WEBVTT - Eric Hosmer joins Karl Ravech’s Dirt From The Dugout podcast 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.720 Hey everybody, and welcome. It's another edition to Dirt from 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:05.840 the Dugout. Carl Ravitch and Justin muse well, great guest tonight. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:09.440 Can't wait to bring Eric hosmerin to discuss the way 0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:12.479 that he came up in this sport, his historic career 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:15.480 that he had thirteen years playing with the Royals, World 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.520 Series champion, MVP of an All Star game. We'll get 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:20.440 to all that. Justin, how you been my friend. 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:22.000 I'm great, buddy. 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:24.279 Great to be with you tonight, man, and excited for 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:26.360 this conversation. This will be a really good one. 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:29.200 He don't forget to get your questions in, and please 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.320 don't forget, man, this is all about the Parent Dugout. 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.680 You can ask your questions this evening and the YouTube 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.680 and on the X chat where of course on x 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.120 on both of our platforms as well. And the important 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.199 part that we want is to grow our membership and 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.400 we've done a great job with that. We appreciate it. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:48.240 So thanks for watching and please join the Parent Dugout 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.000 dot com. The content is on the left. It's part 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.360 of what you get here each and every week. It's 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:57.600 what Justin does with baseball recruiting. Confidential there's a big community. 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.080 You can be a part of. Any questions you have, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.400 have info at the parent dugout dot com. And for 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.360 those of you who are smart enough to be with us, 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:07.640 let's say hello to our guests tonight. That is the 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:11.520 great Eric Hasmer, the Wizard of Hawes is Jonna. Hey, Eric, 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.720 thanks so much for being on with us. We appreciate it. 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.120 What's up, Olas? I don't know if I'm smart enough 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:17.480 to be on this with you guys. I'm starting to 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:19.080 question myself after hearing that right. 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.400 Light in that man. I appreciate you, guys. 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.880 Let's get into Let's get into what we do here Hawes, 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:30.800 and we want you to be able to share your 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.080 journey in baseball, the good, if there was any bad, 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.160 some of the ugly, because we have a whole bunch 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.440 of people out there who are raising kids to play 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.880 baseball and they have a million questions about the best 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:45.959 way to do it, and it turns out there's not 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:47.880 one way to do it. So let's go back to 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.400 when you were a little boy. Why in the world 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.560 did you choose baseball? How did you end up in 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:53.080 that lane? 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.000 Baseball? I mean, that's what you know. Me and my 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.240 buddies in my neighborhood. That's the sport that we just 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.600 gravitated to. You know, we'd always be outside doing something, 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.360 playing basketball, shooting hoops and whatever season it was. 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.160 Baseball was the one that we just enjoyed the most. 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.840 We ended up playing all little league together, and once 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:13.720 I was like twelve years old, I got on a 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:15.239 team in South Florida. 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:16.960 We created a team called the Diamond Kings. 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.480 That was our travel league, and that's really when we 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.239 started to really enjoy We went to Cooperstown, we started 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:26.480 to travel for tournaments. We started to kind of get 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.080 away from being in like a league for ten to 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.680 twenty games, and we started going around at different tournaments 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.520 every weekend. So it was a team aspect, but then 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.040 that we started kind of getting a little more competitive 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.280 with it, and that's when it really started to get fun. 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:43.960 The Cooperstown Tournament in Dreams Park, Cooperstown, New York is unbelievable. 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:45.799 You get to stay in the barracks, you know, in 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:46.960 the dorms with the coaches. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:48.959 So once you get to go on like a road 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:51.720 trip and travel for a tournament, you're just like, man, 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.720 this is I love every part of this and you 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.680 begining to play teams outside of your county, your state, national, 0:02:58.080 --> 0:02:59.720 and then you start to understand your age group, and 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:01.080 that's when it starts to get really fun. 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.520 Right, Yeah, no doubt about that. By the way, I'm 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.359 sure Justin you probably have been there. I'll be honest 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.000 as Justin can ask the next question. I took our 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:14.160 boys to the Cooperstown Field Dreams and stayed in the 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:17.600 barracks and as an adult halls, it's a little different 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:19.520 than it was for the kids, so I can promise 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.200 you that, but it was an elevant experience. 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:25.920 I don't know, if I'm coaching a team, I'm gonna say, listen, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:27.239 I'll be I'll meet you guys at the field. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:28.639 Don't worry, someone handle it. 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:31.359 There you go. That's right. 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:34.640 But so then from from there it was it was 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.440 really cool because all of our guys from South Florida, 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:41.240 from that Diamond Kings team, we ended up going like 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:42.520 four or five of us ended up. 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:43.560 Going to the same high school. 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.240 And we went to a high school American Heritage, where 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.680 it's kindergarten through twelfth grade. There's a junior varsity, a 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:53.280 junior high, junior varsity, and varsity team. So we had 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.520 a catcher that was on the varsity team at eighth grade. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.040 Guys were getting called up, so it was fun, it 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.640 was competitive, and what was really cool about it it 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.160 was once the school season started, that's when we kind 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:06.760 of it was separate. We had summer ball and then 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.360 once the fall in the high school season started. The 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.920 fall was about conditioning and like team chemistry and team. 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:14.920 Building, bonding and then. 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.080 You got ready for your season and then obviously winning 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.479 a state championship was it was probably the biggest deal 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:22.960 for all of us at that age, and summer ball 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:24.560 was kind of like a second thing. And I know 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.720 it's changed a lot, but that's kind of the routine 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:28.760 of how it went for us. 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.080 So I felt like from twelve years old to my. 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.080 Senior year of high school there was a good core, 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.599 solid group of players and guys that you know, I 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:37.640 got to play with from that. 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:38.800 Age on, which was really cool. 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:40.360 Yeah. 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.440 Yeah, I mean, I think when we look at the 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.839 landscape now too. Man, I talk about this a lot 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.520 on here on the show, but it you know, it's 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:53.800 we've moved so much away from playing with others in 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:57.279 our communities often and for many years, as you know, 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.680 and so a lot of kids, even at nine ten 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.920 years old, are going away from their communities and they're 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:05.039 going to play travel ball. 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:06.640 I have no issue with travel ball. 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:08.280 I think travel ball has a great place in this 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:09.640 and I know a lot of great people in it. 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:11.040 But it's very. 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:14.560 Unique to be within your community and play with the 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.000 same players. I had that luxury as well, play with 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:18.800 a lot of the same players and they become very 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.560 close and best friends. And it's something I'm really big 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:25.080 on from a human element of it. Can you just 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.680 share what that meant to you growing up and having 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:30.920 that around you, with some of your best friends around 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.280 you for years and years and years that you play with. 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.760 Well, you said it right there, justin the human element. 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.719 Human element, like you need to learn how to be 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.160 a teammate, you know, part of being a teammate, especially 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:45.040 in baseball when the ultimate goal is to make it 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.800 to the world of the major leagues, and that's one 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:50.920 hundred and sixty two game season, that's twenty days, thirty 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.039 days in spring training, that's another twenty days in the 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.360 postseason if you plan on making it to the postseason. 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.880 So first and foremost, you need to be a good teammate, 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.520 make sure your teammates like you. So that to me, 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.400 that was where our group from twelve to eighteen years old, 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.600 the human element that's for that's when that development. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:09.920 Was happening for me. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.880 We were, you know, always preaching fundamentals our high school coach, 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.039 our twelve year old coach. So when you get to 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.640 the minor leagues and there's players from all over the country, 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.840 you'd be amazed by how many professional baseball players that 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:24.840 I've signed for millions of dollars don't know the basic 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:29.040 core fundamentals of just baseball, of being where you need 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.239 to be on the field, and then on the flip 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:33.960 side of that, on the off the field type of stuff, 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.960 like you need to know how to be a teammate. 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.800 You need to understand, you know, when certain times are 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.320 in need of not like someone you know, talking to 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.320 someone uplifting someone when you know times are going back 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:46.600 you need that uplifting. 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.040 So I understand kind of where the youth. 