RICHMOND, Va. -- Chesterfield's Kyle Bogese used to have a simple answer when people asked him what he did for a living - he was a baseball player.
Many athletes show their prowess at an early age. Bogese was such an athlete. Not just because he was playing against five-year-olds at the age of three. Bogese previewed his future at the age of one.
"I was throwing the ball with my grandpa. I threw it and broke his glasses because I threw it so hard. I like to pretend I had heat coming out of the arm since I was a baby," Bogese said.
Bogese was a baseball player. All through Thomas Dale High School and into college. Although he wasn't drafted, the Phillies signed him after a tryout in Pennsylvania where he threw 98 miles per hour. He spent a year in the Phillies' organization and thought he was on his way.
"My last outing was one inning, three strikeouts, no hits, no runs, one walk. Sitting 97 miles per hour and I got released the next day," Bogese said.
He bounced around in independent leagues and got another shot with the Diamondbacks in 2016 but was released again after only two months.
"It was still a cool experience. I got to meet Randy Johnson. He said I had a good slider which made my life," Bogese said.
Bogese spent another year playing independent baseball in Mexico and to make ends meet he started training high school kids with a friend in St. Louis. He found himself busy right up until he was hit by a drunk driver on his way home from the grocery store.
"I just remember, we were driving and I saw a car coming like this at me and then I woke up in the ambulance," Bogese said.
Bogese suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder and a traumatic brain injury. It effectively put an end to his playing career.
"My whole focus was, this is what I'm going to do and I put everything I had into it. When that was all taken away, there was a ton of, I guess I felt lost, if you will. I didn't know what my purpose was in life anymore," Bogese said.
He struggled with depression and returned home to Chesterfield. The fastball that once whizzed at 98 miles per hour was down to just 74. His wife encouraged him to continue with his coaching and training.
With the money he received after a settlement from his accident, Bogese transformed a shed behind his mother's house to continue working with younger players.
The Backyard Baseball Lab was born.
"My whole goal here is to give every kid the best opportunity to play for as long as possible. I want to make sure they have nutrition advice, lifting, arm care, physical therapy. Whatever they need to help them to be successful," Bogese said.
However, Bogese's lab is about more than just developing young players. It's also about developing young people.
Coaches have an avenue into a young person's life that a parent might not have. While they might not share their thoughts and feelings right away, his constant presence and interest in their lives is an assurance that he's been in their shoes and he wants to help.
"Over time, that wall breaks down and you become someone they can go to and that they trust. It's really rewarding to be more than just a coach or at least a baseball coach. I'd like to think that, in a way, I'm also able to be a life coach," Bogese said.
Baseball was once taken from Bogese but it's given him more than he could ever hope for. And he wants that same thing for his kids.
"When you see a kid go from down here and all of a sudden, they're making these strides and they're gaining confidence. Not only in baseball but in their social life, academically, in all these other areas, you're a part of their life. It's really, really cool to be able to help them grow," Bogese said.
"I called myself a baseball player. So I said, I'm a baseball player. And it's not true. I'm Kyle Bogese. I just played baseball."
Bogese estimates that he's had about 200 kids come through his baseball lab since he first opened. Routinely, he works with around 50 to 60 baseball players at any given time.
He's not just working on them either. He's still working on himself.
Kyle got his first fastball up near 93 miles per hour this past summer.
Click here to learn more about the Backyard Baseball Lab.
