June 25, 2025 • 45 mins
Inning 6 of Parney Time is all about the grind behind the gear. Parney and Cheats are joined by longtime catcher and all-around clubhouse legend Steve Lerud for a wide-ranging conversation filled with heart, laughter, and minor league gold.
Steve reflects on his time with the Altoona Curve and Richmond Flying Squirrels, his first drink with Parney, and the managers who left a lasting impact on his career.
Now working with rising baseball talent as a consultant and advisor, Steve shares what it’s like guiding the next generation of players. Plus, some WILD stories from the road.
Oh, and Steve might hold a prestigious Nevada high school baseball record that you'd never expect... An episode packed with perspective, laughs, and love for the game!
Follow Cheats @BBallMixtape on Twitter @blackbaseballmixtape on Instagram and listen to the Black Baseball Mixtape
Follow Michael Phillips @michaelpinRVA
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everybody party for the Party Time podcast. Here. The
(00:02):
first you get from this inning of Party Time is
quiched only by Boolight. Bush Light is my favorite beer winter, spring, summer,
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or in party's pubs celebrating a squirrel's victory, nothing tastes
better than an ice cold Boolight. So go visit your
(00:26):
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(01:09):
like my man Robbie and Performance Food Service. Party Time
loves performance food service. Hey everybody, welcome back to the
Party Time Podcast Season two, Season two. I got Joe
T behind me. Joe T's excited about today's show. Hell yeah,
(01:32):
got cheats with this cheats. Welcome aboard a Party's Pub Club.
What did I call, y'all? I guess you're a charter
member of Parney's Pub Club, right you.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I'm excited. Let's get it going.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Season two is great and we're excited about it. And
today's guest he's coming from a car somewhere. I'm not
really sure he's blurred out now, which I don't know.
What the hell that's all about. Party Time Podcast is
all about relationships. And by the way, Michael Phillips will
be joining us as soon as his boss letsie about
(02:06):
relationships and thirty five plus years in this industry of
sports and baseball, today's going to be really special for me.
They're all special, but this one. There's only one player
in thirty six years cheats of me working in minor
league baseball that has lived at my house not once,
(02:31):
but twice. And that person is today's guests, Steve Larude
aka Rudy. Sometimes we call him Steve, sometimes we call
him Rudy. Rudy, we we welcome you not only as
our guest, but as a fan and a subscriber to
the Party Time podcast. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Hell yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, no, obviously you've had some guests on that I'm
close with, and it's been it's been a fun follow Well,
we're gonna have more.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
We're gonna have more. Season two is gonna bring us
people that you've spent time on the field with, people
like Matt Kapps and others are joining us in season two.
So we're excited about that and excited that we didn't
get canceled after season one, to be honest with you,
So let's get the conversation started. I was trying to
think this morning as I was working out, and yes, Rudy,
(03:25):
I know I'm still fat, but I do work out
every day. I'm trying to stay medium fat. Exactly when
we met, do you remember when we met? Exactly?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It's funny because the guy you just mentioned, Matt Capps,
I had just gotten promoted to Altoona and he had
this amazing season.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Where he started.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
He started the year I believe in low Way and
went all the way to the big leagues. That was
the year before and became the closer in Pittsburgh. But
when I got promoted, I got promoted from Lynchburg to
go to Altuna. He called me right away and he said,
as soon as you get there, get on the elevator
after the game, and you've got to go to Parney's office.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Tell him that I sent you. And so I did.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
After the first game, I went up there, I took
the elevator to the second floor, knocked on the office door,
and all I heard was what I said, Hey, I'm
Steve Larude, and Matt Kapp sent me. He said, okay,
come in, close the door. And then you turned around
and you grabbed a beer. You slid it across the
(04:33):
desk and he turned on ESPN and we watched highlights
and talk all night.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Hey, Cheeks, is that sounded about right? Cheeks, that's not
about right.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It sounds fantastic.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
We've been friends since Yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Actually, I'll take it a step further. I think we've
been more than friends. I mean, you're thirty five, thirty
six years. Time's probably what what do you think, Rudy
and my League Baseball we have sixty seventy players a year,
So I don't know what the math on that is
cheats and I'm sure how am I gonna ask Joe
t what the math is because you'd have to take
his shoes and socks off. But Rudy's like family, Like
(05:10):
my daughters feel like he's he's their brother because he
lived in their house. So let's get right there. You were,
you're in Altuna, you came up to my office, you
played there. You didn't live with me the first time,
but you lived with me the second time, right, correct?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, so I'd gotten promoted like halfway through the season,
right at the All Star break, and yeah, the next
year was when your guys' ownership group sold out Tune,
I believe, and that's when you took the job in Richmond.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
But you were going back and forth.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So as soon as I had gotten protected on the
forty men roster that that off season, but they had
the Pirates at the time actually had some really good catching,
so I got pushed back to double A.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
To start the year.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Who they have Ryan Domit, Ronnie Paulino. Obviously Eric Krafts
was actually there. He ended up catching ten years in
the big leagues, so oh uh oh.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
With Ryan Ryan Domot with Ryan Domot. It's not an
all academic team if I recall correctly, No, but.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Really good bar team. And then I don't remember Humberto Coda.
He was actually the starter there at the time. So yeah,
I was going back to Double A when the rosters broke.
That's when you called me and you're like, hey, come
live in my come live in the basement.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
And I took you up on it. It was just
down the street, so.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I think Chiefs just left us, but he should be
back anytime soon. So tell everybody in the party time
Land about when you lived at my house that year.
I wasn't working full time in Altoon anymore because we
were starting. I don't think I was here yet, but
I think we were getting ready. I think I was
in between right, like I was getting ready to come
down to Richmond, which now cheats. It is hard for
(07:03):
me to it's hard for me to believe remember my
life before Richmond. Richmond has been so great to me.
But Rudy Steve the Rue's behind the plate in Altoona
that year, tell me.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
We were so bad. We had a bad team. We
were we were bad.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But what would you do behind the plate. When the
first out was made, you would do.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I'd start counting down from twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So there was an out made and you would.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Say twenty six, twenty five, twenty four, and then of
course I'd get out and it's like, shoot, that's the
one out I did want.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
You know why he was doing that. Cheats, he was counting.
He was counting down from twenty seven. Tell cheats, why Steve.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
That's that's how many outs I needed so I could
go have a beer with you on the back porch
by the pool.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Counting down, counting down from twenty seven outs just so
you can drink beer with me. Is seriously one of
the coolest things that ever happened to me in thirty
six years of baseball. And do you know how many
times I come across umpires who remember that, Like it's crazy,
how many times I come across somepires.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Remember that they didn't like me?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, well, they didn't like you as a player, and
I sure as hell didn't like you as a manager.
So that was a special thing we had. And then
I did come to Richmond tell everybody the story about
how you ended up in Richmond.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah, so that was I was obviously, in the twilight
of my playing days, I had signed to go. I
was in spring training with the Mariners. I went to
major league camp with them and ended up getting released
the only time I actually got released in my whole career,
which is something I'm pretty proud of for as long
as I played, only getting released one time, and the
(08:56):
Giants actually called me. Shane Turner I was close with.
He was actually UH manager of mine in the Arizona
Fall League. So Shane had called me, and of course
I'm bitter because I thought I was way better than
I was, but he he asked me if I would
be willing to just come out to UH to extended
(09:17):
spring training and they'd have a spot for me in
a couple of weeks, and that turned into me coming
to Richmond. Finally, one night he called me. I'd been
there for like a month and they were paying me
way too much money to be at extended spring training,
so he UH he called and asked me if i'd
come help out some of the young pitchers you guys
had on that staff. And it was actually a really
(09:39):
cool opportunity for me because I think that was kind
of the beginning of of my coaching path and something
that I still do now in my work, but that
that was it was a great opportunity. I got to
catch some really good arms. Obviously got to uh live
in the penthouse, which didn't stink.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Stop right there, stop right there, cheets. This guy walked
into my office, hugged me the day he signed and said,
give me the keys to your penthouse. And I said,
you're not living there, and he said, I'm not leaving
this office until you give me the keys to your penthouse.
