WEBVTT - Roger Clemens shares incredible stories from legendary career 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:04.960 And this one is launched to left field Borba blass 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:09.960 Off again a grand slam. It is twelve four and 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:15.240 Casey at the bat delivers and with that, welcome everyone. 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:18.400 This is the live show Dirt from the dugout. That 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:22.800 play actually occurred yesterday afternoon and that was the Texas 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:26.400 first Tennessee game three of their series. It was outstanding. 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.760 We'll talk much more about that experience. But welcome in again. 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.519 Happy to be joined by my partner, the recruiting guru 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.920 that he is, the baseball guy. Justin Mussel is good 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:38.840 to see you again. How was the week. How you doing. 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:41.920 It's been awesome, Raby, great call on that, buddy, and 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:44.120 you had a little jet behind that one that that 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:45.080 was one of your good ones. 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:45.440 Rabby. 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:46.519 I gotta say, man. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.479 Thirty years into this thing, we better be able to 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:51.839 have a good call. But yeah, I'll tell you what 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:54.360 with what we're trying to do here, Justin, which is 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.360 to help parents and their players become the best that 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.400 they can be. That the one kind of take that 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.280 I had, because I now think about these these games 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:07.000 a little bit differently, was the backgrounds of the people 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.040 and the players that are on these teams. And where 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.399 they all come from and how they got to either 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:17.280 Tennessee or Texas in this case, or Mississippi State. You know, 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.959 last week it's it's a journey, and that's what this 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.240 is all about, is trying to help parents and their 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:27.360 players on their journeys. And I can't believe what a 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.080 start we had with Mark DeRosa last week, of course, 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.360 the coach and manager WBC team, and with all his 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.520 playing experiences and what we're bringing to our teammates tonight 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.840 and anybody that's involved with this program is a teammate 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.080 of ours. We got a chance to bend the ear 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.080 of one of the greatest to ever do it, Roger Clemens. 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:47.560 I'm so excited about that. 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.320 Yeah, man, I mean, what a journey that Clements had 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:55.760 to right twenty four season seven, Cy Young's I mean, 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.440 so many things to talk about there. D row is awesome, 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.680 really exciting. Get all the feedback from last week too, 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:04.040 I mean a lot of people loving what we're doing, 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:06.960 RAVI and and uh just excited for it, man, I mean, 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:09.080 I appreciate being on this ride with you, buddy, and 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.520 excited to talk more with Roger tonight and and his 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:16.000 illustrious career and I'm excited about it. Man, Lots lots 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:16.959 to be excited about here. 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:21.359 So your world has really revolved around scouting and recruiting. 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.320 And when I talked to the coaches, you know, Jim 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.920 Schlosnagel and Josh Elander this week and every of the 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.760 any other college coaches, you know, their experiences with these 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.799 kids and and in a sense with the parents because 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.840 they play such a big role in in where your 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:42.560 your child ends up and whether it's at the collegiate level, 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.920 the professional level, the high school level. You know, the 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.760 parents role in all this is super, super critical. And 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.639 we'll ask Roger about, you know, the way that he 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.800 was brought up and how he began and and got 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.960 into the game. But it is such a critical component. 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:01.960 You know, maybe you can shed some light on the 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:07.720 role that you see parents or teachers or role models, 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:12.280 whoever it may be that's influencing the kid on their journey. 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.400 How important those people are. 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:19.000 Well yeah, man, I mean you think about the journey itself. 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.360 There's so much failure involved, and there are so many 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.200 no's and this is an industry, right You had a 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:27.480 lot of no's before you got your job at sports Center, 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.640 at ESPN and that's how it goes. But I think 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.200 just how competitive it is now, I think that makes 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:38.440 it super challenging. There's just so many talented players, so 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:42.240 many people that are trying to get to the college level, 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.160 the pro level. I mean even just playing on a 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.360 high school team now in a good area is really tough. 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.440 So I mean it's a challenging ride. It's as challenging journey, 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:55.360 but it's certainly worth it, man, And baseball teaches us 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:57.200 so much, and so I think there's so much to 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:01.160 learn in that grind ravy with just what it takes 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.440 to overcome failure, how to how to face adversity and 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.080 move forward, right, I mean, all that stuff is is 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:12.920 life stuff. So anyone listening and you know, thinking about stuff, 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.960 it's it's all about just basically, as a parent, teaching 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:18.960 your kid how to overcome things, how to how to 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:22.599 overcome adversity and in the challenges, because whether that's for 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.880 baseball or anything else, it's going to help in life. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:27.000 So that's what I love about it, man, I mean 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:28.760 that's the message I try to deliver a lot to 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.279 people when I get to speak to people, it's just 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.440 you know, what can you learn from the game. Scouting 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.520 is really hard. Not everybody gets it right. We'll talk 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:41.520 to Roger about this a little bit, but yeah, man, 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.120 just just some great stuff. And just for anyone on 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.200 tonight watching, feel free to use the Q and A 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.440 on the zoom, just the button on the bottom. Throw 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:52.280 your questions in there and we'll get to those as 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:52.920 we go along here. 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.279 RAVI yeah, so yeah, I mean, it just turned out 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.160 that it was a Texas victory yesterday, and of course 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:03.159 that is where Clemens start. That's really that's where the 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.640 journey I think in the public's eye began for the 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.800 Rocket was at Texas and what he did in the 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.760 couple of years he was there, and winning the College 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.839 World Series and the you know, the statistics and the 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.599 overwhelming success that he had there is probably the first 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:24.000 exposure that many people had to Clemens. And obviously when 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.000 he got to the professional level and the major leagues, 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.680 it blew up. We'll get into the twenty strikeout game, 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.640 We'll get into the number of teams he played for, 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:37.320 we'll get into all the experiences he had. But I 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.120 do think college was probably our first exposure to the Rocket. 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.120 But that's not where we're going to start. If the 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:46.800 rocket is ready, let's bring Roger Clemens into dirt from 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:52.159 the dugout here. He is here, he is. That's a 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.719 great moment for Ross Rogers. Great to see you, buddy. 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:55.200 How you doing. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.200 Damn, I'm doing great, guys. I appreciate you having me on. Man, 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.640 it's anytime you can had this kind of platform. And 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.640 and uh uh, you know we talked a little earlier, 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:09.000 but you know my foundation, I get letters, you know, 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:11.800 obviously to help underprivileged kids, like we do, but I 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:16.000 get a ton of letters from single parents, single moms 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.480 wanting to help their their youngster. And so I I 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:24.160 really enjoy that because I was one of them, There's 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.080 no doubt about it. So I love that aspect of 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:29.919 like you guys are talking about when you first came on, 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.840 about the journey and about how important your your parents are, 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.960 even if it's in my situation. You know, my pops 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.440 passed away when I was nine years old. I was 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.359 raised by two strong willed women, my mother and my grandmother, 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:46.400 and they taught me a lot of things, you know, 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.279 like baseball teaches you. It's a game of life. It 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:52.520 teaches you a lot of things. Uh, there's there's peaks 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.039 and valleys and uh, and there's times when you feel 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.800 like you're at the top of the mountain and uh. 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.200 But it's it's it's a it's a hard road. I mean, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:05.680 it's not when I talk about the transitions. The physical part. 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:07.599 You're in charge of your body and how you look 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.920 physically and how you are physically and maybe better than 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:14.480 the next guy physically. Second is the mental part of 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:16.960 the game. I think it is so important to mental 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:20.600 your your ability to focus better than the next guy. 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.120 I tell people, you're gonna suck a lot at this 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:25.280 wonderful game. You just got to suck a little less 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:30.120 than your opponent, you know. And and then third, third, 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.680 emotions come into play, and I tell people, you know, 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.280 in my twenty four years at the highest level, you know, 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:38.840 I might have shown my backside a few times, not 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.240 proud of it. But like my mother said, you you 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:47.840 represent that city on your chest and you take pride 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.480 in that and everything that goes along with it. So 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.160 there's a lot that goes into it behind the scenes 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:55.880 that you know, you just don't wake up and have 0:07:56.160 --> 0:08:01.400 a I feel very fortunate to have the career that 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:04.240 I had, So it's very meaningful. 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:06.920 Yeah, no doubt, there's so much to unpack there. That's 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.680 a great answer and a great start. So let's start there, 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.320 because I do think a lot of people got to 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:15.160 be familiar with who you are when you were at 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:17.920 Texas and started to get that national exposure. And I 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:19.840 know what happened a little earlier, but I think the 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.280 masses were that's their first exposure. But take us even 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.280 further back. You know when you discovered the game, you 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.280 had a mom, you had a grandma. I mean, when 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:31.840 did you fall in love with or did you fall 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:32.760 in love with the game? 