Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was an idiot my freshman year. I think like
practice got rained out or something. So we go back
to the dorum and we decide had let's go play
some basketball. So like, okay, we'll just go play basketball,
shoot around outside and whatever, and doing a little three
on three, go up, come down and land on one
of my buddy's foot and like roll my ankle and
I'm like and I'd never been hurt before ever, like nothing,
so I didn't. I'm like, well, that's weird. That kind
(00:21):
of hurts. Go back to my room. It's just like
puffing up and I have like no idea with like
what's going on in my ankle. That's weird. We try
to make up a story about how it happened, but
you know, it kind of go around and we're playing basketball,
and somehow I didn't know. I didn't know you were.
I don't know. You don't think about that sort of stuff,
like hey, you shouldn't be playing basketball. And I'm like,
you know, come in and I'm like, well I can
still play. I can't really walk, but I'll be fine.
Like I wanted to play, but I think it was
(00:41):
kind of a more like let's teach you a little
lesson here, and so I missed three games for that. Yeah,
I didn't. I didn't play more basketball.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Welcome to Cut Traded, Fired, Retired, a podcast featuring conversations
with professional athletes and coaches who have sat down to
tell their stories of setbacks and how they were able
to move forward. I'm your host, Susie Wargen. This episode's
guest was built for baseball, both physically and mentally. Garrett
Atkins somehow had the ability to move past setbacks and
(01:08):
negative events without much mental anguish. That's a skill that
comes in handy when playing one hundred and sixty two
games a year in Major League baseball. Garrett grew up
in California, and even though he was drafted by the
Mets out of high school, he chose the college path first.
After a few years at UCLA, he was drafted again,
this time by the Rockies, and he would grow up
(01:28):
literally in their farm system until making his major league
debut in two thousand and three. He became a starter
at third base, not his preferred position of first base,
but some guy named Todd Helton kind of had that
job secured. Garrett was solid and reliable for Colorado, and
he loved playing with so many of his friends who
also started out in the Rockies farm system. Garrett was
also part of that magical two thousand and seven season
(01:51):
that went to the World Series. In two thousand and nine,
he signed a one year deal with Colorado and his
stats started to decline. He became a free agent and
spent some time I'm briefly with the Orioles and Pirates.
Then he was done in twenty ten. Garrett has stayed
behind the scenes in retirement, living in Colorado with his
wife and three kids. And somehow I got him to
say yes to his first podcast, Ladies and Gentlemen Garrett Atkins.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Got Traded Fired Retired podcast with Susie Wargin.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Garrett Atkins, Welcome to your first podcast. How are you.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I'm doing well. I'm excited to be here. I had
a few offers before, I just never really felt like
doing I didn't really know the people. I'm like, well,
at least I know you, so that'll be okay.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
I feel so honored that this is your first one.
This is great.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, you've kind of been You've kind of disappeared a
little bit since you're playing days, So I didn't know
that you still lived here, and once I found that out,
I was like, au it, Mike Myers, I need your help.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yeah, he texted me and I was like, you know,
he caught me a week moment. I'm like, sure, I'll
do it. Well, yeah, no, we were. You know, when
I was done playing, lived in southern California where I
grew up, and then you know, moved back here in
the area about nine years ago, raising my kids here.
You know, people here much nicer than they are in California.
If families are nicer. You know, the weather, you know,
(03:10):
the only thing California has on it here, but that
only bothers me kind of once football season ends in
February and March. Right, all right, I need to get
outside now.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, it's good to have you. So, being that it's
your first podcast, I'll give you kind of the gist
of what we do. We just go back and kind
of go through your life. You know, how you started
in baseball, other sports you played, and then just kind
of the ups and downs and there's always plenty of
them in every level of sports, and then what you're
doing now.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
So let's go way back. You're born in California.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
You mentioned that you go to high school at University
High School in Irvine. What other sports did you play?
How did baseball kind of become your thing?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Well, it was always pretty good at a young age.
You know. I think my dad kind of recognized that
I had some talent and skills, so he kind of
nurtured it, and we were always hitting, you know, kind
of probably before anybody else was. You know, now kids
I think are hitting all the time. You know, back then,
you know, just I mean now is getting older, right,
thirty five years ago, you know, there wasn't a whole
(04:06):
lot of kids, you know, hitting one hundred and two
hundred balls a day, you know, getting thrown to them
and hitting tennis balls in the backyard and stuff like that.
So just kind of had an advantage that way and
loved it.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I just like the kids a day, right, they get
five friends together, where they're gonna do They're going to
go play with football or something, you know, So that's
that's kind of the slow way that you kind of
develop skills in a fun way. And you know, played
basketball in high school as well my first three seasons,
and you know, realized that while I might be a
decent sized baseball player. I'm probably you know, not not
(04:35):
the right size for basketball and wasn't very good either.
I couldn't shoot, so it made it pretty easy. Yeah,
I could box out and do those sort of things,
but there's not a whole market for six three guys
that do that. But it was fun and you know,
I'm going to use my feet and kept me in
shape in the offseason. And back then, most kids played
other sports. You know, you just kind of went along
with the seasons and any football never played football. Oh interesting,
(04:57):
I mean in southern California it's much different than you know,
even here, Texas or everywhere else. It's football wasn't very big.
Where I grew up, it was mostly soccer. So I
played soccer all the way up until high school and
then you know, just did the basketball and baseball. And
in high school still play little tennis, not much golf,
but a little bit of that, but primarily just baseball.