You're in love with Tanya, you're living with Tanya. You
(10:21):
don't use this penthouse downtown. Give me the keys.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
And guess what he did.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I gave him the keys. So about three weeks later,
one of my buddies, Chad from Shine the Bar down
the street from the penthouse, said, who is your new
catcher And I said, oh, that's Steve the Rude. He's
living in my house. And he said he's in here
every night. I see that he's hitting fifty nine. And Rudy,
(10:54):
tell everybody what you told me when I told you that,
I said, I said, you're hitting O fifty nine. And
Steve said, at the end of the season, I'm going
to be hitting, and I'm going to lead the team
in walks, cheets. We get to the last day of
the season, this asshole is hitting two forty nine and
(11:14):
he's leading the team and the league in walks from
fifty nine. He just had to get acclimated.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
I kept telling you.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
But anyway, that was one of the great Steve Rue
player stories, when he ended up hitting two fifty, leading
the team and hitting when he was hitting oh fifty
nine after he got here. The other thing I will say,
I'll go back to when you you played for in
the Eastern League. You played for Altoona, and I was
there with you. You played for Harrisburg.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Right, No, I never played No, I played for Bowie,
he played for Red. I played in Bowie Reading and Richmond. Okay,
so so almost of the league. Yeah, no big deal.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
In twenty twelve, at the trade deadline, the Phillies had
an assistant general manager named Howie Freeling. And I knew
Howie when he was a manager in this league with
the Binghamson team. And how he comes down to Parney's
Pub and he goes, Hey, can you come have dinner
with me? I gotta I gotta ask you some questions
So we went to post pub Jo t here in
(12:27):
Richmond and had a few beers and had some food,
and he goes, tell me about Tommy Joseph. So I
went off on Tommy Joseph because I love Tommy Joseph
to this day, Steve, I love Tommy Joseph, and so
do you, and so does Joe Tea. Yeah, and so
long story short, if you remember this trade cheats, the
(12:48):
Phillies traded hundred pence to the San Francisco Giants. Yes, straight,
Tommy Joseph, we're playing the reading, We're playing the Redding Phillies.
That night we literally joked he put Tommy Joseph's shit
in a in a stolen shopping cart that he stolen
(13:09):
his white his white freak minivan, and and we we
carted him down to the visiting clubhouse. I opened the
door and Rudy, I don't know if you remember this,
I said, Rudy, here's Tommy Joseph. Take care of him.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Am I right, That's exactly what you said.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And then fast forward, and then fast forward not too
long later. And I don't remember how long ago, Steve,
you can tell me how long ago I was playing
golf team was on the road and Tommy Joseph is
blowing my phone up. I mean, every time I swung
a golf club, Tommy Joseph is calling me. So finally answer.
(13:50):
I goes, somebody is somebody fucking dead? Somebody dead, and
he goes, no, but Rudy's going to the Rudy's going
to the show. And I said, get the hell out
of here, and he goes, no, Rudy's going to Philadelphia.
Am I telling that story right?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, I remember that day, and I shoot, I remember
all that that That year in general just was was
obviously very special for me and just kind of the
path that I went on. But and obviously Tommy's a
good friend of mine, like we still keep in touch.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Super proud of what he's doing as a.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Coach now, being on a major league hitting coaches something
that he was always kind of destined for, just because
he was obviously such a good hitter and just the
way he can relate to players. And I think that
that's something that he appreciated that I did for him
when he came over in that trade, and it was
(14:46):
a it was a he was really young too. I
don't know if you remember he was only like twenty
years old, and I did.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Actually actually actually we just had his twenty first birthday.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Part so he had just turned twenty one.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
And it was a hum finger. It was a Halligan's.
Remember Halligan's Cheats in Richmond.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Let's go Halli a sci fi er bar.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah. Yeah, Well we turned on every engine into whole
damn place that night. I mean it was there was
a shot to be had. We founded a Halligans that night.
So one. But and Rudy, you were you were probably
what eight years into that point something like that.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Uh see that? Yeah, that that was It was my
eighth year, Yeah, eighth year.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So I had been I had been a prospect, I
had been a suspect. I had been put on forty
men rosters. I've been DFA, I was on my third organization.
And and honestly, when Tommy came over, that that was
and I've never told him this, but that that was
something that kind of I think reignited my passion for
(15:54):
the game because he was a guy that wanted to
learn from me and I think respected kind of the
path I had been on, Like I had been in
Triple A, I hadn't been to the big leagues yet
it's been a couple of seasons in Triple A just
up and.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Down, and.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
You know, being able to go and and and the
Phillies the opportunity they gave me, I don't I don't
know if you know this, but that off season before
I thought my I thought my career was over when
I finished twenty eleven with the Orioles, I didn't. I
didn't have a very good year, and you know, I
was dealing with some other stuff off the field.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
And I got the opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Go play winter ball in Panama with one of the
coaches that I had in Bowie that year.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I don't remember a Rdz.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Oh yeah, got to catcher for the Indians for a
long time. So he asked me to come play on
his winter ball team in Panama from Altuna.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I mean not from Altuona, but he lived in Altuna
for a while.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, So yeah, Ainter invited me to come out there
and I ended up playing really well, and the Phillies
actually signed me as a free agent out of the
Winter League in Panama and invited me to spring training,
to big league spring training, which I was completely surprised
because I I honestly thought my career was over. And
that's when you know, at that trade deadline that year,
(17:12):
I met Tommy and we uh, we had a really
good relationship, really good. Just he wanted to get after
it and he wanted to pick my brain about a
lot of stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
And I think that that.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
You wanted to get after it too.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
I wanted to get out of reading. I can tell
you that. I tell you that, But no, that was
that was a really cool I think just he was
happy for me. I was just happy for what he
was doing. And that's just him as a person, right
like I I was I was actually his backup and
(17:50):
got called up to the big leagues from Double A.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
And that's what was so impressive to me. Honestly, that's true.
And he he he wore me out on the phone
because he was so excited for you, and he knew
that you were like a little brother slash son to me,
and he knew that I would be crying, which I was.
And it was so cool that he didn't go the
other way. Right, You've probably been around players who have
(18:17):
been like, well, why the fuck didn't I go to
the big leagues?
Speaker 3 (18:20):
One hundred percent, And that's That's what's so special about
you know, you talk about on this show all the time,
like those those genuine relationships like I like I said,
I still talked to Tommy to this day. I played
for fourteen years, and trust me, there's probably ten guys
I still actually keep in touch with.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I see a lot of them out.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I stop, who stop one second? Who are those?
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Give me?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Give me like three or four of those guys and
cheats you're on deck. Get ready, Eddie.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Eddie Prash is one of my best friends in the world.
I mean, I was the best man in his wedding.
We got drafted. I got drafted in two thousand and three,
he got after in two thousand and four. So we
always just kind of came up together. So that that's
definitely one. I keep in touch with Matt Capps probably
at least a couple times a year. Preston Claiborne, we
(19:10):
keep in touch all this time.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh my god, there's so many stories we can't tell
about Preston Claiborne on.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
The show, especially now that he's a big league pitching coach.
We gotta we gotta make sure we color for him.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
But I thought I saw I saw him this fall
at an ole Miss football game. Though when I was watching,
I thought I saw that one time, but I didn't.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
No, he hates them.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Who else He's a Texas boy Joe Nathan I have.
I haven't seen Joe since your wedding. Actually, another guy
actually played with in Philly, Tyson Gillies. I actually just
saw him out here this week. A lot of the
guys that I worked with in Chicago when I got
done playing. But you know, I think it is funny
(19:58):
because you know, just as well as me and Joe
t like you, you keep in touch with the special ones,
and I think that that that's that's like the beautiful
part about this game is like the true real relationships
you do create and and you get you. I mean
the first time I met you was two thousand and eight, right,
(20:20):
like it's a long time man, and and that that's
what's so cool about just the people you run into
in this game.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And that's what's so cool about the Party Time podcast
because we have so much connectivity.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
I'm going to lead into Cheats' first Party's pub question,
Party's pub club question by saying this, Rudy Cheats is
the Black Baseball mixtape one of the greatest baseball pods
in the world. He's very much tied to the Alliance
Baseball Alliance cheats. Did you know that Steve Larude scored
(20:54):
a run in the big leagues? He was on third base.
