Jase Bowen is a 19 year old Minor League baseball player in Pittsburgh's Organization. This summer, he competed for the first time as a professional athlete in the Florida Coastal League, a prime landing spot for fresh talent following the MLB First Year Player's Draft that took place in June. While it marked his first exposure to the pace-of-play of pro ball, it was not his first exposure to pressure; Jase has had to make quite a few difficult decisions already in his life. One of those decisions was foregoing college athletics to instead begin his adult life as a professional baseball player. This summer, that decision came to a boiling point and Jase Bowen went from a prospective division-I athlete in both baseball and football (committed to play both sports in the Big Ten Conference at Michigan State University) to professional baseball player pursuing his dreams of making it to the big leagues one day.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Jase, a guy who has come to use multiple Frost Gear products, to learn a little bit more about his up-bringing as a multi-sport athlete and about the major life decisions he had to make this year.
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Question 1: Being a multi-sport in high school is difficult as is. Being a multi-sport athlete with division-I capabilities in both sports is nearly unheard of in this day and age, despite a few outliers that have done it well. Parents and coaches these days often insist that athletes focus on one sport. What is your philosophy on this at the high school level?
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Answer: If I had to give advice to high school athletes, I would say [play] as many sports as you can in high school. Throughout my recruiting process, the coaches in both sports loved that I didn't just "specialize" in one sport. They often said it shows a different type of athletic ability that could translate to their respective sport. During the draft process, scouts often came to my football games to see what kind of competitor I was and how I lead in a different environment. I also think that it helped me not to get "burnt out." I was always bouncing from sport to sport growing up, which kept me in shape and enabled me to keep a love for all the sports that I played. Playing multiple sports also lets you build a lot of close relationships with teammates, an important aspect in athletic development.
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Question 2: It is known that you were not only an incredible athlete in high school, but also a tremendous student in the classroom. How important was your academic performance to you?
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Answer: Academics were more important to me than sports were in high school. There are so many good athletes out there that won't get the privilege of going to the next level in their sport due to grades. I found that out as a kid and told myself that if I wasn't going to make it, it wasn't going to be because I didn't take care of business in the classroom. I wanted to be the best at everything I did. I worked very hard to earn what I did in the classroom, often studying or doing homework for 3 hours a night. This was also very attractive to college coaches as well once I began the recruiting process.
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Question 3: What was your training program like growing up? Any training or nutritional recommendations that you can give to younger ball players interested in playing at the next level?
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Answer: Growing up, I did a lot of body weight exercises such as push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and squats. As a kid I never was inside the house and never played video games. In the summer, I would play backyard baseball or football all day with my neighbors. In the fall or winter we would play pick up basketball or football all day. I think this is a big part of where my athleticism came from. I started lifting weights at 5 in the morning before school with my brother in seventh grade. Advice that I would give younger kids is to go outside and play with your friends as much as you possibly can. Eating wise, I would say eat a lot, especially fruits and vegetables. The fuel that you consume is extremely important as an athlete. It's easy to chow-down on fast food, etc., but if one has the discipline to eat cleanly, they will absolutely see the results on the ball field.
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Question 4: At what point did you know that baseball was the route that you wanted to take? What lead you to make the final decision the way that you did?
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Answer: Baseball has been my love and passion since I was around 4 years old, when I began playing with my brothers 8u team. It was something that I always wanted to do, and wanted to all the time. My parents always had trouble getting my uniform off of me for bed, and I often slept in my batting helmet or with my ball glove. I picked up football, however, as I got older. But, in the back of my mind I always knew what I wanted to do. When it came time to make the decision between signing to play professional baseball or going to play college football and baseball, it came down to one thing: following my dream. I've always dreamed of playing in the MLB and I realized the fastest way to make that dream a reality was to sign to play pro baseball.
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Question 5: Going to high school in Ohio, how cold was the beginning of season in the "spring" when baseball started?
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Answer: Every year for High school baseball, we would have tryouts in late February and it would always be inside, as there was at least a foot of snow on the ground. We would have practice in 20 degree weather with snow on the field and wed have to throw outside. I remember I would always wear these little cotton gloves to attempt to keep my hands warm, however, I could not throw a ball - I would have definitely benefited from using the Frost Gear Throwing Glove. The first couple months of each year were absolutely miserable in Ohio. I remember one game was so cold that we had to cancel it in the 4th inning due to wind swept snow and dangerously low temperatures. To provide context, we played the 4 innings with a few inches of snow on the ground with temperatures nearing around 15 degrees.
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Question 6: After checking out the products that we sent you, do you think that they would have helped with cold weather training and on-field performance growing up? Would you recommend them to ball players looking for an edge in the cold?
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Answer: After getting my package from Frost Gear, I definitely wish I would have started using these products sooner. The Throwing Glove is incredible - it keeps my hand so warm and the grip on the ball is impressively effective. I now have total control on my throws. I have also been using the batting gloves for about a year now and I love them as well. My hands were actually sweating while hitting in freezing temperatures, which allowed me to control the bat head with strength in the cold weather. The long sleeve hoodie I received is so comfortable; it is honestly is the best fitting long sleeve I own right now. You'll see me wearing it all of the time. Every player in the north should use Frost Gear's products for their training and on-field performance needs in order to maintain an edge on opponents, and to take their game to the next level.
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Frost Gear's Note on Jase: Bowen is an incredible athlete and an even better guy to work with - a true class act. He is an athlete that is going to go far and is absolutely worth following as we are sure that he will be on a big league ball field one day! For a closer look at Jase, check him out on social media:
