Speaker 1: Speaks to the Plannet.
Speaker 2: I'll go by the name of Charlamagne the God. And
Speaker 2: guess what, I can't wait to see y'all at the
Speaker 2: third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival. That's right, We're coming
Speaker 2: back to Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday, April twenty six at Poeman
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Speaker 2: May Be Be and Weezy. Okay, we got the R
Speaker 2: and B Money podcast. We're taking Jay Valentine. We got
Speaker 2: the Woman of All Podcasts with Sarah Jake Roberts. We
Speaker 2: got Good Mom's Bad Choices. Carrie Champion will be there
Speaker 2: with her next sports podcast, and the Trap Nerds podcast,
Speaker 2: with more to be announced. And of course it's bigger
Speaker 2: than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect marketplace with black
Speaker 2: owned businesses, plus the food truck court to keep you
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Speaker 2: now at Black Effect dot Com Flash Podcast.
Speaker 3: Festival All Star twenty twenty five, San Francisco. Jack has
Speaker 3: been a good run, but I don't think there was
Speaker 3: any way we could have expected to have this as
Speaker 3: our closing interview. Yeah, I was excited. I couldn't wait.
Speaker 3: I gotta thank Dana Pump. I've been knowing Dana since
Speaker 3: I was fourteen, the biggest hustler in the world, him
Speaker 3: and his brothers. He called me like a week and
Speaker 3: a half ago. He's like, Matt, I think I got Barry,
Speaker 3: Like Barry who because either Barry Sanders or Barry Bonds.
Speaker 4: I'm like, I don't believe you. He's like, no, I
Speaker 4: promise you.
Speaker 3: He's like, hit this lady, and I hit Lisa and
Speaker 3: we hit it off and now man, welcome to the show.
Speaker 5: Barry Bonds man. You Yeah, I'm.
Speaker 3: Seven time MVP, fourteen time All Star, eight Gold Gloves,
Speaker 3: all time leader, and home runs single season home run leader,
Speaker 3: the greatest baseball player of all time.
Speaker 4: When you hear that, what comes to your mind.
Speaker 6: I don't really talk about it. I let my peers
Speaker 6: talk about it. I always tell people, are you good
Speaker 6: at something?
Speaker 4: They'll talk about it.
Speaker 5: You don't need to say anything.
Speaker 6: So I don't really talk about it. I know statistically
Speaker 6: where I am. I don't need to explain it. I'd
Speaker 6: rather just help the young generation and give you the
Speaker 6: information that was given me teacher.
Speaker 7: As much as I know.
Speaker 4: And then you.
Speaker 6: Know, I always tell people always ask me, like how
Speaker 6: you do it? I'm like, just stay around long enough
Speaker 6: for someone to talk about you. That's pretty much is
Speaker 6: just don't be a commercial, right, you know, if you
Speaker 6: want to be really good at something, you just you
Speaker 6: don't have to be doing it a long time.
Speaker 3: Well obviously very humble about your success, but do you
Speaker 3: ever kind of look back and at the stuff you've
Speaker 3: accomplished in some of the records that will never be touched,
Speaker 3: Like do you think, like, hey, like when I was playing,
Speaker 3: I was, I really did it at the highest level
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 7: I look back and it's different.
Speaker 6: I have this, you know, like you talk about Michael Jordan,
Speaker 6: you can talk our IQ is like way up here, tiger.
Speaker 7: You know, it's just so high.
Speaker 6: And I think for myself, I look back at the
Speaker 6: gifts that God blessed me with, and then I look
Speaker 6: back at the hard work that I put into it,
Speaker 6: and then I try to find ways of how do
Speaker 6: I give this to someone else, or how do I
Speaker 6: teach this or how do you pass this on? And
Speaker 6: why do I see it? But you don't you know
Speaker 6: what I mean? It's it's this battle that you play
Speaker 6: with yourself all the time, and then how can I
Speaker 6: articulate that to somebody else? And then they give you, well, why, well,
Speaker 6: why does this work?
Speaker 7: Or why did you do this?
Speaker 6: And and you know, my brain points right here in
Speaker 6: front of you, but you you know, and how do
Speaker 6: you not see it? And so I look back at
Speaker 6: ways of how for myself would I be able to
Speaker 6: you know, articulate this to somebody else and give this
Speaker 6: gift that I was blessed with. And then you know,
Speaker 6: and hopefully he'll give it to somebody else.
Speaker 3: Greg Maddix once said, best hitter I've ever faced. Trevor
Speaker 3: Hoffman said, the most dangerous hitter in baseball history, the
Speaker 3: big Unit. One of the most amazing players ever. A
Speaker 3: Hall of fameer, no doubt. A lot of guys. Again,
Speaker 3: you stick around long enough, they'll talk about you. But
Speaker 3: when it's from your peers, your contemporary, the guys you
Speaker 3: went to battle with you're in year out. Is that
Speaker 3: is that more satisfying to you?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 6: That's that's that's important. Yeah, it's I mean, you can't
Speaker 6: get any better than that. I mean, just like in basketball,
Speaker 6: it's like I hear Michael George's name all the time.
Speaker 6: You know, you hear those names, and and when you
Speaker 6: have your peers talk about you, and you know, that's
Speaker 6: just the top of the list. There's there's no other
Speaker 6: list greater than that. I don't care who you are,
Speaker 6: what you are. If you have your peers talking about you,
Speaker 6: you did something.
Speaker 1: Well, we're here now for NBA All Star Were you
Speaker 1: here in two thousand for the All Star Game?
Speaker 8: Evince No I watched ons I watched.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was one of the best ones.
Speaker 1: Were you close to any NBA players in your time?
Speaker 6: Jordan and I kind of came up together. We were
Speaker 6: in Chicago and Jordan first came in league. We used
Speaker 6: to hang out in Chicago all the time. He was
Speaker 6: at the Bulls and stuff.
Speaker 4: And like that. Two of the.
Speaker 6: Great I tell you, Michael Jordan was before he even
Speaker 6: became the most famous person ever. Him tired and we
Speaker 6: were in Chicago and he was just I mean, he's
Speaker 6: only two years older than I am, you know, And
Speaker 6: we went out to just to grab a bite to eat.
Speaker 6: And I ain't never seen a line of people that
Speaker 6: wanted to just talk to this guy. And I was
Speaker 6: just coming up too, so I was rookie, so nobody
Speaker 6: knew who I was, you know, it was just Bobbie
Speaker 6: Bond's son, nobody at the time. And I thought I
Speaker 6: was pretty big at the time because I made it.
Speaker 6: But Michael had all these people, and he had had
Speaker 6: a couple of security guys there watching. Michael was so nice.
Speaker 6: He was just signing auto grass when We're trying to
Speaker 6: grab something to eat, and I'm over here going I'm
Speaker 6: Barry Hello. You know what it's like to have some
Speaker 6: like that good, you know what I mean, And for
Speaker 6: that one moment, I'm like, I want to be like
Speaker 6: Mike one day, you know, when you really see it
Speaker 6: from the very beginning.
Speaker 7: But he was so he was already.
Speaker 6: Large before k became larger than anything. And I will
Speaker 6: always remember that he was. He was always like, come on,
Speaker 6: b let's go. And you know, and it was good
Speaker 6: because we've we've always been like really you know, good friends,
Speaker 6: and even at a distance, you know now that you
Speaker 6: know his profession's gone to where it's gone and you've
Speaker 6: got distance, we even if we talk and we haven't
Speaker 6: talked in a long time, like we talked to thinks
Speaker 6: like last year we had a conversation not too long ago,
Speaker 6: and it always seems like we've never.
Speaker 7: Missed a beat. And that's what that's what's really good about.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got a question, I mean with We talked
Speaker 3: to Kobe about Mike, and Kobe said every aspect dealing
Speaker 3: with Mike was competitive and maybe that's because that was
Speaker 3: a young guy trying to catch him.
Speaker 4: Was everything with you, Gus?
Speaker 3: Was it more just a genuine conversation friendship or was
Speaker 3: there some competitiveness even in the conversation.
Speaker 7: We played two different fields, so two different.
Speaker 4: Well he tried, he tried to come to your field.
Speaker 7: Well, that wasn't gonna happen. I mean, I love Mike,
Speaker 7: but that wasn't gone.
Speaker 5: Now, do you have actual advice baseball?
Speaker 7: No, I got never asked him advice and basketball. I
Speaker 7: knew he was that good, and you know, but uh.
Speaker 6: We always joked around with I mean, we had always
Speaker 6: a great respect for each other. I think Michael's I
Speaker 6: saw Michael the same thing he probably saw me that
Speaker 6: this iq of vision of you know, the type of
Speaker 6: players we were, and you know, like with my career,
Speaker 6: you know, I took a little bit from everyone. I mean,
Speaker 6: the greatest of the greats become they kind of like
Speaker 6: steal gifts from other people, and you're able to create
Speaker 6: your stuff, you know, like Tony Gwnn here, Pete Rose here,
Speaker 6: you know, William May's here, Hank Aaron there, and you know,
Speaker 6: we're able to see all these qualities in each individual player,
Speaker 6: and then you kind of invent yourself. I just wanted
Speaker 6: to be a great hitter. I knew I had power,
Speaker 6: I knew I could do certain things. But my dad,
Speaker 6: I'd always told me, you know, be a great hitter.
Speaker 6: Don't chase the fence. Chase the fence. You're going to lose.
Speaker 6: Be a great hitter. And that's that's all I.
Speaker 5: Wanted to do.
Speaker 6: So I had to take Tony Gwenn as a great hitter,
Speaker 6: p Rose at a great hitter, Rod carw and I
Speaker 6: had to take contact hitters because I could hit the
Speaker 6: long ball, but I was striking out a lot when
Speaker 6: I was younger, and I had to close that gap.
Speaker 6: And so my dad always told me, we're going to
Speaker 6: think you don't do well son. Things you do well,
Speaker 6: you always gravitate to that. If you can bring twenty
Speaker 6: percent or thirty percent or ten percent of what you
Speaker 6: don't do well, that increases what you do well, so
Speaker 6: it kind of balances them together.
Speaker 3: You mentioned, I mean Rod Carew, Tony Gwyn, Pete Rose,
Speaker 3: some of the greatest contact hitters of all time. What
Speaker 3: were some of the things you watched that they did
Speaker 3: that you kind of picked.
Speaker 6: Up on their patients, the way that they can calculate
Speaker 6: things on the field. I was able to mathematically calculate
Speaker 6: what a picture can and can't do. Once I can
Speaker 6: calculate you, then I could beat you, and then it
Speaker 6: becomes this what is beating him?
Speaker 7: Right?
Speaker 6: The goal of hitting is it's me and him, and
Speaker 6: if I can keep that tunnel vision between me and
Speaker 6: him and forget the goons that are around him, because
Speaker 6: in theory, my job is just to hit him and
Speaker 6: be good against him. Understanding the velocity of a pitch
Speaker 6: just a fastball. So we're just going to use a
Speaker 6: fastball analysis. Because you have a guy who throws batting
Speaker 6: practice to you every single day, and he only throws
Speaker 6: a fastball, right, and he tries to help you be
Speaker 6: really good, and we screw that up half the time.
Speaker 6: So I had to figure out how to master batting
Speaker 6: practice first, because this guy is trying to help me
Speaker 6: you know, So how do.
Speaker 7: I can direct that?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 6: I'm going to piece it to speed. Now I have
Speaker 6: to understand what my swing technique is and then understand
Speaker 6: the velocity of a pitch and the velossity of the ball.
Speaker 6: The further the faster it comes to me, the further goes. Right,
Speaker 6: But I don't change who I am. Right now, if
Speaker 6: I can focus on him, I already know the speed
Speaker 6: of a ball off my bat goes a certain speed.
Speaker 7: I don't care how many people over here. I can
Speaker 7: still squeeze it through you.
Speaker 6: It's not like you're gonna catch every single thing, right,
Speaker 6: So my job is my victory is to make contact
Speaker 6: off of him. Once I do that, everything else is
Speaker 6: out of the equation. Right, So in theory, I win.
Speaker 6: I really do win, even though the picture's standing on
Speaker 6: the mount going. I got you out, No, the second
Speaker 6: basement did a downfielder did?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 7: This guy? You were already adequated. So we took all
Speaker 7: these people off the field. You would lose so much
Speaker 7: and be really crazy.
Speaker 6: Right, So now I have to redirect my brain into
Speaker 6: this tunnel vision of understanding. If I can concentrate enough
Speaker 6: to me and him, they slowly disappear. But I can't
Speaker 6: fight two people at once. I can't say, hit the
Speaker 6: line drive to a short stop or hit the line
Speaker 6: drive to the outfielder and he made a catch. Now
Speaker 6: I want to try to beat them both. You can't
Speaker 6: one on one. I can fight, but I can't fight
Speaker 6: two on one.
Speaker 7: I'm going to lose.
Speaker 6: So I have to refocus and go right back to
Speaker 6: here and go, let me try to do that again.
Speaker 6: Try to do that again, and let me try to
Speaker 6: do that again. And then my success rate with him
Speaker 6: and me become better to my favorite because now I'm
Speaker 6: focused on him, and now his math has to change.
Speaker 6: And so we're going to play chess constantly. Right, But
Speaker 6: in theory, there's a lot more to the game than
Speaker 6: it is. Because he's sixty feet six inches and he
Speaker 6: has to throw a ball seventeen inch home plate within
Speaker 6: this gap. Well, lots of physics tell me he can
Speaker 6: only do it so many times. Even if I just
Speaker 6: stand there and never sweep, he's only gonna be able
Speaker 6: to do it so many times. And then mathematically he
Speaker 6: has to come to where I get the advantage.
Speaker 7: It's just that's just.
Speaker 3: My idea of breakdown.
Speaker 4: He just gave you so many layers of the.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's just it's just it's hard to explain where
Speaker 6: my brain goes.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: Have you ever had those computer guys that do all
Speaker 6: this and you're like going and he looks at you, like,
Speaker 6: this is a computer one on one?
Speaker 7: Are you stupid?
Speaker 6: Well, that's how my brain was in baseball. I'm like,
Speaker 6: you know, I'll get the questions like what do you
Speaker 6: think about so so I'm like, it's April or it's
Speaker 6: too dude, I don't know, you know, I don't. I
Speaker 6: don't have that equation. There's so many things that can
Speaker 6: go wrong and right that I don't get excited. I
Speaker 6: don't get excited over the first city of a home run.
Speaker 6: I'm like, you know, okay, we got nine innings. I
Speaker 6: don't jump enjoy.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: All I'm doing is focusing on that picture, focusing on
Speaker 6: the mistake, or focusing on something else that can happen,
Speaker 6: you know. And that's just how I think rubs people
Speaker 6: the wrong way, but only why.
Speaker 7: I can do it that works for me.
Speaker 4: For you, that's all that matters.