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.480 Yeah, great question. I mean we just had you know, 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:41.439 Mother's Day who just passed, And obviously every Mother's Day 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.559 I think about my mom and everything that she did 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.120 as a single parent. I tell people, you know, it 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.320 kind of it chaps to me when somebody said, oh, 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:52.240 you million dollar ball players silverspoon this and that's a 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.320 hold up a second, I said, do your homework. If 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.120 you're going to make a statement like that, I said, 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.000 you know, my mom raised six of my pops passed 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.360 away when I was nine. My mom raised six of us. 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.160 When we were here in Houston, she was trying to 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.360 buy her town home. There was a high school called 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.240 bel Air, very good baseball school. She knew I loved 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.079 the game of baseball. I was probably a better defensive 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.319 end that I was pitcher first baseman. My mom was 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:24.239 a stickler on education. I graduated, took classes, and graduated 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:30.480 early at seventeen, so I was still extremely raw green, 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.400 whatever you want to call it. But I was fortunate. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:37.880 I had three wonderful coaches on my way through college. 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.880 They were great coaches. There were better teachers of the 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.640 game of life, if you will. My high school coach. 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.880 All three of these coaches have since passed away, but 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:51.120 my high school coach, Charlie Marianna at Spring was He 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.840 was almost like a father figure to me. I think 0:09:55.400 --> 0:10:00.240 he saw the direction I wanted to go in have 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.040 a vehicle, Thank goodness. We only lived about two and 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.920 a half miles from my high school, so I basically 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:10.080 ran after practice with my backpack. I jogged back to 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:16.280 our our our town home. And yeah, I mean, hey, 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:18.560 I mean I I still when I sit here and 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.800 talk about you and you all asked me the questions 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.679 I think about. You know, a couple of times our 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.480 electricity got turned off. My mom didn't know how you know, 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:28.800 were the next bills. She was an accountant by day. 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.280 I helped their stock coolers on the weekend at convenience store, 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.840 and we cleaned buildings at night where I would do 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.040 my homework. Why she cleaned buildings so I could have 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.400 a sweet, brand new glove and a sweet pair of 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.240 cleats every every season. I thought, there's a rocket. 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.120 How did how did you? How did you decide on baseball? 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.320 I mean, you know, you got all these stories you're running, 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.360 you're a defensive end, Like why the game of baseball 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:54.600 for the parents at home who've got kids that are 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.280 that are doing multiple sports? You know, at what point 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.400 did did the love? Was there a love? I mean 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.120 it was did baseball takeover? Because I know football is 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:03.240 a big deal in Texas? 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:09.720 Man, it is it is. And I was, like you said, 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.360 I fell in love with the game of baseball. And 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.880 then when I started pitching, you know, I was lucky 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:21.320 throughout my whole journey. They really I really was pretty 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.920 religious on you know, back then, we didn't have all 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.360 the videos like the the it boys have now and 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.640 everything you can go look at video, so I had 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.319 and I think Ravin, you know, the deal obviously, my 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.320 two guys that I watched was Nolan Ryan and Tom 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:39.280 sever And so I would sneak into the astrodome and 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.280 watch Nolan just warm up. I had a little connection 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:44.920 with one of the security guards and they would let 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.080 me sneak in there, and all I would do is 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.200 go down the bullpen and watch me warm up, you know, 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.000 in the astrodome, Nolan throwing warming up, throwing ninety five 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.839 ninety seven miles an hours. It sounded like when it 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.600 hit that mint, one hundred and seven miles an hour. 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:03.280 And then I played with the ultimate power pitcher. I'm 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:09.000 a power pitcher. I don't throw my power pitch when 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:13.079 I'm in my bullpens. My side work. It's super important 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.720 because then it makes everything that you do when you 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.440 go out there on game day, you know, somewhat fall. 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:20.679 I'll fall in the place you practice perfect. You're never 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.520 going to be perfect, but you practice perfect for those 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:26.080 big moments when they say, you know, the lights are 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.680 the brightest and all that stuff. But I was lucky. 