Oakland A's Trainer Bobby Alejo's revolutionary approach on a progressive team

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By MIKE TAKEUCHI

Bob Alejo works with A's first baseman Jason Giambi. Photo courtesy of the Oakland Athletics

April 12, 2009 7:05 AM

For strength and conditioning Coach Bobby Alejo, the power is in the relationships. Whether it is Jason Giambi, or a UCSB Gaucho, Alejo's main asset is forging strong relationships with the athletes he works with. And in his latest position, working for the Oakland Athletics, he plans to use this kinship so the A's batters can connect over the fence.

After a three-year stint as UCSB's strength and conditioning coach, as well as working with Olympic gold medal volleyball players Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, Alejo returned to the A's last November.

Included on this year's roster is slugger Jason Giambi, a free agent acquisition who worked with Alejo during his first time around with the A's and later, the New York Yankees.

"I grew up with Bobby (in terms of being in the Majors)," Giambi said from the visiting clubhouse at Angel Stadium. "And when I signed with the A's this time around, I thought that it was awesome that he was back, because he's someone I trust completely. I'm counting on him to prolong my career."

Trust is something that Alejo has earned along every stop of his 29-year career. Along with UCSB and the A's (where he worked from 1993-2001), the 51-year-old also held the same capacity at UCLA from 1984 to 1993, and worked individually with Giambi, as well as Rogers and Dalhausser. During last year's Beijing Olympics, he was on the staff of the U.S. Volleyball team.

It was in his first year at UCSB where he was approached by former Gaucho Rogers to train him.

"Todd was pretty persistent when it came to wanting to work together," Alejo said. "But then again, he had that hunger to succeed, which was something I saw in the entire athletic program at UCSB. When Gary Cunningham hired me, I saw an organization that wanted to get past that mid-major level.

"I wanted to get into the expectation of a true Division I school I think that had to preclude anything we did in the weight room or out on the field. And we had to change that before we thought about our training and what we were going to be doing on the court, on the field, or in the pool. The coaches and athletes were so supportive. I really feel that despite my success in other fields, that was probably the foremost rewarding experience of my coaching experience."

At UCSB, the feeling was mutual. Senior associate athletic director Bobby Castagna, who was Alejo's direct supervisor, said that the coach had a knack for maximizing an athlete's potential due to his knowledge and desire to teach.

"Because the athletes trusted and believed in him, they related with Bobby well," Castagna said. "He was especially good at motivating them because he was personable, listened to the athlete, and wanted them to succeed more than even they did. We were all pleased at what a great job he did."

Apparently, somebody else was noticing. A's General Manager Billy Beane looked at his team that had totaled 47 trips to the disabled list in the past two years and knew he had to make a change.

"Bob had a great track record when it came to injuries as a strength coach during his decade with us," Beane told the San Francisco Chronicle. "He's also innovative and very much a motivating influence."

Because the progressive A's don't operate like a typical baseball team, Alejo's style of hard weights, speed, and power training were the perfect fit for a team that mixes youth with experience. After contacting each player personally, the first thing Alejo did was work on their minds.

"The whole genesis of the idea in change was Billy Beane's idea," Alejo said. "We wanted to get away from the injured mindset as well as formulating a new thought process. While it goes against conventional baseball thought, this philosophy has been proven to lessen the frequency and severity of injuries.

"Of course we take into account age and fitness with the individual's program. For a player like Jason, his training may be similar to that of (catcher Kurt Suzuki), but he will have more of an emphasis on the recovery aspect because an older athlete has to pay attention to it more as opposed to a younger athlete about development where you have this timeless and boundless energy."

After leaving Oakland for the Yankees in 2002, Giambi lured Alejo to work with him until Major League Baseball banned all non-team personnel from clubhouses in 2005. It is worth noting that despite Giambi's admitted use of performance enhancing substances, Alejo's name was never mentioned in either the BALCO case or the Mitchell Report. A source from Major League Baseball verified this.

According to Castagna, Giambi's loss was UCSB's gain.

"We were extremely fortunate that Bobby was available at the time," Castagna said.

Prior to Monday's Opening Day Game in Anaheim, as the A's took batting practice, Alejo's current team seemed to buy into his methods as well. Out in right field near the fence, several players were working up a sweat during base running drills and sprints. In the middle of the group, running as much if not more than the players was Alejo teaching, joking, and training, with a smile on his face.