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Speaker 1: Fish Bites Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Arm Layton,

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Speaker 1: and we're back after a little bit of a holiday break,

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Speaker 1: but I promise we will make it well worth your while.

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Speaker 1: As I am joined by Marlin's legend mister Marlin himself,

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Speaker 1: Jeff co nine. Jeff, thanks for joining me today.

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Speaker 2: My pleasure, Arm.

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Speaker 1: So, if it's okay, I want to start with your

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Speaker 1: background a little bit. Of course, everyone knows you are

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Speaker 1: the only Marlins player to win both World Series titles

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Speaker 1: with the team, the only Marlins player to win an

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Speaker 1: All Star Game MVP, the first to successfully steal a base.

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Speaker 1: I don't think everyone knew that one. But there's so

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Speaker 1: many things you accomplished in a Marlins uniform. But I

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Speaker 1: don't think a lot of people know what you did

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Speaker 1: to get there. I mean, you were a pitcher at UCLA,

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Speaker 1: You're a California native, and you enter the draft as

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Speaker 1: a hitter. Can you explain that story a little bit

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Speaker 1: and clarify it for some people that have no idea

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Speaker 1: about how you actually reached the major leagues?

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Speaker 3: Weall, yeah, I was recruited as a pitcher and a

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Speaker 3: DH at UCLA and the teams that I had there

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Speaker 3: in the mid eighties were pretty powerful as far as

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Speaker 3: offense was concerned. So the DH kind of fell by

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Speaker 3: the wayside pretty quickly and I became just primarily a pitcher.

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Speaker 3: Halfway through my sophomore year, my pitching coach quit because

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Speaker 3: he was at odds with our head coach didn't really

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Speaker 3: see Eyde so he decided to move on and.

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Speaker 2: Become a scout for the Royals and do that.

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Speaker 3: Wow. I continue to pitch through my junior year, having

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Speaker 3: mediocre success at best. That might be a generous character

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Speaker 3: as of my college pitching career was mediocre.

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Speaker 2: But I end up running into my former.

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Speaker 3: Pitching coach, who is now a scout for the Royals,

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Speaker 3: at one of our practices at Jackie Robinsons Stadium there

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Speaker 3: at UCLA, and he asked me about my baseball career

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Speaker 3: and how it was going and if I want I

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Speaker 3: was going to come back and try to play a

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Speaker 3: position my senior year and I said, no, Coach Adams

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Speaker 3: wants me as a pitcher, and that's what I'm going

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Speaker 3: to be. He said, well, what if I put your

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Speaker 3: name in for the draft, And, like I said, I

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Speaker 3: was a pretty mediocre college pitcher. I didn't think anybody

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Speaker 3: would want me professionally as a pitcher.

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Speaker 2: And I said as what. He was his position player,

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Speaker 2: and I'm like, I haven't picked up a bat in

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Speaker 2: three years.

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Speaker 3: I hadn't had won it bat in three years since

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Speaker 3: I've been at UCLA. So I kind of laughed it

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Speaker 3: off and I said, whatever, you know, you're the scout.

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Speaker 3: I didn't know what to think of it. Fast forward

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Speaker 3: to the draft starts on Monday. I get a call

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Speaker 3: from his name's Guy Hanson, who is my.

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Speaker 2: Pitching coach now a.

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Speaker 3: Then scout for the Royals and ended up being the

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Speaker 3: pitching coach at the Kansasy Royals in the big leagues

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Speaker 3: for a little while as well. But he calls me

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Speaker 3: and says, hey, we got you, and I'm like, what

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Speaker 3: do you mean you got me? Draft started on Monday,

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Speaker 3: and he said, well, there was a record number of

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Speaker 3: rounds this year and we got you in the fifty

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Speaker 3: eighth round. And I started laughing. I didn't even know

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Speaker 3: they went that high, and he said that they. I

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Speaker 3: think Cleveland picked up into the seventieth round that year.

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Speaker 3: So anyway, that's what started my journey in professional baseball.

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Speaker 3: I went to instructional league and Florida at the old

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Speaker 3: Clark Road Complex in Sarasota, Florida, and was completely overmatched.

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Speaker 3: I had no clue what I was doing as a

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Speaker 3: hitter because I hadn't hit it so long, and I really.

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Speaker 2: Didn't click for me until the following spring training.

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Speaker 3: After that, about a month into my single A season,

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Speaker 3: I finally kind of hit the ground running and from

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Speaker 3: there on started hitting the ball pretty well and moved

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Speaker 3: through the system.

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Speaker 1: So what do you think he saw in you as

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Speaker 1: a hitter with not even really hitting in front of him?

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Speaker 1: Obviously you're a great athlete, you play racquetball. You know,

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Speaker 1: you've run marathons, you did the Seven Marathons and seven

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Speaker 1: Continents or something all so it talks to you about

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Speaker 1: a little bit later. You obviously are are a phenomenal athletes.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that's what he saw on you and

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Speaker 1: figured he could shape you as a hitter or what

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Speaker 1: do you think he saw?

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Speaker 3: I think that was part of it. I think work

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Speaker 3: ethic was another big thing. I think I outworked everybody.

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Speaker 3: You know, we would go as pitchers, we would take

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Speaker 3: pictures batting practice, you know, every once in a while,

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Speaker 3: not very often, And I think I shined pretty well

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Speaker 3: there because I hit in high school. And another thing

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Speaker 3: that we did is pictures group for conditioning, we go

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Speaker 3: down to the beach and play beach volleyball. So I

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Speaker 3: think just all those things combined, you know, he saw

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Speaker 3: the athleticism, he saw how harday worked, and he felt

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Speaker 3: that with my hand eye coordination that I would take

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Speaker 3: to playing a position quickly at the professional level.

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Speaker 1: And to be clear, talking about rounds, going back to

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Speaker 1: that where you said you didn't even know there were

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Speaker 1: fifty eight rounds, you'd be eighteen rounds over the limit nowadays,

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Speaker 1: as we only do forty. So that shows how crazy

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Speaker 1: of a long shot your story was to begin with.

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Speaker 1: But another thing that was fascinating to me is how

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Speaker 1: you said you were overmatched right when you got to

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Speaker 1: the minor leagues, but you climbed through the ranking so

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Speaker 1: quickly you ended up getting your first major league got

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Speaker 1: back by nineteen ninety and that was for the Royals.

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Speaker 1: What was that like, finally making it to the Biggs

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Speaker 1: after seemingly feeling like a long shot your entire career,

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Speaker 1: almost laughing at the idea of being drafted as a hitter,

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Speaker 1: and all of a sudden three years later, you're playing

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Speaker 1: outfield in the major leagues.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I was.

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Speaker 3: You know what, in my mind, I told myself, I

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Speaker 3: was going to give myself three years with this kind

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Speaker 3: of experiment. I said, if I'm not close in three years,

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Speaker 3: then you know.

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Speaker 2: I'll move on.

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Speaker 3: I'll say that I did my best, and I'd go

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Speaker 3: back to school, finish my degree, and join the business

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Speaker 3: world somewhere. And lo and Belle, I get called up

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Speaker 3: at the end of my Double A season, after my

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Speaker 3: third year to the Royals, and my first at bat

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Speaker 3: in the big leagues was following Bo Jackson, who had

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Speaker 3: hit one of the most massive home runs I've ever

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Speaker 3: seen hit, even to this day in my life, I

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Speaker 3: had to follow that for my first at bat in

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Speaker 3: the big leagues. And you know, just when you get

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Speaker 3: that call, when you get that, you've been working so hard.

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Speaker 3: And no, it wasn't a dream of mine when I

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Speaker 3: was a kid or anything like that, but I worked really,

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Speaker 3: really hard. As soon as I've made that commitment to

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Speaker 3: give this thing a shot, I worked my tail off.

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Speaker 3: And when you finally get that call from your manager

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Speaker 3: in Double A to call you into the office, until

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Speaker 3: you've been called up to the big leagues so you

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Speaker 3: can play in front of the water fountains in Kansas City.