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.839 We traded when I was jumping from high school and 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:37.400 college here, but real quick. But my professional you know, 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.280 I was a young young twenty three twenty four year old, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.000 and we made the trade for Tom Sever, So I 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.720 got to actually sit on the bench and keep my 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:47.959 mouth closed as a young and listen and just be 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.640 a sponge and have the opportunity to talk to Sever 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:55.199 one on one. Who Tom sever is the ultimate power pitcher. 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.000 I mean when I watched him, he was a forty 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.520 year old man out there on the mound, and first 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:01.160 thing I'm looking and as like I told, our pitch 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.079 goes Bill Fisher, who Fish actually had severer in Cincinnati. 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:06.000 Yep. 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.160 I was like, good lord, I'm never pitching till I'm 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:12.200 forty This looks ridiculous hard. And you know what, you know, 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.480 I pitched till I'm forty five. But you know I 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:16.839 watched Sever out there, you know, hitting the corners at 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:21.000 eighty eighty seven, eighty eight and grunting, and you know 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.280 that was the drop in drive days where he would 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.320 drop and you know he had a knee pad on 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:28.160 his knee because his knee would hit the dirt and 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.720 when he when he would deliver the baseball the home 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:35.080 but uh no, I mean it was you know, he 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.720 was sitting at the Universe in nine eighty eight miles 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:39.720 an hour and get second third and one out and 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.560 need a strikeout and just bust on on the inside 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.360 or outside corner at ninety three miles an hour, and 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:49.640 I would say, oh, okay, I see what's going on here. 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.000 And so much you had. Man, what a classroom you had. 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:58.080 That's a you're exactly right, you're talking about, you know, 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.040 a pitching seminar. I got to see it up close 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.959 in person, but every day. So again, I was young, 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.280 had an opportunity to go to further education, which my 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.440 mother wanted me to do. I ended up getting to 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.680 junior college instead of a four year school. Texas was 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:17.200 just going to offer me books and tuition. We couldn't 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.400 afford that. You know, I had to go wherever I 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.520 was gonna go, they were gonna have to pay for everything. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.440 So I got lucky. There was a man named Wayne Graham, 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.680 who you guys know, who went on to take Rice 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:32.320 University to a national championship at Omaha, and I got 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.920 to play for another I think Wayne Graham was like 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.760 Don Zimmer, the great bench coach for many teams. He 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:40.080 was a baseball lifer. 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:40.840 Coach. 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.160 Graham was a baseball lifer. I don't think he cashed 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.080 a check outside the game of baseball, and so I 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.520 got to play for him, a lot of learning lessons 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.000 with him. I got drafted. My mother said I would 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.040 I had the opportunity to go to Texas. Coach Cliff 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.120 Gustison came hunting me down again, and this time it 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.840 was a full scolar ship to go to Texas and 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:04.800 get into business school. So my mother again loved that. 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.440 And and like you said, it kind of started there. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.400 I grew two inches to six four. Uh. We didn't 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.920 have a baseball lifting program. We lifted with the football guys. 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:19.600 So my legs got tremendous, they got strong, My fastball 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:23.320 jumped to about ninety five and kind of the rest 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.920 is history. As they say, we lost to Miami. Uh. 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.640 You know, coach Gus Cliff Guston at the time was 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:32.680 the winningest coach at that point in college baseball history. 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.120 My boys, my two younger boys, Casey and Cody, got 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.640 to play for another wonderful coach, Augie Garrito. And so 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.520 these are these are great baseball men. When you and 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.520 you guys have the opportunity to go sit down and 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:48.560 talk to like Slosh, like you said earlier, just great 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:53.880 baseball minds, great baseball men and really care about their players, 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.680 and it means a lot. It's no different than jumping 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:01.080 ahead when I talked tell people about, you know, playing 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:04.040 for somebody like Joe Tory. When I was with the Yankees, 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.120 Joe got fired five times before we got him. I 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.000 think the headlines when the Yankees got him said that 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:11.920 instead of shoeless Joe, clueless Joe. 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:17.720 And but what, I'll be honest with your rocket. That's 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.360 the one thing I'd never understood. Yeah, you know you've 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.040 You've opened up so many doors and pathways for us 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.760 to go down. I'm sorry. I just never understood the 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.640 firing of a manager who one year gets fired and 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:31.960 two years later he's Manager of the Year. Like the guys, 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.240 the guy has never changed. But for the purpose of 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.120 what we're doing here tonight, we have questions that come 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:41.880 in from our teammates here, all specific related to their players, 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.600 and they come from parents. The first one that I 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.080 want to ask you comes from an anonymous teammate who 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.320 just says, how do you think your son's journey to 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.680 the majors has been different than yours? Can you even 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:54.480 compare the two? 