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.600 Game has gone and it's gotten really individualized, and the 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:55.799 last thing you want is for these guys, these kids 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.960 to be going from team to team each weekend, traveling 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.120 and really not get and to know your teammates and 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.599 not you know, being able to develop and have a 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.600 relationship with your teammates, teammates off the field and just develop, 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.120 you know, being a kid, being a person. 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:11.360 I know this is a busy time of year for 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.280 many of you, including AJ. 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Head to Factor Meals dot com. 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:54.720 Slash foul fifty off and use code foul five zero 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.480 off to get fifty percent off and one free breakfast 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.880 item per box for one year while supplies last until 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.400 ten thirty one twenty six. That's code Foul fifty off 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:09.080 at factormeals dot com. Foulfiftyoff Factor Meals dot Com see 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:10.520 website for more details. 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.640 Yeah, it sounds a lot like you had the best 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.120 of both worlds because you took this group that you 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.640 were really tight with and you were able to kind 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:22.640 of travel with them. But they were kids that you 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.600 met when you were ten and left and twelve thirteen 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:29.000 years old. A lot of times now that gets splintered off. 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.520 And as I've said to Justin and others on this show, 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.280 and we've had managers on this show, and the Padroyas 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.560 of the world, and Dusty Baker's the stuff that you 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:43.880 guys benefit from being in a clubhouse, in a locker room, 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:47.520 in a car with five of your friends. It is 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.760 such an important part of baseball that you if you're 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:54.880 not playing team sports, you don't get what came first 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.520 for you. Was it the love of the game, the 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.600 love for your buddies, the love of winning. So obviously 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.120 that happened when you grew up with winning state championships, 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:05.240 which came first. 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.280 So for me, the love for winning. 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.360 And I was able to have that mindset and create 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.440 that mindset because of that group from twelve to eighteen 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.200 years old that I got to kind of really get 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.280 that core of the mindset just established there. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.319 And then from that point on, I was so. 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:24.640 Lucky and so fortunate to get drafted by the Royals 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.719 because the Royals, I'm coming into a farm system. Mike 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.880 Mussakis today I got drafted, reached out to me and said, hey, 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:32.640 you're coming to Instructional League in two weeks. 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:33.240 You're living with me. 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:36.440 I already called the Royals and I got already just 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.800 there was the comfort level when I got welcomed by 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.760 the group of young minor league prospects for the Royal 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.280 So I immediately felt that team unity right there, and it 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.720 is so much easier for me. I know, I performed 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.480 better when I'm with groups when with a team aspect 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:53.160 of it. It doesn't matter if it's in the off 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:55.760 season working out, if I got four or five guys there, 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:57.680 I'm going to get a much better workout doing it 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.760 in that team group environment than just kind putting headphones 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.480 on doing it myself. So with the Royals, Dayton Moore, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.800 the general manager, did such a good job of always 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.360 engraving in our minds that we were going to be 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.360 the group of players that was going to change Kansas City. 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.480 You know, the eighteen nineteen eighty five was the last 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.000 time they won, So it never really felt like it 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.000 was on my shoulders mus Doacas's shoulders. So when I 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.839 think when we all performed with that mindset, of this 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:26.800 group is going to be the one. So when I 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:28.559 go through that for eight or oh for twelve and 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:32.119 I'm experiencing failure, I'm not thinking that the whole organization 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.040 is going to be, you know, falling off a cliff 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.920 because of me. So that mindset, I think, really helped 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.000 take a lot of pressure off me. And then the 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.280 other aspect of that is the guys. You know, we 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:45.000 go back so far that Moose knows my swing on 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.280 a mechanical level since high school. So fast forward to 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.560 a day and age now where there is information about 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.680 every single pitch that you see in the big leagues. 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.560 You can get overwhelmed. So at some point in time 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.520 you need that voice to just come up to you 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:00.000 and say. 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.559 Hey, just what was what did I swing? 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:04.040 Like when I was eighteen, it was like, tell me 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:06.360 what my natural swing was, and he'll be like, hey, 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.400 just get your hands in the loading position and take 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:09.240 the ball to left field. 