Thank you for being here, for subscribing to
the Dan Time Podcast, a place where you can find
me talking with fellow Dans of the world in sports,
music, business, and more, as well as some non
-Dans from time to time. At Dan Time Pod across
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rate and review the show if you're enjoying the
ride through the Daniverse. I appreciate you
as a listener. Hope you enjoyed last week's episode
with long -time Birmingham Barons broadcaster
Kurt Bloom. A few weeks ago, we had Major League
Baseball pitcher Dan Winkler on the show. What
a great guy. And today, it is an honor to introduce
to you MLB right -handed free agent pitcher Dan
Straley. Dan finds himself in unfamiliar territory
for the first time in 15 plus years as a professional
athlete. As we near the end of April, he is without
work on the baseball diamond. But Dan, also referred
to as the red -bearded wonder, is committed to
finding a suitor, a team that will give him a
chance so that he might finish his career in
the big leagues. Dan talks about DriveLine, the
premier data -driven baseball player development
organization in the world. Dan realized that
what was once working for him as far as pitch
execution just wasn't working any longer. He
tells the story in our conversation about what
led to his connection with DriveLine and how
he raised his pitch velocity and learned to throw
outlier pitches once again. Dan grew up in Eastern
Oregon, pitched at Thurston High School, then
attended Western Oregon and later walked on at
Marshall University. He was drafted in the 24th
round by the Oakland Athletics in 2009. Speaking
about his career, Dan said, I'm really proud
of it. And I just don't feel like it's over.
In the same breath, I just don't. And finally,
Dan talks about what matters most of all, and
that's his family. All right, let's get to the
conversation now folks. It is Dan Strayley time
I'm really happy to welcome Dan Strayley free
agent Major League Baseball player Dan also appears
and let me just say this first I don't want to
get too deep in the episode without mentioning
this you guys stop what you're doing pause this
show and download the journeymen podcast I've
been having a blast listening to those episodes
the past week or two, but Dan Strayley, how are
you doing today, man? Thanks for making time
for the podcast. Absolutely, Dan. Thanks for
having me. On quite a few podcasts in my day
obviously you mentioned I have a co -host one
myself about just you know the journey of baseball
and not told from the eyes of the way the media
presents it or the big media presents it in terms
of I just like the top players but just kind
of everybody surrounding it from the ball players
like myself who are fighting for jobs to the
guys washing the cleats. between games to the
guys running the clubhouse. I've had a guy running
a team, you name it. We just kind of try to talk
about baseball from all different angles. But
so I said, I've been on a lot of podcasts. A
lot of them, the prerequisite for me is, you
know, talking about baseball. We're talking about
my job, my career, my stuff like this. This has
got to be the first time I've ever been on a
podcast that the only prerequisite is that my
name is Dan. And I am stoked to be here when
that when I saw this email come in, I was like,
I can't say no to this one. This is just going
to be fun. yeah I think this project of mine
when I reach out to people you know most people
respond some people don't I just have to wonder
like and maybe it's a good thing the people who
don't choose to come on the show or say hey thanks
but no thanks I want people on this show who
get the joke and yeah you know me I haven't really
scoured the internet maybe there's a Josh time
maybe there's a Jacqueline time I don't know
but But Dan time is just something I thought
would be pretty cool. Celebrating the Dan's of
the world. The older I get, and I hope you're
okay with this too, Dan, I just think that the
Dan name is, it's neighborly, it can be distinguished,
it can be kind of goofy if you want it to be.
You can really play around with the name. And
so that's what I'm here to do in my little corner
of... of the world here is to celebrate the dance
as dan harrison once said doing great things
in the world there we go there we go i love it
i love the concept it's good but i've been enjoying
doing some research on you following the journeyman
podcast and i know that you're you're in a chapter
of your life here where some people get you know
they veer off they lose track of their plan they
uh start picking up habits, they overeat, they
just sleep in, and they do things that are not
really conducive to moving forward, but I just
love, the more that I listen to these episodes,
I wrote some of this stuff down. Like, all I
want is a chip in a chair. I love that poker
reference. And basically, you essentially said
that there's two things to do. Move forward,
I'm not saying this very eloquently. You can
pick it back up there. I think you know where
I'm headed with this, but. I think the quote
is, there's really just two options. You either
quit or you don't. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, you
keep going or you don't. It's, yeah, for those
of you listening that don't know, this is my
16th year being a professional baseball player,
and this is the first time I made it past the
month of January without a job, and here we are.
One day after tax day in April and I'm still
down here training, working hard and chasing
my dream. And it's become almost just like this
mission of years ago, I said, I wanted to play
in a major league game when my son would remember
it. Well, my son's at that age and all he remembers
is me playing overseas in Korea, which was great,
which was great. I love playing in Korea, love
the culture, love the people, love the games,
the stadiums, everything about it was awesome.
But, you know, I'm excited that hopefully I get
to finish my career over here in the States and
just keep going with it. And baseball has blessed
me to the point that I can chase this dream and
I don't have to go, you know, worry about paying
the mortgage this month. I get a chance to just
keep chasing it. And then I don't take that for
granted. Like you talked about, like falling
off the wagon or falling off course there, you
know, a lot of people when you're faced with
adversity, you know, it's tough. It is really
hard. But I feel that it would be a massive disservice.
And to all the people that wish that they could
play baseball at age 35, if I didn't take this
seriously, if I didn't, it's like basically slapping
everybody in the face that that wants this or
wish they could have had this that that got cut
from their high school team that got told no
in college that got released after a half a season
of baseball. It's bigger than me. And it's like
I'd be doing every like all of them. a disservice
if I didn't push through and finish this thing,
you know, God gave me a gift of throwing a baseball
and having the mental fortitude to withstand
these pressures and it'd be slapping in the face
if I didn't keep going with this mission that
I'm on. Will I succeed? Define success. That's
really how I look at it. No matter what, I'm
showing my son that you chase your dreams, that
you work hard, that you don't quit, that you
push through adversity, that you just keep going
forward. And don't look over your shoulder and
start doing the shoulda, coulda, woulda thing,
but just keep going forward. And that doesn't
matter that if it's baseball, if I was, I grew
up in a family that was all firefighters and
you know, it's like same thing there. Like those
guys, like they're trying to climb the ladder
and provide for families and doing this. And
I watched my dad have good days and bad days
and just keep pushing forward. And it's no different.
I just happen to do something that is played
on TV at seven o 'clock at night, most places.
And I just, I just don't take that for granted.
I like what you said there about Your son being
involved and anybody that's got kids young kids,
especially By the time they reach well I would
say by the time that you look across the living
room and they lock eyes with you. That's a pretty
powerful moment I remember that happening with
my My oldest when he was two, but I guess dan
doesn't this become kind of bigger than you It's
it's more of an example that you want to set
and to maybe inspire other people Whether it's
your son or yeah or your network or friends,
you know, give them some inspiration to keep
pushing hard Yeah, yeah, it's really tough for
me to look my friends and my family or anybody
in the face and and tell them to just keep pushing
through hard times if I don't do it myself right
and so it is I'm on a mission to to prove to
the world that I still have it to prove to the
baseball world that I still have what it takes
to get out to the major league level and You
know only time will tell if that's the case or
not if someone gives me my my shot my chip in
my chair as you mentioned But you know, there's
a lot of sayings like that in baseball. You only
need one fan. I only need one one member, what
decision making member of a front office to like
me, to want me on their team, to bring me on
as their insurance policy, whatever you want,
however you want to phrase it, however you want
to look at it, I just want my chance. And you
just keep going. And like I mentioned, you know,
with baseball for me, I've worked really hard.