One of your guys, one of your buddies, one of
your one of your pals that I saw at Rickwood
hit a home run, Rudy. Who was that.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
Jimmy Rollins, Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
J hit a home run.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
I believe it was.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
It was like his two thousandth career hit, or like
two hundredth career home run. It was like one of
the two we were in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Do you think he's a Hall of Famer? Cheats you
this is for your two cheats.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
That's a good question. That's a good question. I know
this year. I knew this year the Phillies announced that
they are putting him in the Phillies kind of Hall
of Fame Hall of Fame in twenty twenty five. He
is on the Hall of Fame ballot, still in that
range in that ten year span where he's falling short
right now. I obviously I'm biased, so of course I
(21:54):
think Jimmy Rollins is a Hall of Famer from what
he what he's done from a short stop position. One
one of the coolest things about Jimmy Rollins for me, though,
is just if you see him physically, you don't think
he's a shortstop. You don't think he's a baseball player.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
And the idea that Jimmy Rollins is not a huge
guy by any stretch of the imaginations. If you see him,
you'd probably think he's, you know, just a normal citizen
on the street, is what turned out to be one
of the greatest short steps a World Series shortstop. You know,
he was just an All Star multi times and his
lineage from the Bay is absolutely amazing. So I'm biased,
(22:31):
but I would put Jimmy Rollins in.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Of course me too. All right, So so Cheats and
I talked about Jimmy Rowins. Why do you think real quick, Steven,
Then we're gonna go We're gonna go to Cheats for questions.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
You see some other guys here in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I don't see how you don't put that into a
lot of consideration with the things that he's done.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
And guess what, I'm a huge Joe Mauer fan, but.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Jimmy's got as good of a resume, if not better,
and won a World Series and was an MVP.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I think that was was a goal glove winner.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I think you talk about some of the teams that
he played on, especially that that what was it, the
twenty ten or eleven Phillies, the eleven phase, well eight
and eleven, right, No, eleven eleven was when Ryan Howard
blew out in Game seven of the NLCS.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Remember that.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Ripped up his knee towards a cl running out the
running the first base. So, yeah, the two thousand and
eight Phillies, the two thousand and eight Phillies. Do you
can you tell the history of baseball without talking about
all those guys?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Right?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
And that guy was an MVP that year so or
the year before actually, so, I think he was good
a case as a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
We could go down a rabbit hole. Maybe Chiefs will
do this. We could go down a Hall of Fame
rabbit hole all day long with this group, you know,
like Scotty Rowland. Scotty Rowland played for me riding in
nineteen ninety five. I mean, Harold Baines, Howe's Don Madnley
not in the Hall of Fame. I'm very biased. How's
Will Clark not in the Hall of Fame? So this
(24:10):
could be like, this could be a whole show cheats,
but instead we got Steve Larude here and a very
bad line and he blurs out all the time, which
I'm used to sitting and blurt out cheats. Hit Rudy
out with a question or two, and then I got
a couple follow ups.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Yeah, no, I got I got a good one for you, Rudy.
Since it's uh, you mentioned it as well. Fourteen years
in the game, you changed teams quite a bit, and
so I wondered, after you got acclimated to professional baseball,
did you have a routine when you would enter a
new team, because your you know, baseball is always hard,
(24:46):
there's always new people. What was your routine when you
would enter a new situation?
Speaker 4 (24:50):
You know?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
I think early in my career it was more about,
in my opinion, like the routine is personal to every player,
like how do you get ready to go for form
and be who you are. I think one thing that
I didn't recognize as much when I got into professional
baseball was exactly that.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Like I was so used to the structure of like
a high school program like this is what you do,
like this is how we do it.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
And when you get the professional baseball, you really are
you're you're on your own and you have to kind
of formulate your own routine. So once I figured that out,
I could probably say, honestly, when when when I when
I left Pittsburgh, after after I met Parney, or actually
probably like that last year, there was when I figured
(25:39):
out kind of what worked for me. And I think
that's something that's constantly evolving. I think it's something that
is really overlooked for you know, as young as these
kids start playing now, having them understand what makes them
good the drills, whatever it is, and and they're so
focused on competing in a cage against a computer now
(26:01):
that they don't they don't figure out like how what's
gonna make me good with another guy on the mound.
That that's one thing that you know in the work
I do now is trying to really help kids understand
that sort of stuff. But I would say, you know,
like probably seven years in is when I finally figured
out a routine that worked for me. And and like
(26:21):
I said, it was constantly evolving depending on how you feel.
Definitely a huge part of the game, So I can't
say that. I think it's so individual for each player,
especially when you get into like most guys, they get
into the place that I was in where you're bouncing
around to different places, and I think that that you
have to be able to understand what makes me good
and and this is what I do.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Was there anything you did though when you entered a
new team, anything that helped you get acclimated to the
team and the coaches, and they went.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And got hammered with though probably no, you got drunk.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
My well, my my ticket was the relationship I created
with pictures like That's what kept me around. So every
time I would get to a new team, the first
thing I would do is try and play catch with
as many of them as I could, try to catch
them in the bullpen as much as I could. You know,
go into major League camp every year is kind of
a guy on the outside looking in, Like I try
(27:15):
to get there a few weeks early and create a
rapport with the guys that I know I'm probably gonna
get thrown in the game in in the second half,
like that sort of stuff. And most of the time
those are the guys that I was gonna end up
in Triple A with so being able to understand just
understanding the situation kind of like as an outsider looking in.
(27:36):
I feel like that's what most catchers should be, is
kind of like where can I go help?
Speaker 4 (27:41):
There's only a few JT. Real mudos.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
There's only a few of these guys that are your
absolute frontline dudes. The majority of them are guys that
are a lot like myself, and these pitchers are the
ones that depend on them more than anything. So that
was one thing that I really tried to take a
lot of pride and every time I went to.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
A new team bouncing off of that. The relationship with pictures.
Was there any one picture that when when his name
was on the starting lineup and you were catching him
you got really fired up about?
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Yeah? I mean there was like over the course of
a whole career, like I was fortunate enough. I mean
I got a chance to catch Roy Holliday, Cole Hamill's,
Cliff Lee, like Jonathan Papplebahm, you're talking about Hall of
Fame guys. So, I mean being able to be around
that that Phillies club when they were the team that
they were, that was pretty damn special. I mean, I
(28:29):
got the I caught a lot of really like I
caught Max Schurzer.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Even you know, going back, and I think the situation
is always just kind of what it was. But I
knew when I was in Richmond, like my job was
really to help Tyler Beatty. That's why I got sent there.
Was to help Tyler Beatty, former first round pick, and
and help him kind of figure out how to use
his stuff a little bit better, maybe give him just
a little different idea of how to attack guys at
(28:59):
the professional level. And I think that there's stuff that
Tyler still does as a pitcher that him and I
talked about and maybe helped him have the career that
he's had. Not everybody pitches in the big leagues for
ten years, but that guy's pitched overseas.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
He's made a lot of money doing this.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Has he set you as cut yet you're cut?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Oh gosh?
Speaker 3 (29:18):
No, No, I mean, And that's the other thing, man
is just being happy for the guys that hopefully you help. Man,
I think that not enough people see it that way.
And I think, you know, for the stuff that I
do now, my playing career was almost like my springboard
(29:39):
into what I do now and being able to to
help help kids get through the process and figure out
if they can even be a big leaguers. Only there's
only twenty three thousand of them in the world though.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
So we're gonna we're gonna get to what you do now.
As we close up in a second, Chiefs, can you
take Rooney down without the we're talking about, like manager
of that kind of stuff?
Speaker 5 (30:04):
Sure, but I all say you I want to ask
because it's something that's really important from what I understand.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Party.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
There is a lot countless number of players that have
played high school baseball in the state of Nevada. However,
there's only one person that holds the home run lead
in the state of Nevada, in the state of high
school Nevada Pantheon of Nevada High school Baseball.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
You're talking Bryce Harper.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
No, we're not talking Bryce Harper.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Are we talking?
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Well, what was the left handed hitter's name? A big guy?
Come on, no, Joey something, Joey Gallop. Joey Gallop.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
We're not talking Joey Galla. Do you know who is
the leading home run hitter in the history of school baseball?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
And about it?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Rudy.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Do you know you're looking at him.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Real quick? Tell the story about what Scott Service said
when he found that out.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Oh my god, Hey, that's the only time I got released.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Remember were talking about that earlier.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
We did this thing in Major League spring training in
Seattle when I was there, and every morning, Scott's Service
would come around and I don't know, you guys, actually
he works for the Giants.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Now I believe Ed Lucas. Yeah, Ed Lucas is the hitting.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Coordinator or something like that, right, yeah, yeah, so Ed Lucas.
Oh yeah, great dude, super dry sense of humor. But
Ed Lucas was in charge of the weather report every morning,
so like Service would be doing like our morning meeting
and Ed Lucas's report, because we had spring training in Arizona.
(32:01):
He'd like give the weather and then he'd be like
chance of rain, fuck no. And then so as soon
as he'd say that, Service would get into his, uh,
his whole thing about like he tried to introduce a
new player in camp and yeah, one day that was me,
and he starts rattling all that off that that Cheets
(32:22):
just did and he gets done, like spouting off the
numbers and then he looks at me, he goes, what
the fuck happened? That's when I knew I was probably
on my way out. I was like, Uh, you don't
think I'm that good of a hitter either, not taking
it damn it cheats.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Yeah, I mean really quickly, and I do want to
I want to move on. But I got it, Like
when you hit that mini home runs in high school,
Like when do you realize?
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Did you ever? When did you realize, like I have
a shot to like get the record.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
It's so funny because I had no idea, Like I
was fortunate that I got to play on some high
school clubs that were like nationally ranked, and shoot, my
sophomore year, we had twelve guys either go Division one
or get drafted. So I was watching those guys and
they were like all older than me. I was just
trying to fit in. So I didn't really realize until
(33:20):
my senior year, when you know, like the local the
local media would start following it, like because Matt Williams,
you guys, you know, longtime Major leaguer, Big league manager
Matt Williams was the one that held the record at
forty nine home runs and it's funny. It's funny story
because when my parents moved to northern Nevada, they actually
(33:40):
moved into a duplex in Carson City.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Right next to Matt Williams and his family.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
No way.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah, so they were our neighbors. So he's the one
that set.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
The small world up. After all. It's a small world
after all.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
So I was just I was a little I don't
I don't remember any of it, but yeah, it was
funny that he ended up going to set that record.
