Daniel Keller

Dan Keller is President and owner of Dugout Captain Sports, based in Huntington Beach, California. A lifelong student of the game of baseball, and pitching in particular, Keller started Dugout Captain in 2015 in an effort to broaden his reach to the youth baseball community. Dugout Captain provides coaching tools, instructional content, and a proprietary virtual practice planning tool that is revolutionizing the volunteer coach role. Prior to Dugout Captain, Keller built, ran, and sold Lifeletics Baseball. Lifeletics provides world-class fundamental baseball training with an important emphasis on positive character development and the life lessons learned through athletics. The company name Lifeletics—where LIFE meets ATHLETICS— represents the powerful life lessons that can be learned through competition and sports in general.

Keller experienced athletic success from youth baseball through the collegiate ranks and was drafted in 1995 by the Baltimore Orioles. After several years in business and technology, Keller started Lifeletics Baseball in 2001. After 15 years of coaching and operating Lifeletics, Keller returned to sports technology by starting Dugout Captain Incorporated. Dan grew up in Fountain Valley, California, and played on many championship teams. He was part of a national title team as a 14-year-old (Pony League), a World Series title team as a 16-year-old (Pony League, Colt Division), and two California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship teams as a junior and senior in high school. He was drafted in 1995 by the Baltimore Orioles, but chose instead to accept a full scholarship to pitch for UCLA. After earning Freshman All-American honors in 1996, he reached the College World Series as a sophomore in 1997. Keller was twice voted all-star alternate in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League (1996, 1997). A weight room injury ended his playing career in 1999.

These experiences provided Keller the opportunity to study the art of pitching from the field of play, the dugout, and the stands. Professionally, Keller has built upon that foundation to develop successful teaching methods and instructional road-maps for learning and understanding pitching mechanics as well as the responsibilities of the pitcher position. Dan Keller has worked since 2000 as a private pitching instructor for youth league and professional athletes alike. His team-coaching resume includes work with competitive youth teams, high school teams at all levels, and community college teams, and one summer he coached the nation’s finest Division I pitchers in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Keller’s Dugout Captain product offering includes a development curriculum to guide coaches from start to finish, template-based practice plans, and a proprietary online clipboard to easily create, save, and share practice plans. Keller is author of another baseball book (Survival Guide to Coaching Youth Baseball - Human Kinetics), and he has written numerous articles published in newspapers, magazines, and online media. He is a frequent guest speaker at baseball functions and holds a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from Azusa Pacific University. Living in Huntington Beach, California, Keller is married to his wife, Erin, and has two kids—a son named Kobe and a daughter named Mackenzie.