And then after my sophomore year, you started getting invited
(05:19):
to do more things over the summer, and so now
you're kind of doing that all summer, and then your
junior year as well, and it just kind of consumes you.
At that point.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Your senior year, you end up hitting five point fifty seven,
you set a school record for thirteen home runs in
the season. Was that the year that you felt like
and you also got drafted by the Mets out of
high school too, But did you kind of start to see, hey,
maybe this could take me somewhere.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
You know, when you're starting young, it's not like today,
you know, where you can follow someone on Instagram and
trying to track how they're doing it right, how the
good high school kids are good college. But there was
no map. My parents had no clue. You know. I
got called up divarsity my sophomore year and did pretty well,
and then junior year started doing did okay, and then
you know, all of a sudden, you know, sell in California,
(06:02):
there's baseball scouts all over the place, you know, so
somehow someone put a report in and then it was
literally like the next day at one of the games,
all of a sudden, there's like fifty scouts there just
because nobody, no one ever heard of me or seeing
anything like wow, you know, not a small high school,
but not a very athletics high school. It wasn't like
modern day or you know, all the powerhouses that you've
heard of. So I was like, oh, well, that's that's strange,
(06:22):
you know. And then you know, then you start getting
letters from some schools and stuff, nothing like amazing, you know,
stelln California schools and just whatever. You know, just keep playing.
I didn't really think about it at all. And then
senior year obviously had a really good senior year, continue
to do all the other stuff that's it, you know,
scout ball, the summer stuff that you're doing at that
age and kind of getting seen that way. And then
(06:43):
once the Mets drafted me and decided I didn't really
want to do that, which you know, they knew. I
wanted to go to school and have that experience. And
I was only seventeen years old when I graduated and wow,
and went to UCLA, So I was young. I was,
you know, I wasn't mature enough. I mean, and I
tell people because I play with high school guys that
we're in the maor leagues, and it's just that's a tough.
I much rather have three years in Westwood than I
(07:05):
would three years in uh New York, Zebulon, North Carolina
or Roanoke, Virginia. And no offense to those places, But
you know Westwood or the college experience is, you know,
three years, you're never never going to duplicate as much
as some people try. You know, it's that's that period
of time, and you're never going to get it back.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Absolutely, you got recruited by a number of colleges. You
end up going to UCLA, But I also read Pepperdine, USC,
Oklahoma State, cal State Fullerton. Did you make visits to
those other colleges and really do your due diligence there
since you knew you wanted to go to college.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I did. I did, And I tell this story to
people because I was actually the first time I met
Matt Holliday's dad, because he was the one who recruited
me at Oklahoma State. And that was really the only
visit I took out of state. I mean in southern California.
I mean there's so many you can shoot up to
Pepperdine in an hour and a half and you know,
tour it around and whatever. But yeah, we're going there,
and we fly into wherever we fly and we're taking
(08:00):
in this you know, one road all the way to
Stillwater and I'm looking left and I'm looking right, and
it's just nothing, you know, and I'm like, we probably
don't need to finish this visit because I don't I
don't think I'm going to be coming here. I didn't
say that, but and they did a great job. And
I mean it's just like a lot of schools you
see on TV now. I mean they're packed, you know,
six thousand and seven thousand kids there at night. I mean,
(08:21):
it's wonderful experience to play Oklahoma State baseball, but it
just being a Southern California kid seventeen years old, I
wasn't quite ready for that step.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
That would have been a big culture shock for you.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, it would have been. It would have been. And
USC was probably the other one I kind of thought about.
And they actually won the World Series in nineteen ninety eight,
which would have been my year to go there. But
I probably wouldn't have played because they had Morgan Ensburg
there who played third, and you know, I think he
had a ten twelve year career in the big leagues,
and so it's important for me to go play. I mean,
I don't I never understand kids that go places and
(08:51):
don't play really in any sport. I might go somewhere small,
you can't go play there. I mean, especially now with
the rules now, I mean you can go somewhere play
and transfer no problem, which wasn't the case back then.
But playing and getting better at your sport is more
important than sitting on a good team and not doing anything.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I think that is such great advice. And I've had
so many guests who have said that where and it's
been either a coach or a father that said, why
would you go there and sit behind X, Y and
Z when you can go here and actually play?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah, because I mean no offense. But I mean watching
baseball is like, especially from the bench, it's not that fun.
You want to play, and as much as you want
to be a good team and do all that stuff,
but I mean it's much more fun to play be
in the.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Action, absolutely all right.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
So when then you go to UCLA you end up
being their first three time All American.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
It was fun. I mean my freshman year was great,
thirty five em hitting streak. I think it's still a
school record there.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
But yeah, no, it was great and it was wonderful
three years. I got lucky there, kind of similar how
I did with the Rockies, where my freshman class there
we had I think twelve of us, thirteen of us
coming in together, and so that was woo. So we
kind of grew up together, and we weren't very good
our freshman year even though we had you know, Eric
Burns was on that team.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
And he was a and was Chase Outley on that
team as Chase.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He was part of the group that we all came
in together there and.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Here's your roommate too, right, Yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Lived together a couple of summers, for sure. You played
in the Cape Cod League together. Yeah, it was a
great experience to be able to go in there with
twelve kids from the same time, you know, going through
the dorms together, learning college baseball together. It is great.
It's kind of like like it was with the Rockies.