I talk about it in my most recent episode of
The Journeyman, but I've worked really hard at
not putting my identity in baseball. And I think
that that's gone a long ways for me, especially
right now. You know I'm in this we call it the
hallway season where I'm in this hallway just
walking down it and I don't know which door is
going to be my exit. You know, it's like I pass
these doors and I knock on them. I check them.
I try to push them open. It's locked. I just
keep moving. Well, I've been in that season for
about eight months now and it's kind of a rough
place to be. We've all been there. I don't care
what you're doing in life. I don't care what
your career is, what you're, we've all been in
this situation where we just, we just don't know
what's, what's going on or like what the next
step is. What the next, you know, the opportunity
is, whatever it is. And so we're just kind of,
we're kind of making our way down through this.
But not having my identity tied to baseball,
but having my identity tied to working on being
the best husband and the best father and the
best friend, the best business partner, the best
whatever it is. I think that's my goal. you know
as to you know many many many years from now
when when I'm taken from this earth I don't want
to be known as Dan the baseball player but all
these other things that are quite frankly much
bigger and and more important in life. Being
an entertainer is great. Like let's not, let's
not phrase being a baseball player is anything
else because that's all we are is we're entertainers
and it comes down to dollars and cents for that
business. It's an entertainment industry. Uh,
it's one that I'm blessed and proud to be a part
of for so long, but that's what it is. And you
know, you only get to do those things for so
long, especially when you're, you're asking the
human body to, to twist and move and throw and
do all this stuff. You can only take it for so
long. You can only be the best at it for so long.
There's a reason there's not any 50 -year -old
baseball players out there, right? And so, yeah,
it is bigger than me. It's a huge part of my
life, but it does not define who I am as a person.
Isn't that the truth? One thing I like, Dan,
from listening to you with the quad on the Journeyman
podcast, you guys are funny. I mean, you guys,
folks listening, if you need a new show to carry
you on your... you got a 45 minute commute somewhere,
you're going to love it and you're really going
to hang on what Dan's talking about because he
gives you some inside stuff. One of the things
I found most fascinating, reaching out to your
network, I think some people in life are kind
of a little tentative about, hey, I got that
guy's phone number, but I don't know if I should
call him or if I should call that guy that works
for him and ask him to give him that message.
And you're not afraid, you know, once an AGM
called you or sent you a message or something,
Hey, I'm adding him to my network. And if I'm
trying to get, seek employment, why don't I just
reach out to the general manager? I'm going to
take that shot. Speak to that a little bit, just
kind of, Hey, why not? Yeah. So there's one thing
I've learned in baseball. I was teammates with
some, some very great players over our generation
and one that comes to mind is like Ichiro Suzuki.
Right? You say that name and like, everybody
knows who Ichiro is if you followed five minutes
of baseball in your life. And when I met Ichiro,
yes, he is the biggest name for a long time in
the game of baseball worldwide, worldwide. And
when I met him and got to know him, he is just
a man. He is a man that is extremely gifted,
extremely dedicated, extremely everything, but
he, we're all just. We're all just people trying
to make our way in life, right? And so when I
go into baseball and go into the clubhouse, go
into there, it is a group of people that are
trying to accomplish one win for that day. We
all have different jobs, we all have different
things. But at the end of the day, my bosses
are guys just trying to do the best at their
job, just like us on the field. And so being
afraid to text those people now that are in power
other places, like, why not? Why not? If I run
into Mike Elias at a restaurant, half the people
there might not know who Mike Elias is. 95 %
of people might not know who Mike Elias is when
you're there. Maybe 99%. But I know who he is.
And he's the general manager of the Orioles.
So why would I not text somebody like that when
I'm looking for a job? He's a decision maker.
And there's only 30 people 30 employers for my
work in the entire world. Think about that. How
many jobs have 30 possible employment opportunities?
There's 150 major league starters right now.
150 people in the entire world get to do what
I'm trying to get back to. And I got to do that
for over five years at the highest level. And
so those people are just normal people. I promise
you, they're just normal guys. They have wives,
they have kids. They watch Shark Tank. They do
all the stuff that normal people do. I just quoted
everyone. The normal person watches Shark Tank,
because I do. But my point is that we're all
just human beings, right? Just because someone
has a fancy job title or has a lot of decision
-making power, I'm going to know their name just
as much as I'm going to know the guy who's helping
wash my shoes between games. Just as much as
the guy who's doing my laundry, just as much
as the guy who's... You know coaching first base
or my pitching. Yeah, it's like all these guys
are just baseball guys. And so, um, yeah, I have
a handful of gms phone numbers. Um, a lot of
them are agms assistant assistant general managers
for those who they don't know They're the ones
dealing with a lot of the roster stuff below
the major leagues and things like that which
is what i'm trying to get into trying to get
a triple a job and Those guys were all agms now.
They're gm. Some are still agms. I just text
them I text them some videos some numbers. Hey
You know, hey So and so, uh, it's been five years
since I said hi, but how's it going? And just,
you know, I don't be awkward with it. I just
very straightforward. These are very busy people.
I do respect their time, but it's just like,
Hey, It's I say my name in the text just to make
sure if they didn't save my number. And here's
videos. Here's a here's a report of what I've
been doing. I'm I'm still here. I'm back from
Korea. I'm searching for a job in the States.
And I got to believe that there's only a couple
of people in the world that are built up to 100
pitches that have Major League service time under
their belt that are willing to go to triple A
baseball right now. And so I'm just praying that
somebody needs my services. Right. And so it's
no different than you put your job application
in at whatever. store you want to work at and
a week goes by and you come back in and just
check in. Ask to see the manager, introduce yourself
so that you can put a face to this piece of paper.
And it's no different except there is no job
seeker for us in baseball. That's our agent.
That's what that's what he does. So yeah, it's
I just I'm a big believer in, you know, you can't
be told no if you don't ask. And quite honestly,
two of the guys that I reached out to flat out
were just like, Hey, Dan, wish you the best of
luck. But we're not looking right now doesn't
mean it could change down the road but we're
not looking right now my response is hey thank
you so much for for getting back to me like best
of luck to you guys this season and and hope
the family's good you know like just as simple
and move forward but like being told no we've
all been told no we've all been told no i got
told no as a freshman in high school you know
what i mean like and then i did this for professionally
for 16 years It doesn't mean that my freshman
baseball coach was wrong. It just means that
I got better at something. So it's just a matter
of not being afraid to put yourself out there.
And no matter what the, like I said, whatever
the career is, we're just happy to be talking
about baseball here, but whatever the career
is, whatever the idea is, whatever you're looking
for, you can't be told no. You'd be surprised
how many people of power really appreciate somebody
humbly coming to them and just saying, hey, these
are my goals. This is my ambition. Do you have
time to help me? Learn what it'd be to be in
a position like yours or yeah, we just like whatever
it is. But like you said, you just, why not?
What do I have to lose? Worst case scenario,
these guys know I'm close to the end of my career
and maybe they'll offer me a job doing something
else in baseball. Who knows? That's one of the
things that my dad has always said is he's like,
son, it's all about the network. He's been saying
that since I was like 22 years old and was like
barely paying attention to what he was trying
to impart on me, but he continues to say it and
I'm like, okay, I get it now. What you said really
translates to people who are running a business
or maybe they're trying to grow their business,
they're in sales, and they're trying to just
get through doors, get to know people. And like
you said, you do it a few times or do it over
the course of a few years. getting the rejections,
I think the word rejection sounds harsher than
what it actually feels like. You just kinda,
okay, that's a no, or that's, I'm not gonna be
able to pass through there, moving on, moving
on. But, you know, you do have a plan in place,
and I like that you're in a program that I really
wanna highlight before we get too far in the
episode here. Talk a little bit about driveline,
and how that has, you know, Helped you in this
quest. I know that you you had a goal maybe a
few years ago of Getting your I guess your fastball
the floor from from 88 up to 91 Right. No drive
lines a very I mean, it's it's a the world's
best baseball training facility. That's my opinion
I'm sure that they don't agree. They don't disagree
with that, but they I came to these guys back
in 2015 I don't know what happened. My shoulder
just like started hurting Like all the time,
like I'd go throw a game and you start baseball
games. For those of you who don't know you as
a starting pitcher, you pitch every fifth day.
