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Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Move the Sticks. For today's podcast,

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Speaker 1: we have a special football baseball crossover focused on team building.

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Speaker 1: You know him as the lead draft analyst on NFL Network.

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Speaker 1: He's also a color commentator for the Los Angeles Chargers.

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Speaker 1: He scouted for the Ravens, Browns, and Eagles. It's Daniel Jeremiah.

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Speaker 1: He played five years in the NFL as a cornerback

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Speaker 1: and return man. Scouted for the Seahawks and Panthers, and

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Speaker 1: was a legend for the Tar Heels. It's Bucky Brooks.

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Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? D J. Bucky here for Move the

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Speaker 1: Sticks and Bucky A little a little different show we

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Speaker 1: have today, but I think everybody's gonna enjoy it. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think this is a great opportunity for us to

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Speaker 1: do what we love to do, which is cross training

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Speaker 1: when it comes to team building. So we're doing a

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Speaker 1: baseball show. We sat down with former players, current coaches,

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Speaker 1: media members, GMS to talk about the game and how

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Speaker 1: it relates to baseball. Yeah, get a chance to see

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Speaker 1: how we believe we preached right, it's our gospel. We

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Speaker 1: preached the gospel of multi sports for young guys coming up.

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Speaker 1: We don't want kids to specialized women to play multiple sports.

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Speaker 1: We think it really helps them in their overall athletic development.

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Speaker 1: And we've seen that from football players. Now we're seeing

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Speaker 1: it in other sports. When we get a chance to

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Speaker 1: talk to these guys, specifically talking to these baseball guys

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Speaker 1: is really fascinating. So I had a chance to go

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Speaker 1: down to the Winter meetings and talk with a bunch

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Speaker 1: of folks, and we've had others like John Smoltz join

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Speaker 1: us on the podcast. So what we've done is we've

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Speaker 1: taken a collection of these conversations. I think you guys

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Speaker 1: are really going to enjoy them. Um. But first of all, Bucky,

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Speaker 1: it's great to have baseball back. It's it looks like

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Speaker 1: it's actually going to happen. So you know, we're football guys,

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Speaker 1: but we also keep an eye on the on the

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Speaker 1: bat and ball as well. Yeah, man, I love it.

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Speaker 1: Baseball immediately is my first love. Um. I loved it

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Speaker 1: coming up. I love keeping the score when I watched

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Speaker 1: it on TV. I love going to games, any games,

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Speaker 1: particularly Dodge a game. So I'm excited that baseball is back.

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Speaker 1: I am really really looking forward to the season kicking off.

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Speaker 1: All right, with with no further ado, let's jump in here.

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Speaker 1: This is a conversation starting off with Cubs general manager

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Speaker 1: Jed Hoyer. Jed Hoyer, I remember him from the Padres.

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Speaker 1: He was their GM from two thousand nine to two

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Speaker 1: thousand eleven. He was with the Red Sox during their

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Speaker 1: run from O two to oh nine and really kind

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Speaker 1: of the resurgence of that franchise there with theo Epstein.

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Speaker 1: Now he's back with theo Epstein with the Cubs, he's

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Speaker 1: been the general manager there since two thousand eleven. And

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Speaker 1: really enjoyed sitting down and visiting with him at the

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Speaker 1: Baseball Winner meetings. From where this started at this event

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Speaker 1: to where it is now, what's the biggest difference. The

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Speaker 1: biggest difference, Uh, the two big, two big things. The

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Speaker 1: size of the thing is totally different. And now it's

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Speaker 1: all these radio and TV you know stations. Um, every

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Speaker 1: job seeker in the world is here trying to trying

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Speaker 1: to get their thirty seconds in. UM. That's different. It

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Speaker 1: used to be a little bit smaller. It was always

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Speaker 1: every team, all the affiliates, all the teams, but it

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Speaker 1: wasn't this massive media production. Now it's a little bit

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Speaker 1: made for TV. Everyone knows about it, everyone shows up.

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Speaker 1: That's different. So the size is different. And then from

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Speaker 1: my standpoint, the biggest differences it used to be people

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Speaker 1: would leave the rooms. Now you would have meetings with teams.

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Speaker 1: You would have a white board, you have someone manning

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Speaker 1: the the hotel phone, and then you would you know,

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Speaker 1: have a list of meetings with all the teams that day.

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Speaker 1: And there was a protocol that went with how the

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Speaker 1: meetings would go. Um, there was you know, sort of

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Speaker 1: a strategy like some some gm s would sit in

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Speaker 1: a higher chair than everyone else, get some intimidation factor. Um,

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Speaker 1: but you'd have some face to face negotiations and face

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Speaker 1: to face meetings. And now, other than seeing your buddies

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Speaker 1: with other teams, you know after midnight or something like that,

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Speaker 1: you really no face to face meetings, all phone calls,

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Speaker 1: all text And it's taking a little bit of the um,

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Speaker 1: the fun away from it. Honestly, I liked the in

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Speaker 1: person stuff. You don't see these people every day, so

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Speaker 1: it's nice to see people in person and learn how

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Speaker 1: to negotiate face to face. And and that part is

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Speaker 1: a little bit gone. I'm curious just from the end

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Speaker 1: of the season, from a football standpoint, the season ends,

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Speaker 1: UM we you try and put together your your outlook

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Speaker 1: for what you want to get accomplished in the off season,

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Speaker 1: free agency, trades, the draft, all that stuff. Trying to

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Speaker 1: laid that out baseball wise, from the last game of

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Speaker 1: the season, how long before you guys have kind of

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Speaker 1: mapped out at least the road you want to try

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Speaker 1: and travel down here in the off season. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: feel like you try to spend a lot of September

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Speaker 1: talking about that. You can't make a lot of roster

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Speaker 1: moves at that point, You're you're you're making you're doing

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Speaker 1: small things with the team, So you spent a lot

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Speaker 1: of time in September doing planning. You hope in October

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Speaker 1: you're wrapped up in the playoffs. If you're not, that's

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Speaker 1: a big planning month. Now. The biggest difference now is

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Speaker 1: that um as our staffs have gotten bigger, November has

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Speaker 1: turned into a hiring month now. Used to be a

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Speaker 1: month it was all planning and then you'd hit the

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Speaker 1: ground running at the GM meetings and and right away

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Speaker 1: guys will be signing. Now I think everything is slower,

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Speaker 1: and part of why is slower as we have someone's

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Speaker 1: hiring to do. UM. You know, I used to have

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Speaker 1: a one or two person you know, research and development staff,

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Speaker 1: and now you might have you know, up to twenty people. UM.

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Speaker 1: And so there's with with more bodies, there's more hiring.

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Speaker 1: And so that's the difference. Everything's gotten pushed back by

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Speaker 1: a few weeks or a month because the hiring season

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Speaker 1: h takes away from that planning time a little bit.

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Speaker 1: From a leadership standpoint within the organization. UM. From the outside,

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Speaker 1: looking in the NFL, the way it's done a lot

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Speaker 1: more of a hierarchy where it's almost like a monarchy,

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Speaker 1: so to speak. Baseball it seems from the outside more collaborative,

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Speaker 1: with a with a group kind of coming together on

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Speaker 1: some key decisions. What what is it like on the

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Speaker 1: inside from that standpoint, I think so, I think with

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Speaker 1: the NFL, there's a lot more, uh say, with the

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Speaker 1: head coach and the and the coordinators. UM. You know,

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Speaker 1: our coaching staff is great. UM. We will ask our opinions,

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Speaker 1: will ask them to watch a little bit of video

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Speaker 1: on players. But for the most part, we're relying on

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Speaker 1: you know, our scouts, relying on the R and D

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Speaker 1: staff to make those decisions. You're not really focus at

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Speaker 1: all on you know, um on kind of a scheme

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Speaker 1: or things like that, Whereas I think in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: you know, and in a lot of situations, the head

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Speaker 1: coach is kind of um their opinions trickling down throughout

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Speaker 1: the organization and that doesn't really happen. I think that's

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Speaker 1: a big difference. And um, I also think we're just

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Speaker 1: dealing the NFL is dealing dealing more players on the team.