My dad actually kept in touch with him because he
did some stuff like through the rotary like local rotary club.
Matt would send balls and stuff to like sign baseballs
or memorabilia.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
But uh, I was what was the number, Rudy sixty two?
Speaker 1 (34:21):
And I'm not trying to be funny. I means you
hitting the minor leagues.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
Probably like sixty two.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
In like fourteen years.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Hey cheetz, he's playing here one time again for Bowie.
And we had these promotions back in two thousand eleven
called Where's Parney where I get a limo and we
go out all over town drinking after games and fans
will try to find us and Rudy gets in the
car and we had some fans in the limo with
us and go, hey, guys, I'm Parny. Rudy gets he goes, Hi,
I'm Rudy. I'm the guy that went yard tonight.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
That's right, that's a that's a long time story.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yeah, a great story.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Uh Rudy. Yeah, manager, you learn from the most. Tom
prince great great selection. By the way, Like I love.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Princey, my goodness, no, I mean that that guy just
so when I first got drafted, obviously we just talked about,
you know, the the numbers and everything, and the reason
that I got drafted was was my bat.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
So Princey was actually like in.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Between if he was still gonna go play for another
year or start coaching when I got to Pittsburgh, so
he'd come catch with us, but he was also a coach,
and then the next year I had him as a manager.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
He ended up not doing it.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
But I remember that guy telling me, like one of
my first few weeks in pro ball, brother, you better
learn how to catch.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
I said.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
What he was like, you ain't as good as you think.
I said, okay, really and honestly, like that's when I
really started to just understand like I had value with
a bat because I could play behind the plate and
that was like and I look at things like from
(36:06):
the outside looking in now and like I was like
a low floor, really high ceiling pick. So it was
something that he kind of like brought to my attention,
like you have to raise your floor to give yourself
a chance, because if you're not this guy that's gonna
go out and hit all these home runs and be
the guy you were in high school, you better at
least be able to defend. And that was like a
(36:28):
real learning moment for me to just understand, like this
is how I'm gonna have longevity in this game and
give myself a chance. I'm from small town Reno, Nevada,
like I didn't come from South Florida, Southern California, Texas,
Georgia like I'm coming. I didn't face the same competition
these guys did. So the point that he made to me,
like right away in my career was like, dude, you
(36:51):
your path to the major leagues is as a catcher,
and that that was really important to me. And like
I said, I was able to have him as a
man the next year, and that guy put me up
against a dugout wall a few times, like for calling
the wrong pitch and I needed that, like I did.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
I put you up against the wall a couple of times,
but it wasn't for calling the right pitch, but I
put yougainst the wall.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I always called the right pitch. If they didn't throw
it the right way, that was their fault.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Oh so, top Prince, that's good. Uh, Chiefs, finish up
with the last question. But I'm gonna think about your
last question, Rudy, real quick, tell everybody you managed in
the minor leagues. You are a great manager in the
minor leagues. Tell everybody what you're doing right now in
like thirty thirty seconds to a minute.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
No, obviously enjoyed my time managing, had my first kid
and didn't want to be on the road anymore.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
So I worked for a small agency.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
I work mostly on the amateur side, doing the advising
and kind of recruiting of high school players families, trying
to help them through either their college or draft process.
I mean, it's a space that's cool for me because
especially the guys that I'm able to recruit locally, like
I'm able to go work with them and go to
the batting cage with them and take them through like
some of the drills and just different things that I
(38:12):
experienced through my career and things that I wish I
would have known probably when I was their age, to
help them kind of expedite their own process and hopefully
become major league players.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Good cheeks.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
No, I'm going to follow up on that, Rudy, just
because I always like to ask players, managers and now
and somebody that's working with young people, if what advice
that do you wish you had when you were a
young player now? And obviously you're able to give that
advice to young players as they go through their career,
(38:47):
but what advice do you give and what advice do
you wish you had when you see someone that reminds
you of yourself?
Speaker 3 (38:54):
I think like the number one thing whenever I go
in and I start talking to a family of a young,
obviously talented player, I think, number one, you have to
realize what they already think about themselves due to social media, right,
(39:15):
Guys that have been in the game for a long
time are the ones that actually know what they are.
So I think the hardest thing is trying to break
down those barriers, like like, I can give an example
of a guy, a college player that I recruited just recently,
who is a middle infielder, and the first thing that
I ever told him was you're going to have to
(39:37):
learn how to play other positions if you want to
play professional baseball. And I said that in front of
his mom and dad, and they looked at me like
I had six eyes. Well, he's been a short stop
this whole life. He's been a short stop.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
It's whole life.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
I'm like, but do you realize that in professional baseball,
the guys he's going to be competing against have our
He's been in pro ball for like five years because
they were signed as sixteen out of Latin America. So
so his path is gonna be like, I'm gonna have
to play some third base, short stuff, second base, maybe
some outfield, get my bats under me. I think it's
(40:14):
being able to prepare those guys for for that sort
of situation that pro ball will represent, like something that
they haven't ever had to do before. You think of
like where most of these kids come from. Most of
it is paid to play until they get to high school.
And if he's not the short stuff on that team.
Guess what mom and dad are gonna go do. They're
(40:35):
gonna go pay for a team. They're gonna go pay
for a team that he can play short stuff on.
So what are we teaching these kids? And that's my
big thing is like, and I'm talking to a twenty
one year old college player telling him this, and if
they don't want to understand that, like, probably I'm not
the guy for you. I think that that's fair. But
(40:56):
the one thing that I always tell them is, man,
you're gonna be something else a lot longer than you're
a baseball player. And I think that that's something that
I've obviously had to learn, as I mean I played
for a long time and then obviously was still in
the clubhouse even when I was done, so twenty total
years basically of just being in the clubhouse. But understanding
(41:19):
like becoming a father, being a son, a husband. I
think that that's the stuff that can really get out
of whack in our own head. We lose sight of
that going through like the process of trying to become
a major league player and chasing those dollars. So my
(41:39):
biggest thing is just be present, man, appreciate what you
actually get to go do because you only get to
do this for so long, Like fourteen years later, I
was thirty one years old and it was like, Okay,
now what I guess I'll go coach. But I think
it's being able to prepare them, like and this is
your win. Though, Man, I don't think I think that.
(42:02):
I just wish it was something that I thought more of,
like in my career, like this is going to end someday, man,
But we feel invincible. We feel invincible when we're young.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
No, And I went through that a little bit with you.
I remember when you called me at the end and
we'd have conversations about it. So cheats, great, great question again,
A plus performance by you today. Cheats and when when
MP hears this inning F minus for MP last question
because cheats has to go last question. And I stumbled
(42:37):
with what I wanted to do here, but I ended
up with this. A lot of times your career people
talk to you, know, they say, crash Davis because you
played so long, had thirty one days. But I'm not
going to go there. But that's why some people say
I want to make this personal. Is there when you
think about mind your relationship, is there a specific moment
(42:58):
or what do you think about? Cause this shows all
about relationships, and I want to end with what Steve
Larude thinks about the relationship that he and I have.
Speaker 4 (43:07):
I mean, I think about family. I think about your daughters.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
I think about watching them grow and just the young
ladies they've become, Like, honestly, nothing to do about baseball.
I think about the dinners we've been out out to
and just the conversations we've shared. I mean, I met
you not long after my father passed away, right, and
that was something you know, that year in two thousand
(43:31):
and eight when I was coming back to Altuna, that was.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
Something I was going through.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
And you know, like we joke about those twenty seven
outs that we talked about earlier, but those conversations were
what I was like more worried about than the beers,
you know what I mean. And I think you really
helped me a lot through some tough times, man, And
that's what's important to me. And those are the relationships
(43:59):
I value in the game. Joe t Man, Like you're
kidding me, that's one of my favorites. Hell yeah, that
guy will do anything for you, I mean, and those
are those are the guys you like to keep close
to your vest, like going to Winter meetings and that
sort of stuff. You know how it is you go
out there and you see everybody in the world and
there's only a few guys you actually want to hang
out and go grab a meal with, go spend, spend
(44:22):
a couple of hours.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
We do that every year. Cheats, Rudy and I have
dinner yet the Winter meetings especially. Well that that's that's
how That's how I wanted to end it. And by
the way, you know we said we haven't seen each
other since our wedding.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
We have to know I haven't seen Joe Nathan since
the wedding. I saw you at Winter Meetings a few
months ago. That's right, you must not remember. My mind's
my mind's going.
Speaker 4 (44:52):
Well.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
I feel the same way about you, buddy. I got
a lot of love for you, and I'm proud of
you and what you're doing now that you're a dad,
especially in can waiting to meet your daughter. Hopefully I
can meet her soon. So thank you to Cheats, No,
thank you to Michael Phillips. Thank you to Joe T.