Speaker 1: Did you and Mike ever talk about signing to Jordan Brand?
Speaker 7: No, we never did that.
Speaker 4: Was.
Speaker 6: I was with Nike briefly the early part of my career,
Speaker 6: and then Felix came over to me and offered me
Speaker 6: a deal of a lifetime. At the time, they went
Speaker 6: with King Griffy Junior at that time, because Junior came
Speaker 6: up and he was a kid, and I mean well deserved.
Speaker 6: I mean it was eighteen years old. You know, his
Speaker 6: dad was playing, so it was well deserved. And for me,
Speaker 6: feli came along, they offered me the world and for
Speaker 6: me at that time, and I was like perfect, And
Speaker 6: so I mean, I'd love to be with Jordan now,
Speaker 6: you know, Mike, I'm right here.
Speaker 7: You know, you know, you know.
Speaker 1: But in nineteen ninety two slam Dunk Contest visit Deon
Speaker 1: Sanders Chris Carter crazy, how was that hance on you?
Speaker 6: No, people need to know the truth because that's a
Speaker 6: damn lie.
Speaker 7: I got lucky as hell, yeah real.
Speaker 6: I mean I could slam dunk, but I was just
Speaker 6: a basic slam dunker. I could go up with one hand.
Speaker 6: I could go up with two hands, now about it,
Speaker 6: and barely get up up there.
Speaker 5: Me too.
Speaker 6: But so with the scenario with it is that I
Speaker 6: got in to go against Dion. It was just I
Speaker 6: think it was just the second round, so I was
Speaker 6: I don't know who I was going against the first round,
Speaker 6: but so Dion was just really good.
Speaker 7: You know, those guys.
Speaker 6: Could jump out the gym, and Dion just went cuckoo
Speaker 6: for summer reasons. I got lucky through the ball in
Speaker 6: the air and it bounced it and I got it,
Speaker 6: and that was everything I had.
Speaker 7: I shot that hell out of myself.
Speaker 6: Dian already did a great you know, some great moves
Speaker 6: up there and under his legs or behind his back
Speaker 6: and everything else, and only had to do is just
Speaker 6: do the same thing.
Speaker 7: But he wanted to get a little bit back.
Speaker 6: And just like some of the dudes last night at
Speaker 6: the slam dunk, and he missed it and then that's
Speaker 6: how I beat him.
Speaker 7: So the truth is, Dion Sander could out jump me
Speaker 7: in a heartbeat, you know, and I just got lucky.
Speaker 7: And then after that it was over. My back was hurting.
Speaker 1: They need to bring that back.
Speaker 5: I think that.
Speaker 4: Was they do.
Speaker 7: I think they.
Speaker 4: Yeah, might come. He took off.
Speaker 3: I've seen a highlight of that. Somehow that came across
Speaker 3: my feet a couple of days ago. And if you
Speaker 3: watch that. He's so lucky. You know how you slip
Speaker 3: off the rim sometimes that he would have killed hisself.
Speaker 3: He would slipped because he was going so fast and
Speaker 3: hung and his whole body swung in the throat was
Speaker 3: like man and thank god he held on that.
Speaker 6: Those high jumpers many different.
Speaker 4: Obviously Dad played ball.
Speaker 3: What are some of your fondest memories going to the
Speaker 3: ballpark as a child and being a ball boy.
Speaker 6: My dad was a hitting genius in his head, I mean,
Speaker 6: and he could hit two.
Speaker 7: His own personal life is one of gotten away from
Speaker 7: my father.
Speaker 6: But his mind was very struck, very very talented and hitting.
Speaker 6: He could pick a picture apart fast. And he educated
Speaker 6: me on that. He educated on learning their flaws, learning things.
Speaker 6: And then Willie was my mentor. Willie Mays was the one.
Speaker 6: It was great because I had like two people on me,
Speaker 6: like my dad was my dad who anything I did
Speaker 6: was never enough for him. And then Willie was like,
Speaker 6: you did great, I love you. You know my God's So
Speaker 6: I had balance, So I have basic balance. The guys
Speaker 6: who work with my dad, like Gary Sheffield, can tell
Speaker 6: you some really good stories about my dad when he
Speaker 6: was training with that. So I said Carrie's different. He's
Speaker 6: really different, because like I could come home and say
Speaker 6: I hit two home runs and I'm like, Dad, man,
Speaker 6: you see that. He's like, how many bat you have?
Speaker 6: I said four? He said, why did you have four?
Speaker 6: I'm like, he ain't even happy over the two. You know,
Speaker 6: Willie be like, that's great. He had a good at bats.
Speaker 6: So it was always good. But my dad was the
Speaker 6: one who challenged me. When challenged me to a point
Speaker 6: to where he expected perfection in practice, and practice was
Speaker 6: very important that my dad wanted perfection. And I'll never
Speaker 6: forget this. I was in the batting cage with my
Speaker 6: father and I was swinging the bat and I was
Speaker 6: jamming myself and I was missing balls, and my dad
Speaker 6: kept putting in the screen even closer and making it faster,
Speaker 6: and I go, Dad, I ain't got it, man.
Speaker 7: It's just so.
Speaker 6: I was with my son at this time. He was little,
Speaker 6: and he said, Nikolai, why don't you stand behind home plate?
Speaker 6: And he said, good, up there, son, Barry, and I
Speaker 6: want you to hit. I said, well, my son back
Speaker 6: there by.
Speaker 7: Are you crazy? He said, then don't let him get hit.
Speaker 7: I said, bro, this ain't going down like that. And so,
Speaker 7: and I had just say bro at that time, I
Speaker 7: say it here, I said, pop.
Speaker 5: Dad, love you.
Speaker 6: I never said that to my father. I said, Nick, like,
Speaker 6: get off this kide. So my dad said, no, I'm
Speaker 6: not going to let him get hit. He put a
Speaker 6: he put a t back there, and he said, in
Speaker 6: your mind, pretend it's him now.
Speaker 7: Swing. I've popped every single ball.
Speaker 6: He played mind games with me, which was which challenged me,
Speaker 6: which I loved. And I needed him for that. You know,
Speaker 6: I needed my father for that, and it was the best.
Speaker 6: He's the best hitting coach, the best. I mean, his
Speaker 6: mind was just off the chart.
Speaker 3: Did that ever blur the lines of dad and and
Speaker 3: trainers slash coach? Because I've trained my kids and I
Speaker 3: kind of find there's a fine line. I coached my
Speaker 3: kids and trade my kids, and there's that kind of
Speaker 3: that fine line, and I walk it and teeter it.
Speaker 3: As far as being dad and then coach and trainer,
Speaker 3: Did you ever, like you said, he expected perfection? Did
Speaker 3: that ever blur the line of dad?
Speaker 7: No? With me, it was different. I accepted him for
Speaker 7: who he was. I knew who he was.
Speaker 6: I knew the challenges I had with my father and
Speaker 6: I had a choice. It was deal with it or
Speaker 6: I was going to miss the boat. And you have
Speaker 6: to see that. As an athlete, you're going to see it.
Speaker 6: And if you don't see it, then you're not going
Speaker 6: to be there anyway. And you have to see that.
Speaker 6: Why is my dad doing this? Why is he challenging me?
Speaker 6: We're not he's not at home. We're not at home
Speaker 6: where he's like, say, clean your room up or anything
Speaker 6: like this. Why is he pushing me? I didn't realize
Speaker 6: it untill as I was college and going on that.
Speaker 6: You know, his he was just it was something I needed.