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Speaker 1: We're dealing with a much big, much bigger staff and

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Speaker 1: in a lot in a big minor league system, and

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Speaker 1: I think that's a bit of a difference as well.

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Speaker 1: UM So I think that you know, if we were

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Speaker 1: only dealing with a three man roster but no minor leagues, um,

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Speaker 1: it may be able to be a little bit more

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Speaker 1: of like a monarchy. Whereas I think when you have

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Speaker 1: to deal with you know, over two our players in

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Speaker 1: the organization and a you know, a forty round draft

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Speaker 1: and things like that, I think it almost has to

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Speaker 1: be more collaborative because one person sort of can't have

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Speaker 1: the same level of influence that they might be able

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Speaker 1: to um with a seven round draft. No doubt, when

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Speaker 1: when we're building teams, we always talk about the fast

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Speaker 1: way of the postseason is to win your division. So

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Speaker 1: you kind of construct your roster. Having you know, worked

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Speaker 1: in the a f C North, it was like, we

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Speaker 1: have to be physical and rugged because you're Baltimore, Pittsburgh,

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Speaker 1: you know, Cincinnati, Cleveland, the Weather. UM. But I think

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Speaker 1: about baseball the places where you've worked, ballpark, UM, you know,

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Speaker 1: whether the finances within the division when you're when you're

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Speaker 1: creating your major league roster, how much do you factor

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Speaker 1: in all that in your division when you're trying to

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Speaker 1: make decisions a little bit? You know, UM, For example, UM,

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Speaker 1: our division has had almost all right hand starters for

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Speaker 1: a few years, so that's always been a factor. You know.

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Speaker 1: You if you have a right handed platoon hitter, let's

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Speaker 1: say he's not gonna have a big factory in our division, UM,

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Speaker 1: whereas he's playing the National Link West, they have a

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Speaker 1: ton of really good lefties. You know, They've got Kershaw

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Speaker 1: U bum Garner in the past, so that kind of

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Speaker 1: right handed hitter will have a bigger impact. So little

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Speaker 1: things like that with a makeup of of your team,

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Speaker 1: But the ballpark is a really big difference. UM. One

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Speaker 1: of the things I like about Chicago and Wrigley is

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Speaker 1: that it's it's kind of like a different ballpark every day.

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Speaker 1: Like some days the winds blown in and it's the

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Speaker 1: best pictures park in the world. You know, some days

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Speaker 1: you get those famous wind blowing out games where you

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Speaker 1: know it's gonna be thirteen and twelve. Um, So I

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Speaker 1: feel like you just have to put a really balanced

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Speaker 1: team together. You can't. You can't build a team for

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Speaker 1: the elements. Whereas when I was in Boston, you wanted

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Speaker 1: left hand hitters that could use the monster that was

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Speaker 1: a big focus, and right hand pull hitters. When I

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Speaker 1: was in San Diego, you had to fast outfielders. And UM,

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Speaker 1: you knew that you could uh take a lot of

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Speaker 1: chances on young pitching because the ballpark would make them

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Speaker 1: feel really good about themselves. So I think in Chicago

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Speaker 1: it's just a fair It's a fair ballpark that plays

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Speaker 1: different ways, and so it's actually taken the ballpark. UM

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Speaker 1: thought process out of our head for the most part.

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Speaker 1: Curious on this one specific question with Uh, we talked

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Speaker 1: about receivers having experienced being outfielders in high school and

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Speaker 1: how their ability to track the football it really parallels

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Speaker 1: and correlates. You guys, ever been at scouting meetings where

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Speaker 1: you've talked about in an outfielder that was a receiver

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Speaker 1: and said the same thing. We haven't, you know, but

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Speaker 1: I will say we love multi sport athletes. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's just I feel like with the specialization today, getting

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Speaker 1: guys have had to compete in in in other sports.

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Speaker 1: You know, I love it when our scouts will go

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Speaker 1: to go to watch the high school basketball game, watch

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Speaker 1: the kid play basketball, or go to a football game. Um.

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Speaker 1: It gets. It gives a sense about leticism, It gives

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Speaker 1: a sense of competitiveness. UM and uh. It also means

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Speaker 1: they're not probably not going to burn out a baseball

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Speaker 1: in the same way some of the some of these

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Speaker 1: kids that have been pushed and showcased through their whole life,

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Speaker 1: like you do, worry about the burnout, especially in some

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Speaker 1: of the southern states where they're playing year round. So now,

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Speaker 1: we've never really talked about that in terms of a

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Speaker 1: receiver or um position specific, but we definitely talk about

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Speaker 1: it in terms of UM overall athleticism and and and

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Speaker 1: competitiveness in the sense of how to play a game.

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Speaker 1: When you talk about that competitiveness, UM trying to gauge

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Speaker 1: that during a baseball player with an evaluation of a

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Speaker 1: baseball game, What are like concrete examples where you can

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Speaker 1: say that kids competitive? Um, that's a great question. I

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Speaker 1: feel like, Um, it's harder to find. I think when

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Speaker 1: you're watching game. Um, that's where TV doesn't do a

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Speaker 1: game justice. I think when you're in the in the

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Speaker 1: stands and you can watch the starting pitcher, you can

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Speaker 1: see how he reacts, you know, to an error by

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Speaker 1: by his team, you can see how he reacts to

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Speaker 1: you know, having you know, second third and no one out,

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Speaker 1: can you bear down and really you know and have

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Speaker 1: his stuff stuff tack up a notch? Or is he

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Speaker 1: gonna gonna melt? You know? And I always remember when

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Speaker 1: I was in Boston, for example, you know, with Roy Holliday,

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Speaker 1: we faced him like six times a year, and you

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Speaker 1: felt like you had to hit homers against him because

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Speaker 1: you know, when you hit a single and then you

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Speaker 1: double off the wall and it was second third, You're like, ah,

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Speaker 1: we missed our chance because because now he's gonna bear

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Speaker 1: down and it's amazing, and you know we groundball a

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Speaker 1: third strikeout, you know, pop up and he was out

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Speaker 1: of the ending, and he had that ability. You know,

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Speaker 1: Shilling had that ability. You know Josh Beckett had that

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Speaker 1: ability when when they were backs against the wall, there

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Speaker 1: was a whole another gear that they could they could

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Speaker 1: get to. You know, Verlander, you see that all the time,

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Speaker 1: and that that's what it says to me. You know,

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Speaker 1: when you can really when you can really bear down

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Speaker 1: and have your stuff take up a notch, that's the

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Speaker 1: guy you you think he's going to perform in the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: That's the guy you think is you want in a

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Speaker 1: game seven. Um, and I think offensively, UM, I like

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Speaker 1: to see how guys react to a bad call. Um.

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Speaker 1: You'd like to see how guys react to a bad

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Speaker 1: at bat. Um. You know my career, the best I

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Speaker 1: ever saw was Manny Ramirez. Um. It just felt like

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Speaker 1: his memory he took he took um the information from

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Speaker 1: a pitch, but he never took the emotion from that pitch.