You know, we kind of coming up playing with Mountain Holliday,
Clint Barmer's Bad Hop, all that stuff, and you know,
you kind of go through similar experiences bond and in
(10:30):
my opinion, that's what makes a good team is you know,
when you're all pulling for each other and all pull
in the same direction.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Absolutely, Yeah. Did you play every game while you were
at UCLA? Did your start every game?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I did not, so Okay, I should have, but I
was an idiot my freshman year, and I think like
practice got rained out or something. So we go back
to the dorum and we decided had let's go play
some basketball, So like, okay, we'll just go play basketball,
shoot around outside and whatever. And doing a little three
on three, go up, come down and land one of
my buddy's foot and like roll my ankle and I'm
(11:02):
like and I'd never been hurt before ever, like nothing,
so I didn't. I'm like, well, that's weird. That kind
of hurts. Go back to my room. It's just like
puffing up and I have like no idea what like
what's going on with my ankle? That's weird. And then whatever,
we try to make up a story about how it happened.
But you know, kind of go around and we're playing basketball,
and somehow I didn't know. I didn't know you were.
I don't know. You don't think about that sort of stuff,
like hey, you shouldn't be playing basketball, And I'm like, well,
(11:23):
like I don't know. I'm eighteen years old. My buddies
want to go play basketball. I played it before. I've
never been hurt. Like you're not thinking about getting so
just kind of flip thing and and I'm, you know,
come in and I'm like, well, I can still play.
I can't really walk, but I'll be fine. Like I
wanted to play, but I think it was kind of
a more like, let's teach you a little lesson here.
And so I missed three games for that, but yeah,
(11:43):
other than that, played every game. Yeah I didn't. I
didn't play more basketball, but you didn't.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah. And then you also started first base right with them,
and then got moved a third and back to first.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Yeah, Like I mean, like you said earlier, with me
and Chase Sutley, we were on the left side of
the infield our freshman year, I was at third and
he was at short, so pitchers would really did not
want to give up ground ball to the left side
of the infield because it was going to be an
air or hit because we were probably not going to
field it. So then the next year he's playing second
and I'm playing first, and we were both a lot
(12:15):
more comfortable on that side. And obviously Chase played fifteen
years as a second base and obviously the right spot
for him as well. But and then kind of my
last year there, I was kind of going back and
forth between third and first, just kind of depending on
the situation. And then meer Leeus kind of did the
same thing. And because they had a pretty good phrase
basement at the time, Todd, so they kind of were like, well,
we might need you to find somewhere else to play,
(12:35):
and so I was like, well, you know so kind of.
I think double A was kind of my first real
season long exposure to triple A. For the sorry third.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Base, the third base.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
For the layman out there, explain the difference between first
and third as far as like just what you kind
of have to do differently as a player.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Well, first base, I always say it's pretty easy. All
you have to do is get over, knock the ball
down and pick it up and toss it the picture
or get there yourself. Third you've got to have good
footwork to be able to make the throw as you're
fielding the ground ball and then make an accurate throw
from one hundred and some feet away. You know, So
it's crazy much different. And first base, you know, a
big part of that is just also being able to
(13:12):
make your other infielders look good. You know, that's that's
you know, one of the things I always loved about
todd at first base is it's like, well, you know,
you just you just throw it over in a general
direction and Toddle catch it. He doesn't care if it
bounces once or whatever. You know, he was, you know,
very underrated. I mean, he had a lot of gold gloves,
but you know, very underrated as a first baseman. And
those guys can save a lot of errors, which in
turn saves a lot of runs and saves your pitchers.
(13:33):
And so your first baseman just kind of tries to
keep everything together.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
What did you like more?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I like first just because, like I said, it was easier,
you know, and I was never.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
But it is and it isn't it is it.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
It's a different skill set for sure, for sure. And
I mean and Nolan makes it look easy, you know,
and it's it's it's wild to watch the good third
basements do that is because they they make it look easy.
And it certainly was not easy for me.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
But you made it look easy.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Not really, well, certainly, I'm glad it kind of looked
like that someone. But I mean, now, first base was
was much easier because you just kind of get over
you know, the plays are much much simpler and just
kind of give your infielders big targets. Pick if it's
in the dirt, and you know, it's just way less stressful,
at least in my mind for for me, for me,
way less stressful.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
There are a couple of summers you mentioned going to
the Cape Cod League. You're in their Hall of Fame
and the MVP in the ninety nine season. That is
a league that I don't think people hear enough about,
and there's a lot of Major leaguers that come out
of that.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
What did that experience do for you?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, it was great. I was pretty lucky. Like we
talked about, I had a pretty good freshman year. I
was actually slated to go to the North Woods League,
which is I don't even know, somewhere in Kansas or
something like that. And so, but that's what you did, right,
You know. Baseball is one of those sports where they
just kind of tell you where you're going to go,
the neck, whatever you're going to do. And so I
was like, well, whatever, okay, and then I have a
good freshman year because they didn't want me to go
(14:47):
to the Cape because it was like your school ends
too late, Like it ends like a week or two
in the season of Cape Cod because you silly goes
like through the first couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Of June, they're like quarters, aren't they?
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, the quarters. So but luckily Joe Borchard, who went
to Stay, played quarterback. He was drafted. He gets hurt
like the first week of the season, so they're like, hey,
we need someone and so like so next thing I know,
I'm in I'm going to the Cape Cod League. I'm
staying on the water at someone's house who's who actually
was worked for Baine Capital and like I actually see
(15:17):
him on CNN, like a couple of years ago. Mitt
Romney ran for president. I'm like, that was my host
ad for two summers and in the Cape Cod League.
