do a little bit every day and results will mount up
2. Follow-up quickly- if someone says yes, move right along to ask for a check and mail them the ticket.
3. Use voicemail prudently- don’t leave a message longer than 14 seconds.
4. Believe in yourself (and Rotary)- if you don’t believe in our raising funds for worthwhile causes, and come across that way, why should the person you’re talking to?
5. State the price with confidence- $50 is a lot to some people, not so much to others. The Raffle team came up with the price as a best guess on how we could raise the most money for the community. Serving is what Rotarians proudly do.
6. Set a goal for yourself and make it happen. The club’s goal comes out to 20 tickets/member- several have already sold more, many less. Aim high and be innovative and creative on how to make it happen.
Thank you for being part of something really great.
These four staff team at the Sabalos Surgical Center are beaming besides their newly installed patient monitoring equipment. Provided through a Rotary Global Grant in conjunction with the Granada Rotary Club the clinic serving nearly 30,000 people in the remote Rio San Juan region, 150 miles southeast of capital Managua.
Staff pose in the two bed Post-Op salon.
For nearly 10 years Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary has been conducting biennial dental and vision projects to Nicaragua. Partnering with Rotary Clubs there helped leverage interest and resources to envision the Surgical Center's construction over a multi~year period. This year marks the commencement of operations, literally and the saving of hundreds of lives and improved outcomes for thousands.
In addition to medical instruments, the remote clinic required emergency power capability. While the sign is in Spanish, is easily understood, the International nature of the project is apparent in the generator brand, a United States company.
The Sabalos Nicaragua Surgery Center has been a dream of our club dating back to June 2010. We are getting closer to the point of having it fully operational. A quick recap –
Our club constructs the 2,000 square feet facility in 2017 at a cost of $135,000 from club fundraising and donations.
The Surgery Center is attached to an existing health center in Sabalos. This health center serves as the medical services hub for the local population of over 36,000. There are no surgical procedures done or advanced diagnostics available to the population at the moment.
Sunrise Rotary commits to purchasing the Air Conditioning system along with the electrical panel, generator, and miscellaneous equipment. Total of about $120,000 through additional fund raising and donations.
Generator and electrical panel arrive and installed in 2019. See photo below from our recent eye/dental mission.
We apply for a Rotary Foundation Grant to acquire $75,000 in needed equipment. We partner with the Granada Rotary Club. Our club provides $25,000 and the Rotary Foundation provides $50,000.
During our biannual eye and dental project, we meet up with Granada Rotarians in February 2020.
The Grant is approved, and equipment ordered in April 2020. Equipment set to arrive in late May 2020.
Air conditioning arrives in May 2020 and is currently being installed.
Conclusion: We are getting so close. We expect the Surgery Center to be fully functioning by late summer 2020 culminating a decade of effort by our club and our “boots on the ground” Rafael and Ninoska. All of your efforts will soon start saving a multitude of lives.
AC ducting going into the operating room. (May 2020)
AC being installed outside and on roof. (May 2020)
Marty and Michael Riel with our electrical panel. (February 2020)
Marty and Gustavo, president of the Granada Rotary Club (February 2020)
A visiting Irish-American Rotary President walks into a pub in Ireland and clears his voice to the crowd of drinkers. He say, “I hear you Irish are a bunch of hard drinkers. I’ll give $500 to anybody in here who can drink 10 pints of Guinness back-to-back.” The room is quiet, and no one takes up the visitor’s offer. One man even leaves. Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows back up and taps the Irish-American Rotary President on the shoulder. “Is your bet still good?” ask the Irishman. The Rotary President says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 pints of Guinness. Immediately the Irishman goes right through all 10 pints without hardly stopping to breathe. The other pub patrons cheer as the visitor sits in amazement. He gives the Irishman $500 and say, “If you don’t mind me askin’, where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?” The Irishman replies, “Oh…I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could do it first.”
Taipei rising: Rotary International announces 2021 Convention location
Sacred temples, cloud-busting skyscrapers, mountain getaways, incomparable food, and a dazzling nightlife: welcome to Taiwan’s dynamic capital city, home of the 2021 Rotary International Convention.
Story by Susie L. Ma Photography by An Rong Xu
To the Portuguese sailors exploring uncharted seas, the island looked like a paradise
It emerged from the ocean mists nearly 500 years ago, a lush Asian isle covered in green forests and punctuated by tall mountains. No matter that it had a civilization and a culture already centuries old. To the Portuguese sailors exploring uncharted seas, it was something entirely new, and it looked like a paradise. They gave it a name that soon began to appear on mariners’ maps: Ilha Formosa — beautiful island.
The name stuck, though the island of Formosa, about 100 miles east of the coast of China, is known today as Taiwan. It is also considered one of the Four Asian Tigers, a quartet of Far East economies that took off in the late 20th century and continue to expand in the 21st. For Taiwan, the seat and symbol of that miraculous growth is its capital, Taipei, a city that blazes 24/7 with an inextinguishable vitality — making it a perfect setting for the 2021 Rotary International Convention, whose theme is Feel the Energy.
This is a long-awaited moment for Taiwanese Rotarians, who established their first club, the Rotary Club of Taipei, in 1948. Seventy-two years later, Taiwan has nearly 900 clubs and about 35,000 Rotarians. Its 12 districts will serve as hosts for the 2021 convention from 12 to 16 June. “The Taiwanese Rotarians have been preparing to put on this convention for five years,” says Kenneth M. Schuppert Jr., the convention chair. “They have a great deal of pride, and they’re intent on making the convention a showcase for their city and their country.”
A member of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, Schuppert served as the aide to Past RI President Gary C.K. Huang, a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei since 1976. Schuppert and his wife, Lynn, a member of the Decatur club who served as the aide to Huang’s wife, Corinna, have visited Taipei several times. They are eager to return. “The city of Taipei is so interesting,” Schuppert says. “You’ve got all these modern buildings, with beautiful, ancient temples interspersed among them.” He extols the city’s vibrancy (as epitomized by its night markets), its cleanliness, and its many natural wonders, from its “pocket parks” to its nearby mountain trails.
Schuppert also raves about the food — and in doing so, he’s far from alone among visitors to Taiwan. Even the simplest meal is an occasion — a time for friends, old and new, to enjoy one another’s company and the island’s varied cuisine. Schuppert has some advice for Rotarians who are invited to dine as the guest of a Taiwanese host. “Don’t empty your plate unless you really want more,” he says. “When you think the meal is over, it’s probably not. More will come.”
Schuppert also touts the friendliness of the Taiwanese people and recommends that visitors attending the 2021 convention rely on local Rotary members to introduce them to the wonders of Taipei. In the following pages, you’ll see that we’ve done exactly that. We gathered tips from nearly a dozen Rotarians and Rotaractors who are well acquainted with the city. Our tour begins with an unlikely must-see destination that was also near the top of Schuppert’s list: the subway.
.png)
.jpg)
