Out of the Park: 2025 Year in Review
As the year comes to a close, I’ve spent the final month of it doing something I don’t always do well: Shutting it down.
Turns out, weeks of sunsets on the beach and limited social media has a powerful effect. The time spent on creating space has been a gift. It’s given me time to reflect on 2025, and how I began the year with a single word: curiosity.
I didn’t know exactly where it would lead, only that I wanted to ask better questions and continue learning. Curiosity pulled me into deeper exploration around artificial intelligence, automation, and how we can embrace efficiency without losing our voice or humanity.
It also led me to a few other words that were even more impactful: alignment, habits, and abundance.
2025 has been the year I began prioritizing my health, got active, watched how I ate and really began taking care of myself. For someone who has never loved working out, pickleball was an unexpected discovery. It challenged me physically, helped me mentally, and gave me something to work toward when I played.
I also leaned into small, repeatable routines of daily reflection, meditation and a few other non-negotiables that help me feel more grounded.
One of the even bigger shifts came even more quietly. I was intentional about less urgency and chasing. More trust and appreciation for what was already working. Here is where the abundance mindset began to take hold.
As I look toward 2026, I’m still curious. Not about resolutions, but the habits and mindsets that will support them, inside and Out of the Park.
Local flavor
This month’s Local Flavor steps away from the ballpark and into the Sarasota area. Here two meals stood out, not just for the food, but for what they represent.
Wolfie’s Rascal House felt like a time capsule. The menu reminded me of dishes I grew up with, rooted in my Jewish heritage, and it carried an added layer of meaning knowing Susan ate there as a kid while visiting her grandparents, just at a different location. Same spirit. Same comfort. Different generation.
Columbia Restaurant is another institution we’ve come back to over the years, including trips through Tampa while covering the Rays. Founded in 1905, it’s a place that still honors tradition, family, and consistency…just like it has for more than a century.
Both restaurants have lasted because they’re built on values, not flash. They approach their craft with care, and show up the same, year after year.
That’s Small Ball. And whether in restaurants, business or life, it's the kind of staying power that feels especially meaningful as we end one year and begin another.
Dugout dialogue
This month’s Dugout Dialogue highlights third baseman Maikel Garcia, who recently signed a new contract with the Royals.
I wrote about Maikel earlier this month in the Small Ball Snapshot titled Ready for Today, reflecting on how his season began with a reset after a disappointing 2024. His focus wasn’t on results. It was on preparation, consistency, and showing up ready each day.
The work paid off and his confidence followed.The Royals rewarded the All-Star with a long-term contract earlier this month. MLB Network recently spent time with Maikel discussing the deal, but the story behind it is simple: growth comes from trusting the process and staying present. Click below to check it out.
Interestingly, many of my personal themes for the year showed up in this month’s discussion with Casey Wright from Chief of Staff KC. Watch below to see how.
speaking engagements
Thank you to every organization that invited me to speak in 2025. After a month of relaxation on the beach, I’m looking forward to starting the new year with two upcoming keynotes.
January 14 - IABC Kansas City Chapter, Kansas City
January 23 - Mechanical Contractors Association, Kansas City
My schedule is open through 2026, including select days during the baseball season. If you have an upcoming event, it’s time we play ball.
The Game Changer Speaking Series focuses on universal topics like trust, culture, grit and resilience that apply to every team, whether baseball fans or not.
To inquire about my keynote series, event moderation or custom video content, just click the link below. A member of my team will get back to you right away.
Rounding the bases rewind
To close out Season 10 of Rounding the Bases, I hosted a roundtable featuring three voices who sit at the crossroads of creativity, strategy, and the future of technology.
Alan Landever has a gift for spotting technology trends before the rest of us even know what we’re looking at.
Lindsay Howerton brings a deep understanding of people, communication, and how ideas spread across organizations.
Brian Olson of Waltz Tetrick blends creativity with strategic clarity, helping teams see AI not as a threat but as a tool that can elevate their work.
Together, we discused how AI is reshaping communication, leadership, marketing, and the way it shows up in our work. It’s a fast-moving, insightful conversation to close out the year and look ahead to what’s coming next. Listen here.
As always, thank you to every guest who rounded the bases with me this month:
Our schedule is already booked into early spring, but we are always looking for interesting guests with standout stories. Would you or someone you know make a great guest on Rounding the Bases?
To discuss sponsorship opportunities, please email my Executive Producer Ashleigh Sterr: ashleigh@joelgoldbergmedia.com.
Keeping the score
No sport inspires storytelling quite like baseball. Every year over the course of a 162-game schedule, stories unfold that are rich in lessons that transcend the game itself.
Earlier this year on my podcast Rounding the Bases, I welcomed a prolific storyteller to the show who has been preserving the legacy of black baseball for 30 years and counting.
His name is Bob Kendrick, the incomparable president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. As a longtime civic leader, he has arguably been as influential on the history of America’s pastime as many of the players themselves.
By bridging the gap between baseball past and present, he continues to build what the late, great Buck O’Neil himself began. Paying homage to legends of a bygone era, and their groundbreaking role shaping the game we know today.
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