He was drafted by the Oakland A's, heard his name called while a picnic table sat waiting to be painted, and spent the next two decades fighting through Tommy John surgery, a knee replacement, a hip replacement, a divorce, and the quiet question of whether the dream still had a pulse. Jessica Curtis turns the mic on her partner Rob Semerano — former professional pitcher, father, and founder of Big League Talent — for a conversation about what baseball taught him about life, why God had him in the basement before his earthly father came down the stairs with good news, and what it means to still be throwing in your mid-forties because something keeps telling you not to stop.

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Three words have anchored Dr. John Bell's graduation speech for decades: dream big, make a plan, work like a dog. In Part 2, the Port Jervis superintendent and Little League World Series umpire connects the dots between the diamond and real life — why kids need to get hosed by a bad call sometimes, what helicopter parents are actually taking away from their children, and how a thick skin and a friendly handshake make you a better umpire and a better leader. Plus: the Bell family legacy of community service that spans four generations and counting.

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He applied for 13 straight years. He got rejected every single time. And then, out of 10,000 applicants, Dr. John Bell was one of 16 umpires selected to work the Little League World Series in Williamsport. In Part 1, Port Jervis superintendent and lifelong umpire John Bell talks about what it means to chase a dream the slow way — laying groundwork, climbing ladders, and never mailing it in — and why growing up in a town like Port Jervis gave him the toughness to keep going when it would have been easier to quit.

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