Speaker 6: It's weird, it's kind of hard to explain, but I
Speaker 6: needed that. I needed my dad to be just a jerk, you.
Speaker 7: Know what I mean.
Speaker 6: I needed my dad to challenge me. I needed that
Speaker 6: because I was so good. I think I would have
Speaker 6: took advantage of things. If he didn't keep me in
Speaker 6: my place like he he would knock me down. And
Speaker 6: all everyone to do was for my godfather and my
Speaker 6: father to appreciate my career.
Speaker 7: I didn't care about anybody else.
Speaker 5: I didn't care about it.
Speaker 6: It was none that had to do with fans and
Speaker 6: none to do with anything it was like I wanted
Speaker 6: my dad and willing to say I was part of
Speaker 6: their group, right, because no one really, no one really knows.
Speaker 6: My godfather Giants here fifty eight, My godfather's here right,
Speaker 6: My father's in right field, my godfather's in center field,
Speaker 6: and I play left field. All three of us in
Speaker 6: the generation played for Samson Giants, and all three of
Speaker 6: us played in the outfield two together, but apart right.
Speaker 6: That's always my goal was to.
Speaker 7: Play left field.
Speaker 6: And they wanted me to play right field when I
Speaker 6: was first coming up with Pittsburgh and have this double
Speaker 6: O seven James Bond like that's a no.
Speaker 7: And I want in my own.
Speaker 6: Position because I wanted to complete that circle. And then
Speaker 6: I knew my own talent. I didn't have the arm
Speaker 6: like WILLI or my dad did.
Speaker 5: I didn't.
Speaker 6: I knew I was quick to the baseball, and I
Speaker 6: owe that to Bill Verdon, one of my outfield coaches.
Speaker 6: And I knew my ability, and I wanted to stay
Speaker 6: within my ability.
Speaker 4: When did you start training.
Speaker 6: When my son was born nineteen eighty nine, When I
Speaker 6: got in eighty six, I mean, I was the town
Speaker 6: that was good, but I wasn't you know, I was
Speaker 6: out clubs, partying like everybody else. You know, like when
Speaker 6: you're young, it's like, shall sleep when I'm dead?
Speaker 7: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: Shoot?
Speaker 7: Who cares?
Speaker 6: And all of a sudden, Nikolai, my first wife, was pregnant.
Speaker 6: I was like, oh, this is real. I have a responsibility.
Speaker 6: I cold turkey everything, and all I did was go
Speaker 6: to the gym from that day on, and in nineteen
Speaker 6: eighty nine was I was leading off with Pittsburgh at
Speaker 6: that time, and Jim Leland, my manager, who's the most
Speaker 6: unbelievable manager I ever had my entire life.
Speaker 7: And don't get me wrong.
Speaker 6: Dussy Baker and Felippe Alu are up there, don't get
Speaker 6: me wrong. But he was my first right and so
Speaker 6: Pittsburgh was the best for me at that time. So
Speaker 6: I was leading off and I ain't never been lead
Speaker 6: off hitter. I'm like, I'm not leading off. I'm leading
Speaker 6: the team in home runs. But yeah, I got like
Speaker 6: forty RBIs or something like.
Speaker 7: That's not me.
Speaker 6: That's never been my role. So my son was and
Speaker 6: all I did was trained in the snow in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 6: I ran every day and then I said, I'm not
Speaker 6: hitting leading off anymore. And before when I went into
Speaker 6: locker room to talk to Leland, the only thing he says,
Speaker 6: since I already know what you're in here, and don't
Speaker 6: you say a damn word to me. You're my number
Speaker 6: five hitter, sink or swim kid. Because he knew they
Speaker 6: wanted to trade me, but he believed in me. I said, Coach,
Speaker 6: I'm going to spend my whole life and that's the
Speaker 6: I want m v P. And then after that I
Speaker 6: started training with Roder Craig Jerry Rice, and all I
Speaker 6: just started. I just went off the deep end and
Speaker 6: and then I wanted to be better training wise, and
Speaker 6: all I did was trading. And I've been doing that
Speaker 6: for the rest of my life.
Speaker 3: Speak to that training because I mean, Jerry Rice is
Speaker 3: known synonymously for his off season. He'll runs and train.
Speaker 3: So you jumped on that boat and all that. That's hard.
Speaker 6: I mean where we I'd run in the mornings, lift
Speaker 6: in the morning after running, and then go hit after that.
Speaker 6: I mean it was from like eight in the morning
Speaker 6: till in the afternoon, and it's every day except the weekends.
Speaker 7: Every day.
Speaker 3: Baseball is known for a lot of unwritten rules. When
Speaker 3: you first came in the game in eighty six were
Speaker 3: some of the unwritten rules.
Speaker 7: Depends what on written rules you're talking about.
Speaker 4: What you can talk about.
Speaker 6: I can talk about anything you want. This is twenty
Speaker 6: twenty five. People say whatever they want now days. You know,
Speaker 6: back when I was there, people didn't say would do
Speaker 6: it they want? Now to day you say whatever you want.
Speaker 6: You get kudos for it. Now you get followers, I guess,
Speaker 6: and social media.
Speaker 5: You just say.
Speaker 7: All you gotta do is say as everybody wants to
Speaker 7: see it now, you know, so, I mean, but.
Speaker 6: What I wish the game was still today is there
Speaker 6: was a respect level at that time, a veteran level
Speaker 6: where you earned your stripes, you worked for it, and
Speaker 6: when you were rookie coming up, you had to go
Speaker 6: through initiations.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you paid your dues.
Speaker 6: Damn sure back in those days where you know, I
Speaker 6: didn't have a locker when I first came in. You know,
Speaker 6: Li Mazilli had Li Mozil. He was my locker mate,
Speaker 6: which and he was the coolest cat ever too.
Speaker 7: But he would sit his locker in.
Speaker 6: My locker right here, and he put his ashtray right
Speaker 6: in front in the.
Speaker 7: Middle of my locker. And he smoked.
Speaker 6: My locker was on the floor with on little hangars,
Speaker 6: you know, a little roll out things, and you sit
Speaker 6: on the floor and you have to earn your locker,
Speaker 6: so you have to get a hit. You got to
Speaker 6: steal a base or score run or hit a home
Speaker 6: round something before you can get in that locker. So
Speaker 6: when I first came in, they had my uniform sitting
Speaker 6: down and I already knew the remooks. My father's there
Speaker 6: and you know, and leaves like, how you doing, kid,
Speaker 6: I'm good, fair, And you respected the veterans, and you
Speaker 6: sat in the front of the bus like all rookies
Speaker 6: had to sit in front of the bus, all three of.
Speaker 7: Us, you know. And then we didn't have charter fights.
Speaker 6: We took commercial fights where you had to sit on
Speaker 6: the plane with other people at the same time.
Speaker 7: We didn't have that in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 6: When I first came out, and then you had to
Speaker 6: go down to the they sent me down the baggage claim,
Speaker 6: and I didn't even know the stuff. Go to the
Speaker 6: baggage claim. They said, bing, you got to go to
Speaker 6: the baggage claim and get all the stuff. But I'm
Speaker 6: sitting in bags claim like this, and nobody's there and
Speaker 6: I'm going, this is crazy.
Speaker 7: And then somebody comes and the bus already left. You
Speaker 7: know what, everybody knows that it's kind of stuff.
Speaker 6: And then you know, they got and then you had
Speaker 6: to then, you know, you had to go wait for
Speaker 6: everybody's luggage and we had to walk up with the
Speaker 6: bellman to all the veterans rooms and give them their luggage.