So I'd start a game on a Sunday and then I'm
not pitching again in the game until Friday.
And so I would spend Monday through Thursday
or basically Monday through Friday, just trying
to get my arm to be not sore by the time Friday
rolled around. Right. And like, that's a really
tough way to be a pitcher. Cause that's all you
need is your body. And so the season ended and
I just, I was talking to my my pitching coach
in Houston. He's the Arizona pitching coach now,
but my pitching coach in Houston. And I was like,
Hey, there's this like weighted ball program
up in Seattle that I've been kind of looking
into. And he just like, Oh, drive line. Yeah,
I know Kyle, but he's a really good friend of
mine. So we ended up going to Seattle to play
the Mariners. And the that day I was out in the
bullpen before the game and the pitching coach,
Brent Strom introduced me to the founder of drive
line. And we just started talking and started
talking about like what drive lines all about.
And, you know, he said some things that really,
uh, really got me excited about it. And one of
them is like, I don't even remember exactly the
way he put it, but he basically said like, listen,
if you're not going to put the work in, we're
not going to let you put your name behind this
business. Like we're not going to let people
that don't work in our doors. So like, if you
don't, if you kind of have do this, like we're
not going to, we're not going to be working together.
Like kind of thing where it's like, we can't
afford when we're trying to build ball players,
a guy that has his name tied to us. That's not
working. If you work hard and fail, that's baseball.
That's life. If you don't work hard and you fail,
you just set yourself up for failure and they
don't want to be tied to that. And that was super
early on. This is back when these guys were in
like a 2000 square foot space. Now they're in
a 40 ,000 square foot space with two locations,
one in the Seattle area, one in Scottsdale, Arizona.
And it's just like, it's its own like drive line
is like just. part of baseball, any baseball
person you say driveline, they probably know,
they know exactly what you're talking about.
But these guys just have a different approach.
It's all about biomechanics and how each individual
throws and it's not like a cookie cutter. There's
only one way to do things. It's just trying to
figure out how to get the most out of what is
God given in each individual that walks through
their doors. And it is, it's just a hard, it's
a lot of hard work. You train or you assess,
then you train for six weeks and you assess again.
Train for six weeks, assess again. trained and
just keep repeating that process. And so, yeah,
inevitably you do get better. Just overall, you
just get better. And so it's been a really fun
journey. It's been really cool to know the guys
that own the place for so long and just watch
them develop as a business and as people and
to see how they've transitioned from being this
kind of small unknown shop to this multi multi
million dollar company over the last. 10 years
or so and they've been doing it longer and but
the whole thing they started is they were just
trying to figure out like how can they help in
this like elbow injury problem in baseball which
is ironic that we're going through it again so
no one solved it but if anyone ever does figure
out how to solve the elbow issue in baseball
then uh they'll be far richer than than most
people we know because they'll be saving the
billionaires a lot of money on their athletes
insurance so there's a there's a whole lot of
stuff going on behind the scenes up there where
these guys are just just collecting data points
and they're just a Kyle's just a big computer
nerd. Like he'd much rather just be at his desk
at 2am, typing, coding, doing research, that
kind of stuff. But ultimately, like he's just
really good at what he does here. And so it's
just really how to get the most out of each individual.
And they just like I said, they track everything,
they develop their own software, they develop
their own everything. Everything they have is
theirs. I don't think they outsource like anything
anymore. They just make everything internally.
They got a great group of people working there
and it's kind of cool because it's mostly former
ballplayers. There's a lot of former ballplayers
out there that maybe their career was all the
way through college. They got to play that long
and now they're computer programmers and they're
working at driveline or they played in pro ball
and now they're back working at driveline. It's
just a great way for guys to stay in the game
that they love so much when their body doesn't
allow them to keep playing it on the field. These
guys have been a part of my journey for the last,
I mean, the majority of it, right? They've been
around, they've been a part of my career for
the majority of it. And it's been a lot of fun
to see them progress, myself progress. and they've
helped make me a lot of money by helping me like
you said bring my floor up it was you know for
it's not about always just throwing harder at
the top side of your your velocity you know i'll
never be a guy that threw 95 miles an hour but
i went from a guy that was kind of averaging
like the 88 89 to a guy that's averaging the
90 91 and that's a big deal in baseball to be
able to throw that little bit harder and so it's
not just that it's you know it's it's pitch shapes
and pitch quality and just a lot of different
stuff that they they dive into but you could
go in through a whole long podcast just about
what those guys do but they've been awesome people
to work with and I'm just proud to say that you
know my name's up on their wall in a couple places
some articles and whatnot that were written early
on just because I was a believer in them before
the the world really knew who they were yeah
I remember hearing you were there when there
was like you and maybe two other guys there wasn't
anybody beaten down the door to get in there
and now right you probably see players from all
levels and all age groups oh yeah Yeah, they
have stuff from up in Seattle areas called the
driveline Academy and they have I want to say
like 10 year olds up to 35 year olds like myself
in there and They just it's high school players
junior college players D1 athletes minor leaguers
Latin American players You name it baseball players
their Japanese guys are flying over Korean guys
are flying over in the winners like they're they're
doing it They got a lot of cool stuff going on
a lot of players come in there And they're not
just, you know, helping guys in the off season,
they're helping guys in the season too, which
is a really cool aspect of it. And yeah, like
you said, they, they have the, it's called the
track ID. And so like everybody's name that comes
into, into their, through their doors has a ID
number associated with them. And I, I want to
say those numbers are in like the, the, the a
hundred thousand range, or I think maybe, maybe
that's wrong. Maybe it's 10 ,000 range, but my
track ID is like 397 or something like that.
And the first like, 200 of those were testing
numbers like they weren't even like like any
of those were just like them trying to test their
systems and then so the real numbers started
around 300 so I was one of the first hundred
guys or so inside the doors which is you know
just I guess I saw something in them before the
world did but at the end of the day like I needed
them they needed athletes and we started just
getting to know each other and They took me on
a few trips where they went to different conventions,
and I was an ideal player because I trained from
home. I trained remotely. And so I would come
up and get what I needed to get from them testing
wise, and then I'd go home and train. And so
it was just a great relationship. And they showed
me how to get the most out of my career, which
has been, like I said, a blessing. And I will
be forever grateful for those guys. I continue
to love the story the more that I hear about
it. It's not just a guy who doesn't want to give
up on the game and his career, but it's like,
how can I be creative about this? What resources
can I involve here? And like you said, at the
time, it's outside the box. What pitches in particular,
are you trying to refine your slider or do you
have, are you working on the whole arsenal and
how much repetition is this like hours and hours
each session? No, it's all about training economy.
So you only get so much. that your body's willing
to put out each day. And so that's all calculated.
But then that's weightlifting, that's running,
that's throwing, that's walking around the mall.
Your body can only take so much each day, right?
Whatever you're doing, golfing, walking your
dog, pushing your kid's stroller. So all that
stuff is thrown into their system. And so some
days are a lot bigger workloads than others.