So I go from Kansas to you know, ocean front
property in Cape Cod for for two summers. And it
was Yeah, it was one of the you know, very
fortunate things that just kind of you look back and
you're like, that was pretty fortunate. You know that one
(15:37):
I had a good season, and two Joe Bortchie gets
hurt and they need a spot and I'm right there
because I had other buddies from UCLA that went there,
and you know, they're staying in somewhere else in like
a flooded out basement with two other with two other
kids sleeping on cots, and I'm like.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
You get the ocean front people.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, like this is a little different experience that I'm
having than they are.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And also just the talent wise at Cape Cod is
it stepped up from pretty much every thing else, Right.
Is it one of the best ones to go to?
Speaker 1 (16:02):
For sure? For sure it is. And I mean it's
kind of a lot of guys first introduction into wood bats.
So you know, they want to see how the hitters
do with wood bat in their hands, because I mean
metal bats and just like kind of today, they can
mask a lot of deficiencies in your swing or you know,
so what they want to see how you do with
the wood bats. So if you have some successful season
wood bat and there, you're gonna do pretty well. We've
got guys. I think when I was there, one guy
(16:22):
had a great summer and he was like a junior
and ended up getting signed for a couple hundred thousand
dollars after that summer. Wow, So it can really really
go well for you if you.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
How much difference did it make for you going changing bats,
going to the wood bat. Did you feel a difference, I.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Mean, funny story, I like, not really. I mean the
power was definitely lest for sure, but I never really
considered myself a power hitter. I felt like I was
always a line drive hitter. So my freshman year, I
think I hit three eighty three and at UCLA and
then in the Cape Colleague I think he hit three
eighty three as well.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Oh wow, So it was made no difference.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
So yeah, I mean the power numbers would have been
a little bit different, but yeah, just that same approach
of line drives and using the hill field really works well.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
All right, So then two thousand Rockies draft you fifth round.
How does the transition go?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Then?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
From Ucla? Did you finish your degree? Did you go
straight to the Rockies? You're a sociology major, right.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yes, Well baseball you mostly leave after three years for baseball.
So there's not a ton of kids that can graduate
in three years, at least not athletes. People much smarter.
Maybe they come up some credits, but uh, get drafted
and go to Portland, Oregon and play there, you know
for two months. You kind of go in July August
there and played with Barbas, played with Hop, there a
(17:29):
few other guys and it was fun.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
You know, there's just so many guys that you came
up with.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, it just started right there. You know, Hop was
drafted the same draft and you know Barmas and yeah,
that was great experience. I mean, I don't know, Portland
changed quite a bit since then, but I mean you
could see how it could go that way right when
you went on riding the max, you know, from the
hotel to the field.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
But an interesting city very much. So what level was that?
Speaker 1 (17:53):
This kind of short season as kind of where they
send the college kids after they've been drafted or maybe
if someone been hurt before, things like that, and the
high school kids would go to like a different short
season eight which was usually around like if you're a
Florida team, like spring training team, you'd be there. If
you're Arizona, it'd be in Arizona.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
For the high school kids.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
After that, then you end up going and at that time,
you guys are in Tucson still, right, so you go
to High Corbett for your first spring training.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
What was that like?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
It was fun? It's different, obviously you don't know any better,
but I mean it's the minor league side's much different.
It's very I mean, I don't know, I've never been
to prison or anything, but it's kind of it's kind
of like, you know, you're all in this big locker
room with you know, one hundred and twenty guys, and
you know, the food's not great, but you're just there
to get ready for the season. So you're there from
you know, six thirty in the morning, then you get
(18:41):
a little bit of lunch, and then you go play
a game in the afternoon, and then you're home back
of the house by you know, five six o'clock at night.
So the spring training, especially for the minor leaguers, is
it's pretty tough. It's it's long days. Once you get
to the big leagues, then it's like okay, then you're
not playing every day in spring training. You can go
home at lunch, which is much nicer it so, but
the minor league spring training is tough and definitely a
(19:03):
learning experience.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Could you go out at night and then still be
able to function the next day? I mean, you know,
spring training give you kind of a big old party
sometimes too.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
It certainly can be and I think you maybe you know,
pick and choose your spots.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I guess there's some dance places though thereuson there is
for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
You know, twenty twenty one years old and you're kind
of you want this to be your job or your career,
so you're focused on it. And I'm not a morning person.
So the thought, you know, it's already going to suck
getting up at six am anyway, like going to feel
even worse when you're going to bed at twelve or
one am. So definitely those early years, you definitely stay
and get your rest, make sure you're at least somewhat functional.
(19:41):
The next year.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
You're smart about it that it's.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
A long day tuoson. You know it's hot.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's hot even in February March it gets hot.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, all right. So you have a few years of.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Minor league Ballgarrett before you make your major league debut.
What was that time like of just trying to make
that next step and climb that ladder? How did you
kind of mental you work around that?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Well, it's tough. I mean the seasons are long, right,
and in a double A struggled a little bit the
first half of the season, so you're you're grinding on
working on your swing, trying to fix some of the
flaws that double A kind of can't expose a little bit.
And so you're out there early, you know, noon one
o'clock in North Carolina. You know it's hot and muggy,
and but you got to you know, you got to
work on your swing because you have a goal place
(20:22):
where you want to go, and you know, you know,
hitting two twenty is not going to get you there.
So you've got to figure out a way to get better.
And so you're you're going through that, and you know,
the second half season much better, and and then you know,
the next season was it was a great experience. I
go I think I went to that was my first
big league spring training. You know three. I had a
real good spring training. I think I hit like it
was something stupid, like batting like five hundred or something.