Speaker 7: To like four in the morning. We had a lot
Speaker 7: of things.
Speaker 6: You had to do as a as a young player,
Speaker 6: but you appreciate it and you earned your stripes to
Speaker 6: where when your time came, it was there. There your
Speaker 6: time to be able to take that initiative and stuff,
Speaker 6: and you know, the veterans tell you shut up, you
Speaker 6: shut up, you know, And that was just the way
Speaker 6: it was.
Speaker 7: And it was fun. I mean, not a good time.
Speaker 1: It's like that in basketball now to it ain't no
Speaker 1: veteran present.
Speaker 5: There's zero.
Speaker 6: Man, these kids are like bruh. I'm like, I have
Speaker 6: never gone over to my godfather Willie or Hank Aaron
Speaker 6: and said bruh, are hey, Hank. I was like, mister Aaron,
Speaker 6: how you do I mean, there was a different appreciation
Speaker 6: for what that person did in your career. You know,
Speaker 6: it's just different nowadays. They walk by you like you exist,
Speaker 6: you don't even know anything, but just I mean, it's fine,
Speaker 6: it's their game. Doesn't bother me none.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 7: Sometimes you got to hit rock bottom to come over here.
Speaker 6: Yeah, right, because God's gonna bring you wherever you need
Speaker 6: to get right right. Sometimes they'll walk by me and
Speaker 6: stuff this and then be like, hey, Barry, what do
Speaker 6: you see And I'll be like, oh, you must be
Speaker 6: two for thirty, you know. I go like this, I'm like,
Speaker 6: you must be two for thirty. You need a little
Speaker 6: you need Lord in your hand, You need some church
Speaker 6: right now right. And then when they get it, then
Speaker 6: you don't hear from them again, and then you go back.
Speaker 6: But it's just part of the process and it's all good.
Speaker 6: I mean, like I say, I'm only there for this
Speaker 6: information if you need it, and that's all I'm there for.
Speaker 6: I know, anything else is your path. And I always
Speaker 6: tell them, you've done this before you even met me.
Speaker 6: And the athletes have to understand, I don't care what
Speaker 6: sports you're in, you did this before you ever met me.
Speaker 6: You may have known about me, but you never met me.
Speaker 6: You have to understand how good you already are. Just
Speaker 6: to be here, right, There's always gonna be somebody a
Speaker 6: little bit better than you, even no matter what team
Speaker 6: you're on, even when you're in high school litle league,
Speaker 6: there's always somebody better, or you were the best either
Speaker 6: or it's gonna full circle itself. But you just gotta
Speaker 6: understand your talent and then get the best of your
Speaker 6: telling you, you know, I used to. It's like a
Speaker 6: lot of players when I was coaching with the marrow
Speaker 6: and stuff, They're like, well, I'm not youre. I'm like, well,
Speaker 6: that's the first thing you got right, because that's you,
Speaker 6: ain't me. But let's be the best version of yourself,
Speaker 6: you know right, Let's be the best vers yourself. I'm
Speaker 6: only here to help you. I'm not trying to challenge you.
Speaker 6: I can't do that anymore. I'm too old for that.
Speaker 6: So take this information and if it works, we're just
Speaker 6: gonna throw darts at a wall all day and we're
Speaker 6: gonna do this and something's gonna stick, and let's just
Speaker 6: keep throwing these darts and whatever. You don't like what
Speaker 6: I say, thrown in garbage, I don't care. It's your journey.
Speaker 6: It's not my journey, right, I'm just here to help
Speaker 6: you get to that journey you're choosing. And if I can,
Speaker 6: I can. If I can't, kick me to the curb
Speaker 6: and go somewhere else.
Speaker 7: You don't know what I mean. It's okay. You ain't
Speaker 7: hurt my feelings. You know what I mean. So that's it.
Speaker 7: It's all liked.
Speaker 3: There's some younger guys that you really enjoyed working with,
Speaker 3: did you want you know, wouldn't mind sharing that like
Speaker 3: soaked it up?
Speaker 7: And you know, I love working with all of them.
Speaker 6: I never have a favorite. I have a challenge of
Speaker 6: each individual. I never have like a favorite because I
Speaker 6: could do so many things out there. I'd love the
Speaker 6: challenge of getting you right or fixing a puzzle, because
Speaker 6: that's what I did in my head all the time.
Speaker 6: In my own personal career, we were always, you know,
Speaker 6: you're always having to revamp yourself right, and it's taken
Speaker 6: on the challenge of I don't care if it's weighed.
Speaker 6: I don't give a credit if it's Mookie Betts, I
Speaker 6: don't care who it is that I've talked to or
Speaker 6: worked with, or Dexter Fowler back in the days and
Speaker 6: stuff like that. It doesn't matter Alex Rodrigue I worked with.
Speaker 6: It's that puzzle that I enjoy. It's not a favorite.
Speaker 6: Alex was easier because he's already the lead of the league.
Speaker 7: Right, we don't.
Speaker 6: Our conversations are different. And understanding that each conversation I
Speaker 6: have with each person is different. You can't this one
Speaker 6: method is.
Speaker 7: Not going to work with this guy. He doesn't.
Speaker 6: I can sit there and say, you know, you need
Speaker 6: to hit off your front leg a little bit because
Speaker 6: you're too backsided. Well, may not work with this other guy.
Speaker 6: He doesn't understand that. He's like, he's leaning so far forward.
Speaker 6: I'm like, no, man, he like this, you know what
Speaker 6: I mean? I have to tailor tailor it to what
Speaker 6: works for them, right, And it's just creating the mind
Speaker 6: it's changing the mindset. What does a man hate to do?
Speaker 6: If you're really good at something, it's telling him they
Speaker 6: can't do something. They gonna show you they can do it. Right,
Speaker 6: What did I just It's just a mind shift, right,
Speaker 6: it's a mind shift because he already has a talent
Speaker 6: to do it. And saying, well, you're gonna tell me
Speaker 6: that you're a professional athlete. You just can't hit the
Speaker 6: ball right there? Who you talking to? Well, then you
Speaker 6: know what. I mechanically didn't do anything for you. You already
Speaker 6: fixed it your damn you don't really need me, you
Speaker 6: know what I mean. So sometimes it's just redirecting the
Speaker 6: mind for great athletes, and all of them are great.
Speaker 6: If you're in a if you're in a professional sport,
Speaker 6: you're great, no question, because there's so little of you there.
Speaker 6: Come on, brother, remember you are good.
Speaker 7: You gotta work with.
Speaker 1: That ten a hundred mile fastballs pissed to you today
Speaker 1: you're hitting any of.
Speaker 7: Them out one hundred.
Speaker 5: That's easy right now today, I.
Speaker 7: Don't care how hard you throw a baseball.
Speaker 5: They gone.
Speaker 6: There ain't no way you can throw a baseball sixt
Speaker 6: So I can't just do like this. If there's a
Speaker 6: catcher behind home plate that sits like this, what a
Speaker 6: glove and you throw a hundred mind, don't you just
Speaker 6: go like this?
Speaker 7: Boom boom. All I did was change this object to
Speaker 7: a bat. I ain't gott to change nothing. I just
Speaker 7: change the object. Now, if you're asking.
Speaker 6: Me to do something spectacler, that would take time for
Speaker 6: my body to get.
Speaker 5: Used to it.
Speaker 7: At sixty but just going up there, but to go
Speaker 7: up there and hit it. And I don't care how
Speaker 7: hard you think. As long as I can see it,
Speaker 7: I hit it.