Speaker 3 (45:08):
Jo T.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
You enjoyed the show? Hell yeah, Joe T. Do you love,
Steve the Rude, Hell yeah, Joe T You love party time.
Hell yeah. We'll be back with another inning thanks to Octagon,
thanks to Wyatt, thanks to all our sponsor partners. We'll
be back with another inning real soon. Thank you, Rudy
Hey, everybody party for the Party Time podcast. Here. The
(00:02):
first you get from this inning of Party Time is
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(01:09):
like my man Robbie and Performance Food Service. Party Time
loves performance food service. Hey everybody, welcome back to the
Party Time Podcast Season two, Season two. I got Joe
T behind me. Joe T's excited about today's show. Hell yeah,
(01:32):
got cheats with this cheats. Welcome aboard a Party's Pub Club.
What did I call, y'all? I guess you're a charter
member of Parney's Pub Club, right you.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I'm excited. Let's get it going.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Season two is great and we're excited about it. And
today's guest he's coming from a car somewhere. I'm not
really sure he's blurred out now, which I don't know.
What the hell that's all about. Party Time Podcast is
all about relationships. And by the way, Michael Phillips will
be joining us as soon as his boss letsie about
(02:06):
relationships and thirty five plus years in this industry of
sports and baseball, today's going to be really special for me.
They're all special, but this one. There's only one player
in thirty six years cheats of me working in minor
league baseball that has lived at my house not once,
(02:31):
but twice. And that person is today's guests, Steve Larude
aka Rudy. Sometimes we call him Steve, sometimes we call
him Rudy. Rudy, we we welcome you not only as
our guest, but as a fan and a subscriber to
the Party Time podcast. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Hell yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, no, obviously you've had some guests on that I'm
close with, and it's been it's been a fun follow Well,
we're gonna have more.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
We're gonna have more. Season two is gonna bring us
people that you've spent time on the field with, people
like Matt Kapps and others are joining us in season two.
So we're excited about that and excited that we didn't
get canceled after season one, to be honest with you,
So let's get the conversation started. I was trying to
think this morning as I was working out, and yes, Rudy,
(03:25):
I know I'm still fat, but I do work out
every day. I'm trying to stay medium fat. Exactly when
we met, do you remember when we met? Exactly?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It's funny because the guy you just mentioned, Matt Capps,
I had just gotten promoted to Altoona and he had
this amazing season.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Where he started.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
He started the year I believe in low Way and
went all the way to the big leagues. That was
the year before and became the closer in Pittsburgh. But
when I got promoted, I got promoted from Lynchburg to
go to Altuna. He called me right away and he said,
as soon as you get there, get on the elevator
after the game, and you've got to go to Parney's office.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Tell him that I sent you. And so I did.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
After the first game, I went up there, I took
the elevator to the second floor, knocked on the office door,
and all I heard was what I said, Hey, I'm
Steve Larude, and Matt Kapp sent me. He said, okay,
come in, close the door. And then you turned around
and you grabbed a beer. You slid it across the
(04:33):
desk and he turned on ESPN and we watched highlights
and talk all night.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Hey, Cheeks, is that sounded about right? Cheeks, that's not
about right.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
It sounds fantastic.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
We've been friends since Yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Actually, I'll take it a step further. I think we've
been more than friends. I mean, you're thirty five, thirty
six years. Time's probably what what do you think, Rudy
and my League Baseball we have sixty seventy players a year,
So I don't know what the math on that is
cheats and I'm sure how am I gonna ask Joe
t what the math is because you'd have to take
his shoes and socks off. But Rudy's like family, Like
(05:10):
my daughters feel like he's he's their brother because he
lived in their house. So let's get right there. You were,
you're in Altuna, you came up to my office, you
played there. You didn't live with me the first time,
but you lived with me the second time, right, correct?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yeah, so I'd gotten promoted like halfway through the season,
right at the All Star break, and yeah, the next
year was when your guys' ownership group sold out Tune,
I believe, and that's when you took the job in Richmond.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
But you were going back and forth.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So as soon as I had gotten protected on the
forty men roster that that off season, but they had
the Pirates at the time actually had some really good catching,
so I got pushed back to double A.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
To start the year.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Who they have Ryan Domit, Ronnie Paulino. Obviously Eric Krafts
was actually there. He ended up catching ten years in
the big leagues, so oh uh oh.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
With Ryan Ryan Domot with Ryan Domot. It's not an
all academic team if I recall correctly, No, but.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Really good bar team. And then I don't remember Humberto Coda.
He was actually the starter there at the time. So yeah,
I was going back to Double A when the rosters broke.
That's when you called me and you're like, hey, come
live in my come live in the basement.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
And I took you up on it. It was just
down the street, so.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
I think Chiefs just left us, but he should be
back anytime soon. So tell everybody in the party time
Land about when you lived at my house that year.
I wasn't working full time in Altoon anymore because we
were starting. I don't think I was here yet, but
I think we were getting ready. I think I was
in between right, like I was getting ready to come
down to Richmond, which now cheats. It is hard for
(07:03):
me to it's hard for me to believe remember my
life before Richmond. Richmond has been so great to me.
But Rudy Steve the Rue's behind the plate in Altoona
that year, tell me.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
We were so bad. We had a bad team. We
were we were bad.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But what would you do behind the plate. When the
first out was made, you would do.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I'd start counting down from twenty seven.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
So there was an out made and you would.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Say twenty six, twenty five, twenty four, and then of
course I'd get out and it's like, shoot, that's the
one out I did want.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
You know why he was doing that. Cheats, he was counting.
He was counting down from twenty seven. Tell cheats, why Steve.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
That's that's how many outs I needed so I could
go have a beer with you on the back porch
by the pool.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Counting down, counting down from twenty seven outs just so
you can drink beer with me. Is seriously one of
the coolest things that ever happened to me in thirty
six years of baseball. And do you know how many
times I come across umpires who remember that, Like it's crazy,
how many times I come across somepires.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Remember that they didn't like me?
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, well, they didn't like you as a player, and
I sure as hell didn't like you as a manager.
So that was a special thing we had. And then
I did come to Richmond tell everybody the story about
how you ended up in Richmond.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah, so that was I was obviously, in the twilight
of my playing days, I had signed to go. I
was in spring training with the Mariners. I went to
major league camp with them and ended up getting released
the only time I actually got released in my whole career,
which is something I'm pretty proud of for as long
as I played, only getting released one time, and the
(08:56):
Giants actually called me. Shane Turner I was close with.
He was actually UH manager of mine in the Arizona
Fall League. So Shane had called me, and of course
I'm bitter because I thought I was way better than
I was, but he he asked me if I would
be willing to just come out to UH to extended
(09:17):
spring training and they'd have a spot for me in
a couple of weeks, and that turned into me coming
to Richmond. Finally, one night he called me. I'd been
there for like a month and they were paying me
way too much money to be at extended spring training,
so he UH he called and asked me if i'd
come help out some of the young pitchers you guys
had on that staff. And it was actually a really
(09:39):
cool opportunity for me because I think that was kind
of the beginning of of my coaching path and something
that I still do now in my work, but that
that was it was a great opportunity. I got to
catch some really good arms. Obviously got to uh live
in the penthouse, which didn't stink.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Stop right there, stop right there, cheets. This guy walked
into my office, hugged me the day he signed and said,
give me the keys to your penthouse. And I said,
you're not living there, and he said, I'm not leaving
this office until you give me the keys to your penthouse.
You're in love with Tanya, you're living with Tanya. You
(10:21):
don't use this penthouse downtown. Give me the keys.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
And guess what he did.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I gave him the keys. So about three weeks later,
one of my buddies, Chad from Shine the Bar down
the street from the penthouse, said, who is your new
catcher And I said, oh, that's Steve the Rude. He's
living in my house. And he said he's in here
every night. I see that he's hitting fifty nine. And Rudy,
(10:54):
tell everybody what you told me when I told you that,
I said, I said, you're hitting O fifty nine. And
Steve said, at the end of the season, I'm going
to be hitting, and I'm going to lead the team
in walks, cheets. We get to the last day of
the season, this asshole is hitting two forty nine and
(11:14):
he's leading the team and the league in walks from
fifty nine. He just had to get acclimated.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
I kept telling you.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
But anyway, that was one of the great Steve Rue
player stories, when he ended up hitting two fifty, leading
the team and hitting when he was hitting oh fifty
nine after he got here. The other thing I will say,
I'll go back to when you you played for in
the Eastern League. You played for Altoona, and I was
there with you. You played for Harrisburg.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Right, No, I never played No, I played for Bowie,
he played for Red. I played in Bowie Reading and Richmond. Okay,
so so almost of the league. Yeah, no big deal.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
In twenty twelve, at the trade deadline, the Phillies had
an assistant general manager named Howie Freeling. And I knew
Howie when he was a manager in this league with
the Binghamson team. And how he comes down to Parney's
Pub and he goes, Hey, can you come have dinner
with me? I gotta I gotta ask you some questions
So we went to post pub Jo t here in
(12:27):
Richmond and had a few beers and had some food,
and he goes, tell me about Tommy Joseph. So I
went off on Tommy Joseph because I love Tommy Joseph
to this day, Steve, I love Tommy Joseph, and so
do you, and so does Joe Tea. Yeah, and so
long story short, if you remember this trade cheats, the
(12:48):
Phillies traded hundred pence to the San Francisco Giants. Yes, straight,
Tommy Joseph, we're playing the reading, We're playing the Redding Phillies.