They do a lot of train hard. day of recovery,
train hard day of recovery, back and forth. And
it's, yeah, everything's measured. Everything's
accounted for. There's certain days you go in
there and they're like, Hey, don't throw this
pitch over this speed. And you're like a fastball.
I have to keep it under 80 miles an hour. Like,
come on, man. Like, it's like, I'm not even trying,
but like, that's the point. Like you're just
working on stuff. Um, but no, I went there this,
uh, this last off season and basically just said,
like, let's get assessed, but Let's take a deeper
dive away from my mechanics and everything else.
And let's take a look at like my pitches, my
numbers and my pitches, the metrics, how are
they grading out? And we kind of just figured
out like, hey, Dan, like the stuff that you did
for so long was great, but it's not working.
That's what baseball is telling me. So what can
we change so that I throw pitches that are outliers
again? Outliers means, you know, there's a huge
group, the average, right? That's where the average
is good. We're talking about the best. throwers
of baseballs in the world but the average is
good but how can I make my pitches not be average
because I can't make them above average speed
because I throw below the average speed so how
can I make them unique in other ways so vertical
horizontal movement all these types of things
is what we're kind of searching for so we just
found ways of we set up a designed a pitch arsenal
for me stuff that would play well together and
got to work at finding the grips that allow me
to just essentially throw the baseball without
thinking about it and letting the ball come out
of my hand different ways so that the pitch is
moved in different shapes like that's the whole
point of baseball if you really want to boil
it down is you're throwing a ball as hard as
you can and having it do different things at
different speeds but all you're doing is throwing
it as hard as you can each pitch it's just like
a really odd concept but they have the technology
they have the high -speed cameras they have all
the motion capture stuff that you need to do
all that and so yeah it's it is a lot of sweat
a lot of time spent away you know this facility
I go to is five hour drive away from my house
and so every other week I'm gone you know I'm
down in Arizona right now doing some work down
here just getting in the heat getting ready for
gonna pitch tomorrow and it's just like you know
I'm away from missing my kid's first little league
game today. You know, it's just like, it sucks,
but I get to go on Saturday. I've never been,
you know, it's he's seven. I've never seen him
play baseball. And he told me the other day,
he's like, dad, this is my turn. You get to watch
me now. And so like, I'm actually, I'm actually
really excited about that. But yeah, it's just
like you put all this time and all this effort
into this craft. And these guys just help make
sure that you're not just like throwing stuff
at the wall and seeing what sticks, but you're
you're it's calculated. You're not wasting pitches.
You're not just wasting energy. You're not wasting
effort. You're putting it towards what you need
to get better at, because I know what I'm good
at. I know what I'm bad at. We put the effort
towards maintaining the good and bringing the
floor up of what I'm bad at. That's really what
it what it boils down to. Well, Dan, I want to
touch on here just may bounce around the timeline
a little bit, but. 2019 is a particularly Odd
year difficult year, maybe even some dark some
dark times They're the first first experience
where you've been in the big leagues between
when the A's drafted you to the Marlins the Reds
the Cubs about a week I think with the Padres
I wanted to ask him about I wanted to ask about
that I was gonna forget but this happens sometimes
players get traded and then they get designated
for assignment almost immediately afterwards
and then and then they're out of the system.
Where did you actually report for them? When
that happened and you get the news of going to
San Diego, did you know that Bartolo Colon's
coming back and you're not going to be involved
or are you thinking, hey, I'm... Bartolo was
with the A's. This situation was, we had a catcher,
Max Dasty, broke his handmaid bone with like
a week to go in spring training. They traded
me to San Diego for a backup catcher named Eric
Kratz. I flew from Florida to Arizona with a
couple days left to go in spring training. pitched
for him for four innings on the backfield game.
And, you know, I didn't go to, they asked me
if I wanted, or they told me I was not going
to the AAA city to go play an exhibition game,
but I was just going to go to San Diego with
the other starting pitchers to get ready for
the season. We'll see you in a few days. I actually
sat next to like the GM's assistant on the flight,
like just a random like Southwest flight that
I got. jumped on to go over there. I ended up
sitting with her next to her and she was talking
about the city, talking about places to live
and all this kind of stuff. And the next morning
I wake up and my buddy had texted me and was
like, dude, what the heck? Like no context, no
nothing. And one of the top baseball writers
had tweeted out that I was like, I was DFA'd.
Well, they DFA'd me right after I pitched. And
so, but they didn't tell me. And so I flew to
San Diego. I worked out the next day or they
worked out the next day. Then I flew to San Diego
and woke up and found out I only, she only had
three hours left of DFA limbo but I'd flown with
this assistant sitting next to me and she was
talking about the city and all these places she
filed the paperwork probably you know what I
mean like she's and I get it that she's not in
position to but like you don't need to like tell
me about where this where to live like you think
after a subject a few minutes pass you take a
breath and say hey listen Dan I let me sit Why
don't I just tell you? No, she can't. No, she
can't. She can't. I know that. I'm not saying
it. I know I have a few of those where people
knew what was going on and I didn't. And they
just led me on different directions. But anyway,
so I got DFA'd and they called me and... You
know earlier we talked about you know being super
polite and this and that and and being nice to
these guys And this it's a business all right,
and I get it like it's not about feelings. Nothing's
personal in this business It's really not but
this one of the AGM's called me and was like
hey the Padres AGM's call me He's like hey Dan
unfortunately for us, but good for you You know
we DFA'd you the other day and unfortunately
for us good for you You were you were claimed
by the Reds, and I literally was on the phone
with him, and I was like wait What did you just,
uh, unfortunately for you, you think I care about
you trying to take me off the roster and slide
me through waivers? Dan, that's not what I'm
saying. That's not what I'm saying. And I'm like,
dude, I don't care about you. Like you just tried
to like change the course of my career because
you thought that you could slide me through waivers.
Right. Just don't. And he was, and he was just
like, Hey, I didn't mean it that way. And then,
and he's like, someone from red is going to call
you soon. I got to go by. like Okay, whatever
dude I didn't save that guy's number just for
the record no need to talk to no need to talk
to him again, but the point is is that yeah,
we At any any moment in life I used one of my
buddies at the time was working for just like
a beverage distributor where we lived in Eugene,
Oregon And he was just like dude. This is crazy.
This is confusing and I was like dude Just imagine
he worked for a company called Bigfoot and I
was like just imagine like bigfoot calls you
today and goes hey you know we sold your contract
to columbia you're actually going to be slinging
pepsi now instead of coke or the opposite and
uh you know thanks for everything best of luck
see ya and now when you walk into work tomorrow
you have to drive three hours move your family
You go to work here instead of there and I was
just like trying to describe it. They're like,
yeah, that's kind of tough I'm like, what's the
industry I'm in? I know it's part of it. So yeah,
I was a Padre for three and a half days I don't
even think I have a jersey. I don't think I have
an undershirt I literally took everything that
they gave me and left it in the locker room flew
across the country through the worst bullpen
of my life in front of the Reds front office
and their pitching coach and the manager and
afterwards the manager touched me on the back
shoulder and goes Well, then congratulations.
You made the team and I was just like Wow Like
God has a plan that I do not understand and I
am here for it. And Yeah, it was just kind of
crazy. It's just part of our business, you know
The first time I got traded was kind of the same
way, you know You feel like your high school
girlfriend dumped you or something you just like
thought you're gonna be together forever and
just that's just not the case kind of deal and
It just really it was weird time, you know, and
you're talking about the 2019 season is what
kind of led into all this and so Another uncomfortable
situation, you know, I signed an arbitration
deal that I was supposed to be paid five million
dollars Which you know coming from a kid that
grew up on an Indian reservation in Eastern,
Oregon in a town of 12 ,000 people It's unfathomable
and just to spoiler alert like I didn't get that
money. So it is unfathomable and I signed that
contract though and there's like little tiny
clauses throughout all these different things
in Major League Baseball and one of them is an
arbitration. If you don't make the opening day
roster, you're not entitled to the money. So
with the day to go, spring training, the last
day, 12 hours before rosters need to be set,
they released me. And at least they were man
enough to, when I asked them why, they were man
enough to say it was to save money. And so I
ended up going home. Trying to figure out what's
going on. 15 days later, I signed a major league
deal with the Baltimore Orioles. I fly out there.