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Speaker 2: That was a pretty special phone call.

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Speaker 1: So you mentioned it wasn't your dream as a kid,

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Speaker 1: so you didn't always imagine being a major league baseball

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Speaker 1: player like most of these major leaguers say, Oh, I

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Speaker 1: knew I was going to be a major leaguer when

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Speaker 1: I was five years old. What was your dream if

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Speaker 1: it wasn't to be a major league baseball player.

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Speaker 3: Honestly, I don't really know. I mean, I didn't mind

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Speaker 3: playing baseball. I played the Little league and that with

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Speaker 3: my friends. But if there was any money in racketball,

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Speaker 3: I probably would have been a professional racquetball player. That

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Speaker 3: was my main sport and what I was passionate about,

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Speaker 3: and I played constantly. I even took I didn't play

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Speaker 3: baseball when I was thirteen and fourteen, so I could

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Speaker 3: focus on racketball.

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Speaker 1: That's amazing, and that's something that would stumble a lot

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Speaker 1: of people. But actually, there were a few questions on

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Speaker 1: Twitter asking if you still played racquetball. But we know

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Speaker 1: you're on the men now from all of those marathons

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Speaker 1: you did, but are you planning on getting back into

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Speaker 1: the racketball arena.

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Speaker 2: No, actually focusing on tennis. Now.

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Speaker 3: I've got a nice place to play here in Weston,

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Speaker 3: and my wife says she's all in on tennis and

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Speaker 3: she wants to start playing doubles with me. So now

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Speaker 3: that i'll get out my my injuries fixed, I'm gonna

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Speaker 3: start playing more tennis.

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Speaker 1: And sounds great. And you mentioned Bo Jackson. I have

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Speaker 1: to go back to that because I've been told that

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Speaker 1: you have a pretty cool Bo Jackson's story from spring training,

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Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I was in spring training. This is after

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Speaker 3: he injured his hip playing football with the Raiders. We're

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Speaker 3: in the training room and I'm getting shoulder stretched out

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Speaker 3: and bow is on the table next to me, and

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Speaker 3: you know, he looks at me and goes, hey, ConA,

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Speaker 3: I hear you're pretty good at racketball. And I said, yeah,

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Speaker 3: I'm pretty good, and he's like, he goes, I want

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Speaker 3: to play you sometime for some big money. And I'm like, okay,

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Speaker 3: I like your idea of big money and my idea

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Speaker 3: big money.

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Speaker 2: Are two different things, totally. I'm sure. So what are

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Speaker 2: we talking about here?

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Speaker 3: He said, I don't know about fifteen grand and you know,

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Speaker 3: my eyes literally bugged out of my head and I

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Speaker 3: had to put them back in the sockets because I'm like, okay,

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Speaker 3: I'll do that. And I said, how many points do

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Speaker 3: you want? You know, because obviously I didn't know how

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Speaker 3: much you knew about racketball, but he knew that I

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Speaker 3: was supposedly good at it, and he said, I don't

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Speaker 3: want any points.

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Speaker 2: I'll play you straight up. And I'm like, oh my god,

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Speaker 2: this is going to be the easiest money I've ever

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Speaker 2: made in my life. So that was the conversation we had.

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Speaker 3: And I said, you know, do you need a racket

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Speaker 3: and so I can get your record goes, I'll get

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Speaker 3: my own racket.

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Speaker 2: I can get a racket from Wilson or something like that.

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Speaker 3: And at the time, Wilson didn't even make Rack of

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Speaker 3: All reckets, but which I thought was funny. But you know,

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Speaker 3: one of those legendary stories that never he ended up,

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Speaker 3: you know, having the hip thing and having surgery, so

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Speaker 3: we never got to play.

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Speaker 1: And he's he's a freak athlete if there's ever been one.

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Speaker 1: I mean, but he was.

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Speaker 2: Held zero. I tell you there right now, Well.

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Speaker 1: If bo Jackson, if I'm lucky enough to get Bo

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Speaker 1: Jackson to listen to that. Maybe we can get a

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Speaker 1: follow up challenge eventually. But full disclosure, though, I want

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Speaker 1: to get to the to the part where you get

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Speaker 1: to the Marlins, because you pretty much only got a

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Speaker 1: cup of coffee with the Royals and you ultimately get

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Speaker 1: selected by the Marlins in the nineteen ninety two Expansion Draft.

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Speaker 1: Obviously they didn't even exist at the time. I guess

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Speaker 1: they just just began doing exist. They didn't even have

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Speaker 1: a full roster yet. What was it like, full disclosure,

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Speaker 1: What was it like to be drafted by that new

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Speaker 1: baseball team from Miami. What were you thinking?

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Speaker 3: Well, when I had found out that I was not

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Speaker 3: protected in the first round of the Expansion Draft because

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Speaker 3: you could protect fifteen players on your forty man roster,

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Speaker 3: and I'd gotten a call from a friend that morning

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Speaker 3: telling me that I was not protected on that first round,

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Speaker 3: so I knew there was a chance that I might

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Speaker 3: go somewhere in the draft, And to be honest, I

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Speaker 3: was hoping it was Colorado because when I was in

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Speaker 3: Triple A for the Royals, we played at Mile High

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Speaker 3: Stadium because the Brewers had a Triple A team in Colorado.

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Speaker 3: That played there, and I loved playing in Denver. I

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Speaker 3: love the city of Denver. I like it in that

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Speaker 3: thin air and I just really really love that setting

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Speaker 3: where you know, I played two years in the Florida

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Speaker 3: State League at spring training down in Florida, and I

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Speaker 3: wasn't a big fan of the summers in Florida as

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Speaker 3: far as the weather was concerned, and I was hoping

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Speaker 3: that Colorado would call my name. Well during the draft,

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Speaker 3: you know, they announced that they had signed Andris Galaraga to

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Speaker 3: play first base, and I'm like, darn, there goes my

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Speaker 3: chance to play for the Colorado Rockies. And then I

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Speaker 3: found out that Arrestus Destrata was coming to the Marlins

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Speaker 3: play first base as well. But the past season I

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Speaker 3: had switched to the outfit and I played some outfields,

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Speaker 3: so I knew that was a shot as well. But

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Speaker 3: you know, when they called that eleventh pick and they

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Speaker 3: said from m Kansasity Royals and it was me, I

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Speaker 3: was like, I really was truly excited because I knew

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Speaker 3: that I was going to get a shot to start

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Speaker 3: at the big league level and to make an impact

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Speaker 3: on a brand new team and.

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Speaker 2: Start with a brand new franchise. So it was a

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Speaker 2: crazy whirlwind of an offseason.

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Speaker 3: And when I think back on it now, you know,

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Speaker 3: just the excitement that I had for the opportunity given

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Speaker 3: to play Major League baseball was that's all that really mattered.

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Speaker 1: And I want to I we'll get into the specifics there,

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Speaker 1: but I want to talk what you did with the

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Speaker 1: Marlins overall. Of course, the only player to win both

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Speaker 1: World Series titles with the Marlins, the first player to

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Speaker 1: wear the number nineteen, the first player to successfully steal

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Speaker 1: a base third base of all bases too, which is

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Speaker 1: pretty interesting if I remember correctly, And of course, the

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Speaker 1: only Marlin to be named All Star Game MVP. In

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Speaker 1: terms of personal accomplishments, we'll get into the World Series.

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Speaker 1: Would you say, where does the All Star MVP rank

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Speaker 1: for you in terms of your individual accomplishments on the

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Speaker 1: baseball field.

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Speaker 2: That's got to be. That's up to the very top.

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Speaker 3: I played in the nineteen ninety four I didn't play

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Speaker 3: in the nineteen ninety four All Start. I was selected

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Speaker 3: for the nineteen ninety four All Star team, it didn't

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Speaker 3: get into the game, and you know that was kind

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Speaker 3: of bittersweet for me. I the way the game played

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Speaker 3: out or whatever. I was one of the only players

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Speaker 3: left on the bench by the end of the game

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Speaker 3: because it was a.