That night we literally joked he put Tommy Joseph's shit
in a in a stolen shopping cart that he stolen
(13:09):
his white his white freak minivan, and and we we
carted him down to the visiting clubhouse. I opened the
door and Rudy, I don't know if you remember this,
I said, Rudy, here's Tommy Joseph. Take care of him.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
Am I right, That's exactly what you said.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And then fast forward, and then fast forward not too
long later. And I don't remember how long ago, Steve,
you can tell me how long ago I was playing
golf team was on the road and Tommy Joseph is
blowing my phone up. I mean, every time I swung
a golf club, Tommy Joseph is calling me. So finally answer.
(13:50):
I goes, somebody is somebody fucking dead? Somebody dead, and
he goes, no, but Rudy's going to the Rudy's going
to the show. And I said, get the hell out
of here, and he goes, no, Rudy's going to Philadelphia.
Am I telling that story right?
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, I remember that day, and I shoot, I remember
all that that That year in general just was was
obviously very special for me and just kind of the
path that I went on. But and obviously Tommy's a
good friend of mine, like we still keep in touch.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
Super proud of what he's doing as a.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Coach now, being on a major league hitting coaches something
that he was always kind of destined for, just because
he was obviously such a good hitter and just the
way he can relate to players. And I think that
that's something that he appreciated that I did for him
when he came over in that trade, and it was
(14:46):
a it was a he was really young too. I
don't know if you remember he was only like twenty
years old, and I did.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Actually actually actually we just had his twenty first birthday.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Part so he had just turned twenty one.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
And it was a hum finger. It was a Halligan's.
Remember Halligan's Cheats in Richmond.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Let's go Halli a sci fi er bar.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah. Yeah, Well we turned on every engine into whole
damn place that night. I mean it was there was
a shot to be had. We founded a Halligans that night.
So one. But and Rudy, you were you were probably
what eight years into that point something like that.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Uh see that? Yeah, that that was It was my
eighth year, Yeah, eighth year.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
So I had been I had been a prospect, I
had been a suspect. I had been put on forty
men rosters. I've been DFA, I was on my third organization.
And and honestly, when Tommy came over, that that was
and I've never told him this, but that that was
something that kind of I think reignited my passion for
(15:54):
the game because he was a guy that wanted to
learn from me and I think respected kind of the
path I had been on, Like I had been in
Triple A, I hadn't been to the big leagues yet
it's been a couple of seasons in Triple A just
up and.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Down, and.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
You know, being able to go and and and the
Phillies the opportunity they gave me, I don't I don't
know if you know this, but that off season before
I thought my I thought my career was over when
I finished twenty eleven with the Orioles, I didn't. I
didn't have a very good year, and you know, I
was dealing with some other stuff off the field.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
And I got the opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Go play winter ball in Panama with one of the
coaches that I had in Bowie that year.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I don't remember a Rdz.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Oh yeah, got to catcher for the Indians for a
long time. So he asked me to come play on
his winter ball team in Panama from Altuna.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I mean not from Altuona, but he lived in Altuna
for a while.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, So yeah, Ainter invited me to come out there
and I ended up playing really well, and the Phillies
actually signed me as a free agent out of the
Winter League in Panama and invited me to spring training,
to big league spring training, which I was completely surprised
because I I honestly thought my career was over. And
that's when you know, at that trade deadline that year,
(17:12):
I met Tommy and we uh, we had a really
good relationship, really good. Just he wanted to get after
it and he wanted to pick my brain about a
lot of stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
And I think that that.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
You wanted to get after it too.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
I wanted to get out of reading. I can tell
you that. I tell you that, But no, that was
that was a really cool I think just he was
happy for me. I was just happy for what he
was doing. And that's just him as a person, right
like I I was I was actually his backup and
(17:50):
got called up to the big leagues from Double A.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
And that's what was so impressive to me. Honestly, that's true.
And he he he wore me out on the phone
because he was so excited for you, and he knew
that you were like a little brother slash son to me,
and he knew that I would be crying, which I was.
And it was so cool that he didn't go the
other way. Right, You've probably been around players who have
(18:17):
been like, well, why the fuck didn't I go to
the big leagues?
Speaker 3 (18:20):
One hundred percent, And that's That's what's so special about
you know, you talk about on this show all the time,
like those those genuine relationships like I like I said,
I still talked to Tommy to this day. I played
for fourteen years, and trust me, there's probably ten guys
I still actually keep in touch with.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I see a lot of them out.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
I stop, who stop one second? Who are those?
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Give me?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Give me like three or four of those guys and
cheats you're on deck. Get ready, Eddie.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Eddie Prash is one of my best friends in the world.
I mean, I was the best man in his wedding.
We got drafted. I got drafted in two thousand and three,
he got after in two thousand and four. So we
always just kind of came up together. So that that's
definitely one. I keep in touch with Matt Capps probably
at least a couple times a year. Preston Claiborne, we
(19:10):
keep in touch all this time.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh my god, there's so many stories we can't tell
about Preston Claiborne on.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
The show, especially now that he's a big league pitching coach.
We gotta we gotta make sure we color for him.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
But I thought I saw I saw him this fall
at an ole Miss football game. Though when I was watching,
I thought I saw that one time, but I didn't.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
No, he hates them.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Who else He's a Texas boy Joe Nathan I have.
I haven't seen Joe since your wedding. Actually, another guy
actually played with in Philly, Tyson Gillies. I actually just
saw him out here this week. A lot of the
guys that I worked with in Chicago when I got
done playing. But you know, I think it is funny
(19:58):
because you know, just as well as me and Joe
t like you, you keep in touch with the special ones,
and I think that that that's that's like the beautiful
part about this game is like the true real relationships
you do create and and you get you. I mean
the first time I met you was two thousand and eight, right,
(20:20):
like it's a long time man, and and that that's
what's so cool about just the people you run into
in this game.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And that's what's so cool about the Party Time podcast
because we have so much connectivity.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
I'm going to lead into Cheats' first Party's pub question,
Party's pub club question by saying this, Rudy Cheats is
the Black Baseball mixtape one of the greatest baseball pods
in the world. He's very much tied to the Alliance
Baseball Alliance cheats. Did you know that Steve Larude scored
(20:54):
a run in the big leagues? He was on third base.
One of your guys, one of your buddies, one of
your one of your pals that I saw at Rickwood
hit a home run, Rudy. Who was that.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
Jimmy Rollins, Yeah, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
J hit a home run.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
I believe it was.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
It was like his two thousandth career hit, or like
two hundredth career home run. It was like one of
the two we were in Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Do you think he's a Hall of Famer? Cheats you
this is for your two cheats.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
That's a good question. That's a good question. I know
this year. I knew this year the Phillies announced that
they are putting him in the Phillies kind of Hall
of Fame Hall of Fame in twenty twenty five. He
is on the Hall of Fame ballot, still in that
range in that ten year span where he's falling short
right now. I obviously I'm biased, so of course I
(21:54):
think Jimmy Rollins is a Hall of Famer from what
he what he's done from a short stop position. One
one of the coolest things about Jimmy Rollins for me, though,
is just if you see him physically, you don't think
he's a shortstop. You don't think he's a baseball player.
Speaker 5 (22:09):
And the idea that Jimmy Rollins is not a huge
guy by any stretch of the imaginations. If you see him,
you'd probably think he's, you know, just a normal citizen
on the street, is what turned out to be one
of the greatest short steps a World Series shortstop. You know,
he was just an All Star multi times and his
lineage from the Bay is absolutely amazing. So I'm biased,
(22:31):
but I would put Jimmy Rollins in.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Of course me too. All right, So so Cheats and
I talked about Jimmy Rowins. Why do you think real quick, Steven,
Then we're gonna go We're gonna go to Cheats for questions.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
You see some other guys here in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
I don't see how you don't put that into a
lot of consideration with the things that he's done.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
And guess what, I'm a huge Joe Mauer fan, but.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Jimmy's got as good of a resume, if not better,
and won a World Series and was an MVP.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I think that was was a goal glove winner.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
I think you talk about some of the teams that
he played on, especially that that what was it, the
twenty ten or eleven Phillies, the eleven phase, well eight
and eleven, right, No, eleven eleven was when Ryan Howard
blew out in Game seven of the NLCS.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Remember that.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Ripped up his knee towards a cl running out the
running the first base. So, yeah, the two thousand and
eight Phillies, the two thousand and eight Phillies. Do you
can you tell the history of baseball without talking about
all those guys?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Right?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
And that guy was an MVP that year so or
the year before actually, so, I think he was good
a case as a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
We could go down a rabbit hole. Maybe Chiefs will
do this. We could go down a Hall of Fame
rabbit hole all day long with this group, you know,
like Scotty Rowland. Scotty Rowland played for me riding in
nineteen ninety five. I mean, Harold Baines, Howe's Don Madnley
not in the Hall of Fame. I'm very biased. How's
Will Clark not in the Hall of Fame? So this
(24:10):
could be like, this could be a whole show cheats,
but instead we got Steve Larude here and a very
bad line and he blurs out all the time, which
I'm used to sitting and blurt out cheats. Hit Rudy
out with a question or two, and then I got
a couple follow ups.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Yeah, no, I got I got a good one for you, Rudy.