I haven't pitched in two weeks and I'm trying
really hard to fight for this thing and I feel
good pitching wise, but it's tough. Took two
weeks off and come in and face the Yankees. Like
it's not, not an ideal situation. And then things
just got worse when I tore my meniscus and the
medical staff just kept telling me that it was
just inflammation. I was fine. One of the worst
things I heard actually was there was the medical
coordinator. I came in and I was like, dude,
my knee is hurting so bad. And he's like, are
you sure it's just not because you pitched bad?
And to me, like, it took a lot of stuff within
me to not throw some fists in that situation,
to be honest with you. That's a that's a that's
something you just don't say. That's something
he probably didn't even know he said, you know,
just one of those people. So we all work with
those people. We all know those people. But anyway,
so tried to pitch through that. Then it goes
so great. Get home at the end of the season.
The Phillies were willing to fix my knee. I said,
no thanks. I'll go home and have it done at home.
And just had my, it's a simple procedure. Three
weeks later, I was moving around, no problem.
Signed a deal to go to Korea and spent parts
of four years over there. So, you know, I got
to spend COVID overseas, which was interesting.
But at the end of the day, it's all part of my
journey. It's all part of my career. It's all
part of who shaped me as a person. It's just
all part of my life. And like, I'm here for it.
That hasn't been the most straightforward career.
It hasn't been the most successful career in
terms of on -field success. It hasn't been a
lot of things, but it's also been a lot of things,
right? It's been a lot of success. It's been
a ton of happy moments. It's been a lot of accomplishments.
I've done things that 12 -year -old me couldn't
fathom. 12 -year -old me couldn't believe to
dream these things. 12 -year -old me wouldn't
know to even think of these things that were
potential. And so... as you know my career comes
to an end whether it's now or three years from
now or whatever it is I've had that perspective
the last few years of you know what like 12 year
old me would be so freaking proud of who I am
and would almost laugh if somebody told me that's
what you're gonna do and it's like I said earlier
I don't take it for granted I really don't and
I am I'm really proud of it and I just don't
feel like it's over in the same breath. I just
don't. And so that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.
You know, I could go on for three more hours
about those types of stories and the ins and
outs of this game and all the weird things and
conversations and things I've dealt with and
different struggles and great moments. But yeah,
just to not make this three hours and just give
some snippets of it and have some fun with it.
Yeah, the 2019 season was the most tumultuous
season that I've ever had to face. But I'd also
like wouldn't trade it for the world because
it taught me a lot how to face adversity and,
you know, me and my wife to go through hard stuff.
And we've always said whatever the situation
is, someday we'll look back at this situation
and be like, man, can you believe we thought
that was hard? You know, we all we've all been
there. We're like you're in the moment You're
in the storm and you're just like oh my gosh
This is the worst thing I've ever been a part
of and then a few years later something else
will happen and you play shit I can't believe
we thought that a couple years ago was hard This
is hard and then you get through that and a couple
years later. However, the time span is you're
like I can't believe we thought those two things
were hard to this It's impossible and you just
keep doing that and that's called life, right?
That's called life. So I can I can honestly sit
here and tell you that being 35 and not having
a job on on April 16th. While it is a mental
grind, it's not the hardest thing I've ever been
through. It's not. There's been a lot worse.
Is it frustrating? Is it annoying? Is it a challenge?
Yes, it's all those things. But like we talked
about earlier, it's a simple process. I have
two options. Give up or don't. And if you haven't
caught on throughout the course of this podcast,
I'm not giving up. I'm going to keep going. So
what an inspiration. I like what you said there.
You can never reinforce that too much of, wow,
we thought that was hard. If you're listening
to the show and you're an athlete and you're
going through something similar or you're not
an athlete and you just lost your job or you're
going through a breakup or you made some ridiculous
financial decision that just blew up in your
face and you're just feeling like, man, I want
to rewind the clock. this is this is horrible
just remember you get a few more years on you
you'll and if you start uh if you have one child
you'll realize that some of those things that
you stressed out about well kind of kind of fade
off but also dan um max stasi i made a note to
mention his name because i'm going back to the
2009 vancouver canadians The Cane County Cougars,
I think the Stockton Ports. You guys are moving
along. At least these first three stops together.
Is that where you guys became friends? And I
know you've had some great things to say about
Max just being a good all around guy. Is that
where your friendship formed? In the early days
of the Oakland system? Yeah, he just showed up
as a high school kid. We were drafted the same
year. And there's just certain people that you
connect with. I'd be lying to you if I said that
we still had that strong relationship now. We're
just at different places in life. I texted him
actually a few weeks ago. I was walking through
Dick's Sporting Goods and my son knocked over
some catcher's gear and I picked it up and Max
Stassi was on the box. So I sent a picture of
it to Max Stassi. It was like an Easton catcher's
gear box at Dick's Sporting Goods. I sent him
a picture and I was like, it's great to see your
face even if it's here at Dick's Sporting Goods
in Portland, Oregon. And he responded, he goes,
yeah, apparently they couldn't find anybody else
to take a photo for them for their advertisement.
But that's just who Max is, and he's been going
through a lot. Had a lot of success on the field,
off the field, got married, had a kid. They had
some health stuff with their child they've been
working through and just talk about putting life
in perspective right there about the things that
truly matter. But yeah, you just, you develop
some of those relationships that you just, you
kind of stick with. Tommy Malone's another one,
a guy that I just always bonded with, always
played with. Asher Wojahowski, another guy. That's
a fun story to tell. Again, not enough time for
it, but basically Asher beat me out of a job
in 2015. Got the fifth job in the major leagues
and I got sent to AAA and him and I became best
of friends after that. He got sent down. We ended
up being roommates on the road. Spent a ton of
time together and became real close. Lived together
at spring training a couple of years. you know,
and he works in logistics and for waste management
now in South Carolina. You just, you know, you
don't know what life's going to bring you, right?
You don't know what's coming next. But all we
have is our experiences and our relationships,
you know, your network, we've talked about that
a few times too. And it's not about trying to
grow a network to to better my family or better
my financial status or my job title. And it's
just about loving on people because that's what
we get to do. I think that's what we're designed
to do as humans is be in fellowship with each
other and love on each other and help each other
out. And yeah, I could keep going with the list
of guys that I've been blessed to call friends
and to call teammates and just different experiences
and different stories throughout this incredible
journey I've been on. We don't have enough time
for that. But yeah, Max Stassi is definitely
one that stands out. Just a young kid that showed
up, worked hard. You could see it from the word
go, how good his tools were. But just he faced
a lot of adversity of himself with injuries and
failure. And he just kept going. And he's on
pace to be the last member of my draft class
still playing baseball. There's me, Max Stassi,
and Ian Kroll. still playing. I outlasted the
first overall pick that year in Steven Schrossberg
so I'm proud of that. He's made a lot more money
than me but I'm proud to be playing longer than
him so it's just been an incredible journey and
everything else and like I said just kind of
recap it like the it's all been great the on
-field success has been great. you know getting
those paychecks for that many years was great
being an athlete and entertainer but what it
boils down to is you know i love my family i
love my friends and those are the people that
i get to live the rest of my life being around
and spending time with and i'll always have everything
i've accomplished in this sport connected to
me but it's not it's not who i am it's just it's
just what i do dan i think that Part of why,
from my perspective, why I think that you can
look back on the body of work and the career
and just say, hey, this is pretty cool. This
is pretty colorful. Look at all these stops.