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Speaker 1: So he could take the worst wing you've ever seen.

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Speaker 1: He could have the worst at bat but you knew

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Speaker 1: the next step bat like that was irrelevant. He was

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Speaker 1: going to have a great at bat. Um. And so

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Speaker 1: I feel like watching guy and how he how how

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Speaker 1: does the guy react to a bad call. Is bad

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Speaker 1: at bats? Is he gonna panic for the rest of

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Speaker 1: the game. If he struck out twice in the first

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Speaker 1: two at bats, is he gonna you know, auto hack

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Speaker 1: on the first pitch in the third at bat, season

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Speaker 1: strike out? And those are the kind of things you

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Speaker 1: want to see, because the best hitters don't care about

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Speaker 1: those first two at bats. It's all about the next

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Speaker 1: step bat. Um, some of the younger guys or some

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Speaker 1: of the more mentally weak players will will panic in

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Speaker 1: that they're at bat because they know they're having a

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Speaker 1: bad day. That's fascinating to me. Last question, I'm curious

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Speaker 1: about this one. Russell Wilson comes out into the draft.

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Speaker 1: I was some baseball background there as well. But he's

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Speaker 1: an outlier, right, I mean, I remember being in the

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Speaker 1: meetings before the Senior Bowl. We assumed he was gonna

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Speaker 1: be right around six ft, maybe a little under six foot.

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Speaker 1: He checks in at five ten and creates at the

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Speaker 1: Senior Bowl. I'm in Philadelphia. We end up dropping him down.

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Speaker 1: We still think we're gonna get him in the third round.

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Speaker 1: We end up not get him. Seattle takes him. But

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Speaker 1: somebody like an Alto or throughout wherever else you want.

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Speaker 1: That's an outlier in the meetings when you guys are

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Speaker 1: going through these players, what's that discussion, Like you ask

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Speaker 1: a guy that, uh, we we we drafted Dustin Pedroia

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Speaker 1: in the second round and you have the best college numbers,

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Speaker 1: you know, by far. I think today, if you have

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Speaker 1: those same numbers, he'd probably go in the top five.

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Speaker 1: But back then it was you know, this guy is tiny,

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Speaker 1: he doesn't have a great body, and somehow he just

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Speaker 1: gets hits unconventionally. Um, it's one of the beauties of baseball. Actually,

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Speaker 1: I was thinking this when one of our scouts used

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Speaker 1: to call him a wedding cake model, which that was

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Speaker 1: a was that that was a that was a great line.

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Speaker 1: But um, that's one of the things I love about

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Speaker 1: baseball is that you know, I think, you know, you

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Speaker 1: watch NFL games, and um, you know those guys are

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Speaker 1: just absolutely physical freaks, you know, and and um, it's

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Speaker 1: it's obviously fun to watch. I think one of the

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Speaker 1: things that baseball is that it's a different kind of athleticism.

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Speaker 1: You get incredible hand eye coordination. So you watch the Astros,

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Speaker 1: you know, Bregman is not a super physical guy al

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Speaker 1: two bas really you know, really small. You go around

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Speaker 1: the league, you can have you know, Mookie betts is

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Speaker 1: Is is a pretty slender guy. Now you can have

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Speaker 1: tremendous power, um if you're like you know, great hands,

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Speaker 1: great forearms, you know, really good bad speed, and and

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Speaker 1: you have a swing that you know gives you the

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Speaker 1: right launch angle. These guys can hit a lot of

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Speaker 1: home runs without being you know, tremendously physical. Now you

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Speaker 1: obviously got your stands and your judges and Chris Bryant's

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Speaker 1: and guys like that that are big and physical. But

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Speaker 1: it's a sport where you know, guys can perform and

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Speaker 1: got and guys can have a lot of success without

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Speaker 1: necessarily um being at the you know tip of the

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Speaker 1: spear athletically in terms of you know, body size and

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Speaker 1: body composition. And I think that's great, you know, it's um.

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Speaker 1: I think it's a sport where, you know, part of

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Speaker 1: the allure is you can watch the game on TV

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Speaker 1: and you can imagine yourself doing it, you know, and

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Speaker 1: whereas I I feel like when we watch a football

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Speaker 1: game now or NBA game, you know, it's just a

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Speaker 1: different world. And and I think that um, their scouts

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Speaker 1: are looking at a lot of different things and and

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Speaker 1: the measurables are so important. I think in baseball, um

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Speaker 1: is having you crazy lead hand eye coordinations still makes

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Speaker 1: a big difference. Yeah, I just I hit it off

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Speaker 1: with Jed Hoyer. It was great to catch up with him.

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Speaker 1: The line I love, by the way, and you're looking

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Speaker 1: for scouting terms. He used the wedding cake model to

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Speaker 1: describe an undersized flayer. I got to use that for

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Speaker 1: football now, buck No. I loved and I love the

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Speaker 1: conversation about Russell Wilson and uh DJ. Look, I have

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Speaker 1: a son who plays baseball and we always talk about

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Speaker 1: like guys who make it or whatever, and the beauty

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Speaker 1: of baseball is you don't necessarily have to fit into

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Speaker 1: a certain box to be able to do it. And

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Speaker 1: I like he and general managers talk about thinking outside

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Speaker 1: of the box, looking for a different level of athlete,

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Speaker 1: no doubt. Well, it's great to catch up with Jed Horrier.

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Speaker 1: If you enjoyed that, you're definitely enjoy this conversation because

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Speaker 1: this is one of the bright general managers in Major

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Speaker 1: League Baseball who's done a wonderful job of turning around

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Speaker 1: a franchise that's that Livin the Twins general manager. He

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Speaker 1: was hired there in tw uh He was with the

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Speaker 1: Rangers previously and for a long time from two thousand

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Speaker 1: five through two thousand sixteen, and then began there with

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Speaker 1: the Rockies in two thousand five. So a lot of

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Speaker 1: experience in the sport, but really one of the very bright,

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Speaker 1: smart general managers in Major League Baseball. Here's my conversation.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for for taking the time for me today.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people ask us on the personnel side

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Speaker 1: how we got started, and I always think that's a

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Speaker 1: fascinating story. So how did you get your start? I

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Speaker 1: think the short answers there's a lot of hard work

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Speaker 1: and perseverance, but also a tremendous amount of luck. When

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Speaker 1: I graduated from college, I applied to all the baseball

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Speaker 1: teams at that time and I got rejected formally by

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Speaker 1: four and I was ecstatic. I thought I had almost arrived.

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Speaker 1: I actually still have letter ahead from the Montreal expos

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Speaker 1: from Mr Claude Brochu who said that he was not

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Speaker 1: good enough for their organization, and I thought I was

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Speaker 1: on the doorstep at that point. Ended up going to

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Speaker 1: graduate school, worked for the Dodgers for academic credit while

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Speaker 1: I was there on the business side. Move ultimately then

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Speaker 1: got hired by the Colorado Rockies. Feel blessed to have

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Speaker 1: done that. Now you get a chance to start there

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Speaker 1: with the Colorado Rockies, You've had a chance almost get

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Speaker 1: a holistic view of the entire operation for somebody that's

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Speaker 1: gonna be in a leadership position. How important is it

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Speaker 1: that you're not just really on one tracker on one side,

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Speaker 1: that you get exposed to everything. I think it's vital,

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Speaker 1: you know. I think being able to relate to everybody

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Speaker 1: in your organization and understand what their roles and responsibilities

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Speaker 1: include is imperative to being able to motivate them and

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Speaker 1: kind of touch their hearts as well as their heads.