Since it's uh, you mentioned it as well. Fourteen years
in the game, you changed teams quite a bit, and
so I wondered, after you got acclimated to professional baseball,
did you have a routine when you would enter a
new team, because your you know, baseball is always hard,
(24:46):
there's always new people. What was your routine when you
would enter a new situation?
Speaker 4 (24:50):
You know?
Speaker 3 (24:50):
I think early in my career it was more about,
in my opinion, like the routine is personal to every player,
like how do you get ready to go for form
and be who you are. I think one thing that
I didn't recognize as much when I got into professional
baseball was exactly that.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Like I was so used to the structure of like
a high school program like this is what you do,
like this is how we do it.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
And when you get the professional baseball, you really are
you're you're on your own and you have to kind
of formulate your own routine. So once I figured that out,
I could probably say, honestly, when when when I when
I left Pittsburgh, after after I met Parney, or actually
probably like that last year, there was when I figured
(25:39):
out kind of what worked for me. And I think
that's something that's constantly evolving. I think it's something that
is really overlooked for you know, as young as these
kids start playing now, having them understand what makes them
good the drills, whatever it is, and and they're so
focused on competing in a cage against a computer now
(26:01):
that they don't they don't figure out like how what's
gonna make me good with another guy on the mound.
That that's one thing that you know in the work
I do now is trying to really help kids understand
that sort of stuff. But I would say, you know,
like probably seven years in is when I finally figured
out a routine that worked for me. And and like
(26:21):
I said, it was constantly evolving depending on how you feel.
Definitely a huge part of the game, So I can't
say that. I think it's so individual for each player,
especially when you get into like most guys, they get
into the place that I was in where you're bouncing
around to different places, and I think that that you
have to be able to understand what makes me good
and and this is what I do.
Speaker 5 (26:43):
Was there anything you did though when you entered a
new team, anything that helped you get acclimated to the
team and the coaches, and they went.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
And got hammered with though probably no, you got drunk.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
My well, my my ticket was the relationship I created
with pictures like That's what kept me around. So every
time I would get to a new team, the first
thing I would do is try and play catch with
as many of them as I could, try to catch
them in the bullpen as much as I could. You know,
go into major League camp every year is kind of
a guy on the outside looking in, Like I try
(27:15):
to get there a few weeks early and create a
rapport with the guys that I know I'm probably gonna
get thrown in the game in in the second half,
like that sort of stuff. And most of the time
those are the guys that I was gonna end up
in Triple A with so being able to understand just
understanding the situation kind of like as an outsider looking in.
(27:36):
I feel like that's what most catchers should be, is
kind of like where can I go help?
Speaker 4 (27:41):
There's only a few JT. Real mudos.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
There's only a few of these guys that are your
absolute frontline dudes. The majority of them are guys that
are a lot like myself, and these pitchers are the
ones that depend on them more than anything. So that
was one thing that I really tried to take a
lot of pride and every time I went to.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
A new team bouncing off of that. The relationship with pictures.
Was there any one picture that when when his name
was on the starting lineup and you were catching him
you got really fired up about?
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Yeah? I mean there was like over the course of
a whole career, like I was fortunate enough. I mean
I got a chance to catch Roy Holliday, Cole Hamill's,
Cliff Lee, like Jonathan Papplebahm, you're talking about Hall of
Fame guys. So, I mean being able to be around
that that Phillies club when they were the team that
they were, that was pretty damn special. I mean, I
(28:29):
got the I caught a lot of really like I
caught Max Schurzer.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Even you know, going back, and I think the situation
is always just kind of what it was. But I
knew when I was in Richmond, like my job was
really to help Tyler Beatty. That's why I got sent there.
Was to help Tyler Beatty, former first round pick, and
and help him kind of figure out how to use
his stuff a little bit better, maybe give him just
a little different idea of how to attack guys at
(28:59):
the professional level. And I think that there's stuff that
Tyler still does as a pitcher that him and I
talked about and maybe helped him have the career that
he's had. Not everybody pitches in the big leagues for
ten years, but that guy's pitched overseas.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
He's made a lot of money doing this.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Has he set you as cut yet you're cut?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Oh gosh?
Speaker 3 (29:18):
No, No, I mean, And that's the other thing, man
is just being happy for the guys that hopefully you help. Man,
I think that not enough people see it that way.
And I think, you know, for the stuff that I
do now, my playing career was almost like my springboard
(29:39):
into what I do now and being able to to
help help kids get through the process and figure out
if they can even be a big leaguers. Only there's
only twenty three thousand of them in the world though.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
So we're gonna we're gonna get to what you do now.
As we close up in a second, Chiefs, can you
take Rooney down without the we're talking about, like manager
of that kind of stuff?
Speaker 5 (30:04):
Sure, but I all say you I want to ask
because it's something that's really important from what I understand.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Party.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
There is a lot countless number of players that have
played high school baseball in the state of Nevada. However,
there's only one person that holds the home run lead
in the state of Nevada, in the state of high
school Nevada Pantheon of Nevada High school Baseball.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
You're talking Bryce Harper.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
No, we're not talking Bryce Harper.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Are we talking?
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (30:39):
Well, what was the left handed hitter's name? A big guy?
Come on, no, Joey something, Joey Gallop. Joey Gallop.
Speaker 5 (30:49):
We're not talking Joey Galla. Do you know who is
the leading home run hitter in the history of school baseball?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
And about it?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Rudy.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Do you know you're looking at him.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Real quick? Tell the story about what Scott Service said
when he found that out.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Oh my god, Hey, that's the only time I got released.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
Remember were talking about that earlier.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
We did this thing in Major League spring training in
Seattle when I was there, and every morning, Scott's Service
would come around and I don't know, you guys, actually
he works for the Giants.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Now I believe Ed Lucas. Yeah, Ed Lucas is the hitting.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
Coordinator or something like that, right, yeah, yeah, so Ed Lucas.
Oh yeah, great dude, super dry sense of humor. But
Ed Lucas was in charge of the weather report every morning,
so like Service would be doing like our morning meeting
and Ed Lucas's report, because we had spring training in Arizona.
(32:01):
He'd like give the weather and then he'd be like
chance of rain, fuck no. And then so as soon
as he'd say that, Service would get into his, uh,
his whole thing about like he tried to introduce a
new player in camp and yeah, one day that was me,
and he starts rattling all that off that that Cheets
(32:22):
just did and he gets done, like spouting off the
numbers and then he looks at me, he goes, what
the fuck happened? That's when I knew I was probably
on my way out. I was like, Uh, you don't
think I'm that good of a hitter either, not taking
it damn it cheats.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Yeah, I mean really quickly, and I do want to
I want to move on. But I got it, Like
when you hit that mini home runs in high school,
Like when do you realize?
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Did you ever? When did you realize, like I have
a shot to like get the record.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
It's so funny because I had no idea, Like I
was fortunate that I got to play on some high
school clubs that were like nationally ranked, and shoot, my
sophomore year, we had twelve guys either go Division one
or get drafted. So I was watching those guys and
they were like all older than me. I was just
trying to fit in. So I didn't really realize until
(33:20):
my senior year, when you know, like the local the
local media would start following it, like because Matt Williams,
you guys, you know, longtime Major leaguer, Big league manager
Matt Williams was the one that held the record at
forty nine home runs and it's funny. It's funny story
because when my parents moved to northern Nevada, they actually
(33:40):
moved into a duplex in Carson City.
Speaker 4 (33:42):
Right next to Matt Williams and his family.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
No way.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Yeah, so they were our neighbors. So he's the one
that set.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
The small world up. After all. It's a small world
after all.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
So I was just I was a little I don't
I don't remember any of it, but yeah, it was
funny that he ended up going to set that record.
My dad actually kept in touch with him because he
did some stuff like through the rotary like local rotary club.
Matt would send balls and stuff to like sign baseballs
or memorabilia.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
But uh, I was what was the number, Rudy sixty two?
Speaker 1 (34:21):
And I'm not trying to be funny. I means you
hitting the minor leagues.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
Probably like sixty two.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
In like fourteen years.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Hey cheetz, he's playing here one time again for Bowie.
