Tom House is known for many things; he is, in fact, a “House” hold name in many Major League Baseball circles. House pitched at Nogales High School (La Puente, California) and the University of Southern California before the Atlanta Braves selected him with the 48th overall pick in 1967. Beginning May 1st—2024, Tom will join his former teammates, becoming a member of the Legacy Leagues Advisory Board.

Like Dusty Baker, Houston Astros 2022 World Series Winner, and Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer Ralph Garr, Tom House was on the Atlanta Braves 1974 team's roster when the beloved Henry “Hank” Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s Home Run record. Notably, House caught the 715th Home-Run ball hit by Aaron that April 8th night in 1974 at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Aaron hit the record-setting 715th home run in the fourth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with pitcher Al Downing on the mound. The ball was hit into the Braves bullpen over the left-center field wall, where House caught it on the fly. The game stopped to celebrate the achievement, and after sprinting to the infield, House presented the ball to Aaron at home plate. For catching and returning the 715 ball, he was given a television by a local store.

“We're very fortunate here in Mississippi to host the two teams that Hank Aaron played for: the Atlanta Braves (AA) and the Milwaukee Brewers (AA). We have the only Hank Aaron Sports Academy in the country at Jackson’s Smith Wills Stadium, and to top that, we have the people that were closest to Hank in the clubhouse and on the field in teammates Dusty Baker, Ralph Garr, and now Tom House all back together again, working to make sure baseball holds its place right here where Hank chose to call home for his academy. Words can’t express my humility and pride at the same time as having such a great group of guys to support our efforts here in Mississippi."

– Tim Bennett, Legacy League Commissioner
– Hank Aaron Sports Academy, CEO

In 2008, House was a consultant and pitching coach for the reality program The Million Dollar Arm. In this capacity, he trained two young Indian prospects, Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, over a period of seven months. At the end of that time, he had raised the velocity of both prospects' fastballs to major league levels, and the two signed professional baseball contracts with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. The story of The Million Dollar Arm is dramatized in the Disney movie of the same name.

House has been called the "father of modern pitching mechanics" and a "professor of throwing." House was one of the first to blend scientific-based pitching studies into methodologies for pitchers. He has led elite coaching to become scientific instead of guesswork. He has developed a model that is focused on quantifying the movement in each athlete's motion, then using drills and exercises to maximize accuracy and velocity and minimize strain on player's bodies.

House has been one of the first to adopt "Neurophysiology," by pairing his mechanics and motion analysis with functional fitness to address an athlete's functional strength inefficiencies, sleep, and nutrition to recover faster, and data-driven mental and emotional assessment to uncover how athletes deal with the stress and anxiety of competition. House became the pitching coach for the Texas Rangers in 1985, during which time he was notable for his work with Nolan Ryan. During Ryan's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25, 1999, he credited House as a positive influence on his career, saying:

“While I was [with the Rangers], I was fortunate to have a pitching coach named Tom House. Tom and I are the same age, and Tom is a coach who is always on the cutting edge. I really enjoyed our association together, and he would always come up with new training techniques that we would try and see how they would work into my routine. Because of our friendship and Tom pushing me, I think I got in the best shape of my life when I was with the Rangers.”

– Nolan Ryan, MLB Hall of Fame - Pitcher

House has also worked as a coach for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Chunichi Dragons, and Chiba Lotte Marines. He is an American Sports Medicine Institute advisor and co-founded the National Pitching Association. Through the NPA, he runs camps and clinics for athletes and markets instructional videos for young baseball players. House has also written or co-written nineteen instructional books on baseball and an autobiography. In 1998, the American Baseball Coaches Association presented House with a lifetime achievement award.

House served as pitching coach for the USC Trojans from 2008 to 2011 when he retired from coaching. Tom now continues making his contributions to the game of baseball and, in fact, numerous sports via his pitching, coaching, technique, and nutritional programs that can be found at www.nationalpitching.com

NOTES
Recently, House has worked with several NFL quarterbacks, including Dak Prescott, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Alex Smith, Carson Palmer, Cody Kessler, Matt Cassel, Jared Goff, Marcus Mariota, Andrew Luck, Jimmy Garoppolo, Carson Wentz, Terrelle Pryor, Tim Tebow, Andy Dalton, Blake Bortles, Matt Ryan and Mac Jones.

*Bill Paxton portrayed House in the Disney film Million Dollar Arm.