(20:42):
Spring training it was. It was crazy. It was like
every I come in and like the seventh inning for
like one at bat and they get a hit. And
then the next day I come back in the sixth
inning and get a hit, and it was just it
was wild. It was fun. You know, I was playing
well and they're like, oh, why doesn't he go I
wasn't ready. You know, I knew that, and and they
knew that even though I was performing well. But to
Triple A, had a good season and then get called
up you know, kind of in August and just fell
(21:04):
flat on my face there. When you get to the
big leagues, you know, just kind of I don't know,
it's a lot going on there. I got to hit
i think my first at bat, and then didn't have
very many hits after that, and so it's just well,
you know, the bright lights, I mean like a UCLA
there was maybe five hundred people there. Minor league there's
nobody there watching your games, you know, so it's a
big change, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Going to thirty thousand people.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well not only that too, is I was a big
baseball fan. I'm now I'm playing against you know, Gary Sheffield,
who was you know, someone who I thought was awesome
you know growing up, you know, watching on TV, you
know that sort of stuff. So it's just it's a
lot to take in, and you know, my swing had
more work to do, you know, and so kind of
come up, learn what didn't work there, and go back
(21:44):
to the minor leagues and work on those things. And
I think I got called back up again and wasn't
a whole lot better. But then O four again started
Triple A again and had a great season, get called
up and it was in September, and it was a
much different experience. You know, I felt I was ready
at that point. I was like, I I know I
belong to be here. And so once you have that
kind of thoughts, it's better. Right, Yes, when you're like,
(22:05):
I don't know, you feel like am I good enough?
Am I not? But then once I, like, you know,
dominate Triple A, I was like, well, I don't need
to do that anymore, like you're you're ready for this,
and was confident in my swing and my approach and
my abilities and did pretty well after that.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yeah, it's hard to balance the Okay, you have the
physical part that needs to get better when you make
that jump to the big leagues, but then the mental
part is also so hard of trying to say I
do belong, I should be here. So how do you
kind of do that to where you're improving on your
physical part and improving your swing, but then also in
your head going I belong or do they just kind
(22:37):
of come together?
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Well, it's different. I mean I was lucky that growing
up in high school, college, in minor leagues, my confidence
never was really an issue. You don't even have those thoughts,
like it's not even like I have to battle them
or anything. It's like they're not even there. Like it's
just like I'm going to go up there and I'm
going to hit the ball hard. I'll either get a
hit or not, like you know, I'll be fine. But
then the big leagues, you know that you got that
(22:59):
X to pressure, and you're like, then you start having
self doubt which you've never had before. So you're like, okay,
well all right, how do I fix that and hope that?
And the way I did it was just go get better,
Like once you know you belong to be there, then
you're not really nervous about it anymore.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
There weren't mental coaches when you were playing.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
There was as the Rockies did have one. Yeah, okay
for sure, for sure, but not to the extent they
do now, you know, and which I think is a
good thing. Like I said, I'm a coach my twelve
year old team, and they some of the thoughts that
they have, I'm like, what are you guys thinking about here? Oh? Yeah,
like this should be fun and like.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
It's totally different for that generation.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
It's wild. Yeah, so it's like, yeah, I don't understand it.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
You're going to have to learn it if you're going
to well coach you.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, I know, but it's like, you know, hey, like
let's stay positive, Like hey, like your mom and dad
are still going to love you when you go home.
Like it's not it's not the end of the world.
If you get out here, you'll be fine. They put
a lot of pressure on themselves and I don't I
don't really know where it comes from.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I think it's a it's a generational thing because we
didn't have it as much. We were just kind of
like happy, go lucky do in sports growing up. And
then the kids now, you know, it's I have to
go to college, I have to Graduate's like, no, you don't.
There's there's other things you can do in life, and
they just they do. They put a lot on themselves.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
They do. It's Yeah, I tried to talk to my
kids about it. It's you know, and I'm hard on
them a little bit as well, But you know, it's
more about the approach and what are we trying to
do here as opposed to the result exactly.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Oh absolutely it does.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, all right, so you mentioned so three four you're
up and down a little bit, but in two thousand
and five you win the third base job.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Do you get that right from the get go?
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Yeah? I win the job out of spring training. And
actually you got hurt. I did. Yeah. We go to
Albuquerque and Colorado Springs was back when I don't know
if they still do this kind of were like a
little pregame travel and I was a little I was sick,
you know, a little under the weather, you know, flying
to Albuquerque play again, and we fly to Colorado Springs
and play, and first inning or something, I hit a
ground battle just short they turn in double play and
(24:54):
I'm like running hard for some reason, like who runs
hard in spring training two days two days before the
season starts. But I want to beat out the double
play like any other rookie would. And then I, you know,
kind of strained my handstring the process. Again. Never been
hurt before, Like I don't know what that was. And
so yeah, I missed the first month this season and
definitely a challenge coming back from that. And but luckily,
(25:16):
you know, ended up with the season going okay, especially
you know, last couple of months once it was kind
of like kind of fully healed a little bit.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Did you rehab then with the big league or did
you have to go back to the springs or anything or.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
No, I rehab there and then I rehab with the
big league club and then.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
So that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
The training room is a hard place to be, but
at least if you're kind of close to the teammates,
that's a little bit better than if you were in
a completely different city.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah, and I mean recanting the story a little bit.