Speaker 5: That's crazy, great though, don't.
Speaker 6: Willie could do it back, you know, and even when
Speaker 6: is it sixties? Him and my dad and them would
Speaker 6: come and hit all the time. They were did all
Speaker 6: the time.
Speaker 3: There's a rich history of racism in baseball. When you
Speaker 3: first got into the game, did you feel it, see it?
Speaker 3: Did you hear a story from your dad or Willie
Speaker 3: or Hank or anything like that.
Speaker 6: The problem with that question is that it's it's a
Speaker 6: fuel for the media to run with he said questions, right,
Speaker 6: he said? He said, He said, we already know that answer.
Speaker 6: We don't need to you know, I kind of stay
Speaker 6: out of it only because if you want the truth,
Speaker 6: it's an industry that needs to come together to make
Speaker 6: it happen. And the industry starts up here. Okay, I'm
Speaker 6: down on the bottom floor, so we as an industry,
Speaker 6: we hear bottom and top have to find a way
Speaker 6: to come together to balance it. Right for me to
Speaker 6: sit there and say is there racism?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I could say yes, that's true. We
Speaker 7: all know that.
Speaker 6: I mean, as black people, we know what's going on.
Speaker 6: We're not blinded by any of that. Right, We're not
Speaker 6: a threat to anyone. We're not trying to pose a
Speaker 6: threat to anyone. We're trying to be relevant or equal
Speaker 6: or valued.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 6: Well, the industry has to come together, and how do
Speaker 6: we do that? People need to sit at the table
Speaker 6: and figure it out.
Speaker 1: That's simple. That's a conversation. You have to decline in
Speaker 1: black payers in baseball. Is it because of the love
Speaker 1: and black kids not loving baseball? Or is it because
Speaker 1: other races are just dominating the game of basketball.
Speaker 7: The other racer.
Speaker 6: If we're going to be technical, white races always dominated baseball.
Speaker 6: I mean it was there since they won until Jackie
Speaker 6: Robinson broke the color bearer. If you want to be
Speaker 6: honest and true about it, how many star blacks are
Speaker 6: in baseball?
Speaker 7: You got to start Latinos.
Speaker 5: That's what I'm start Asians.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you got star whites right.
Speaker 6: When I played baseball, you had me King Griffyth Junior,
Speaker 6: Eric Davis, Ozzie Smith McGee.
Speaker 7: I can go on and on and on and on.
Speaker 6: Andre Dawson, I mean I can name a ton of
Speaker 6: inspiring black athletes on the field to inspire other black
Speaker 6: kids to want to play right right? So what is
Speaker 6: that an industrial problem? The industry needs to fix it.
Speaker 3: I went to school with a lot of white kids
Speaker 3: in high school and travel baseball was expensive. It was
Speaker 3: almost priced out of my community. Although I went to
Speaker 3: school with kids that can afford it. I feel like
Speaker 3: it's kind of priced out of the black community at times,
Speaker 3: and I think that kind of hinders the opportunity for
Speaker 3: some of these kids to come up and really have
Speaker 3: an opportunity at it.
Speaker 7: It is very expensive. I mean, that's what five hundred dollars.
Speaker 7: It's like crazy.
Speaker 6: I mean, I do something else. I mean gloves are
Speaker 6: three hundred dollars. I mean you're at almost two thousand
Speaker 6: dollars right now just to play baseball with spikes. Equipment,
Speaker 6: just equipment. We're talking about just with spikes, you know,
Speaker 6: and stuff like that. And it's hard. But it still
Speaker 6: comes back to if you don't have enough. Like the NBA,
Speaker 6: there's so much equals or football it's balanced.
Speaker 7: Baseball it is not as balanced.
Speaker 6: So why am I chasing baseball when I'm not looking
Speaker 6: at Okay, I can name Mookie Betts, I can name
Speaker 6: a few, but I can't name enough to say, Mom,
Speaker 6: go buy me a glove, or Mom, I'll go get
Speaker 6: a paper out, or Dad, I'll go do this and
Speaker 6: play baseball. There's not enough of us they see it.
Speaker 6: I'm retired, you know, I'm retired, Kenny. We're all retired now.
Speaker 6: It's either industrial we all have to get together and
Speaker 6: start communicating and talking and trying to find a balance,
Speaker 6: or you take the younger group and six three percent
Speaker 6: you got and try to bounce it because you have
Speaker 6: to give the kids need something to see, somewhat to see.
Speaker 6: I mean you have to see it to want it.
Speaker 6: I mean you probably have more Black kids want to
Speaker 6: play tennis because it's Serena and Restulm there out there,
Speaker 6: because there you're seeing it and it's like a tennis
Speaker 6: racket and just some tents.
Speaker 7: I'm going to go.
Speaker 6: You know, I could do that, you know, but there's
Speaker 6: not enough of us to inspire our community.
Speaker 3: There's been an influx in Japanese players coming over and
Speaker 3: have success Cine Miler in the NBA with European players,
Speaker 3: and there's a debate and I feel like with European
Speaker 3: players it's more work, more practice, more skill training and
Speaker 3: then the game is the reward. I feel like with
Speaker 3: AU basketball it's one practice and the game is everything.
Speaker 3: Why do you feel like there's the Japanese players are
Speaker 3: successfully transitioning into the Major League so much at a
Speaker 3: higher rate these days.
Speaker 6: Japanese baseball has always been huge. I mean, it's always
Speaker 6: been good, and we've always as Americans have gone over
Speaker 6: to Japan and played in these All Star tournaments with them,
Speaker 6: and they have very talented athletes, same as the Hispanics,
Speaker 6: very very talented athletes. And then you have the Koreans
Speaker 6: are now producing pictures and.
Speaker 7: Stuff and players as well.
Speaker 6: But you have a culture there in a country that is,
Speaker 6: like I say, industry bound to make it happen. Well,
Speaker 6: we're the United States and the equal we're good, even
Speaker 6: less with blacks, we're still good. Industry, we're the best,
Speaker 6: we are the best. But the equality of it has
Speaker 6: to stay balanced for me, I mean, it needs to
Speaker 6: be balanced. And the Japanese have always, always have been
Speaker 6: very very good. It's just we're bigger, stronger, you know,
Speaker 6: we have. They're starting to catch up. You can see
Speaker 6: it in Otani and stuff like that. They're starting to
Speaker 6: catch up. But at the time, we were always bigger, stronger,
Speaker 6: you know, in our game. And it's just always been
Speaker 6: like that. But you know, now you can see that
Speaker 6: it's starting to transition over and and it's okay. I
Speaker 6: mean we as a married we don't care. It's just
Speaker 6: like when we get to the World Classic, what side
Speaker 6: you're gonna play on them? That's all time we care.
Speaker 6: You over here playing league, you better staying on. Don't
Speaker 6: go back now and start beating on us. You know,
Speaker 6: we have fun in that way. But and that's the competition.
Speaker 6: It's it's it's fun.
Speaker 4: Thoughts.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think he came in and has taken
Speaker 3: MLB by storm and then signed a monster contract.
Speaker 4: Thoughts on just his.
Speaker 3: Ability to do hit the ball the way he does
Speaker 3: and also pitch and just the versatility of his game.
Speaker 6: The pitching and hitting has been outstanding. For what he's
Speaker 6: done in base running and stuff like that. He's a
Speaker 6: complete player. I mean, there's no doubt about the type
Speaker 6: of player he is and what he's accomplished in his career.
Speaker 7: The game has just changed.