Look at all these friendships that I made. I
was in Fresno in 2015 and you just kind of strike
me as someone that's wherever you are, you're
in the moment at that place. And like what you
were saying on an earlier podcast, it may have
been the journeyman about maybe those first couple
spring trainings in Oakland. where you're getting
to know everybody, the security guards, the people
that wash your cleats, or you have this natural
curiosity about people, I think. I do. Wherever
you've been placed, it's like, hey, I wanna chat
this guy up. I wanna get to know this person
on a first name basis. I always tell people,
like, I don't necessarily care what you do. Like,
I don't. Like, I've had a lot of successful friends.
that have made a lot of money in their careers
and do this like I'm not really interested in
what your job title is I love to hear how you
got there though I don't care where there is
like where you at and where you headed I just
love to hear it I love to hear people's stories
I love to hear you know the the grit that got
you to the spot that you're in uh we've all clawed
and fought for anywhere we are right we all have
a reason for why we are here today and uh yeah
being where your feet are is a big part of my
career so I tell guys all the time, you know,
when you're 12 years old and you're playing in
that little league championship game, like that's
your major leagues. When you're in high school
and you're playing in front of your parents and
a few friends that showed up, or maybe the girl
you like, that's your major leagues. And so when
you go to college, that's your major leagues.
Each level of the minor leagues, that's your
version of the major leagues. So when I got to
the major leagues, it was just, I was meant to
be there. So I was prepared because I... had
had that, this is my pinnacle over and over and
over and over again. So I wasn't nervous to be
there because when I was in AAA, that was my
major leagues. When I was in AA, that was my
major league. And you just keep, wherever you
are. So it's just kind of, I've always kind of
taken that approach to it of just being the best
version of myself wherever I'm at. And it works.
It truly does. If you just commit to where you
are, take care of yourself and let the rest take
care of itself was the advice from my pitching
coach in college. and it has been the most to
date like true statement I've heard about this
game of baseball and it can be applied at so
many different places in life. Just take care
of yourself and let the rest take care of itself
and you'll like where you end up. Just continue
to hang on these pieces of advice. I hope you
guys listening are as well. Something unique
about the game of baseball it is it's been said
many times it's a game of failure. Even someone
hitting 286 pretty reasonable batting average
Just one metric there He's not getting on base,
but about almost three times out of ten So those
are strikeouts pop outs, you know, just hard
hit ground balls great good contact getting out
getting out throwing your out pitch hitting your
location and And it sails over the fence or whatever.
I'm not saying it in the best terms, but what's
it like when you're Versus a quarterback that
throws a pick six and as soon as it happens,
he's trotting off the field with the offense
Basketball it's moving really fast baseball You
could walk two guys back -to -back Then give
up a base clearing double You're not getting
the hook yet. It's the second inning. Maybe you
fart your team started giving you four or five
runs So you got a little bit of a leash then
you give up another Single then you get a pop
-out. You're just hanging out there going through
all those emotions. That's a really long -winded
question But what's it like for people listening
that haven't been in that situation where you're
on the mound and you are just frustrated Confused
you're thinking man. I felt great today What
is happening here and but you can't fall apart
because as we know right the pitchers got the
center field camera on him. He's got those first
and third base dugout cameras zooming in on his
expression, how he's handling this moment. Are
you guys? Yeah. Speak to that a little bit. Yeah.
So, uh, when we have a bad day at work, the world
notices, right? The audience that's watching
you notices. So that's my mom before I think,
but like, mom, you had, you have a bad day at
work. Like you might go home and think about
it, but like your boss isn't going home and thinking
about your bad day at work. No one else might
even know not even know it's a bad day at work
We have a bad day at work the whole world notices
and when I was overseas in Korea, I heard the
perfect saying about these days I'm gonna say
the same first and then I'll tell you the backstory.
It's not broke It just doesn't work Let me say
that again, it's not broken, but it just doesn't
work And what that was referring to was an air
conditioning unit in the weight room. It was
98 degrees outside. The air conditioning system
had zero airs. Zero airs on it. It was pushing
air. It was not cooling the air to the temperature
that we wanted it to be inside. It was 94 degrees
it felt like inside the weight room because there's
30 of us in there lifting weights. They bring
all these technicians in. They're searching everything.
There's nothing wrong with the system. But today,
it is just not working. Today, the air outside
is way too hot for our system's capacity to cool
it off by the time it gets to your room. When
the air outside cools off, that air that passes
through the system will be cooled to your desired
temperature of whatever, okay? When you're on
the mound, you don't get to the major leagues
by sucking. You don't get to the major leagues
by failing. Anytime you watch an athlete on TV,
you're watching someone that has poured their
heart and their soul into that profession. Now,
because people buy tickets to these sporting
events and pay for these TV packages and this
and that, right? They're entitled to their whatevers.
You can say what you want according to them.
But I always remind people, we're just people.
We're just like you. And some days I show up
to work, and the air outside is too hot for my
system to cool it off. I'm not broken. I'm not
gonna go hit the panic button after this game
and figure out what I need to change. It just
didn't work today. One of my favorite examples
of this is Joey Votto. If you follow baseball,
you know who Joey Votto is. And I played with
Joey in 2016. And at the end of May, So we're
pretty far into the season. At the end of May,
I think it was, Joey was hitting like 202, which
is not Joey Votto. It might've even dipped below
200, but I don't know exactly where. It was around
200. And Joey said to the media, if I finish
this season under 200, I will retire and give
back the rest of my contract. I think Joey was
serious, by the way. And so I was really paying
attention to Joey at this point. How does a superstar,
how does a superstar deal with failure? How does
a superstar get out of this hole that he's in?
And what I noticed was that Joey Votto changed
nothing. Joey Votto showed up every single day
and did his work diligently the same way, the
same effort. day in, day out, never failing,
never faltering, never distracted, never woes
me, showed up and worked. The season ended, Joey
finished second or third in the American League
MVP voting and hit over 400 in the second half
of the season and finished batting 325 on the
year. He did the same routine, the same drill,
the same everything, the same warmup, you name
it, it was the same when he was hitting 200.
versus when he hit over 400 in the second half
of the season. What Joey was doing in the first
half, the first part of the season, was not broken.
It just didn't work. But he believed in his process.
He believed in the outcome. There's a huge difference
in baseball in being result -driven versus process
-driven. A result -driven person is going to
be higher than high when they're doing great
and lower than low when they're doing bad. And
that is a tough place to be as a professional
athlete. because it is so full of failures and
success that being a process motivated a process
driven person and just trusting laying down your
process knowing it is a good process and trusting
your process to just show up and put the work
in is all you can ask of yourself and you'll
sleep great at the end of the day knowing that
i gave it everything i had and win lose or draw
it wasn't because I did something different.
I put in the same thing all the time, that consistency
we look for in baseball. And so when you see
an athlete on the mound struggling, when you
see a hitter in an 0 for 20 slump, just know
that that person is feeling that more than you
watching. That person is feeling that stress,
that strain, embarrassment, and whatever emotion
is associated with it in that moment. They're
frustrated. They're confused. They're all these
things but the good ones like we don't sit back
and go man I suck this like I got to change everything
it goes No, it wasn't me today. See you guys
tomorrow That's how it works. I love the Kind
of reset the day mindset Yeah, I hope everyone
can put that into practice. Just reset the day
try to get a good night's sleep Try to take care
of your body try to do all these things systematically
And you're gonna have bad days just like everybody
else. You're gonna spill something on your nice
pair of pants. Whatever, but reset the day is
something I like to adhere to. Wow, that is just
a really, really interesting perspective, especially
the fans watching either on TV or in the stands.