You know, it sounds like, oh man, that would that
sounds awful. I guess you must have been devastated, And
it wasn't. I know, I wasn't really devastating. It was
more just like, okay, like this happened. I'll get better
and then I'll be here in mayor you.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Know, like whenever mentality for a baseball player, Garrett, because
you know, there's one hundred and sixty two games and
you have to forget the one that just happened to
go on to the next one, and you your program
like that, aren't you.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Yeah? I mean I just I've never felt sorry for myself,
you know, And it's it doesn't really serve any purpose,
just kind of here's your situation, deal with it the best,
you can move on and hopefully you'll get better.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Well, and obviously it didn't.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I mean, you finished fourth and rookie voting that year
in five and then also had like a sixteen game
hit streak later on in the year, so you obviously
came around and did just absolutely fun.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, it was funny. It was a fun year. I mean,
we had no idea what we were doing. I don't
think we were very good, but it was just fun
to kind of learn the big league lifestyle there at
that point, right, it's not just September traveling with forty guys.
Now you're one of the twenty five, Yes, going to
LA going to San Diego. You're getting that big league experience.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
And you're with some of those guys that you came
up with from the very beginning at that point too.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
For sure, and you know, and that helps, right, it
makes it made it really easy to root for all
these guys that are out there playing while I'm sitting
there on the bench. They're all my friends. They're all
my friends playing big league baseball. Yeah, I want that
I want them to do well. I'm not going to
feel sorry. I'm like, I'm cheer them on, trying to
help them out and try to have a good time
in the process.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
So let's go to seven, which was that magical October
that was just unbelievable. Go through that and what that
was like as a player in July, nobody thought you
guys were going to do anything, and then all of
a sudden, September happens and it's just one of the
coolest times in this city, I think, and I yearn
for that to come back for the Rockies at some point,
but it was so cool to be here then, and
it had to be amazing to be a part of
(27:21):
the team.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
It was, it was, and it was we kind of
got lucky in that September, not in just that how
we played, It was just it was more of the
teams we played. We were playing the Dodgers in San
Francisco and all their guys were thirty five years old
and forty and they weren't in the playoffs. They were
just running out the string, right, So we're all young,
We're going to go out there and play hard the
rest of the season, regardless of what's going to happen
because we're still trying to prove ourselves, you know, finish
(27:44):
up having a good season, and so we kind of
got lucky that they were just not that they laid
down or anything, but they just are like, you know whatever,
Like we're not in the playoffs, and we were hungry
and just like, oh, we'll keep trying to win and
see what happens.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
But you still had to have the play in game
and then get through the playoffs, and it just it
just kept going and it was magical.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Yeah, I mean it was. It worked out well until
the World Series. I mean, we were we just matched
up real well with those teams. I mean we weren't.
We weren't going to be intimidate by it, and we
you know, we'd already beaten them all. We matched up
really well with the Phillies during that season, and so
we weren't really worried about going in there to play
there because we knew we could hit their pictures and
we knew our pictures would be fine.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
And Diamondbacks were sooner.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Arizona right there was. I mean Web was good and
I had my struggles against him, but other other guys
raked him, you know. So it was just and it
would have continued if you know, Cleveland just would have
you know, held onto their three to one series league
because because we would have matched up much better against
against them as the team, then we than than we
than we did against the Red.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Sox and then the World Series itself, and I went
to Fenway for the first two and of course the
two that were here as well, and that was I mean,
it was still exciting to be there. You're at the
biggest game that you can have them in baseball. But
it just didn't work out.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
No, it just didn't work out. And we had the break,
which you know didn't help obviously, more so just to
take away our momentum, right, and they kept their momentumcause
they we run three to one and then they go
into Game seven. Now they're just they're riding high.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
They've got there's a lot too that isn't there.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, and they've got their veteran pictures on the mound,
you know, the Beckett and Wakefield and Shilling and and Lester.
You know, that's that's a pretty good four there, you know,
that's feeling pretty good. And yeah, it was tough, and
we would like to have done better, but I mean
it was it was a fun ride. And I don't know,
we're still the best team that the absolutely we'll take it.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
So in the next year, in o way Todd's hurt,
you're in at first base quite a bit. So now
you're back in your position that you really like a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yeah, and it was awesome. I love playing first and
the team didn't quite do that well that year, as
I mean, it's just it's a different once you get
to the World Series, Like they say that, right, once
you get the World Series really hard to repeat, and
I don't obviously you got to get fortunately, you know,
especially for us and some of the smaller teams to
get there right, things have to kind of break your way,
kind of got to get hot the right time. But
it's just it's tough to go from the height of
(29:59):
that to be like, oh, well, now I got a
regular season game two, you know, and it's like we
have one hundred and sixty more of these, you know.
So it was a little bit of letdown, but also
the team it changed a little bit. I think kind
of missed some of those guys at the top of
the batting order that helped us out. And yep, you know,
like you said, Todd being out, I mean, Todd wasn't
at his best when we were there compared to ten
years prior when he was you know, MVP and winning
(30:21):
every award you could. But I mean he's still missed
there every day when he's not out there. Like I
said that, the defense as well as well as the hitting,
and just the consistency.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Of and him his personality, even though he's a he's
just an interesting bird as far as like he's dry,
he's fine, and he says things, and I think that
that's a big part of the glue. Sometimes he's not
the loudest. People don't hear a bunch from him, but
when he speaks, people listen or they crack up or what.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah, for sure, and he was still around, but yet
you know, when you're on the d L or something,
it's like you're on the team, but you're not really
on the team, you know. It's like, so he was
missed for sure, and that consistency, the middle order of
him pretty much always putting together the quality at bat.