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:09.520 That's it. 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:12.400 Let's go like you need that simple mindset for a 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.079 refreshment every now and then, So you need that group 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.840 to have players and teammates to tell you what that 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:19.000 refresh button looks like. 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.760 Yeah, that's also good man, and Haw's I think when 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.880 you look at it too, it's it's really interesting to 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.000 bring up the Royals, and I think when you look 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.400 at it from Afar and you see kind of what 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.720 you guys built there, you literally are kind of describing 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:34.440 a keeping. 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.280 A group together, right, A young group. 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.160 That came up, a lot of you that lifted an 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.720 entire organization, right that that hadn't won in years. 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:42.959 Man. 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:46.280 So like, it's it's cool to kind of see that 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.520 from Afar and see what you guys did there. 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:49.880 Have you had a chance? 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:52.120 Now, obviously that's a while ago, and you know you 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.560 moved on and played elsewhere, but like, have you had 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.439 a chance to reflect on that time and how special 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.480 that was with the group of guys where you know, 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.880 all of you are shooting for the same goal and 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.560 you're coming up and it's years of effort and work 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.080 to get to that point and win it. Can you 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.640 just take us through what that's like, man? Like, I mean, 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:13.560 I suppose you could probably talk about this all day, 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.640 but like, I love to hear more about that, man. 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:18.800 You know, It's one of the things that I just 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.960 really admire about that group is you guys had to 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.880 change an organization and you did, and that is very 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.640 difficult to do. I don't think people away from organizations 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.160 realize how hard that is. Can you take us through 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:33.079 how special that is to you and what that means 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:34.480 to you now to be with a lot of the 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.240 same guys through that journey. 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:39.280 Oh, it was so special, man. We just you know, 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:39.880 a couple of things. 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.760 We just had our ten year reunion for our championship 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.520 team for twenty fifteen last year, which was unbelievable, incredible 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.000 to be able to spend that weekend with those guys. 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:52.080 And then Salvador Perez I was just out here in 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.400 Kansas City and the first game of the series they 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.319 honored him for passing George Brett for the all time 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:58.840 franchise leader and home run. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.400 So it's like, I Salvador Perez get demoted from. 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:04.960 Low way back to rookie ball and now he's earning 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.600 a statue outside of the stadium. So to see that 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:10.560 all the way through is just incredible and you know, 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.199 there's moments where when you have the ability and a 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.880 game of failure to laugh at yourself and not feel insecure. 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.160 I mean, baseball is a sport where when you're in 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.760 the box, you're trying to eliminate all tension. You're trying 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:26.560 to be smooth and relaxed and eliminate all tension whatsoever. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.560 I remember a time in Yankee Stadium where Salvador Perez, 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:32.680 there was a guy that stole second to third and 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:34.680 he threw the ball and it went to like left field, 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.200 like this ball almost went to the warning track, and 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.720 the guy ended up coming in scoring. So the mound 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.600 visit and need comes and pulls the pitchers a couple 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:44.080 of innings later or a couple pitches later. So we 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.240 all just kind of are at the mound right there, 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.120 and we're all just kind of like staring at Salvey, 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.560 not saying anything, and he just kind of peeks up 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:53.000 and just kind of starts laughing, and we're like, what 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:53.559 was that. 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.880 So the ability for him to just kind of. 0:13:55.920 --> 0:14:00.720 Laugh that off versus wearing that individually, going into you know, 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.480 the mirror at night in your hotel room just being like, man, 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:04.960 I need to be better this is bad. 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.440 There's so much more refreshing for the mindset. So I 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:09.200 just kind of. 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:11.920 Years past now when you watch all the videos, you 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.960 kind of understand the magnitude of what we did, but 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.800 in the moment, so cool because I think we all 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:21.080 just grew so confident together and we had this trust 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.760 with amongst each other that we didn't really understand what 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:24.960 we were accomplishing at the time. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.560 And I think that's itself as well. Oh cool man. 