And they're booing, and they're upset, and they
paid a lot of money to watch. Right this guy
not strike out or not give up that grand slam.
What have you put? Yeah, I just have always admired
baseball players for being basically you're hung
out to dry your I can't think of another sport
where every position position players are spread
out Everyone's kind of on their own island if
they make an error In the playoffs in the World
Series and you're just standing there Yeah, those
cameras got good lenses. They can zoom in really
far Yeah They can, and Twitter's ex is relentless
too. So yeah, you name it, I've heard it. At
the end of the day, I don't care about your fantasy
baseball team. I don't really care how much money
you lost in a bet. Don't gamble. Don't gamble
what you're not willing to lose. That's just
my perspective of it. But it's just all these
things. I've heard it all. I've had death threats.
I've had death threats on my family. And you
know what my thought is, honestly, for those
people? is, you know, God help them. I really,
like anybody that feels the urge to reach out
to another human being and make a threat on their
family, their children, their wives, themselves,
whatever it is, you know, I pray for those people
because that's, talk about fighting some demons.
And so I try to take that same, whenever stuff
like that happens, don't get me wrong, I report
it and make sure that I'm safe. But, you know.
I just really pray for those people that they're
fighting their own demons and they feel the urge
that they need to attack me for giving my best
effort at something. But anyway, yeah, it's really
hard for me to watch guys experience failure.
I cringe with them. But it's also really easy
for me to rejoice with the guys that do great.
You know, that's the beauty of baseball. You
don't know what you're showing up to watch. I
showed up one day to watch my team face the Cubs
and I sat in the dugout for nine innings and
watched Jake Garrietta no hit us and I'm not
gonna sit there and tell you that I was pumped
about it in the moment but at the end of the
day I've been in the dugout and seen two no hitters
like as a baseball player and a huge fan of the
game I clearly was more excited for the one that
my team did the no hitting I watched Edinson
Volquez no hit the Diamondbacks but when I was
on the in the dugout watching Jake Garrietta
like we are really rooting for our hit right
no one wants to be on ESPN that night for for
the no hitter but at the end of the day years
down the road like you get a chance to like man
you know what i got to be in the dugout and watch
two no hitters from 120 feet away like that's
pretty sweet and so you know down the road it's
you know really easy to sit there and be super
pumped for Jake and Super easy for me to be pumped
for Volquez after being on the team that did
the no -hitting But it's just part of the game,
right? You know some of my buddies my college
roommate his parents every year throw a dart
at the calendar and Put themselves a San Francisco
Giants game the day that single season games
go on sale and they splurge They sit right on
top of the dugouts. They get great seats and
years ago They threw that dart and it landed
on Barry Bonds' record -breaking home run. Wow.
And they didn't know that when they threw the
dart. You know what I mean? They didn't know
that when they picked the game. They just, let's
go down this weekend. They booked hotels and
everything, and they saved a lot, because if
they would have tried to go, they'd do that the
week before, right? And you know, there's another
one, too. You just don't know what you're gonna
get when you go to the ballpark. There's a, I
forget the names of the pitchers, but I think
it was, I think it was Maddox and Rainey Johnson
were supposed to start this game in LA. And all
these fans were, Head into the ballpark. We'll
get ready to watch this big matchup. The two
teams were fighting for the playoffs There's
a team somewhere else that if they lost that
both the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers got into
the playoffs and so all these fans are heading
in watching this game that they're just so excited
for and About two hours. I think before first
pitch the team that was supposed to that if they
lost both teams got in the playoffs lost So both
teams scratched their starting pitchers. Let's
save them for next week for the playoffs. Give
them a quick break, like give them a little breather.
And so all these fans showed up to this this
ballpark to watch Randy Johnson and Greg Maddox
and. They had to watch Max Scherzer and Clayton
Kershaw. And the fans were pissed like it's funny
to go back and like, look at this. It's funny
to go back and look at this because. They were
I think I want to say it was Clayton's like third
or fourth start and Max had like the right around
the same or Maybe one of them had a little few
more innings than the other but it was like You
just don't know what you're walking now those
like if Steve said that five years ago It sure
is your Kershaw everyone's like, oh my gosh marquee
matchup all eyes on it, right? but that's the
beauty of baseball as you go to games and you
know, who's that playing and What if it's the
next Mike trout, you know, right you got to say
you were there for the debut You don't it's just
It's so cool. And that's the beauty of this game.
It's a game of failure. It's a game of There's
no better way to put it It is a game of failure
at every level no matter what you do you when
you when you win you fail, right? You there's
no such thing as a perfect game. Perfect games
could be better No one's ever gone out there
and thrown a hundred pitches a hundred strikes
and had 27 strikeouts and everything that comes
along with it Like it's just an incredible game
that if you love it, you love it And if you don't
understand it, you probably don't love it And
it's my passion. It's been my job for a long
time. It's been a lot of things. It's blessed
my family with experiences. It's blessed us monetarily.
It's blessed us just in travel, getting to see
the world. I didn't get on an airplane until
I was 18 years old. my son is like the highest
level delta flyer that there is like you know
i need seven so i guess just like this just a
different world that it's opened my eyes up to
but yeah there's i don't even remember what the
question was at this point it's just been oh
that's all right on another another rant here
but the um yeah we just this game is amazing
uh it's so deep so many different levels you
know it's one of the few things in life that
people running it used to play it It's just kind
of the way it works. There's no really crossover.
There's no NFL players coaching major league
baseball players kind of deal. And some of the
guys that are running it never played it because
you don't have to be good at some. Just because
you're not good at something doesn't mean you
don't know a lot about it. Look at some of the
English football clubs or some of the NFL. football
clubs that we call them, right? Some of our American
football clubs where, you know, some of the best
coaches never played. And that's just part of
it. Like it's just this melting pot of languages
and cultures and diverse backgrounds. And we
all come together under this common idea of playing
this game. 162 of them in 184 days over the course
of the most beautiful time of the year and we
call it America's pastime for a reason and you
know, it's just like there's so much passion
I have and grew up loving this sport in this
game and I hate the business but I love the sport
like constantly and like all this stuff that
goes into it and just super blessed to be able
to say that I've been doing it for so long and
just want to do it a few more years. Well, I
think there's a lot left in the tank and I'm
rooting for you. Dan, do you have a few I got
a few kind of wild card questions here. It's
just kind of fun stuff. All right. Let's go for
it. I got about I got about 10 minutes and I
need to call my wife back. She got off work and
she's wondering where I'm at. I got to check
in with her, but she knows I'm long winded, so
it's all good. All right. Did you have a favorite
visitor's clubhouse across, you know, man, a
hell, you know? Yeah, I'm trying to think there's
so many different reasons like the. The Phillies
Visiting Clubhouse has a cheesesteak eating contest
that's just been going forever. The Detroit Tigers
have a menu of milkshakes and if you come up
with this super weird milkshake, it gets named
after you. There's just a whole bunch of different
jokes or different things. In Atlanta, there's
a Powerade cooler. that if you open it a snake
jumps out and like it's been there forever. I
mean it was the last time you saw a Powerade
cooler but it's been the same snake, the same
string, the same sign forever. It came from Turner
to the new ballpark. It's incredible some of
the stuff that is in Major League Club houses
that has just been a part of what it is. I would
say probably my favorite is San Diego though
for something that you might not even ever think
of as a fan and this might be giving away way
too much information but the team hotel is across
the street. So there's no bus. There's no hour
-long commute like you're going to play in New
York there's Whatever it stretches at 3 and you
want to get out of your bed at 2 in the afternoon
and walk over go for it No one cares be at work
by 2 30. You're good So it's got to be San Diego
just simply because the proximity to the to the
hotel It's like legit a three -minute walk from
your room down the elevator across the street
through security and you're there nice How about
favorite? alternate uni alternate uniform from
any of the teams you played on some of those
Sunday Jersey tops or yeah Did did you have one
where you like? Oh, this is cool. Do guys get
excited about that when it's oh very yeah, very
excited when you know about it enough time You'll
get custom gloves custom cleats custom everything
we're talking $500 gloves that you're like, yeah
I'm gonna wear it twice this year, but I'm gonna
look good and like you're willing to do that.