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Speaker 2: Close game going late innings.

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Speaker 3: And the next year when I went, I got selected again,

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Speaker 3: and I and Felipe Loo was the All Star manager

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Speaker 3: that year, and he said, you know what, he goes,

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Speaker 3: I am all for getting everybody in this game, so

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Speaker 3: everyone's going to get a chance to play. So I

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Speaker 3: knew that I was going to probably get in at

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Speaker 3: some point. It'd probably be in a pinch hitting role

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Speaker 3: at some point.

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Speaker 2: And just to do.

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Speaker 3: Come through with a big hit like that in that

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Speaker 3: situation on a national stage was by far the biggest

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Speaker 3: moment of my life at that point as far as

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Speaker 3: baseball is concerned.

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Speaker 2: And if you exclude you know, World Series titles.

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Speaker 3: And playoff runs and things like that, I still think

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Speaker 3: that was one of the happiest days of my life.

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Speaker 1: And that's when the games actually mattered. You know, you

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Speaker 1: were playing for home field advantage and all that. So

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Speaker 1: another reason why maybe you didn't get in in that

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Speaker 1: first All Star Game. Now it's a little bit more

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Speaker 1: of an exhibition game. But of course that hit ended

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Speaker 1: up proving pretty pretty monumental and earning home field advantage

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Speaker 1: for the nation in the league. I want to talk

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Speaker 1: about the World Series, of course. First was ninety seven

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Speaker 1: when you were with the Marlins that entire season in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and three, you end up coming over on

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Speaker 1: the waiver deadline August thirty first. I'll talk about ninety

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Speaker 1: seven in a second, because I want to make sure

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Speaker 1: I remember to ask you about this day. You come

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Speaker 1: over at the very very very last minute possible to

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Speaker 1: even have a trade. That's after the non waiver deadline,

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Speaker 1: so it's already harder to make a deal in August

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Speaker 1: and they make it right on August thirty first, two

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Speaker 1: thousand and three. Can you take us through that day

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Speaker 1: a little bit and what that was like to end

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Speaker 1: up getting sent back to Miami.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I was a little crazy. We were in Seattle

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Speaker 3: and playing the Mariners. We had a day game, obviously,

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Speaker 3: and we'll get to the airport and the way they

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Speaker 3: set up the TSA checks for us at airports is

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Speaker 3: right in front of the plane, right you know, before

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Speaker 3: the stairs you go up to get on the plane.

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Speaker 3: So there's always like a big rush. Everybody gets up

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Speaker 3: the bus real quickly. So I stayed back and I

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Speaker 3: was like the only person left on the bus and

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Speaker 3: the very back, just waiting for everybody to get through security.

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Speaker 3: And Jim Beattie or GM comes walking onto our bus,

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Speaker 3: which never ever happens, and there are two or three

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Speaker 3: players up in the very front of the bus and

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Speaker 3: I was just kind of sitting back listening to music

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Speaker 3: in the back, and he passed them and started walking

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Speaker 3: towards me. So I knew something was up at that point.

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Speaker 3: So he takes a seat next to me and.

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Speaker 2: He goes, Jeff.

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Speaker 3: He goes, we're working on a tentative deal to send

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Speaker 3: you back to Florida to play for the Florida Marlins.

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Speaker 3: And I just looked at him and said, you're kidding, right,

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Speaker 3: And he's like, no, I'm not kidding, but there's contingency.

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Speaker 2: With the last year of your contract.

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Speaker 3: And Marlins wanted to rework the last year of my

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Speaker 3: deal that I had with the Baltimore Orioles, and it

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Speaker 3: was contingent upon me agreeing to that before the deal

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00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,640
Speaker 3: would go through. So this is back in the day

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Speaker 3: where he had phones in the back of the headrests

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Speaker 3: on planes, and that was my only communication, a line

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00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,640
Speaker 3: that I could get this deal done, So I immediately

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00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,240
Speaker 3: got on one of those phones. When I got on

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00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,800
Speaker 3: the plane, contacted my wife first and told her what

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Speaker 3: was going on. She went crazy, obviously because I was

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Speaker 3: coming back home to play. And then I said, I

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Speaker 3: got to get ahold of my agent. Well, my agent

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Speaker 3: was in the air going from Oklahoma, Cindy back to

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Speaker 3: southern California. So my wife, Cindy was here at the

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00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,040
Speaker 3: house coordinating phone calls between.

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Speaker 2: The Marlins. They would call Cindy, and whenever I.

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Speaker 3: Could call on the air phone plane, I'd get updates

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Speaker 3: from her. She was calling the wife of my agent

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Speaker 3: who was back in southern California, giving her all the

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Speaker 3: updates and information. So as soon as he landed, he

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Speaker 3: had everything going on, and then once in a while

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Speaker 3: talking with the Marlins and what they wanted to do

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Speaker 3: with my last year of my deal and what was

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Speaker 3: going on with that. Well, this is also back when

354
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Speaker 3: the trade headline was at midnight Eastern time, so I

355
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Speaker 3: was going to be in the air at midnight Eastern time,

356
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Speaker 3: so I had to get this deal done on the

357
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Speaker 3: plane if it was going to happen at all. So

358
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Speaker 3: it was a crazy couple hours of trading phone calls.

359
00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,480
Speaker 3: I never actually saw what that bill was on the airphone,

360
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,119
Speaker 3: which I'm sure was pretty substantial. She had a Swipeer

361
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Speaker 3: credit card. I don't know if they gave me to

362
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,600
Speaker 3: give it to me for free or what. But yeah,

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00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,560
Speaker 3: we finally agreed at eleven fifty eight. I remember Larry

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Speaker 3: beinfields cut of phone. He goes, Jeff, he goes, I

365
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Speaker 3: have to know right now, I have to have this

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Speaker 3: deal into the Commissioner's.

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00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,520
Speaker 2: Office in two minutes, yes or no? And I said, yes,

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Speaker 2: let's do it. And I don't even think he said

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Speaker 2: he didn't hear him say anthing.

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Speaker 3: You just hung up the phone so we could get

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Speaker 3: onto the facts machine and facts in that we had

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00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,879
Speaker 3: a done deal. And I literally got the deal in

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Speaker 3: within minutes of the midnight deadline.

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Speaker 1: It's amazing that you got it in with two minutes

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Speaker 1: to spare. I remembered you mentioning that story in the past,

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Speaker 1: and I wanted to make sure we touched on that one.

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Speaker 1: But going back to nineteen ninety seven, of course, a

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Speaker 1: much different situation. Going into the World Series, you're with

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Speaker 1: the team the entire year. That year, you have a

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Speaker 1: phenomenal year with the Marlins, and then of course a

381
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Speaker 1: great postseason. What was it like being on that team

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Speaker 1: that had a little bit of a veteran presence to

383
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Speaker 1: it a lot more than two thousand and three and

384
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 1: a more consistent season. Of course, two thousand and three

385
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Speaker 1: was one of the biggest turnarounds in baseball history. In

386
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Speaker 1: ninety seven, that World Series itself was crazy thrilling. Of

387
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Speaker 1: course you have the famous Craig Council crossing home plate.

388
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Speaker 1: What was that season like in comparison to two thousand

389
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Speaker 1: and three and that entire marathon just going into the

390
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Speaker 1: postseason and then eventually the World Series.

391
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Speaker 3: Well, in the offseason of nineteen ninety six ninety seven,

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Speaker 3: you know, Wayne Heisinger, the then owner of the Marlins,

393
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,800
Speaker 3: gave Dave Dombrowski a directive saying, listen, I want to

394
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Speaker 3: know if baseball is going to survive down here in

395
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Speaker 3: South Florida, if these fans are going to come back.

396
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Speaker 3: You know, because post or pre strike, we were drawing

397
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Speaker 3: three million fans a year. We had two seasons of

398
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Speaker 3: three plus million fans and.

399
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:01,159
Speaker 2: Have to strike.