Speaker 6: I mean, the game is way different than it is
Speaker 6: than when I play the same way Michael talks about it,
Speaker 6: or anyone else. Oh Tani is not gonna hit two
Speaker 6: home runs without seeing one go right here in my generation,
Speaker 6: I don't care what he does. He's not going to
Speaker 6: steal two bases. About somebody decapitating his kneecap and slow
Speaker 6: him down because it's a different game back then today's game.
Speaker 6: They take batting practice all day. They take batting practice
Speaker 6: at one, two, three, four, five, all the way up.
Speaker 6: These guys hit more than I've ever seen my entire
Speaker 6: lifetime that we didn't do, and they should be better
Speaker 6: than us as hitting wise, because they can hit a
Speaker 6: home run, flip their bat up in the air, run around,
Speaker 6: get a taco, come back down, have a limbo, drive around,
Speaker 6: you know, all these antics that we weren't allowed to do.
Speaker 6: If I did anything like that, there's no way I'm
Speaker 6: going to see a star. You know, I'll see the hospital,
Speaker 6: but I ain't gonna see baseball. And so as a hitter,
Speaker 6: we had to hit in a way to where if
Speaker 6: I hit a home run, I know what's coming in
Speaker 6: next at back our possibility. So my thing is I
Speaker 6: have to be a little more defensive and be more
Speaker 6: of a contact hitter to get out of a problem
Speaker 6: than well, they can just do and hit, hit, and
Speaker 6: sometimes I think it could be a disadvantage. But a
Speaker 6: towny dude boy can play. There's no question about who
Speaker 6: he is. I just my opinion. I just hope he
Speaker 6: just stays at the hitting category because his hitting ability
Speaker 6: is off the chart. Pitching, I just think might tire
Speaker 6: him out. I think he should come out of the
Speaker 6: bullpen here and there, like he has because he's dhing,
Speaker 6: and come out of the bullpen and throw it in
Speaker 6: in or two here and just because he's so good
Speaker 6: as a reliever too, like he could be one of
Speaker 6: the dominant relievers and dominant starters. I think it's a
Speaker 6: starter man. I think it might get wear a tear
Speaker 6: a little bit and tire him out. Why fix something
Speaker 6: that isn't broken, because that's like I couldn't me.
Speaker 7: I like, no fix broke.
Speaker 5: This is good.
Speaker 7: I'm good piece, this is great.
Speaker 6: But I think coming out of the bullpen, he could
Speaker 6: really dominate current day.
Speaker 1: You got your daughter witch and you talked about working
Speaker 1: out what brings you joy today?
Speaker 6: My kids taking over everything I wouldn't. I don't do interviews.
Speaker 6: I've never done hard.
Speaker 8: We appreciate it and my daughter is like took over
Speaker 8: and she just said, Dad, you need to step back
Speaker 8: and let us do this.
Speaker 6: And so I'm learning to shut up, learning hunsh a
Speaker 6: cart a little bit. I'm learning to allow them to
Speaker 6: dictate this new generation that I'm not overly comfortable with,
Speaker 6: but at the same time I need to adapt to
Speaker 6: and so I'm I'm allowing.
Speaker 7: Them to take over and say, Dad, you need to
Speaker 7: be here.
Speaker 4: We're gonna start seeing you more on social media, and.
Speaker 7: That's already started. They got this stuff going.
Speaker 6: Crazy, and I'm just like, what are you doing? I
Speaker 6: don't even understand this. What are you liking? Why are
Speaker 6: you tagging him? I don't even know him. I'm like,
Speaker 6: I don't want anybody on my phone, you know. It's
Speaker 6: like I'm always like, what are you doing? It's like,
Speaker 6: so they took it, like cause I ride my bike
Speaker 6: all the time. I cycle a lot, so I have
Speaker 6: Strava and you know, my swift and stuff, and we
Speaker 6: give likes on to each other for working out and training.
Speaker 6: And so my daughter had to explain to me it's
Speaker 6: the same thing. It's like, Dad, you're you're appreciating what
Speaker 6: she's done by the same thing. So think of it
Speaker 6: like when you're riding your bike on Strava and you're
Speaker 6: giving your likes and stuff and things like that. Think
Speaker 6: of it like that, and I'm like, oh, okay, now
Speaker 6: I get it. But at first I'm just thinking people
Speaker 6: got all my information.
Speaker 7: I'm not doing you know.
Speaker 3: So if you guys need help on the social media side,
Speaker 3: let us know. We just launched that side of the
Speaker 3: company and we're doing really well.
Speaker 7: Oh that's good.
Speaker 3: If you guys need some help with some ideas we
Speaker 3: got Yeah, she's the boss.
Speaker 6: We'll to the head of the Yeah, when you get six,
Speaker 6: you got to learn to step down. I think it's
Speaker 6: like it's my time, as my kids are at the
Speaker 6: point where they're old enough to do it, you know,
Speaker 6: and it's time for me to just say it's dad.
Speaker 7: I got a step to the side a little bit.
Speaker 6: I stiok at one leg in it, you know. But
Speaker 6: so far it's been I mean, it's been a blessing.
Speaker 6: I mean when you can have your family do stuff
Speaker 6: and know that they're doing it right and the best
Speaker 6: that they can, and as a parent, it's pretty gratifying.
Speaker 1: Bay Area, it isn't doing too good right now. We
Speaker 1: were here, we were here, we did a lot of
Speaker 1: community work. I actually uh donated accord in April twelfth
Speaker 1: is actually my day here. But you have you do
Speaker 1: a lot of foundation work here and what are you
Speaker 1: up to around the city and how can we help
Speaker 1: you know with what you're doing here right now?
Speaker 6: I think the city right now, all of us are
Speaker 6: in the transition stage right now to find out what
Speaker 6: I mean now, when you lose the Oakland A's is
Speaker 6: very tough. Oakland's, It's going to be tough there. I mean,
Speaker 6: you know, protecting that city is very very important because
Speaker 6: crime is not great here right and we're in this
Speaker 6: transition to where we need to put more and more
Speaker 6: value into our kids and more and more value into
Speaker 6: our education system, and just in our leadership has to changed,
Speaker 6: like have to start changing. Where we need to demand
Speaker 6: this from them, not ask them.
Speaker 7: We need to be this a long time ago.
Speaker 6: We're giving I understand the youth of things, but you're
Speaker 6: not ready to take over. I mean we, as the
Speaker 6: elders are even older than me. We need to demand
Speaker 6: that respect from them, and we need to demand it
Speaker 6: the right way and allow them to take over it
Speaker 6: and do it the right way. And once we do
Speaker 6: that and we can transition back. We need to transition
Speaker 6: back a little bit. I think we're trying to go
Speaker 6: too far fu forward, and we need to come back
Speaker 6: and say, hey, wake up.
Speaker 4: First thing to come to mind, let us know guilty.
Speaker 6: Pleasure my dog, my black miniature snauzer.
Speaker 7: Yeah, cycling, working on the gym, being happy.
Speaker 4: I mean, you look great. You're sixty, you're sixty, you're
Speaker 4: about to be sixty.
Speaker 7: No, I'm sixty. I'll be sixty one in July.
Speaker 4: So you're aging back with Benjamin.
Speaker 3: But all right, I'm gonna take you a little bit
Speaker 3: outside of your comforts round here. Build your perfect baseball
Speaker 3: player discipline. Who would you put for discipline and feel
Speaker 3: free to use yourself?