I mean, it's just he's one of those players that
you could just watch and you kind of just learn
and pick up things that oh yeah, like oh okay,
(31:09):
just one of those kind of guys, and there's not
if you're lucky you have one guy on a team
that's like that. But most people don't know.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
They don't. What kind of things did you take from
him and his game?
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Well, just the way he went about his business. I
mean he was the same every day, same routine, same everything.
He's at bat. He wasn't worried about, you know, where
his hands were, where the pitch was. I mean we've
all seen him hit pitches out on fastballs like up
at his eyes like he was. He was amazing to
watch hit. He wasn't up there thinking about anything mechanically.
He was just up there like I'm just gonna be
(31:40):
ready to hit, swing as hard as I can, and
good things will happen. And then it worked out pretty
well for him.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Definitely did all right.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
So in two thousand and nine, you sign a one
year deal with the Rockies, and then after that, which
is another postseason, you're a free agent and you don't
get re signed again. Go through that and what that
was like, because when you've been with an organization for
so long, I mean, there are a lot of guys
that are like I thought I was just going to
be a lifer and then all of a sudden you're not.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, I mean, you never know, right, Like like all
these sports, it's kind of year to year, especially when
you're at that point. I didn't have a great O
nine season, and they had a kid that they took
in the first round that I knew that he was
going to be their third basement, So you know, it
made sense why they didn't sign it. It was there
was no ill feelings or anything about that, and and
Baltimore for me, was the best situation that I thought
(32:25):
it was, and so I decided to sign there. And
it was a tough season. We weren't very good in Baltimore,
which makes it tough. And then you're in the you're
in the al E, so you just kind of get
drummed even more, you know, over and over again, and
just couldn't really find my swing at that point, and
it was it's tough. It's tough for something that you've
that's been easy your whole life, you know, so to speak,
(32:45):
is being able to hit, be able to do all
these sort of things, and all of a sudden you're
in the cage and he was like, this just doesn't
feel right. I don't know, you know, you don't interest.
You're just trying to figure out what's going on, trying
to fix it, keep working in the cage and just
things that kind of came naturally or before that you
feel like you can get right. You keep putting the
work in, and it's just frustrating, you know, not seeing
results and turns baseball into not fun, you know, and
(33:07):
then you're losing and then now all of a sudden,
it's not fun at all, right because not even the
team's doing well, you know, so and you're with a
bunch of new guys that you don't really know, so
it's it's it's a tough little do you feel like,
well a little bit, yeah, because I mean it's always
one of those guys that I enjoyed joined playing with
my friends, and that's kind of how I had it
like my whole career really until that was the first
(33:27):
year it actually felt like a business to me. Was
was that year where he kind of felt and I'd
heard that before from other guys that I'd played with,
whereas like you know, like Josh Fogg, because you guys
don't know how lucky you have it here that that
there's this kind of camaraderie here with you guys. You
guys go up together, like He's like, it's not like
that everywhere else, you know. And so that was my
first experience in that, and it really turns into kind
of an individual sport at that point, which is which
(33:50):
is tough, which baseball. I mean, it's a bunch of
individual activities right kind of as a team.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
But yeah, it really to have that team come you
have to do.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
To be successful. For sure, they have a successful team,
you for sure have to and those that's what all
the good teams seem to have, you know. I think
that's despite the Dodgers payroll. I mean last year when
you could just see that they were having fun and
cared about each other out there, as opposed to you know,
some of the teams on the East Coast where it's
like they've got all these stars and they all just
look miserable and you're like, well, yeah, they're probably not
going to be very good exactly that paper, they should
(34:20):
be great.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
The money doesn't solve it. It's the character that needs
to be a huge component of that. And sometimes you
need an next extra money to get some of those
pieces in there. But you also have to make sure
that character is there.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Yeah, you have to, and it's tough. It's tough for
managers to do that, right, especially when you know they're
making well nowadays, right, making forty to fifty million dollars
a year. What are you gonna What are you gonna
say to them? You kind of got to draft winners, right,
sign guys that want to win. Sometimes you don't necessarily
know that until you get them in the building. You
know whether whether they're a winning type player or not.
Winning kind of starts early, you know, when you're in
high school and college where they're on good teams, where
(34:53):
they you know, did you did they win in the
minor leagues? Kind of all that stuff builds you a
picture of what the player is.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
You got to do some research on them, and the
ones don't do research, get bit it seems like it.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Yeah, yeah, winning baseball is I mean there's a formula.
I mean even at the twelve U level now and
it's all the same formula and it doesn't change. Players
get better, but the way to win games is still
the same.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
That's very true. Okay, So in Baltimore. You get released
that summer in July. What happened? Did?
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I mean, that's like the first time you've probably been
I just, yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I wasn't good. I deserve to get Really, it's like
one of those things I'm not gonna I didn't deserve
to be there, and sure enough I wasn't.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Did they call you in?
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Oh yeah, yeah, they call you in, And I mean
you kind of at that point think it's coming, right,
and so it's certainly something I'd never experienced, and it
was different for sure. And then go back out there
and got to clean out your locker and do all
that sort of stuff. And next thing, you know, you
call you like, all right, I need a plane ride
back to California. I don't need to be in Baltimore, nore.