400
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Speaker 3: Everything kind of went away, and Wayne wanted to know

401
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,720
Speaker 3: if they would come back if we produced a winner

402
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,440
Speaker 3: so Dave Dombrowski started putting on his rolled up his

403
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,960
Speaker 3: sleeves and went out and got some major, major talent

404
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,320
Speaker 3: Moyes A. Salou and Bobby Bonilla and to Von White,

405
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,960
Speaker 3: and you know, you really tooled this team into a

406
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,639
Speaker 3: championship caliber team. So going into spring training, you know,

407
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Speaker 3: he hired Jim Leland as the new manager, and we

408
00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,200
Speaker 3: knew that we had something special going in to spring training.

409
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,160
Speaker 3: I still think that we might hold the Gray Fruit

410
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,040
Speaker 3: League record for wins. I think we were twenty six

411
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,879
Speaker 3: and five that spring training. Or it was crazy how

412
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,120
Speaker 3: often we won. I mean, even if we had split squads,

413
00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:42,000
Speaker 3: everyone come back, you.

414
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,800
Speaker 2: Win, Yep, we won, yep. We couldn't get beat.

415
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Speaker 3: And I think that feeling of how we played together.

416
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Speaker 2: Just carried over into the season.

417
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Speaker 3: We lost some series we shouldn't lost the teams, but

418
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Speaker 3: the big ones, the big game series.

419
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Speaker 2: We beat the Braves at a out of twelve that year.

420
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:01,320
Speaker 2: We played the.

421
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,400
Speaker 3: Yankees in in interleague play, we beat them. We beat

422
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,800
Speaker 3: the Orioles inner league play. You know, we beat all

423
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 3: the biggest teams. So we knew we had what it

424
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,520
Speaker 3: took to go deep into the postseason. And it was

425
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,520
Speaker 3: a special team, you know, it really was. It's more

426
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,120
Speaker 3: of a veteran presence. I always say the difference between

427
00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,919
Speaker 3: the two is like, nineteen ninety seven was built to

428
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,959
Speaker 3: do what it did, and two thousand and three was

429
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,280
Speaker 3: just the most fun I've ever had on a baseball

430
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,239
Speaker 3: field because of the personnel that we had and the

431
00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,320
Speaker 3: antics that we would enjoy during games, after games, just

432
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:37,560
Speaker 3: the greatest bunch of guys that we're having a good

433
00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,720
Speaker 3: time and it didn't seem like work at all, and

434
00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:42,280
Speaker 3: it never seemed like we were out of a game

435
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:43,640
Speaker 3: in two thousand and three.

436
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 2: But nineteen ninety I'm excited just a second. Obviously very special.

437
00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,919
Speaker 3: When you win a World Series, doesn't matter how you

438
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 3: get there, how you do it. But it was a

439
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,800
Speaker 3: different feel on both of those teams, but equally as special.

440
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:00,840
Speaker 1: And I'm excited to get in two thousand and three

441
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,119
Speaker 1: because that just seemed like such a miracle season, whereas

442
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,760
Speaker 1: ninety seven, like you said, was something built. You guys

443
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,560
Speaker 1: had expectations going into it. Take me through that World

444
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,080
Speaker 1: Series a little bit though, or even the postseason. You're

445
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,680
Speaker 1: talking about how Heisinga wanted to know if baseball could

446
00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 1: survive and once you reach the postseason, you have what

447
00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,680
Speaker 1: sixty five seventy thousand people packing that football stadium. What

448
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,639
Speaker 1: was it like to play baseball in an atmosphere like that?

449
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,199
Speaker 1: Did you ever play in an atmosphere like that for

450
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 1: baseball and the remainder of your career?

451
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:34,760
Speaker 3: Well, one of a time before that, the inaugural game

452
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,200
Speaker 3: between the Rockies, they were still at Mile High Stadium,

453
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,439
Speaker 3: So we got I think sixty five or seventy thousand

454
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:45,919
Speaker 3: for their inaugural season or inaugural season with US series

455
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,240
Speaker 3: with US, and that was pretty crazy. But you couldn't

456
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:54,480
Speaker 3: match the intensity of a playoff caliber crowd at sixty

457
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,320
Speaker 3: five thousand whatever we had. And you know, we didn't

458
00:21:58,320 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 3: even sell out the first round of the playoffs. It

459
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:00,800
Speaker 3: was like forty one thousand.

460
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 2: They covered used to cover up the bleachers in the

461
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,920
Speaker 2: in the outfield and they had a couple extra tarps

462
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,600
Speaker 2: up there that I noticed, because they couldn't sell all

463
00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:10,119
Speaker 2: those seats.

464
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 3: But as the postseason progressed and we've been in the NLCS,

465
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 3: then everything was opened up. We got fifty five or

466
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,600
Speaker 3: fifty six for the NLCS, and then of course World

467
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,919
Speaker 3: Series you sell out and do sixty five or sixty

468
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,440
Speaker 3: seven or ever. I can't remember how the what the

469
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,040
Speaker 3: attendance was, but to have that kind of electricity, you know,

470
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 3: Miami is an event driven town and they show up

471
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 3: and are loud for big events, and obviously in baseball

472
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,400
Speaker 3: you can't get bigger than that. And they showed up

473
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,639
Speaker 3: and it was it was electric down there. It was

474
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:39,359
Speaker 3: really a lot of fun.

475
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,880
Speaker 1: And of course the emotions of that game seven, where

476
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,320
Speaker 1: does that rank? Of course, you had some crazy games

477
00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:49,240
Speaker 1: in two thousand and three that we'll get into in

478
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,480
Speaker 1: a minute. Of course, the Steve Bartman game one of

479
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,640
Speaker 1: the craziest comebacks what we've ever seen. But where does

480
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,159
Speaker 1: that ninety seven Game seven rank in terms of the

481
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,800
Speaker 1: most thrilling game you've been a part of.

482
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 3: Well, I think the whole series. You know, we traded

483
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 3: games every single game. So we won the first one,

484
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 3: and we traded off wins until it came down to

485
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 3: a one game playoff basically in Game seven, and you

486
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 3: know it was we got a break. They were down,

487
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,240
Speaker 3: we were down to nothing going the eighth inning, I

488
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:24,400
Speaker 3: think is when second basement for the Indians. Tony Fernandez

489
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:26,800
Speaker 3: made a big air and we made him pay. We

490
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:28,679
Speaker 3: ended up tying up the game in the ninth and

491
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,200
Speaker 3: it was one of the best played series. I think

492
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 3: it gets overlooked as far as you know, in the

493
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,320
Speaker 3: annals of history of the greatest World Series ever played,

494
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 3: from front.

495
00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:40,679
Speaker 2: To start to finish, that's.

496
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,360
Speaker 3: Got to be one of the best. And I think

497
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 3: because we were an upstart team only five years into

498
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 3: our existence, we had no history, and the Indians had

499
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,720
Speaker 3: it made it two World Series in a long time.

500
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 2: They were beaten.

501
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,440
Speaker 3: A couple of years earlier by the Braves, but I

502
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 3: mean they had one of the greatest teams ever played

503
00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 3: against and we ended up beating them. And it was

504
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 3: that That Game seven was just absolute crazy. I couldn't

505
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,240
Speaker 3: even I couldn't even watch hardly. I had got pinch

506
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 3: hit four by Jim Eisenreich in like the seventh inning,

507
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:13,719
Speaker 3: and it was out of the game. So I'm almost

508
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 3: watching every pitch on a TV monitor. I couldn't even

509
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,239
Speaker 3: stand to watch the game. And when Eddie went up

510
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 3: there in the eleventh inning and hit that ball of Nagy,

511
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 3: you know, I got a bird's eye you because I'm

512
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 3: watching the TV and I just as soon as it

513
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,680
Speaker 3: cleared his glove. I knew it was into center field.

514
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 3: I just started running out on field because I knew

515
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 3: were going to win, and it was the greatest thing ever.

516
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,840
Speaker 1: And of course now you say that's the greatest thing ever.