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:30.880 Yeah, I think when you're in the middle of it, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.440 you don't really appreciate the impact that it has on 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.840 other people, let alone yourself. Winning a World Series changes 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.640 your life. Has We got a whole bunch of questions 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.200 here lined up. You when you talk, you open up 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.000 a lot of other doors we got to go down. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.360 I think for the purpose of our audience, it'd be 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:51.240 great to hear how Salvador handled the demotion, because that 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.920 happens to kids all the time. But before we do, 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.160 let's get to this question from Dom because I think 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.240 it's a good one that does appeal to our audience 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.880 as well. You're a first round pick out of high school. 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.240 How difficult was the decision to pass on college? What 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.160 conversations with your family ultimately help you make that choice. 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:10.960 Some of the people that are listening here are going 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.360 to have kids that are going to be faced with 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.960 that same decision. How did you and your family handle it? 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:16.640 Man? 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.160 So it's a very very hard decision. And you know, 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.840 we took college, believe it or not, very seriously. Like 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.960 I was really pursuing going to college because you know, 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.360 those years in your life eighteen nineteen, twenty years old, 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.080 there's such key years of development, you know, not only 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.360 as a player, but as a person too. So you 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.360 know you have to think there's when you go into 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.360 minor league baseball. This is again I know times have changed. 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.320 I got drafted in two thousand and eight, but when 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.640 you become a professional baseball player, there is a tremendous 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.040 amount of accountability that becomes on the player, and at 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.960 eighteen years old, I don't really know if I was 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.960 ready for that. Like again, thank God for this group 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.360 of players that you know, the mustakas Is and this 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.520 core group of Royals minor league players, because I just 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:01.320 kind of got inherited into that group and just followed 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.840 along with those guys. But I think the structure that 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.120 college offered at eighteen years old, nineteen years old. 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:09.440 You know, you're gonna get in there. 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:11.080 You're gonna have a trainer, You're gonna have a tutor, 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:12.400 you're gonna have nutritionists. 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:13.680 You know a lot of that stuff. 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:15.760 At the minor leagues, you're on your own for So 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.720 that was really really appealing to me. And you know, 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.040 that development, not only as a player, as a person 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:23.720 was something I really really valued. And then you know, 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.720 it got to the point where you know, it's just 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.880 you got I got drafted at third overall, and you know, 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:33.320 the financially, the money that the Royals were then offering me, 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.040 It became okay, now can I go and kind of 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:38.840 this development, the stuff that I'm saying college is offering, 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.200 can I Now I can afford to do this on 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.040 my own in the off season, and I can afford, 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:44.760 you know, to get a trainer, to get stuff in 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:48.160 the off season done. So all that stuff became, you know, 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.440 part of the mindset, and ultimately it just became down 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.840 to Date and more. I think dateon More at the 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.720 end of the day, was somebody that I believed in. 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.200 He was the general manager for the Royals, and then 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.640 the more and more I got to meet him and 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.560 his staff. I think not only me but my parents 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:06.040 believed in them as well as someone who's going to 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:07.399 develop me on and off the field. 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:12.280 Yeah, and college is Justin knows better than anybody. College 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.560 today is very different even than when you were considering it, 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.640 and that was like yesterday, but it's very different now 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:21.280 in the development the kids get there, and Justin knows 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.080 it better than anybody. Is as good, if not better 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:26.160 than some of the choices that you had, that's for sure. 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.160 I signed with Pat Murphy at Arizona. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.040 There you go. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.640 Yeah, I want to touch on that really quick because 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:39.320 when Murph took over, Craig accounts as a good friend 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:41.040 of mine, And when Murph took over, there was a 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.960 lot of talk in the in the Brewers organization where 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.200 the organization was going to go. Craig was obviously so 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.880 successful in what he was doing. One of the things 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.080 I loved about Murph though, is he he kind of 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:55.879 kept his personality one hundred percent authentic and right, and 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.920