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Speaker 1: And and I think that was something that I feel

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Speaker 1: really blessed. I was around some tremendous people in my career.

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Speaker 1: Dan O'Dowd gave me my first start. I'm so much

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Speaker 1: indebted to him, both as a mentor and as a

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Speaker 1: true genuine friend. Throughout my career, I've gotten a chance

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Speaker 1: to work with Josh Burns, with Michael Hill, with Billy Eppler,

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Speaker 1: with Jerry to Poto, with Scott service, and those were

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Speaker 1: just the guys that were with us in Colorado. We

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Speaker 1: had John Daniels was there in mc clintach. At one point,

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Speaker 1: I think we had seven guys who went on to

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Speaker 1: become general managers or managers in the in the big leagues.

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Speaker 1: And at that time, of course, I didn't know the

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Speaker 1: strength of the staff other than they seem to be

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Speaker 1: really impressive to me, and it was truly great friends

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Speaker 1: and mentors. But I think those guys really helped shape

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Speaker 1: me in my career. And then go on to Texas

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Speaker 1: where I got to work with guys like John Hart,

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Speaker 1: John Daniels again, Josh Boyd, Mike Daly and just people

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Speaker 1: who really I think took genuine care and challenging me

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Speaker 1: to become a better person. And finally, in my last

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Speaker 1: step in my career has been with the Minnesota Twins,

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Speaker 1: which I've had a little bit more of ownership in

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Speaker 1: shaping and giving those opportunities to other people. And I

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Speaker 1: think that started with Dan O'Dowd and I think now

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Speaker 1: I'm getting a chance to give back to the next

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Speaker 1: generation of people who will be built up in this game.

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Speaker 1: But Dan, one of the many things he taught me

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Speaker 1: early was surrounding yourself with a lot of people smarter

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Speaker 1: than you are, and you may be very successful as

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Speaker 1: a result. I'm certainly taking that to heart now. I

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Speaker 1: love that. I want to go to this Minnesota Twins situation.

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Speaker 1: When you take over, um, your first meeting there with

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Speaker 1: the organization, you get the whole group together. What was

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Speaker 1: the message that you delivered at that point in time,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think the challenge we had so I

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Speaker 1: came on board at the same time as Derek Falvey.

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Speaker 1: Derek came from the Cleveland Indians. I came from the

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Speaker 1: Texas Rangers. And I think the one thing that ownership

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Speaker 1: the paul ad family asked us to do was honored

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Speaker 1: to the traditions of the Minnesota Twins, but just absolutely

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Speaker 1: infused as much as you can of the best of

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Speaker 1: the Twins with the best of the Rangers, with the

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Speaker 1: best of the Cleveland Indians, and ideally from that will

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Speaker 1: come a great organization. And we've taken that to heart.

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Speaker 1: So we've honored the tradition of the Twins, We've tried

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Speaker 1: to capitalize on some of the best elements of that

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Speaker 1: organization had to had to bear, and then we've also

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Speaker 1: tried to progress it forward with some of the things

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Speaker 1: that Texas had done successfully, some of the things that

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Speaker 1: Cleveland had done successfully and observationally. I think they were

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Speaker 1: strategic in bringing both Derek and myself in because Cleveland

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Speaker 1: had just played in the World Series in two thousand

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Speaker 1: seventeen and sixteen, uh, the Texas Rangers had played in

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Speaker 1: two thousand ten and eleven, and we had all done

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Speaker 1: it very differently. So Cleveland came from a little bit

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Speaker 1: more of a analytics standpoint and its systems based decision making,

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Speaker 1: whereas Texas was a little bit more scout based decision making.

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Speaker 1: Both franchises had realized some success. Marry that up with

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Speaker 1: what Minnesota was doing, and I think we've now melded

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Speaker 1: together to be once again the charge was the best

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Speaker 1: of Minnesota, Texas, and in Cleveland. I think we've taken

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Speaker 1: that one step further because we brought in a lot

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Speaker 1: of people from other organizations as well. With the one

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Speaker 1: singular goal is tell us what is the best element

429
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,680
Speaker 1: that your organization did, and let's try to incorporate into

430
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:17,720
Speaker 1: what we're trying to do here. I absolutely love that

431
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,520
Speaker 1: when we look at the success you guys are coming

432
00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,399
Speaker 1: off of this past season. Is there a moment in

433
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,560
Speaker 1: the off season, is it early in the season when

434
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:26,480
Speaker 1: do you realize, Okay, this thing is really starting to

435
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,679
Speaker 1: come together here. You know, it's a great question, and

436
00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,280
Speaker 1: I think one of the biggest challenges of this job

437
00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:33,879
Speaker 1: is that every day you either win or lose, and

438
00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:35,960
Speaker 1: so it doesn't afford you much of a chance to

439
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,320
Speaker 1: really relish where you are in the season. So a

440
00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:40,600
Speaker 1: lot of what you just asked you do see kind

441
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,800
Speaker 1: of in retrospect at the end of the season. That

442
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,879
Speaker 1: being said, I will say this. We we were fifty

443
00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:47,840
Speaker 1: four games into the season. We were twenty games over

444
00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,000
Speaker 1: five hundreds, and I did pull some of the guys

445
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,479
Speaker 1: together in the front office, some of the guys who

446
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,719
Speaker 1: maybe hadn't had as many years in the game as

447
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 1: I had. It just said, cherish this because you were

448
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,320
Speaker 1: not entitled to go twenty games over five for any

449
00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:02,560
Speaker 1: period of time, let alone over just the first fifty

450
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,000
Speaker 1: four games this season. Enjoy this, like we don't know

451
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,119
Speaker 1: what the rest of the season will bring. This is

452
00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,960
Speaker 1: a tremendous success for this franchise. You could just feel

453
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,680
Speaker 1: the energy that our fans were having built around the team.

454
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,760
Speaker 1: Just absorb that in just for a moment Church, And

455
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:17,960
Speaker 1: so I do think you've got to try to slow

456
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,920
Speaker 1: the game down at times, because if you don't, there's

457
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:22,560
Speaker 1: a game the next day, and there's a game the

458
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,439
Speaker 1: next day, and you never really get to revel in

459
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,440
Speaker 1: those moments of success. This year was so special for

460
00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,840
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Twins because not only do we get to

461
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,720
Speaker 1: a hundred one games, which by the way, I've never

462
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,199
Speaker 1: done in my entire career. I asked, actually started off

463
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,760
Speaker 1: the meetings here, we have a lot of our scouts,

464
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:38,879
Speaker 1: We've got a lot of our player development people here.

465
00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:41,800
Speaker 1: People have been with the organization for thirty years. And

466
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,639
Speaker 1: I asked, raise your hand if you've ever been with

467
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:45,840
Speaker 1: an organization that won more than a hundred games. There

468
00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:47,800
Speaker 1: was one man in the room who worked for the

469
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,240
Speaker 1: Seattle Mariners when they want a hundred sixteen. Outside of that,

470
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:51,679
Speaker 1: there was nobody else in the room. We had won

471
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,679
Speaker 1: a hundred games. We didn't do what we wanted to

472
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:55,679
Speaker 1: do in the playoffs. There's no doubt about it. This

473
00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,879
Speaker 1: season didn't end exactly as we had hoped. It doesn't

474
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,520
Speaker 1: take away from the account Pushman's the team had. Everyone

475
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,360
Speaker 1: talks about the home run record, but we also set

476
00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,040
Speaker 1: a record for most strikeouts by our pitching staff. We

477
00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,719
Speaker 1: had a lot of individual achievements that were just so

478
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,399
Speaker 1: so glorious to watch. It doesn't diminish the season, the

479
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,320
Speaker 1: fact that we ended with a with a loss to

480
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:16,800
Speaker 1: the New York Yankees. It's fascinating to me to watch

481
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,080
Speaker 1: how this thing comes together. And when I we look

482
00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:20,920
Speaker 1: at scouting on the football side, we talked about building

483
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,320
Speaker 1: your team for your division, and then there's building your

484
00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,679
Speaker 1: team for the postseason. Now, when you're when you're in

485
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 1: baseball building your your roster at the major league level,

486
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,040
Speaker 1: how much do you take into account who's in your

487
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,680
Speaker 1: division as well as also, Okay, now we want to

488
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,399
Speaker 1: get to the tournament. Then once we get to the tournament,

489
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,120
Speaker 1: we'd have this in order to get the whole thing done.