517
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 1: But we fast forward to two thousand and three. Now

518
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 1: it's a totally different role for you. You brought in to

519
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,880
Speaker 1: a team that at that point, August thirty first, they

520
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,120
Speaker 1: were making a playoff push. They had already turned things

521
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:52,400
Speaker 1: around and they were looking at the playoffs. Again, You're

522
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,919
Speaker 1: acquired as a veteran presence. Of course your bat was

523
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,760
Speaker 1: needed too, but they a veteran presence for this youthful team,

524
00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 1: probably the most youthful team in the MLB at that point,

525
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,480
Speaker 1: which was crazy that they were even competing at the

526
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 1: level they were. What was it like to almost be

527
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,720
Speaker 1: that mentor in the clubhouse for some of these young

528
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,880
Speaker 1: guys who at the time, I'm curious if you saw.

529
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: Of course you knew some of them were going to

530
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 1: be special, but did you know Miguel Cabrera, Dontrell, some

531
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: of those guys would go on to have the seasons

532
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,760
Speaker 1: that they had after that, Well.

533
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,119
Speaker 3: After I played with him for a month, Yeah, I

534
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,480
Speaker 3: knew how special Migey was, and I knew how special

535
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:27,159
Speaker 3: Dontrell was.

536
00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 2: But going in, you.

537
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 3: Know, I was in the American League and interleague play

538
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,000
Speaker 3: was relatively new, so I didn't know much about the Marlins. Yeah,

539
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 3: I lived here, but you know, I'm so busy in

540
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 3: the American League and in Baltimore that I don't really.

541
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:39,760
Speaker 2: Follow what's going on here.

542
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 3: I don't know the players, really, so I have no

543
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 3: idea how good this team was or what kind of

544
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 3: talent they had. I knew that Mike Lowell took a

545
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:49,720
Speaker 3: pitch to the hand and broke his hand, and that's

546
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 3: why I was here. That's my reason they called is

547
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,880
Speaker 3: because Mike broke Mike Lowell broke his hand in August thirtieth,

548
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,920
Speaker 3: and I was on the team August thirty first, So

549
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,119
Speaker 3: coming in, I really knew nothing. I didn't even know

550
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 3: how close the playoff run was. I think they were

551
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 3: down one game out of the wild card when I

552
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 3: got there. But to come back home and be in

553
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,919
Speaker 3: a playoff hunt, I mean, my goodness, that's what you

554
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:16,920
Speaker 3: hope for, that's what you put on a uniform for.

555
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 3: And you know, after about a week with this team,

556
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,280
Speaker 3: I just knew there was something special going on here.

557
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 2: That you know.

558
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 3: I had seventeen seasons that you can pick out the

559
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,200
Speaker 3: truly special teams that you played on. I went to

560
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 3: playoffs twice and I was two for two, so I

561
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:36,560
Speaker 3: knew this one was special, and I knew that we

562
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,600
Speaker 3: had what it took with the I think the youthfullness

563
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,600
Speaker 3: helped us. You know, Miguel Cabrera didn't care what if

564
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,359
Speaker 3: that we were playing in the playoffs. He was a

565
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,399
Speaker 3: twenty year old rookie that just wanted to hit.

566
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:49,159
Speaker 2: It's all I wanted to do.

567
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 3: And Dontre Willis was electrifying with his personality and his motion.

568
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,120
Speaker 2: And the way he threw the ball.

569
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,560
Speaker 3: And you got to brash Josh Beckett that didn't care

570
00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:57,760
Speaker 3: who he was throwing against.

571
00:26:58,119 --> 00:26:59,720
Speaker 2: He thought he was gonna win every time out.

572
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,959
Speaker 3: And you mix that with probably the greatest infield defense

573
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,400
Speaker 3: that I've ever played on or against. When Mike Lowell

574
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,920
Speaker 3: finally made it back. You had Lowell, Gonzales, Luis Castile,

575
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 3: and Derek Lee over first. I mean, it doesn't get any.

576
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: Better than that, and Pudge behind the dish. It's really

577
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 1: hard to beat. And other than the defense, what do

578
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,240
Speaker 1: you think made that team so good, just so cohesive.

579
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 1: Of course, one of my favorite things about that team

580
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: was the one two punch at the top of the

581
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,400
Speaker 1: order with Juan Pierre and Luis Castiez, something you don't

582
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,800
Speaker 1: see a lot in baseball anymore. Guys that just put

583
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 1: the ball in play are almost a virtual lock to

584
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: hit three hundred and for you and steal twenty thirty bases.

585
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,440
Speaker 1: Pierre stole sixty five that season. I think Louis stole

586
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: twenty one. But was what made that team other than

587
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 1: the defense, like you just mentioned, just so cohesive and

588
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 1: worked so well together, where you guys were able to

589
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,200
Speaker 1: win so many games you weren't supposed to win.

590
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:54,760
Speaker 2: We had fun.

591
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 3: I think that was the biggest thing is we had

592
00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 3: fun every day we got to that ballpark. It was fun,

593
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 3: and the guys look forward to come to the ballpark,

594
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 3: and we never felt out of a game. I don't

595
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 3: care what the score was, We didn't even look at scoreboard.

596
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,119
Speaker 3: We knew that our offense was good enough to erupt

597
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 3: at any time and score a bunch of runs, put

598
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,160
Speaker 3: a bunch of runs on the board, and we knew

599
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 3: that we had confidence on our bullpen to stop them

600
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 3: right where they were. So I think just that, you know,

601
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,680
Speaker 3: we had so much fun, We had so much confidence.

602
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 3: That that's what set that team apart from any other

603
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:31,000
Speaker 3: team that I played on. And you know, what a

604
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 3: joy to come to the ballpark every day and be

605
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:34,120
Speaker 3: a part of what those guys.

606
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,880
Speaker 1: So, of course, the one of the most frequent questions

607
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 1: asked on Twitter was people wanted to know about the

608
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: JT snow throw. Of course, to throw them out at

609
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,680
Speaker 1: home plate, punch hangs on to advance to the next round,

610
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 1: to advance to the NLCS. Can you just take us

611
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 1: through that play a little bit? Do you even remember

612
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 1: what was going through your head? Did you blackout? Did

613
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: it just happen? Did you just what was going through

614
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: your head in that play? Were you playing show for

615
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: any reason? Was there was there more to it? Or

616
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 1: did you just feel at it and chuck it home?

617
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: And was it that simple?

618
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,600
Speaker 3: No, there was a million things going through my mind

619
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 3: in the course of that play. And of course, if

620
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 3: you look at it at regular speed, it probably lasts

621
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 3: less than ten seconds, but as you're in it, in

622
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 3: my mind, it lasted a minute.

623
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 2: You know, I'm out there not.

624
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:25,719
Speaker 3: Fairly deep left field was not that big a field

625
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,880
Speaker 3: for our ballpark back then, so I was playing probably

626
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 3: regular depth on the field. We had Jeffrey Hammonds at

627
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 3: the play, who has pretty good power, so I wasn't

628
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 3: giving up.

629
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 2: A double over my head.

630
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 3: Because he got the tying run on second, you don't

631
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:39,960
Speaker 3: want him to get to be the winning run on second.

632
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,600
Speaker 3: So pitch goes in and I see a pretty big swing,

633
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 3: So I almost took a stutter step back because I

634
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 3: thought he.

635
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 2: Made better contact than he did, and he hit it

636
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 2: off the end.

637
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 3: So I just start sprinting in and as I'm running in,

638
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 3: I'm thinking, all right, well, it's two outs. That guy

639
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,320
Speaker 3: is going to score because I got too far to

640
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:56,160
Speaker 3: go to get to this ball.

641
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 2: Should I die for it? And if I die for it,

642
00:29:58,040 --> 00:29:59,160
Speaker 2: is the ball going to squirrel away?

643
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,240
Speaker 3: And then Eeffrey Ham's gonna get the second base and

644
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 3: now he's going to be the lead run on second

645
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 3: base and I can't do that.

646
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:04,880
Speaker 2: So what am I gonna do here?