Speaker 6: No, that's too easy. The perfect it would be a
Speaker 6: combination of people, because I love so many like Ken
Speaker 6: Griffy Junior is the key. I mean, Ken Griffy Junior
Speaker 6: was if he never got hurt the way he did
Speaker 6: would just be phenomenal. But you got people like Corbera,
Speaker 6: Albert Poolthols, Larry Walker, Todd Helton. I can go on
Speaker 6: and on with just all around, Eric Davis, Barry Larkin,
Speaker 6: Andre Dawson. I mean, there's so many of my general
Speaker 6: Bobby Benilla, I mean, my best friend and things like that.
Speaker 6: I would, But if I had to pick like the elite,
Speaker 6: I mean, I'm gonna go with Junior because Junior was
Speaker 6: eighteen years old as a kid. He came in and
Speaker 6: just electrified everything. Fortunately he just got hurt during the times.
Speaker 6: But a kid that can do everything, Vladimir Guerrel. I mean,
Speaker 6: if he could ever not swing at everything, there's no
Speaker 6: one who beats that guy.
Speaker 7: He can throw a ball from the fence all the way.
Speaker 7: He and Larry Walker too. He had speed.
Speaker 6: He can do what every I mean, there's so many
Speaker 6: players of my generation that the competition level was so
Speaker 6: high amongst us all that it's hard to just pick
Speaker 6: one individual. You know, Yeah, sure, did some of us
Speaker 6: stand out?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Okay, right, I mean I'm not going to knock myself down.
Speaker 6: Did I stand out?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 6: But if you're saying not choosing myself out to choose
Speaker 6: King Griff.
Speaker 5: We lost Henderson this year, Ricky.
Speaker 7: Oh, we were tight from day one.
Speaker 6: I mean, you guys to understand, my dad played baseball,
Speaker 6: so all of most of the players that came up
Speaker 6: admired my father, So we all were friends at points,
Speaker 6: even when I was younger. So Ricky and I, you know,
Speaker 6: been boys ever since I was little, just like mc
Speaker 6: hammer and I've been friends ever since I because he
Speaker 6: was in Oakland when my dad was going over there
Speaker 6: and we were all friends. So there is there is
Speaker 6: a but there's you know, the who I think would
Speaker 6: have been probably you know, people talk about Bo Jackson
Speaker 6: and being in bo Jackson was a specimen he if
Speaker 6: he never not heard either. But I'm never going to
Speaker 6: deny Dian Sanders ever there. I mean, anybody can stay
Speaker 6: whatever the heck they want. But if you can play
Speaker 6: two professional sports professionally and do it well, and he
Speaker 6: played baseball well, and he played football great, okay, And
Speaker 6: I think if he had time to play baseball as
Speaker 6: all the time, he would probably be there too as
Speaker 6: a leadoff hittericks Son, Who's then, who's the greatest athlete
Speaker 6: when you can play two professionals sports at the highest level.
Speaker 6: I ain't in that category. Deon Sanders in that category.
Speaker 6: Bo Jackson's in that category. There's players that you know,
Speaker 6: did did two sports professionally and trying to play once
Speaker 6: hard enough to have to try to to.
Speaker 7: Dion. I don't.
Speaker 6: I don't think he was All Star, but he all.
Speaker 6: I mean, we were teammates. I saw Deon Sanders hit
Speaker 6: the ball centerfield. We were in Florida. He had a
Speaker 6: ground ball up the middle. It just got through the
Speaker 6: centerfielder's leg, and Dion was staying on third base. I
Speaker 6: went in the dugout in the back of the clubhouse
Speaker 6: and I said, hit that rewind tape, please, because I
Speaker 6: missed it.
Speaker 7: That's how fast he was.
Speaker 6: I mean, just you know, when you're even me as
Speaker 6: good as I was base running, the way he cut
Speaker 6: those bases, I was like, whoa. And then all I
Speaker 6: want to do is imitate it, you know, because that's
Speaker 6: my brain, right. But I was never going to be
Speaker 6: fast him, not even close. Dean could look at you
Speaker 6: backwards and just like, that's crazy. When Meg can talk
Speaker 6: to you behind you go come.
Speaker 3: On seventy three home runs. What was your favorite part
Speaker 3: about that journey that season?
Speaker 7: Consistency? I was. I was consistent that year. That was.
Speaker 6: I felt it in I didn't feel in spring to
Speaker 6: I gotta tell you a story behind this. I bet
Speaker 6: against myself to be honest with you because It was
Speaker 6: really the worst year of my life because I bet
Speaker 6: Sean Dunston the Mercedes and I lost. And in baseball,
Speaker 6: we have a rule. If you and I have a
Speaker 6: bet one on one and nobody hears it, then you
Speaker 6: can reneg or do whatever you want, and then you.
Speaker 7: Can be mad.
Speaker 6: But if you call your dude out in front of
Speaker 6: the team, you have to honor that bet or you
Speaker 6: get the beat down. Right, this is my generation. When
Speaker 6: so Sean was I was hitting balls in spring training
Speaker 6: and I just felt locked in like I had never
Speaker 6: felt in my entire life. I just felt like, wow,
Speaker 6: and Sean goes, You're going to break the record.
Speaker 7: I'm like, you, stupid. No one in the planet's going
Speaker 7: to hit.
Speaker 6: Seventy home runs just because I had a few good
Speaker 6: days of BP and I was hitting home runs all
Speaker 6: over the places.
Speaker 7: It's like, your nuts.
Speaker 6: And I always wait to this fall down, you know,
Speaker 6: because good athletes and good hitters, we always know we're
Speaker 6: going to come down. It's just how far can we
Speaker 6: stop the fall?
Speaker 5: Right?
Speaker 6: Those are the good players, right, because you're always going
Speaker 6: to fall. I don't know what happened. I really, I
Speaker 6: really can't even explain it. I was just so consistent
Speaker 6: and locked in to where I could see things like this,
Speaker 6: and I could see it happening fast. I mean I
Speaker 6: could tell you what Pitch was coming. It's like this,
Speaker 6: And it's not that I knew what Pitt's coming. I
Speaker 6: could just calculate the situation like I can read it
Speaker 6: as I like, you're going to do what And it's
Speaker 6: just you know how you have that feeling and you
Speaker 6: know everyone has that moment. Mine just lasted a long
Speaker 6: time and that was just it mean to you. It's
Speaker 6: been my home my whole life. I mean, it's my hometown,
Speaker 6: so I think it'd be different I played a different
Speaker 6: city or saying like what's you know, like Cleveland would
Speaker 6: be to me if I wasn't from there, so it
Speaker 6: would be different. But I was raised here my whole life,
Speaker 6: ver since I was a baby. I don't know anything else.
Speaker 6: It's just home. Everyone I knows, friends of mine, politicians,
Speaker 6: and we went to high school together, and the sheriff,
Speaker 6: you know, we.
Speaker 4: Broke together, we get in some ship. We gotta call it.
Speaker 7: That's all right, I called me.
Speaker 6: There's always there's someone I know. Are my family new
Speaker 6: or so it's just always been home. I've never I
Speaker 6: known anything different.
Speaker 3: Right, Well, Barry Man, we appreciate you, We love you.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of us who love you out here,
Speaker 3: and we love to start seeing you do more of
Speaker 3: this and and share because there's so much greatness and
Speaker 3: we all look at you at the top of the
Speaker 3: total Faller. I appreciate you just giving us a little
Speaker 3: bit of time today, man.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3: And that's a wrap the legendary the Goat Barry Bonds.
Speaker 3: You can catch us on DraftKings Network and all the
Speaker 3: Smoke Productions YouTube.
Speaker 4: We'll see you guys next week.