When I was with the Marlins, we got to wear like
the throwback pinstripes. I was just like, this
is awesome. This is awesome. The one that I wish
I could have gotten to wear was I came up with
Oakland, as you mentioned, from 09 to 14. And
right before I got to the big leagues, they ditched
the black top. I wanted to wear that black uniform
so bad. And they got rid of the black hat and
they just went with the yellow, the green and
the gold. Green, gold, white, gray, yeah. So
they got rid, it's not five, but they got rid
of the black one, which is what the one that
everyone wanted to wear. So yeah, I would say
that that alternate one we wore there, I didn't
get a chance to be a part of the City Connect
stuff. Not yet anyway. I think that Baltimore
one is really sick. Again, it's all black. I
think that just looks really clean. And then
it'd be really hard pressed not to want to wear
the Mariner. like teal blue that they have. That
seems like a pretty sick uniform too. So they
all are cool in their own way. I know that MLB
uniforms this year has been kind of a funky thing,
but I'd still have to stick with that pinstripe
Marlins throwback was probably my favorite one.
Oh yeah. Okay, couple more. Have you ever played
MLB the show and gotten yourself loosened up?
Oh yeah. Started yourself traded for yourself?
Oh, yeah Oh, yeah, I had no he always wondered
like guys have to do that Yeah, my my son actually
was getting on me because I only have like two
games of mine And he told me I need to go on
the internet and buy every game that I was in
That way he can have it forever. And I'm like
you're in dude. That sounds great I'm sorry that
I didn't do that ahead of time but him and I
started playing it'll be the show about two weeks
ago and There's you know, that's actually a cool
tool as a parent to we get to play on weekends
and video games in our house and we use it to
like learn the rules of baseball and Well dad
why so I have a runner on first base and I'm
like, hey bud So if I hit the ball to anybody
on the infield and it hits the ground first you
throw it to second base and then first base and
what's that called and he's like that's a double
play and Then I hit the ground ball and he throws
it to first and he's like, I'm sorry. I panic
I'm like, it's okay bud. Like you're good. So
I yeah, I've played with myself on there many
times boost my stats obviously because there's
no way they they always underestimate my stuff
and uh and then uh now it's just really fun to
use it as a teaching tool and some uh some fun
video game time for me and my kid oh yeah you
will learn a lot about baseball yeah a child
or an adult playing mlb the show i don't get
to play it as much anymore but my favorite i
don't play video games but yeah Yeah, it's getting
hard. They're making it more realistic. It's
not the old A -Rod version of 03 that it used
to be. I think it was called Triple Play, actually.
It was a different game than completely, but
anyway. Okay, I guess last question. You and
your son, when you guys get to carve out a little
bit of time together and he wants to do something,
maybe you're not crazy about it, but it's his
thing, what does a day look like when you guys
are just cutting out for a couple hours? So we
actually have these days we call it the Jackson
appreciation day So Jackson's along for the ride
and so much of what we do whether you know, we
got to run our errands or I got to go to the
gym and work out or I'm giving a pitching lesson
and he's just along for the ride So every now
and then we we do these Jackson appreciation
days or which we just don't say no he gets to
plan where we go eat he gets to plan what we
go do and like you find out pretty quick like
what he really wants and what he really wants
is to just spend time with us whether it's like
playing Legos or he likes to dress up a lot so
he'll dress up as Darth Vader and we'll do like
lightsaber fights or he wants to go outside and
play catch or go hit or go ride his bike or go
swim and he just like wants us and all of our
attention and which is this completely normal
thing as a kid right and so We started doing
this or just kind of randomly picking a Saturday
and he wants to go eat some, some chicken and,
and fries and watch, you know, an extra episode
of Bluey or something. Oh, it's just like the
smallest things, but with how time demanding
my job is and my wife's a nurse and so her job
is time demanding as well. So we're just, we're
busy folks. And so we do definitely try to take
time set aside and let him know that he's appreciated
that we. We love him as our son. We couldn't
be happier that we get to be the parents of this
kid. Loves karate, loves piano, loves baseball,
and just really is like just a passionate, caring
person. And I am just so, so blessed to be a
dad and blessed to be his dad. And yeah, it's
whenever it's his time to pick stuff, sometimes
it's MLB the show, sometimes it's Harry Potter,
Hogwarts legacy video game. a lot of times it's
let's just go let's go play in his toy room or
let's you know just have some fun with these
things but it's it's really whatever he wants
and we let it happen we let it we let it be a
thing you know sometimes it costs me a little
more money than i expected in certain aspects
but at the end of the day you know my father
-in -law says money has no home you can't take
it with you when you're gone so you make it we're
going to spend it on experiences and and let's
go so that's kind of what we're we're doing with
our son a lot of times where it's We're that
family that goes to Disneyland once a year. We've
been so many times lately and my son was like,
dad, how come we only get to go once a year?
I said, dude, I got to go three times my entire
life. I think once a year is plenty, buddy. So
it's just, yeah, we're trying really hard to
make sure that just to let our son know that
he's appreciated and that he's just as much a
part of this family as me and mom. And really,
he completes our family. And it's just been awesome.
Being a dad has been probably the hardest, most
humbling thing I've ever had to do in my life.
And like everything else in this journey, I wouldn't
trade it for the world. Man, what a way to close
out here. That's just a good piece of advice.
If you're a dad yourself, if you're not, maybe
you got a nephew, got a niece. Children, if you
care about them, you give them some undivided
attention. You do the things that they like to
do. It's going to help their confidence. It's
just nothing better, I think, for a child than
to know that adults care about them, whether
that's their mom and dad or their uncle or their
grandma, whoever's taking care of them, spending
a lot of time with them. Just a great piece.
Great piece to end on there, Dan. I just thoroughly
enjoyed talking to you today. I appreciate you
making time. I know you got some balls in the
air and I'm rooting for you, man. Really am I
think that I think good things are gonna happen
and like you said not sure how it's gonna materialize
What's gonna happen, but but you're enjoying
it. Yeah, we should circle back and see what
happens down the road Absolutely. You're always
welcome here on Dan time. So yeah, we'll definitely
And folks any plug you want to put in I know
I talked about the journeyman podcast folks,
please download and subscribe you will not regret
it anything else that you'd like to Put out there,
Dan. I'm good. No, I'm good. I appreciate it.
Thanks for letting people know about the journeyman
podcast. You know, that's just like you said,
there's four of us. We got a quite a diverse
group of us for in terms of the knowledge of
baseball and what we do in real life and everything
else. But it's been a lot of fun telling the
story of baseball from all the different angles.
Then it's you know, it's not really just about
baseball. It's just about people. So it's been
a lot of fun. Dan, take care, man. We'll keep
in touch and we'll do this again sometime. You
too, Dan. Take care. All right, folks. We'll
see you next Sunday on the Dan Time Podcast.