647
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 3: I gotta try to catch it on a short hop,

648
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:08,560
Speaker 3: and then on the short hop, I'm just gonna say,

649
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 3: all right, well, I gotta hit my cutoff man.

650
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 2: Because that's my job as an outfield.

651
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,040
Speaker 3: I was just gonna let it go and hit my

652
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 3: cutoff man and I'll be out of the play. So

653
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 3: I get that wicked kind of checked up short hop.

654
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:20,000
Speaker 3: I grab it as fasts I can get rid of

655
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 3: as fasts I can. That was my only thought was

656
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:22,480
Speaker 3: get it and get rid.

657
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 2: Of fast you can.

658
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 3: And I swear that ball was about two feet out

659
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 3: of my hand. And I looked down and I saw

660
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 3: where JT. Snow was and I couldn't believe it. I'm like, wait,

661
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 3: he's just past third base. And I look at the

662
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 3: trajectory of my throat and I'm like, this is gonna

663
00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:37,040
Speaker 3: make it there in plenty of time.

664
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,720
Speaker 2: I said, I just hold on, Pudge, just hold on.

665
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 3: So right then, it just seemed like everything just went

666
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 3: slow motion, like everything went quiet. It's almost like you're

667
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:46,720
Speaker 3: at them, you know, you see in the movies when

668
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,320
Speaker 3: you see the ball, you can see the rotation of

669
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:50,800
Speaker 3: the seams. And I saw the skip, and I knew

670
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 3: it was going to be, you know, a long skip.

671
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 2: It wasn't gonna be.

672
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 3: Like a short hop. And I saw Pudge grab it.

673
00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 3: I saw him put his hands around the glove, and

674
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 3: I'm like, he's secured, man, there's gonna be a collision,

675
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,520
Speaker 3: and just hold on, just hold on, And sure enough

676
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 3: he slams into him. And then I see Pudge's arm

677
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 3: go up, the ball in his hand, and then everything

678
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 3: goes back to regular speed and we all go berserk.

679
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 2: It was going crazy, and it was the coolest way

680
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 2: that I've ever ended a game, and it just happened.

681
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 1: To be the clinch a series, probably the most famous

682
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: play in Marlin's history, besides the Game seven walkoff. As

683
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 1: we were talking about before, people don't realize how much

684
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 1: goes into every single play, the amount of decisions you

685
00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,400
Speaker 1: have to make on just a single ball like that,

686
00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 1: even with two outs. But another thing I wanted to

687
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,479
Speaker 1: ask you about. Of course, I have some intel from

688
00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 1: your son who told me to ask you about Tim Wakefield,

689
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,240
Speaker 1: and he says, you're not a fan of knuckleball. Do

690
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,520
Speaker 1: you know exactly what you hit against Tim Wakefield?

691
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 2: Exactly?

692
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,200
Speaker 3: I think it's about one hundred points less than what

693
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 3: I weigh, which is not great, And it wasn't I

694
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 3: was a not a fan of a knuckleball, just not

695
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:04,800
Speaker 3: a fan of Tim Wakefield.

696
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:05,480
Speaker 2: For some reason, I.

697
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 3: Could not hit his knuckleball and when I looked in

698
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 3: the end of my career, you know, they show you

699
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,760
Speaker 3: the best and worst you were against anybody, and Tim

700
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 3: Wakefield was the very top. And I hit like one

701
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,600
Speaker 3: thirty nine against Tim Wakefield, and I faced a lot

702
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 3: because we're in the same division.

703
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: I would say there's more on the other end of

704
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 1: things that you're like, Wow, he hit guys that no

705
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: one could hit. Of course, the first one on the

706
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,920
Speaker 1: list is Hall of Famer Greg Maddox. You're sixteen for

707
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,680
Speaker 1: fifty four. That's a two ninety six batting average off

708
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,280
Speaker 1: of Greg Maddox, one of the most difficult pitchers to

709
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,400
Speaker 1: hit in MLB history. Talk about a guy that just

710
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,360
Speaker 1: threw darts up there? What worked for you against Maddox?

711
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:41,520
Speaker 1: Obviously it's a large sample size, so you can't chalk

712
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:42,960
Speaker 1: it up to just good luck.

713
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 2: You know what.

714
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 3: I just realized that this is a guy that's not

715
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,400
Speaker 3: going to really give me anything to hit, and I

716
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,640
Speaker 3: tried to hit it where he threw it. You know, Basically,

717
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 3: I didn't try to pull anything, because if you try

718
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 3: to get into a pattern with him, he he'll exploit that.

719
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 3: And really, you know, I didn't really do any damage

720
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 3: with him. I got hits, but I don't think I

721
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 3: didn't hit a home run off for Greg Maddox and

722
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,280
Speaker 3: maybe a couple of doubles. But you know, I got

723
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,640
Speaker 3: my base hits against him, and it was just about

724
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:10,000
Speaker 3: being patient, and you know, because that guy could do

725
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 3: anything with the baseball. It was crazy what his ball did.

726
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 3: The movement he could get on his ball was absolutely absurd.

727
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 1: And the second most hits you've had in your career

728
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,000
Speaker 1: off of a picture was actually Levon Hernandez. Did playing

729
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,720
Speaker 1: with him have anything to do with that? Or what

730
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,520
Speaker 1: do you chock your success against von Hernandez up too?

731
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 3: You know, there's a comfort level obviously when you played

732
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:30,800
Speaker 3: with someone and you know what kind of guy they are,

733
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 3: and you take that fear factor out of it, that, hey,

734
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 3: is this kind of going to drill me at any time?

735
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 3: But you know, Levon was a great guy, and I

736
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 3: played with him and I knew him.

737
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:43,280
Speaker 2: Real well, and I think that was just it.

738
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 3: I was just comfortable and confident against him, and you know,

739
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 3: he wasn't throwing very hard when I got most of

740
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 3: my hits off him. He was just a guy that

741
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,880
Speaker 3: really spoted the baseball, and I waited for him to

742
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,800
Speaker 3: make a mistake, and then you know I did well

743
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,080
Speaker 3: against him for that reason.

744
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,840
Speaker 1: This is my favorite one, and it's very time. Mariano Rivera.

745
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,520
Speaker 1: You hit a home run off with him in your career.

746
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 1: You also were six for sixteen off of the first

747
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 1: unanimous Hall of Famers. He was just inducted a couple

748
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,880
Speaker 1: of weeks ago. What was your approach to Mariano Rivera,

749
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,640
Speaker 1: the guy who sawed bats for a living and just

750
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:18,319
Speaker 1: threw one pitch, but nobody could figure him out, and

751
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,120
Speaker 1: here he is today a unanimous the first unanimous Hall

752
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 1: of Famer.

753
00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:26,160
Speaker 3: That was curious because when I first faced him, when

754
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 3: I was in Baltimore, you know, I asked my teammates,

755
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 3: give me a scouting important.

756
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:31,920
Speaker 2: They said, he's got a fastball. I'm like, what else, Oh,

757
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,560
Speaker 2: he just throws a fastball. Yeah. They said it's a cutter.

758
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 2: You know, it cuts. And I'm like, that's it. That's all.

759
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 2: He throws the cutter.

760
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 3: I'm like yep, I'm like all right, So I get

761
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 3: up there and first pitch he throws me as a cutter,

762
00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 3: but it's at ninety five and it wasn't a cutter.

763
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 2: It was a slider.

764
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:47,799
Speaker 3: That's how much his ball moved, and I just stepped out.

765
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,480
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my god, I've never seen a fastball

766
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 3: like that before. It was literally a slider at ninety five.

767
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,920
Speaker 2: And it was just it was survival mode against him.

768
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 3: You just hope that you caught that thing on the

769
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,880
Speaker 3: right part the barrel because it's moving so much.

770
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 2: That you know, and I never I never knew I

771
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:06,920
Speaker 2: did that well against him.

772
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,560
Speaker 3: I had a reporter after he retired come up to

773
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 3: me when I was at Marlon's Park and he said, Hey,

774
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:13,640
Speaker 3: I'd love to interview you about your.

775
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:14,839
Speaker 2: Success against Marin Rivera.

