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ST. PETERS, Mo. – Two of baseball’s most-storied franchises meet again. The St. Louis Cardinals host the New York Yankees for a weekend series at Busch Stadium.

The Yankees’ biggest star, reigning MVP and AL single-season home runs leader Aaron Judge, is out this weekend with a toe injury. While Judge will miss the St. Louis series, he’s getting help from an instructor not too far away.

Richard Schenck (@Teacherman1986 on Twitter) runs the Teacherman baseball facility in St. Peters. Many years ago, as part of a father-son project, he made it his mission to study the swing of Barry Bonds and learn how to translate that into success for his youngest son.

Aaron Judge and Richard Schenck in 2018, a few years after they connected through Judge’s agent Dave Matranga. (Photo provided by: Richard Schenck)

Through his son’s improvements and a series of fortunate events, Schenck ended up connecting with Aaron Judge. The two keep in touch regularly, even as Aaron works to return from injury, in hopes he can maintain last year’s MVP form.

“I’m having the time of my life,” said Schenck in a recent one-on-one interview with FOX 2. “I’m 68 years old. I’ve always wanted to be a big leaguer. I wasn’t good enough to be a big leaguer, but I stayed active in the game enough to learn a few things and help a big leaguer have success. It’s been fun.”

How It Started

Schenck, known locally as “Teacherman,” enjoyed baseball throughout his childhood and worked his way up to become a catcher for Northeast Missouri State (now Truman University) in the 1970s. Later on, he and his wife moved back to St. Louis to start their family.

Schenck stay connected with the game through coaching and bonded with his children through baseball. When his youngest son Brandon reached high school, he was struggling at the plate and needed some help.

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“Fortunately, this thing called the Internet and come around,” said Schenck. “One thing led to another, and I just decided that I was going to try to duplicate Barry Bonds’ swing. He was the best hitter in the game by far, and my theory was that if I could make myself look like him, I would feel some different, something different than when I played.”

Schenck first worked to replicate Bonds’ swinging motion himself, then passed it forward to his son.

“When he figured it out, he had instant success,” said Schenck. “The progress that my young son made from maybe being the worst hitter on the field to one of the best is my most proud moment.”

Schenck started sharing videos to the Internet, which caught the attention of former Houston Astros infielder Dave Matranga. His career as a pro ballplayer didn’t last long, but he picked up on some key lessons from Schenck.

Matranga retired in 2005, then he became an MLB player agent. One of his biggest clients to date is none other than Aaron Judge.

“When Aaron judge needed help he put us together,” said Schenck. “Through working with Brandon and getting him to understand things, I had the opportunity to work with some good athletes, and Judge one of them. It’s pretty cool.”

How It Progressed

Schenck first started working with Judge during the 2016-17 offseason. Up until the next spring training, he would regularly work in-person with Judge five days a week in Arizona or California.

Judge had a strong understanding of the techniques that Schenck introduced, but there was a bit of an adjustment period to match his bodywork with his mind. He worked mostly on his bat speed and barrel depth, and the repetition proved worthwhile.

With his rookie status still intact, Judge bounced back from a tough 2016 stint with a bang. He increased his batting average from .179 to .284, slugged an AL rookie record of 52 home runs and led all of baseball with 127 walks. At 25 years old, Judge finished second in MVP voting.

Schenck largely credits an adjustment to how Judge snapped the barrel in helping him to one of the best rookie seasons in recent MLB history. He coins the term as launch quickness.

“Aaron had good bad speed,” said Schenck. “I did not improve his bat speed, but I got his swing up to speed quicker, and therefore he can wait longer before he has to make a commitment to a pitch. He can see the ball longer and make a better decision. The better decisions you make, the more times you’re going to hit the barrel.”

Aaron Judge met the man his batting techniques were molded after, none other than Teacherman’s son Brandon. (Photo provided by: Richard Schenck)

From 2017 to 2021, Judge would call Schenck about once every two weeks to update on his hitting. However, the two would usually limit one-on-one visits to times when he was struggling.

“He didn’t need me when he’s going good. He needed me when he was struggling,” said Schenck. “So that changed in 2022.”

Rather than making sudden appointments, the two decided to schedule meetings. Bi-weekly phone calls turned to bi-weekly visits, primarily at baseball facilities away from MLB ballparks.

Similar to his rookie season, Judge boomed in 2022. He finished with his first .300 season average, led the AL in walks and RBI, and above all, broke the AL record for most home runs in a season (62) in the Yankees’ final regular-season series. The big year ultimately powered Judge to his first MVP award.

“We just kept him tuned up. We didn’t let him fall off and then tune him up,” said Schenck.

In 2018, between his rookie of the year and MVP honors, Judge endorsed Schenck on Twitter, bringing his work with Brandon full-circle.

“It led me to being able to work with some high-level athletes who are pros and basically verify or confirm what I did with Brandon was the right thing,” said Schenck. “Aaron Judge is at the highest level in the game and one of the best players in the game, doing what we learned.”

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How It’s Going

Judge is currently working through his second IL stint this season, and he won’t play the ongoing three-game set in St. Louis. The reigning MVP has been traveling with the Yankees and is working to regain strength, so there’s hope he’ll visit with Schenck near his home grounds this weekend.

When Judge is healthy and the two work together, Schenck always has a specialized bat and batting gloves ready for him to use. The bat is a 35-inch, 33-ounce Chandler bat.

“Every time I go to work with him, I carry his bat and batting gloves with me,” said Schenck. “I’m not a Yankee employee, so I can’t work out with him at the Yankee facilities. I have to find a private facility, and if I have his bat and batting gloves, we can just meet there.”

New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge connects for a solo home run, his 62nd of the season, off of Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jesus Tinoco (63) on Oct. 4, 2022. With the home run, Judge set the AL record for home runs in a season, passing Roger Maris. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Schenck expects to get back on schedule with Judge once he returns from the injured list. Initial reports believe he could be activated shortly after the All-Star break in mid-July.

Working with Judge has opened up a variety of opportunities for Schenck. He shares live streams near weekly to his Teacherman Youtube page. He also works with 15 other MLB players, including Cubs outfielder Ian Happ and Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter.

Along with that, Schenck has around 50 clients at the minor league and college baseball levels, though none of them are currently in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization. No matter the size or experience of who he teaches, launch quickness is the lesson Schenck preaches.

“I teach everybody the same thing,” said Schenck. “Get your barrel up to speed quickly. You’ll hit the barrel more often. You’ll get more hits.” As a non-baseball example of this application, he adds, “Both a Volkswagen and a Corvette will go 70 miles an hour, but the Corvette is going to get to 70 before the Volkswagen will.”

Schenck says Judge has set the bar high for future clients.

“He’s an outstanding player, and he’s a more impressive person,” said Schenck. “He’s humble. He’s all about his team, and all he’s trying to do every day is help the team win.”

In addition to his youngest son Brandon, the inspiration behind his network with Judge, Schenck also passed on his love of sports to his older son Brad and his daughter Brittany. Schenck also owns the Teachers Billiards pool hall near Route 364 and Jungermann Road in St. Peters.

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