490
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,400
Speaker 1: I think you laid it out just just exactly right

491
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,680
Speaker 1: right there, because I think in baseball it mirrors what's

492
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: going on in the NFL. We have the wild card

493
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,640
Speaker 1: track to get to the playoffs. Our goal this past

494
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:48,600
Speaker 1: off season, as we were sitting here preparing for the

495
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,680
Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen season, was to control your own destiny.

496
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,720
Speaker 1: We want to play home playoff games, to play home

497
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,560
Speaker 1: playoff games games plural ideally, you have to play a series.

498
00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,159
Speaker 1: To play a series, you gotta win your division. And

499
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,560
Speaker 1: so we were primarily focused on the Cleveland Indians. We

500
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,119
Speaker 1: were in a division where there's a clear cut champion

501
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,320
Speaker 1: that the Cleveland Indians had one our division for three

502
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 1: consecutive years. We viewed them as a class of the

503
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,280
Speaker 1: division and that we had to unseat them. So we've

504
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,280
Speaker 1: tried to build a team that could be as competitive

505
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,560
Speaker 1: as possible within our division. We felt that that was

506
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,760
Speaker 1: a necessary next step for the franchise. Now, as you

507
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 1: just illuminated in your question, now the challenge is different

508
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 1: the challenges if we are fortunate enough to get back

509
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 1: to the playoffs, how do we excel once we're in

510
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 1: the playoffs? And I don't know if it translates into

511
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,359
Speaker 1: the NFL the Major League Baseball. It's very distinctive the

512
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 1: regular season from the postseason. What it what it explains,

513
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: what is the difference than the primary difference. So the

514
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 1: primary difference I would say is during the regular season,

515
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:45,280
Speaker 1: the depth of your team carries you through a hundred

516
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,040
Speaker 1: and sixty two games. It's so grueling, there's so much

517
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,800
Speaker 1: attrition from a performance standpoint and also from a health standpoint.

518
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,760
Speaker 1: So you get a lot of performance out of your third, fourth,

519
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,000
Speaker 1: and fifth starting pitcher. You get a lot of performance

520
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,119
Speaker 1: out of your bench. Offensive players buy in large. In

521
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 1: the postseason, you rely less on those guys. You're relying

522
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,600
Speaker 1: more on your superstars, your core players. You're one through nine,

523
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,920
Speaker 1: and your lineup, you're one, two, and three starting pitchers,

524
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,159
Speaker 1: maybe three or four guys in the pen. In this

525
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 1: regular season, you need all twenty five of your players

526
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,240
Speaker 1: and then some to get through. Our team in two

527
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,359
Speaker 1: thousand nineteen may have had the best performance from our third, fourth,

528
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,840
Speaker 1: and fifth starter. We may have had our best performance

529
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,680
Speaker 1: from our tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth position players relative

530
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 1: to the league's performance. Once you get into the dance,

531
00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 1: once you get into the postseason, you really have to

532
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,240
Speaker 1: excel at the top end of your roster. That may

533
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,159
Speaker 1: be an area where we need to apply ourselves a

534
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 1: little bit more as we're building this team to excel

535
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,440
Speaker 1: once we get in the playoffs, not just be satisfied

536
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,439
Speaker 1: once we get there. There's a time, I think for

537
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,240
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Twins when just getting to the playoffs was

538
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 1: an accomplishment enough, I don't mean to diminish that accomplishment whatsoever.

539
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,119
Speaker 1: We'll never take that for granted. We're not entitled to

540
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:52,800
Speaker 1: play in the playoffs. However, our goal is once we

541
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 1: get to the playoffs is to kick some people's asses.

542
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 1: And I'm allowed to say that absolutely, and I think

543
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: to a certain extent, historically there was just this notion

544
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,639
Speaker 1: of it's kind of cute that the little Old Twins

545
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:05,679
Speaker 1: got to the got to the playoffs. We want to

546
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,239
Speaker 1: instill some fear and some people when they're playing us

547
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,879
Speaker 1: and not just be the charming little story. I absolutely

548
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: love it. The I almost think of looking at it

549
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 1: the floor and the ceiling, like you can have a

550
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: high floor to get you the postseason, but to whin

551
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 1: the whole thing that's where you're ceiling, you know, comes

552
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 1: into play there. What you're high ind talent looks like

553
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 1: at that point in time. I love just talking to

554
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,120
Speaker 1: you and getting your passion. When you're when you're looking

555
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 1: at players and you're looking to bring players in the

556
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,359
Speaker 1: major league level or even going through the scouting process,

557
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 1: is there is there some core traits, you know, personality

558
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 1: traits that that fit the Twins and fit what you're

559
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:37,679
Speaker 1: trying to build and how do you find it. One

560
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,520
Speaker 1: of the primary traits we look for is talent. That's

561
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 1: a pretty good one. Yeah, that's that's that's kind of

562
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,399
Speaker 1: one of the ones we're reading with UM. So I

563
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,399
Speaker 1: think I think the answer question, I would look at

564
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 1: an amateur player a little bit different from a more

565
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,480
Speaker 1: established major league player. So to first talk about the

566
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,880
Speaker 1: amateur player we're charging our scouts nowadays, Uh, the game

567
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,399
Speaker 1: has evolved so much. We're actually asking them to look

568
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,120
Speaker 1: outside of Bay Spaull. We're telling him to go watch

569
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 1: high school football games, college football games. We're we're going

570
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 1: to track meets, We're going to swim meets, we're going

571
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: to volleyball games. We're asking our scouts pick up the

572
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 1: best athlete in the venue you're at and find out

573
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: if he has any passion to play the game of baseball,

574
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 1: and we're selecting those guys in the draft. We're taking

575
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 1: chances on some of those guys. So I think we're

576
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 1: trying to expand beyond just the horizons of the kid

577
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 1: who is playing baseball year round and potentially getting burnt

578
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,639
Speaker 1: out on it. But we're looking for kids who have

579
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,920
Speaker 1: an ability to grow, an ability to learn. Growth mindset

580
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,440
Speaker 1: is huge for our franchise. We don't want to take

581
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:34,440
Speaker 1: a finished product, whether that's a high school kid or

582
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,880
Speaker 1: a college kid. We're looking for somebody who has traits

583
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: to grow and develop in the aptitude to do so. So.

584
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 1: Not only were watching them performing the field, We're interviewing

585
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 1: their coaches, We're talking to their parents, We're talking to

586
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 1: their friends, they're they're significant others, and asking them what

587
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: is this person like? How do they handle adversity. We

588
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 1: want to see that in real time, whether that happens

589
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 1: before we draft them or certainly in the minor leagues.