776
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:18,399
Speaker 3: I'm like, really, I I had success gainst more because yeah,

777
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 3: you were six or sixteen off from one of the

778
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:21,920
Speaker 3: few guys that ever you know, hit him pretty well.

779
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:23,840
Speaker 3: I'm like, WHOA, all right, I didn't know that, and

780
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 3: I'll be glad to talk about that. I have no

781
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,040
Speaker 3: idea why I did that well. It was it was

782
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,760
Speaker 3: a sneaky six or sixteen.

783
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,600
Speaker 2: I had no idea. I do remember the home run though,

784
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:35,600
Speaker 2: that was that was a big hit.

785
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: More people have walked on the moon than people that

786
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,240
Speaker 1: have hit home runs off of him in the postseason,

787
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,920
Speaker 1: which is absolutely incredible. Besides Tim Wakefield, who is the

788
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: toughest picture you faced. Obviously you hit a lot of guys,

789
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:50,960
Speaker 1: several guys you hit very well or Hall of famers

790
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,480
Speaker 1: now like me seeing another one who was the toughest

791
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:55,680
Speaker 1: picture you faced.

792
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 2: In terms of just uh stuff, and having Pedro was

793
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,160
Speaker 2: probably right up there for me. He could do whatever

794
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:09,240
Speaker 2: he wanted with a baseball.

795
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:11,120
Speaker 3: You know, you could throw it at ninety eight, he

796
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 3: could throw a change up at seventy, and what he

797
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,920
Speaker 3: could do movement wise and control wise was probably as

798
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:21,880
Speaker 3: good as anybody that I faced. You know, there's a

799
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:23,880
Speaker 3: couple of guys. The first time I ever placed Clemens

800
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,920
Speaker 3: was one of the most dominating performance. He struck out

801
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 3: seventeen of us that night. Chris Carpenter threw a one

802
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 3: hitter against this in Saint Louis. That for me that

803
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 3: night was one of the most dominating pitching performances that

804
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 3: I ever ever faced.

805
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 2: You know, but your job as a hitter not to

806
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:45,520
Speaker 2: be fearful of anybody. So it's not like I was

807
00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:46,280
Speaker 2: scared of anyone.

808
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,840
Speaker 3: I just had more respect for some guys than others

809
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:53,680
Speaker 3: as far as how they could place the baseball where

810
00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 3: they wanted to, and those are a couple of guys

811
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:57,200
Speaker 3: that really stand out in my mind.

812
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,160
Speaker 1: So I mentioned your son giving me some intel on

813
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 1: some of the guys that you struggled against. Of course,

814
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: your son, it was just a second round pick now

815
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,840
Speaker 1: for the Blue Jays this past year had a phenomenal

816
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:13,640
Speaker 1: season at Duke. What was it like watching your son

817
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,359
Speaker 1: become a professional baseball player before your eyes?

818
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 2: Nerve wracking?

819
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:24,120
Speaker 3: You know, it's been my whole life and with that

820
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 3: kind of background and that kind of knowledge, I know

821
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:28,359
Speaker 3: exactly what he's going through.

822
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 2: So when he struggles, I struggle. You know, he does well.

823
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 2: I do well.

824
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,839
Speaker 3: It's just the roller coaster emotions that you know as

825
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:41,520
Speaker 3: a baseball player you need to control that because it's

826
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:42,640
Speaker 3: a daily thing.

827
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:43,279
Speaker 2: You have to.

828
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:44,680
Speaker 3: If you have a bad game, you got to turn

829
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,399
Speaker 3: the page and get back out there the very next day.

830
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:52,680
Speaker 3: So it's been amazing and fun, and you know, I

831
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:55,319
Speaker 3: can't speak how proud I am of him and his

832
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 3: work ethic and the way he goes about his business

833
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:58,640
Speaker 3: and when he plays the game the right way, and

834
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,719
Speaker 3: you know, everything that I tried to embody in my

835
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 3: career he's doing now. And that's even more special for

836
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 3: me than doing it myself.

837
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 1: The time going into the draft was pretty crazy for

838
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,000
Speaker 1: both of you, for your whole family. Leading into the

839
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,080
Speaker 1: draft there, I mean, Griffin was still playing baseball. I mean,

840
00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:18,479
Speaker 1: Duke was having the best season that they've ever had

841
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,359
Speaker 1: since probably nineteen sixty one, but the first forty one

842
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:24,080
Speaker 1: season in the program's history, So you can make the

843
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,080
Speaker 1: case that it was the best season in Duke baseball history.

844
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:29,960
Speaker 1: That leads right into the draft. You guys are in

845
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:34,600
Speaker 1: Athens watching Duke take on Georgia griff Homers twice, if

846
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,920
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken. On the day of the draft, you

847
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: guys win to advance to the Super Regional and then

848
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:44,560
Speaker 1: go to a sports bar to watch Griffin get drafted,

849
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:46,719
Speaker 1: and what you expected to be in the first two

850
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:48,759
Speaker 1: rounds ends up being in the first two rounds as

851
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,520
Speaker 1: he's selected by the Blue Jays. What was that day

852
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,040
Speaker 1: like and how did that compare to any kind of

853
00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:55,720
Speaker 1: crazy day you had in your career.

854
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:58,600
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm getting goosebumps right now just thinking about

855
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 3: it and able to follow Duke around on their road

856
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,759
Speaker 3: in the postseason. You know, lost the first game of

857
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 3: that that regional and had to come back and not

858
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:13,240
Speaker 3: lose another game, and they had to beat Georgia twice

859
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,799
Speaker 3: to win the regional. And that's a you know, top

860
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:21,520
Speaker 3: eight team that they were going against, vaunted, and we

861
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,480
Speaker 3: were down to like the last two innings and we're

862
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:29,200
Speaker 3: not playing well, we were not swinging the bats well,

863
00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:32,520
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, that team erupted and scored

864
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:34,479
Speaker 3: some ungodly number of runs. I wish I could remember

865
00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:36,440
Speaker 3: the numbers, but they scored like forty three runs in

866
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:40,279
Speaker 3: the next eighteen innings or something like that, and ended

867
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 3: up winning that regional. And like you said, Griffith three

868
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:44,799
Speaker 3: home runs that day, the two in one game, and

869
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:49,360
Speaker 3: one and another, and you know, then comes the biggest

870
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 3: day of his life. Basically, we're all at Mellow Mushroom

871
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 3: pizza place. We got this big table in the back.

872
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,799
Speaker 3: The whole team was there and to be able to

873
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:00,520
Speaker 3: watch his name pop up on the television Green everybody

874
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 3: starts screaming and cheering and yelling. It was.

875
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:05,480
Speaker 2: I can't even tell you how special that day was.

876
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:10,239
Speaker 1: Griffin's been so successful as a baseball player. Of course,

877
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 1: you played a huge part in that. Even though you're

878
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: not going to take a lot of credit. What advice

879
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:17,319
Speaker 1: would you give to parents that are raising kids to

880
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 1: be baseball players. The crazy thing about Griffin before you

881
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:21,720
Speaker 1: answer that question that will probably kill me for mentioning,

882
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,880
Speaker 1: is that he was kind of like you when he

883
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,319
Speaker 1: was young. He wasn't that into baseball. He was a skateboarder,

884
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:32,440
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, he was like long hair Ken

885
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 1: Griffy Junior offered him thousands of dollars to chop his

886
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,680
Speaker 1: hair off, and he said no. He really wasn't into baseball.

887
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:42,040
Speaker 1: And you obviously didn't pressure him into it because it

888
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:44,399
Speaker 1: probably would have pused him away even more. What would

889
00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 1: be your advice to a dad that wants to raise

890
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:48,839
Speaker 1: his kid to play baseball and just to keep him

891
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:51,000
Speaker 1: going in the right direction, because obviously here Griffin is

892
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:55,480
Speaker 1: today loving baseball as much as anyone and doing as

893
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 1: well as anyone could ever dream.