And we had these promotions back in two thousand eleven
called Where's Parney where I get a limo and we
go out all over town drinking after games and fans
will try to find us and Rudy gets in the
car and we had some fans in the limo with
us and go, hey, guys, I'm Parny. Rudy gets he goes, Hi,
I'm Rudy. I'm the guy that went yard tonight.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
That's right, that's a that's a long time story.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yeah, a great story.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
Uh Rudy. Yeah, manager, you learn from the most. Tom
prince great great selection. By the way, Like I love.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Princey, my goodness, no, I mean that that guy just
so when I first got drafted, obviously we just talked about,
you know, the the numbers and everything, and the reason
that I got drafted was was my bat.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
So Princey was actually like in.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Between if he was still gonna go play for another
year or start coaching when I got to Pittsburgh, so
he'd come catch with us, but he was also a coach,
and then the next year I had him as a manager.
Speaker 4 (35:35):
He ended up not doing it.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
But I remember that guy telling me, like one of
my first few weeks in pro ball, brother, you better
learn how to catch.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
I said.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
What he was like, you ain't as good as you think.
I said, okay, really and honestly, like that's when I
really started to just understand like I had value with
a bat because I could play behind the plate and
that was like and I look at things like from
(36:06):
the outside looking in now and like I was like
a low floor, really high ceiling pick. So it was
something that he kind of like brought to my attention,
like you have to raise your floor to give yourself
a chance, because if you're not this guy that's gonna
go out and hit all these home runs and be
the guy you were in high school, you better at
least be able to defend. And that was like a
(36:28):
real learning moment for me to just understand, like this
is how I'm gonna have longevity in this game and
give myself a chance. I'm from small town Reno, Nevada,
like I didn't come from South Florida, Southern California, Texas,
Georgia like I'm coming. I didn't face the same competition
these guys did. So the point that he made to me,
like right away in my career was like, dude, you
(36:51):
your path to the major leagues is as a catcher,
and that that was really important to me. And like
I said, I was able to have him as a
man the next year, and that guy put me up
against a dugout wall a few times, like for calling
the wrong pitch and I needed that, like I did.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
I put you up against the wall a couple of times,
but it wasn't for calling the right pitch, but I
put yougainst the wall.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I always called the right pitch. If they didn't throw
it the right way, that was their fault.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Oh so, top Prince, that's good. Uh, Chiefs, finish up
with the last question. But I'm gonna think about your
last question, Rudy, real quick, tell everybody you managed in
the minor leagues. You are a great manager in the
minor leagues. Tell everybody what you're doing right now in
like thirty thirty seconds to a minute.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
No, obviously enjoyed my time managing, had my first kid
and didn't want to be on the road anymore.
Speaker 4 (37:47):
So I worked for a small agency.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
I work mostly on the amateur side, doing the advising
and kind of recruiting of high school players families, trying
to help them through either their college or draft process.
I mean, it's a space that's cool for me because
especially the guys that I'm able to recruit locally, like
I'm able to go work with them and go to
the batting cage with them and take them through like
some of the drills and just different things that I
(38:12):
experienced through my career and things that I wish I
would have known probably when I was their age, to
help them kind of expedite their own process and hopefully
become major league players.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
Good cheeks.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
No, I'm going to follow up on that, Rudy, just
because I always like to ask players, managers and now
and somebody that's working with young people, if what advice
that do you wish you had when you were a
young player now? And obviously you're able to give that
advice to young players as they go through their career,
(38:47):
but what advice do you give and what advice do
you wish you had when you see someone that reminds
you of yourself?
Speaker 3 (38:54):
I think like the number one thing whenever I go
in and I start talking to a family of a young,
obviously talented player, I think, number one, you have to
realize what they already think about themselves due to social media, right,
(39:15):
Guys that have been in the game for a long
time are the ones that actually know what they are.
So I think the hardest thing is trying to break
down those barriers, like like, I can give an example
of a guy, a college player that I recruited just recently,
who is a middle infielder, and the first thing that
I ever told him was you're going to have to
(39:37):
learn how to play other positions if you want to
play professional baseball. And I said that in front of
his mom and dad, and they looked at me like
I had six eyes. Well, he's been a short stop
this whole life. He's been a short stop.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
It's whole life.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
I'm like, but do you realize that in professional baseball,
the guys he's going to be competing against have our
He's been in pro ball for like five years because
they were signed as sixteen out of Latin America. So
so his path is gonna be like, I'm gonna have
to play some third base, short stuff, second base, maybe
some outfield, get my bats under me. I think it's
(40:14):
being able to prepare those guys for for that sort
of situation that pro ball will represent, like something that
they haven't ever had to do before. You think of
like where most of these kids come from. Most of
it is paid to play until they get to high school.
And if he's not the short stuff on that team.
Guess what mom and dad are gonna go do. They're
(40:35):
gonna go pay for a team. They're gonna go pay
for a team that he can play short stuff on.
So what are we teaching these kids? And that's my
big thing is like, and I'm talking to a twenty
one year old college player telling him this, and if
they don't want to understand that, like, probably I'm not
the guy for you. I think that that's fair. But
(40:56):
the one thing that I always tell them is, man,
you're gonna be something else a lot longer than you're
a baseball player. And I think that that's something that
I've obviously had to learn, as I mean I played
for a long time and then obviously was still in
the clubhouse even when I was done, so twenty total
years basically of just being in the clubhouse. But understanding
(41:19):
like becoming a father, being a son, a husband. I
think that that's the stuff that can really get out
of whack in our own head. We lose sight of
that going through like the process of trying to become
a major league player and chasing those dollars. So my
(41:39):
biggest thing is just be present, man, appreciate what you
actually get to go do because you only get to
do this for so long, Like fourteen years later, I
was thirty one years old and it was like, Okay,
now what I guess I'll go coach. But I think
it's being able to prepare them, like and this is
your win. Though, Man, I don't think I think that.
(42:02):
I just wish it was something that I thought more of,
like in my career, like this is going to end someday, man,
But we feel invincible. We feel invincible when we're young.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
No, And I went through that a little bit with you.
I remember when you called me at the end and
we'd have conversations about it. So cheats, great, great question again,
A plus performance by you today. Cheats and when when
MP hears this inning F minus for MP last question
because cheats has to go last question. And I stumbled
(42:37):
with what I wanted to do here, but I ended
up with this. A lot of times your career people
talk to you, know, they say, crash Davis because you
played so long, had thirty one days. But I'm not
going to go there. But that's why some people say
I want to make this personal. Is there when you
think about mind your relationship, is there a specific moment
(42:58):
or what do you think about? Cause this shows all
about relationships, and I want to end with what Steve
Larude thinks about the relationship that he and I have.
Speaker 4 (43:07):
I mean, I think about family. I think about your daughters.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
I think about watching them grow and just the young
ladies they've become, Like, honestly, nothing to do about baseball.
I think about the dinners we've been out out to
and just the conversations we've shared. I mean, I met
you not long after my father passed away, right, and
that was something you know, that year in two thousand
(43:31):
and eight when I was coming back to Altuna, that was.
Speaker 4 (43:37):
Something I was going through.
Speaker 3 (43:38):
And you know, like we joke about those twenty seven
outs that we talked about earlier, but those conversations were
what I was like more worried about than the beers,
you know what I mean. And I think you really
helped me a lot through some tough times, man, And
that's what's important to me. And those are the relationships
(43:59):
I value in the game. Joe t Man, Like you're
kidding me, that's one of my favorites. Hell yeah, that
guy will do anything for you, I mean, and those
are those are the guys you like to keep close
to your vest, like going to Winter meetings and that
sort of stuff. You know how it is you go
out there and you see everybody in the world and
there's only a few guys you actually want to hang
out and go grab a meal with, go spend, spend
(44:22):
a couple of hours.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
We do that every year. Cheats, Rudy and I have
dinner yet the Winter meetings especially. Well that that's that's
how That's how I wanted to end it. And by
the way, you know we said we haven't seen each
other since our wedding.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
We have to know I haven't seen Joe Nathan since
the wedding. I saw you at Winter Meetings a few
months ago. That's right, you must not remember. My mind's
my mind's going.
Speaker 4 (44:52):
Well.
Speaker 1 (44:52):
I feel the same way about you, buddy. I got
a lot of love for you, and I'm proud of
you and what you're doing now that you're a dad,
especially in can waiting to meet your daughter. Hopefully I
can meet her soon. So thank you to Cheats, No,
thank you to Michael Phillips. Thank you to Joe T.
Speaker 3 (45:08):
Jo T.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
You enjoyed the show? Hell yeah, Joe T. Do you love,
Steve the Rude, Hell yeah, Joe T You love party time.
Hell yeah. We'll be back with another inning thanks to Octagon,
thanks to Wyatt, thanks to all our sponsor partners. We'll
be back with another inning real soon. Thank you, Rudy
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