590
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 1: Once I get into the minor leagues. With us, we're

591
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 1: taking every single one of these guys with the star

592
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,119
Speaker 1: on their team. Every single one of these guys hit third, fourth,

593
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,359
Speaker 1: maybe first if they were a certain profile of guys.

594
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 1: We're asking them to sit on the bench for a night,

595
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: telling them you are not playing today, find out a

596
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,720
Speaker 1: way to help us win a baseball game tonight. Do

597
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,159
Speaker 1: something to help the guys around you win. And then

598
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 1: on the major league side, I think the thing that

599
00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: we look most for, and obviously, these guys cost a

600
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,879
Speaker 1: lot of money is we're looking for heart and soul players.

601
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 1: And by that I mean this is I think every offseason.

602
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 1: I can buy muscle, I can buy home runs, I

603
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 1: can buy our b s. I can buy innings pitched,

604
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 1: I can buy wins. I can those things are readily

605
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 1: available if I'm willing to pay the price, whether it

606
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,359
Speaker 1: comes in the form of a free agent contract or

607
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 1: a trade acquisition, I can buy those guys. But I

608
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 1: want the heart and soul player that I want, the

609
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 1: player who genuinely makes the players around them better. He

610
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,400
Speaker 1: invests in the growth and development of his co workers

611
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,640
Speaker 1: and his players and his staff. If we can find

612
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,480
Speaker 1: those guys, you never let him go. And I think

613
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,960
Speaker 1: that's where you see guys like Kirby Puckett played his

614
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,960
Speaker 1: whole career in Minnesota. Cal Ripken, you want to go

615
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: in right here, Tony, Tony Gwyn down here. You you

616
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 1: look at guys like Barry Larkin and Robin Yount like

617
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 1: there's a reason Derek Jeter played his whole career, There's

618
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 1: a reason that Chipper Jones played his whole career in Atlanta.

619
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,280
Speaker 1: I'm not saying they weren't Sometimes maybe they weren't the

620
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,440
Speaker 1: best player in their team. Sometimes they were, but they

621
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:14,239
Speaker 1: were the most valuable. They were the guys who were

622
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 1: most indispensable because they genuinely elevated the level of play

623
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,159
Speaker 1: of everybody around him. Those are the guys that you

624
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 1: just hold onto and sign at all costs. I want

625
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: to piggyback on that for the last question. We had

626
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:26,399
Speaker 1: a thing we called it and Scotting had a red

627
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,159
Speaker 1: star player. So the last meeting before the draft, we

628
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,240
Speaker 1: would get out we give every scout areas got a

629
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:32,680
Speaker 1: sticker and you can go up to anybody in your

630
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: in your area. We're not saying it's the best player

631
00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:36,120
Speaker 1: you've seen and am not gonna be a first round pick,

632
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 1: might be the seventh round pick, but we give you

633
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 1: one star. This is the guy I just want to

634
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 1: bring into our organization. He's gonna make us better. And

635
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:43,600
Speaker 1: you could really kind of stand on the table for

636
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 1: the guy put the star on his sticker. I'm curious

637
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:47,479
Speaker 1: as anything like that go on for you guys when

638
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,880
Speaker 1: you're going through the draft process. Exactly that happened. So

639
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: we have each area's got coming and present their area

640
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,879
Speaker 1: top to bottom, ranked typically by order in which they

641
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:58,440
Speaker 1: would like to take them in the draft, if the

642
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,640
Speaker 1: draft was constituted by nothing other than their area. Then

643
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 1: once we go through that exercise, we say, okay, now,

644
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:05,879
Speaker 1: who are the guys on this board you really want?

645
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: And it's rarely one, two, three, four, and five. You know,

646
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: there's guys at different points in the draft that they

647
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:12,879
Speaker 1: absolutely If we called you at the end of the

648
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,600
Speaker 1: draft and said we got these three guys who they want,

649
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,320
Speaker 1: who do you want them to be? It's once again,

650
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 1: it's not always the guy they have on the top

651
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:20,680
Speaker 1: of the list. It's the guys that, as you just described,

652
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: they feel are indispensable to the growth and development of

653
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,720
Speaker 1: our organization as a whole. Bucky, I think you get

654
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 1: a chance listening to him a number one. He's really

655
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,879
Speaker 1: a smart guy, very bright. But then I like the

656
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,199
Speaker 1: fact when you put that focus on every day you

657
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: win or you lose. I mean, what a metaphor for life, right,

658
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: every day you wake up you're gonna either win the

659
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 1: day you're gonna lose the day. Yeah, I mean that

660
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about. It's about learning how they

661
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 1: compete and competing as a team. And we know with baseball, baseball,

662
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 1: there's a marathon hundred and sixty two games. To get

663
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 1: your team ready to go, you have to focus on

664
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,320
Speaker 1: really the micro. Can you win each and every day

665
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 1: and just kind of build momentum by taking it a

666
00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: day at a time, a game at a time. Well,

667
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: he mentioned there you can buy wins, but I want

668
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: guys who make people better. Uh. Man, that's a great

669
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 1: thing to look for when you're building a football team,

670
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:08,960
Speaker 1: is is finding those guys that can bring up the

671
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 1: level of everyone else around him. Uh, something that the Twins.

672
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 1: The Twins have done a very nice job of doing

673
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: as they've rebuilt that franchise. All right, let's get to

674
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,400
Speaker 1: the next conversation here. This is with the former general

675
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: manager Dan O'Dowd, currently an analyst on MLB Network. He

676
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,800
Speaker 1: was the GM of the Rockies from two thousand and fourteen,

677
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,800
Speaker 1: so oversaw some fantastic offensive teams they're up in Denver,

678
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,959
Speaker 1: and and just a really really, really bright, entertaining guy

679
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: to watch on TV. I've enjoyed watching him from Afar,

680
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: but man, it was great to catch up with him

681
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,200
Speaker 1: and and really doug what he had to say. Here's

682
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: our conversation with Dan O'Dowd. First question I get asked

683
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: this all the time on the football scouting side of things.

684
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 1: How did you get started? Well, mean, I started and

685
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,719
Speaker 1: many many years ago. But I started on the business

686
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: side of the game with the Baltimore Orial selling tickets

687
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,680
Speaker 1: and a little wooden ticket booth on thirty third Street

688
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 1: at Old Memorial Stadium where the Holts play. Uh and

689
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 1: you know, and back then the front offices were so small,

690
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 1: ended up in a scouting territory and um worked in

691
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 1: front office, had a scouting territory in southern Maryland and

692
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 1: northern Virginia, and then just work my way up the ladder.

693
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,400
Speaker 1: So way different than today's game. I'd be curious about

694
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,440
Speaker 1: this because I remember my first year with the Ravens

695
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:22,800
Speaker 1: um to get your feet wet. It was you spent

696
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 1: most of time in the office. But they gave me

697
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,920
Speaker 1: twenty schools. So as an area scout and MLB go

698
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,720
Speaker 1: back to when you begin taking into account high school's,

699
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,760
Speaker 1: junior colleges, colleges, like, how many schools would you be

700
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 1: responsible for in your areas. I had a really tiny,

701
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 1: small area because they were just trying to give me

702
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 1: experience actually trying to evaluate players. So I probably had

703
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 1: two dozen high schools, probably five colleges a few j

704
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,440
Speaker 1: c's not a large area at all. But the scouts

705
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 1: that have multiple states in our games, you know, they

706
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 1: they do it well. They've got to be exceptionally well organized.