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.680 Great question and easy answer. He Cody my youngest one 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:01.480 still with the Twins, and he rubs it and I've 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:03.480 already he said, I've already done two things in the 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.400 Major's Dad, that you'll never do. I hit a home 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:09.000 run at Penway Park, and uh, and I struck out 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:13.720 Otani and I said, yeah, that's that's that. That kind 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.040 of put me out of place. You know, back in Texas, 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.240 my numbers retired, and I was really high up on 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.560 the totem pole until Casey and Cody came along and 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.480 and we're all Americans and uh, and went to the 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.200 College World Series. They kind of knocked Poppy Rocket. I'm 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.360 Poppy Rocket with the grand Boys now, so they kind 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:33.040 of knocked me down a couple of notches. But uh yeah, 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:35.440 I just kind of stay out of his way, even 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:39.280 even if it wasn't my son. And uh, you know, 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.879 all my sons played, they played at extremely high level. Uh, 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:47.360 but you know, I stay out of Cody's way. He's 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:54.760 a professional hitter. He loves the game. Well, his baseball 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.320 i Q is off the chart. I mean, uh, you 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.679 know there's more to this going to the plate and 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:01.560 and running a pitch and trying to hunt a pitch 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.040 down and hit or his fielding or whatever he's doing. 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:06.520 There'll be certain times I'll just you know, he might 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:09.439 be zero for three and have hit three balls on 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.439 the nose, but he made two. Great he was. You know, 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.080 Cody's mainly a second baseman, but he's a hybrid. He 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:18.800 can play third, first corner, outfields, but he made like 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.639 two or three game saving picks at first base. And 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:24.959 I would just text him, love the way you're swinging 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:27.199 the bat. I love your defense even more so as 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.560 a pitcher, and I remind you, I remind him and 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.199 his outfielders if there's a ball that I've thrown in 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.440 a hit or hits and it stays in the air 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:39.119 three seconds, it has to be caught. At your level, 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.639 at your professional level, that ball has to be caught. 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:45.359 So and then all of his pitchers are coming to 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.160 me and wanting to see that bad boy that split 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.240 hanger on my there. That's a lot of people are asking, 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.840 is that you know in spring training, I want to 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:55.760 see three of my teams and most of the time, 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.199 now the pitchers that I talked to, that's you know, 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.520 change ups dating. But some of them have a hard 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.919 time throwing that change up, so we h it's it's funny. 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.000 They go back to the split finger where they want 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.840 to see exactly how I hold a split So I 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:11.880 show them with the split finger. It's not a fork ball. 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:14.119 It's not jammed all the way back there. Some of 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:15.760 the guys are hooking the scene. 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:16.120 Now. 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.600 The only thing about hooking a scene, when you're throwing 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:21.520 that split it comes out a little bit like a knuckleball. 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.000 Hitters are able to spot that pretty quick. So, yeah, 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:30.120 we visit with them reve you know, anytime. And and 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:32.720 like you know, Justin was talking about earlier, these guys 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:36.600 there's a lot of information. You don't want to overload them, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.960 but you want to stay on point with the information 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.320 you're getting giving it to them. And uh, I think 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:44.920 they enjoy I think they enjoy it. 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:47.760 Yeah, And Roger, that brings me to this, like in 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:51.760 all of that, right, there's so much data, so much information. Uh, 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:53.760 you know, Todd asked the question that I want to 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.840 I want to get to about keeping it light on 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:59.280 the mound. So what's your favorite memory or advice as 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.480 Todd asked for MOUM visit for kids to. 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:03.400 Keep it light and fun. 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:05.679 Do you have anything that comes to mind on some 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:07.359 visits that you had over your career. 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:12.960 Yeah, I mean when you're talking about a young I 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:15.280 try and tell the dads that are really really into it, 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.160 you know, it's command's during the game, and just understand 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:23.159 a twelve year old fielding a you know pretty good 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:25.800 hit ground ball at him at third base. When we're 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.560 sitting in our losses, I mean as parents or on 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:31.760 the you know, the the metal benches, they're watching the game, 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:34.040 and that kid hits that ball down to your kid 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:37.520 at third base. It looks real methodical to us. I mean, 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:38.440 it looks like it's kate. 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:39.080 But you don't. 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.520