894
00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:00,400
Speaker 3: I think, you know what, just let your kids do

895
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:02,879
Speaker 3: what they want to do. Yeah, you can support them,

896
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:04,400
Speaker 3: and you can push them and need to be pushed,

897
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 3: But in the grand scheme of things, when you look

898
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 3: at the percentage of kids that ever get to do

899
00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:14,200
Speaker 3: even play high school ball, or even going to college

900
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:17,959
Speaker 3: and play baseball, in colleges minuscule numbers. It's zero point

901
00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:20,799
Speaker 3: zero zero zero tensive percents that get to do that.

902
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,360
Speaker 3: I think parents lose sight of the fact that that baseball,

903
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:29,320
Speaker 3: youth baseball's fun and it should be fun. And to

904
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,840
Speaker 3: push your kids so hard that they at such a

905
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:37,120
Speaker 3: young age that they lose passion for the game because

906
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:39,560
Speaker 3: they've been pushed so hard for so long at such

907
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 3: a young age for what, you know, for what, Especially

908
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:46,359
Speaker 3: if you push and push and push all that time

909
00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:47,440
Speaker 3: and they don't even go to college and.

910
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:48,759
Speaker 2: Play baseball, what was it all worth.

911
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,880
Speaker 3: They didn't have fun, parents didn't have fun because it

912
00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:54,960
Speaker 3: was so competitive, and you put too much stress on

913
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,040
Speaker 3: winning instead of learning the game and having fun that

914
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,040
Speaker 3: you know, your baseball experience was not what it.

915
00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:01,520
Speaker 2: Could have been.

916
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:03,520
Speaker 3: So that's what I do with Griff. I just backed off,

917
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:05,200
Speaker 3: and I said, you know what, I'm here for you.

918
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,879
Speaker 3: I will do whatever it takes. I'll throw you back

919
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:09,920
Speaker 3: in practice till my arm falls off. I'll hit your

920
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,799
Speaker 3: ground balls or do whatever you want. But I didn't

921
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:18,719
Speaker 3: want to be that domineering parent that had to have

922
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:20,440
Speaker 3: him on a winning team all the time, or had

923
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 3: to have him with private.

924
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:26,520
Speaker 2: Hitting coaches and you know, workout programs. I just want

925
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 2: him to progress at his own speed. And I think that's,

926
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,040
Speaker 2: like you alluded to. That's why he has such great

927
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:33,759
Speaker 2: passion for the game now is because he did it

928
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:35,400
Speaker 2: all on his own. He did it his own speed.

929
00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:38,360
Speaker 1: That's the amazing thing is you got to let the

930
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:40,920
Speaker 1: kids develop their own passion. It's something my father did

931
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,480
Speaker 1: with me. And here I am twenty one years later,

932
00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:46,000
Speaker 1: still loving baseball in a different way, covering it and

933
00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 1: having the opportunity to talk to you. So when it

934
00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 1: develops in your own way, you really love the game

935
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:54,360
Speaker 1: in a much more special and unique way. And I

936
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,239
Speaker 1: have to ask you one last thing about the Marlins now.

937
00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,799
Speaker 1: Of course I'm not sure if you are part of

938
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:02,319
Speaker 1: some crazy rebuilds. A lot of fans wanted to know

939
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,000
Speaker 1: what is your advice now for I'm asking a lot

940
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,200
Speaker 1: of advice from you. I'm sorry didn't prepare you for that.

941
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:09,400
Speaker 1: It should have warned you. But what's your advice for

942
00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:13,600
Speaker 1: fans now they're going through a rebuilding time? Would what

943
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:16,240
Speaker 1: would you tell Marlins fans right now that are dealing

944
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:18,120
Speaker 1: with this swow swell rebuild?

945
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:22,120
Speaker 3: You know, teams go through rebuilds all the time unless

946
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:24,640
Speaker 3: you're one of the Big five or six. You know,

947
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:28,320
Speaker 3: you got through Boston, you got New York's, the LA teams,

948
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,840
Speaker 3: Chicago's that have that kind of revenue that can afford

949
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:35,400
Speaker 3: to just go out there and retool with good free agents,

950
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:38,399
Speaker 3: and well, the rest of the bottom teams that are

951
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,680
Speaker 3: challenged revenue wise, they need to develop their own talent and.

952
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:47,600
Speaker 2: It's a slow process. You know. You think about prospects

953
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:48,200
Speaker 2: that you get.

954
00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:51,880
Speaker 3: Back in in trades, and that's what they are, their prospects.

955
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:53,839
Speaker 3: They you don't know how they're going to turn out.

956
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,319
Speaker 3: You can't predict and you can't project what's some guy

957
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,319
Speaker 3: that had a good a ball season is going to do.

958
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,440
Speaker 2: Four years now in the big leagues. You just can't.

959
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 3: And you know, I know it's frustrating as a fan.

960
00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:07,640
Speaker 3: You want a winning product out there. You want your

961
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:11,680
Speaker 3: hometown team to do well, but it just takes patience,

962
00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:16,480
Speaker 3: and for a lot of teams it doesn't work out

963
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:21,600
Speaker 3: very often. You don't see many teams up the top

964
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:24,400
Speaker 3: every year other than the ones that can afford to

965
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:28,799
Speaker 3: do it. And you know, we were very fortunate to

966
00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:31,680
Speaker 3: win a World Series five years after we started, and

967
00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:35,640
Speaker 3: we won another one five years later, and those teams

968
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:39,240
Speaker 3: were special. And you hope that you bottle that maggot

969
00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:41,839
Speaker 3: magic and you get that type of personnel in your

970
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:44,799
Speaker 3: minor league system and coaching staff that just everything comes

971
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,120
Speaker 3: together and you have a magical season. And that's what

972
00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:49,120
Speaker 3: we did twice, and I was very fortunate to be

973
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:49,879
Speaker 3: a part of both those.

974
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 1: Last question, I'm going to ask you here when you're

975
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,400
Speaker 1: watching baseball now, who is your favorite player to watch?

976
00:44:57,239 --> 00:44:59,520
Speaker 2: Who do you like play? Yeah?

977
00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:01,480
Speaker 1: Who do you like to just dissect his game and

978
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 1: just appreciate what he does on the field.

979
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 3: I probably have a lot of people in agreement with this,

980
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:10,799
Speaker 3: but I got a man crush on Mike Trout. I

981
00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:14,880
Speaker 3: think he is the epitome of a major league baseball

982
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 3: player in every aspect of the game, in the clubhouse,

983
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,480
Speaker 3: on the field, the way he goes about his business,

984
00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:23,719
Speaker 3: the way he plays the game, his talent level. I

985
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,320
Speaker 3: think we're watching maybe the greatest baseball player that's ever played,

986
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:31,160
Speaker 3: and they're watching history on a yearly basis with this guy,

987
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:32,720
Speaker 3: and I think he's that special.

988
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:36,800
Speaker 1: That's high praise. And I'm right there with you because

989
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:39,279
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people forget how special he

990
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:40,560
Speaker 1: is because he's all the way out there in the

991
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:43,040
Speaker 1: West Coast, but not for LA, not for one of

992
00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:45,080
Speaker 1: the main big market teams like you were mentioning, and

993
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:47,600
Speaker 1: a lot of what he does gets kind of put

994
00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:50,880
Speaker 1: under wraps, and he really is one of once in

995
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,960
Speaker 1: a generation player. But once again, I cannot thank you

996
00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:57,439
Speaker 1: enough for joining us, Jeff. It's been a really fun

997
00:45:57,480 --> 00:45:59,920
Speaker 1: time getting to knows all of the little intricacies that

998
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:03,000
Speaker 1: went in through your career with the Marlins. I feel

999
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:04,120
Speaker 1: like a lot of people are going to be really

1000
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:07,160
Speaker 1: excited to hear about all the little details. I can't

1001
00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:08,480
Speaker 1: thank you enough for joining me today.

1002
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:10,000
Speaker 2: My pleasure was good talking.

1003
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:14,399
Speaker 1: I love talking shop anytime. Thank you very much, all right,