707
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,720
Speaker 1: They had set up a system of what I call

708
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:06,080
Speaker 1: scouting connections, the bird Dogs coaches that they're comfortable with,

709
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 1: travel team, summer coaches, and you know, no different than

710
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 1: your job. Then when you start, it's about relationships. The

711
00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 1: scouts that are really good developing and cultivating relationships, they're

712
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: the ones that are the best in the industry because

713
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 1: they get information and um, you know, I was a

714
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 1: big believer in professional sports in general, there's a lot

715
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,520
Speaker 1: of fear based scouting, So I really try to create

716
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: a culture and environment where the scouts went in to

717
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,239
Speaker 1: look at players. They look for what players can do

718
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: rather than what the players can't do. Absolutely, as I

719
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:38,240
Speaker 1: used to say that all the time you're in a

720
00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 1: meeting room events, he would cut you off and say,

721
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 1: I don't know he was good too, I don't care,

722
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,160
Speaker 1: I don't care what he can have. Some really good

723
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: drafts in Baltimore, too, really good drafts. Absolutely, when you

724
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:48,720
Speaker 1: when you go through the evaluation process with a player,

725
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 1: today nowadays, what age is it starting where you're starting

726
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,360
Speaker 1: to put these kids on your radar a little bit

727
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 1: and start monitoring through the process. You're gonna be shocked

728
00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,960
Speaker 1: when I tell you this, but it probably starts there.

729
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: Um freshman, a sophomore year in high school. Long you

730
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,840
Speaker 1: start creating some follow lists, you start get a feel

731
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,720
Speaker 1: for body types. You know a perfect game has done

732
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: a wonderful job organizing elite tournaments around the country that

733
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 1: you know. You can begin as you go to see

734
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 1: your junior about to be a senior. You then can

735
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,400
Speaker 1: glance at that sophomore becoming a junior, and it has

736
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,760
Speaker 1: to be an elite freshman that's playing with the sophomore.

737
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 1: You'll get a you'll get a peek at him. Well,

738
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 1: you know kids that are committing to colleges now or committee.

739
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,920
Speaker 1: I have a son that's eighteen years old that committed

740
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,640
Speaker 1: the Vanderbilt in his eighth grade year going into his

741
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,240
Speaker 1: freshman year of high school. So, I mean, it really

742
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:42,239
Speaker 1: has moved the time table up. I'm not saying I'm

743
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:44,320
Speaker 1: a huge proponent of that. I'm just saying that's where

744
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,040
Speaker 1: the model is right now. One of the things we've

745
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,280
Speaker 1: talked to a bunch of college coaches football coaches about

746
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,920
Speaker 1: is how you know, with seven on seven the proliferation

747
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 1: of that we've seen, you know, the multi sport thing

748
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: kind of go away a little bit on the football side.

749
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: As an evaluator, how much did you appreciate when guys

750
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 1: played multiple sports? Is the specialization we're seeing, you know,

751
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,040
Speaker 1: And that's been a lot of talk and dialogue within

752
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,960
Speaker 1: the sports world altogether. You know, I think in sports

753
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,160
Speaker 1: we have a tendency to paint everybody with the same brush.

754
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,600
Speaker 1: So when you have an opportunity when you're eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,

755
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: thirteen to play multiple sports, I think that's incredibly valuable.

756
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 1: You learn how to create teammates. Each sports has a

757
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,040
Speaker 1: different level of adversity that you have to grind through

758
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:30,440
Speaker 1: your body movements, patterns get developed a different way. Um.

759
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 1: But unfortunately, now as you start to transition into high school,

760
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 1: we are becoming a society where you do have to

761
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 1: pick probably one sport you're gonna primarily focus on and

762
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 1: develop a skill set necessary within that sport or you're

763
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 1: gonna get left behind. And do I think that's a

764
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 1: bad thing? Yes and no. In high schools anymore. If

765
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 1: you play sports that bookend, meaning if you play basketball

766
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 1: that flows into baseball. That's a problem. Now if you

767
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,000
Speaker 1: play football and then there's a winter break before you

768
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,480
Speaker 1: play baseball, that's more doable, almost impossible to play three

769
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,600
Speaker 1: sports anymore if you're at a higher classification high school

770
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,360
Speaker 1: in our country. When you think about guys that multi

771
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:08,680
Speaker 1: sport guys, obviously we were with Dion all the time.

772
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,200
Speaker 1: We know about his exploits. He was a freak. Yeah, no, no,

773
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 1: no doubt. I mean bow and you've got some of those.

774
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,680
Speaker 1: But in the game today, uh, maybe some of the

775
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,080
Speaker 1: top players. Anybody that stood out to you that you're

776
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,200
Speaker 1: going through the profiles and going to the background, you're like, oh,

777
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:23,120
Speaker 1: I mean this guy was a phenomenal player at another

778
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:25,799
Speaker 1: sport as well. Well. Kyler Murray jumps out, like first time,

779
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 1: I have no doubt he would have been a great

780
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:29,960
Speaker 1: baseball really Oh yeah, yeah he was. You know baseball.

781
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,440
Speaker 1: You guys spend a lot of time in football worrying

782
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:36,120
Speaker 1: about height, size, and you know baseball there's all comes

783
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 1: in shapes and sciences. But he was you know, baseball

784
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,479
Speaker 1: is a ground force reaction sport. Explain to explain that. Okay, see,

785
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 1: football is a sport where for me, when I look

786
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: at it, it's a mobility sport. It's how your hips move.

787
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,560
Speaker 1: You know, in baseball everything starts from your feet up.

788
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,000
Speaker 1: Your ankles have to be able to pivot hard, and

789
00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,600
Speaker 1: your your quads and your your hammys and your glue.

790
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,480
Speaker 1: It's really fire through the sports. So he was like

791
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:07,280
Speaker 1: an incredibly explosive athlete and his body movement patterns really

792
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,840
Speaker 1: really worked in the game of baseball. Shorter arms, So

793
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 1: I was a big believer good hitters for me always

794
00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:15,920
Speaker 1: had a little bit of shorter arm because they can

795
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,279
Speaker 1: create a consistent bad path through the zone. Guys they

796
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 1: have a little bit longer arms, taller little Lanier and Laura, aren't,

797
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:23,800
Speaker 1: they have some holes in their swing because of the

798
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:30,800
Speaker 1: leverage point. You know, the scouting I can talk about

799
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,239
Speaker 1: this stuff all day. So football, and you know, you

800
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 1: train for football in the offseason. Football you train core

801
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,080
Speaker 1: from the knee up through the chest explosively, and in

802
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,280
Speaker 1: baseball you train the same way, but it's a totally

803
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 1: different type of movement pattern in football. So football for

804
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,680
Speaker 1: me creates some stiffness in the body because it's more

805
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:55,719
Speaker 1: of a collision explosive sport where baseball create you have

806
00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:00,239
Speaker 1: to have really exceptional movement patterns to be a that's

807
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,680
Speaker 1: cool skill. Think about a short stop that has to

808
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,320
Speaker 1: cross over to his backside circle of ball, throw off

809
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:10,360
Speaker 1: balance to be able to make a play at first base,

810
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,719
Speaker 1: other than a quarterback in today's game having to make

811
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 1: that type of play. There isn't any movement pattern that

812
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,640
Speaker 1: a football would be similar in football than that movement

813
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 1: pattern from a short stop was fantastic. Another guy you

814
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,279
Speaker 1: obviously know well, Todd Hilton. I remember watching him. I

815
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:29,359
Speaker 1: think got a great foot. Now he'll tell you he

816
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:33,040
Speaker 1: was a He said, you know, I was a quarterback

817
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,760
Speaker 1: at UT until I got hurt and then I became

818
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,560
Speaker 1: a clipboard operator because Peyton Manning he was pretty good.

819
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:43,040
Speaker 1: Tap Patton man he took my job. I don't think he.

820
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: He said he was more of the option quarterback, where

821
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:48,160
Speaker 1: Peyton was more of a dropback, pure thrower. Todd Hell

822
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 1: was born to play the game of baseball. His I

823
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:53,920
Speaker 1: hand coordination, which is different. So when you when you're

824
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 1: scouting a hitter, you really have to see their ability

825
00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:59,399
Speaker 1: to bring the bat to the ball anywhere in the strike,

826
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:04,120
Speaker 1: So Todd Helton never missed a ball anywhere around the strikes.

827
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,680
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you an interesting story wise, So his dad, Jerry,

828
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 1: was a bass fisherman, and they had a two car garage,

829
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:14,239
Speaker 1: and Jerry used to park the bass boat on the

830
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,000
Speaker 1: right part of the garage. He used to flip Todd

831
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:19,919
Speaker 1: bottle bottle tops because Jerry liked to drink a little

832
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,480
Speaker 1: beer along the way to Todd had to hit the

833
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,399
Speaker 1: ball the other way. He could never pull a ball

834
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,600
Speaker 1: and hit the hit pull a little top and hit

835
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 1: the bassball. His dad would go crazy. So Todd would

836
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: practice at night what he said, with a small wooden

837
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,200
Speaker 1: stick like a broomstick. He dad would flip and bottle caps.

838
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,359
Speaker 1: He'd have to hit line drives the other way, which

839
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:44,000
Speaker 1: developed his elite I hand coordination. Again football, not necessarily

840
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 1: you'd ever really hear that kind of story as relates

841
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,440
Speaker 1: to the development of their skill set. When you look

842
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 1: at it building a championship roster football, a lot of

843
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,399
Speaker 1: the times were talking about building it up the middle out.

844
00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: You want your best athletes up the middle. You want durable,

845
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 1: strong pick cher's up top. For me, the second most

846
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,399
Speaker 1: important position the game is catchers, because they're the only

847
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,479
Speaker 1: position the game that's involved in every single defensive play.

848
00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,640
Speaker 1: It animates from from their leadership at that position. The

849
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:14,719
Speaker 1: importance not a re leadership relationship connection. The picture has

850
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:18,120
Speaker 1: to know that that catcher, he's the most that picture

851
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 1: has to be the most important person in his world,

852
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 1: not as hitting, and so he can't be a real

853
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:25,440
Speaker 1: selfish guy. He's gonna be very unselfish to a team environment.

854
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,840
Speaker 1: And then you want athletes up the middle. You want athletes.

855
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,440
Speaker 1: It's gotten less so with positioning and data in our

856
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,239
Speaker 1: game at second base, but you want an athlete playing short,

857
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:35,520
Speaker 1: and you want an athlete playing center field. Work work

858
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,080
Speaker 1: in the NFL learn from Major League Baseball right now

859
00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:40,120
Speaker 1: on the personnel side, on the scouting side, that can

860
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:44,080
Speaker 1: help us going forward. Um yeah, I don't know the

861
00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:47,520
Speaker 1: NFL model well enough to know that. I would say

862
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:51,000
Speaker 1: the holy grail of scouting in our game is still

863
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,560
Speaker 1: what's inside the package. You know you can go out

864
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 1: and nowadays with the metrics you can evaluate exit velocity.

865
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:03,120
Speaker 1: You know so much you can quantified and I don't

866
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 1: you know, I like, I just love the term that

867
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,319
Speaker 1: I don't know what you get. I just love the term.

868
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:09,520
Speaker 1: It sounds really cool. I think what's similar in our

869
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,120
Speaker 1: sport and maybe different ultimately at the end of the day, though,

870
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:15,680
Speaker 1: what's inside a player's heart will ultimately determine if he

871
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,319
Speaker 1: bridges the gap between what his potential is and his

872
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:21,279
Speaker 1: actual performance. That's an area I still feel like our

873
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 1: game has a long way to go. In the last question,

874
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 1: I'll let you run. I talked to Steve Young one

875
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,600
Speaker 1: time about quarterbacks and toughest position for us to evaluate,

876
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: and I asked for his you know, give me the

877
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,800
Speaker 1: one thing, and he said, it's coming into the huddle

878
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:33,759
Speaker 1: and just having that over my dead body. Are we

879
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,719
Speaker 1: gonna lose this football game type of competitiveness? How do

880
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,160
Speaker 1: you identify that in a baseball player? I think you

881
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:40,680
Speaker 1: gotta watch him play a lot, you know. I think

882
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:42,960
Speaker 1: there's wisdom and knowledge in our game. I think knowledge

883
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:44,920
Speaker 1: is something you can learn in a book, But wisdom

884
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,080
Speaker 1: is watching players player of a long period of time

885
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:51,120
Speaker 1: making good decisions, making bad decisions. I get to a park,

886
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:54,120
Speaker 1: you know, as my career matriculated, I watched the kid

887
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,640
Speaker 1: get off the bus. I watch how he walked with

888
00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 1: his bag, I watch how he put his bag down.

889
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,760
Speaker 1: I watch how he this warm up routine. I watched

890
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:03,960
Speaker 1: how he played his long toss. I watch how he

891
00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:05,919
Speaker 1: interacted with his teammates every little bit of the way.

892
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:08,840
Speaker 1: And then I hoped in that game he did something

893
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:12,640
Speaker 1: that absolutely stunk, like he missed a play or he

894
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:16,160
Speaker 1: struck out in a key situation, because that would provide

895
00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:20,120
Speaker 1: insight for me into what that what his mental toughness

896
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:24,640
Speaker 1: to grind through adversity was all about. Buckets. Uh, it's

897
00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 1: again just a chance to learn from these guys. Dan

898
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 1: O'Dowd talking about the multiple sports being so valuable for

899
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,160
Speaker 1: guys when they're young. Again, that's our gospel. We've been

900
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:35,960
Speaker 1: preaching it, and he's right in line. Yeah, he absolutely

901
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,560
Speaker 1: is in line with it. You talk about multi sport guys,

902
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:43,560
Speaker 1: guys that developed a full athletic skill set, being able

903
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,040
Speaker 1: to do more cross training, those things. I think the

904
00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,600
Speaker 1: other thing that was interesting he talked about building the

905
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,880
Speaker 1: team up the middle at a defensive coordinated Dick Geron,

906
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:53,719
Speaker 1: who also was a Hay coach in league. He talked

907
00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 1: about building teams in every sport starts with their premise.

908
00:40:57,360 --> 00:40:59,080
Speaker 1: If you're strongly down the middle, you're probably gonna have

909
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 1: a strong team, no doubt. Um. It was a great

910
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:03,839
Speaker 1: conversation with him. I hope you've enjoyed all these conversations,

911
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,239
Speaker 1: and if you have, there's more to come because this

912
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,080
Speaker 1: is just wrapping up Part A of the discussion. We

913
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 1: have Part B coming up on another podcast. You can

914
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 1: look for that where we talk to players major League

915
00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:18,600
Speaker 1: baseball players, current coaches and and other guys who have

916
00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:20,760
Speaker 1: been in the media and have been around the sport

917
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,719
Speaker 1: of baseball and have tremendous insight to offer, So be

918
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:25,400
Speaker 1: on the lookout for that. I hope you guys have

919
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:28,719
Speaker 1: enjoyed this little crossover episode Part two. Again, you can

920
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,840
Speaker 1: find that on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

921
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time right here

922
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:35,200
Speaker 1: on Move the Sticks.