(35:50):
You know. So you hack up all your stuff, go
home and just kind of decide what you want to
do at that point. And it's it's a tough decision
to make, and you know, maybe could have gone an
option to go play trip a somewhere, and I just
which probably would have been the right thing, you know,
like I needed to do that, you know, to kind
of just reset, Yeah, get some confidence, do all that stuff,
(36:10):
but I didn't really care to do that, didn't it
Just baseball was so not fun at that point. And
I'm like, it's already July, like when I go there
for August and then maybe maybe get caught up in September.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Did you have any kids yet at that point?
Speaker 1 (36:22):
No? No, nothing, And so we'll just take it off
here and then we'll go spring train next year and
see what happens.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:30):
So I have a weird logistic question. So I'm always
fascinated by what happens with clubs. So when they release you,
did they pay for like your ticket and arranging to
get you the airporters? Then you're on your own. You're like,
I got to figure out.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
I think they paid for my ticket. I don't really remember,
be honest, I'm sure it's in the collective bargaining that
they've got to send me up. They've got to send
me home properly. But I don't know. It's been so
long a doo, I forget it. But yeah, I think
the private secretary is traveling secretary is like, okay, like,
let me get your flight tomorrow. I was like, okay,
perfect County gotmy Drange County and get me out of here, good.
Speaker 3 (37:01):
Luck, right, okay?
Speaker 2 (37:02):
And then in twenty ten you did do a little
minor league deal with the Pirates, but that didn't last
very long.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
And so then did you just know I'm done?
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Yeah, I mean Hurdle was the manager for the Pirates
that season, and so he got me an invite there
and went to Florida for spring training again, and very similar.
Just wasn't I mean, did okay early on, then kind
of struggle towards the end, and the same kind of thing.
Wasn't a whole lot of fun, even with Clint. Yeah,
I mean Clint's great, you know, and we've always had
(37:30):
a good relationship, and you know, I enjoyed playing for
him here with Colorado, But.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
That's just one piece if you don't have all the
rest of your pieces.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Yeah, different, yeah, you know, and with their roster construction,
I couldn't really play third really anymore at that point.
I was kind of more of a first baseman, and
first basements that can't hit roal, Well, they don't really
need those people around too much.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
That's weird.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Yeah, yeah, but you still, I mean, Garret, you look
back and you had ten year career, probably more than
double than the average career, I think, what it's five
or a little over five. So as you look back
on that, I mean, you got to be pretty proud
of how long you're able to stay in. I mean,
it always sucks to be done and have somebody till
you're not good enough and know.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
That you can't do it anymore. But yeah, I mean
stayed in long.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Yeah, you know, just to make it is such an
accomplishment and that sort of stuff, and growing up a
huge fan of baseball to be able to say that
I'm a big leaguer and do some of the things
I did, and making it to the World Series. I
mean there's probably countless Hall of famers that never got
to play in.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
The World Series, That's true, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
So to have that experience, you know, there's nothing you
can't duplicate. Those feelings on a baseball field and the
relationships and you know, just like I said, where it
took me to keepe Cod, you never know where baseball
is going to take you, the good and the bad,
and I had a lot of good. So just because
I mean the ending probably never goes well for anybody,
right in any sport, you know, So it was all
(38:50):
the positives before that, all all the friends, all the
places I've been. I mean, it was wonderful experience.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Unless you can do a go out with a Super
Bowl win like Peyton Manning, and not many.
Speaker 3 (38:59):
Get to do that.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Many get to do well your own shot like that, Yeah,
and you're you're at the top of the world.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Well and even he right that year didn't even yeah,
it wasn't even the starting quarterback right during the beginning
of the year and middle of the year.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
Yeah, had some tough moments.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Yeah, some tough moments for sure. So I mean I
was actually at at that Super Bowl, so that was
it was great to see him here. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Yeah, I had just moved here and my wife's from
the Bay Area and it was in San Francisco. So
we were like, well, let's go because we didn't to
worry about a place to stay, which is nice. We
just took the train up there and that's perfect. And
it was it was great, It was. It was it
was fun to watch, so fun.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Okay, and then after you retire, you kind of disappear.
Since twenty ten, you guys moved back here, like you said,
about ten years ago or so, got three kids, two boys,
and a girl, and what are you doing golfing a lot?
Speaker 3 (39:44):
I know that, right, I tried.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
To Yeah, I tried to play a lot of golf
and full time dad, full time dad and full time
husband and coaching my twelve year old's team and trying
to teach my kids the right way to play baseball
on my mind. And that's been fun. They've kind of
I started coaching about four years ago, when they're about
nine to you, I think was my first season I coached,
and and the kids really helped kind of bring back
(40:07):
that love of the game, so to speak, you know,
which was great because I once my friends stopped playing baseball.
I didn't really watch much Big League baseball because I
don't know I used to know them all. Now I
don't don't know who any of these guys are. No,
but now they want to go to Couris Field, and
now they want to watch it on TV. You know.
Now they have you know, idols that they like to watch,
you know, So it's they've kind of reinvigorated that baseball spark.
(40:30):
Baseball spark. It has been good. It's been fun to
watch them play, fun to watch them get better. Not
just my kids, but you know, all the kids that
I've coached, and so it's been fun.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
And your daughter does dance, which I had a dance
daughter too, so I was like, I know how that goes.
There's a lot of competitions, and it's just as much
dance sometimes as it is any other sport too.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
She's busier than my boys are. I mean they only
practiced twice a week. She's there four days a week.
So so we're lucky. We're lucky that the dance is
literally right outside that our communities. It's really close on
the commute. And now, like like with all these sports,
I can watch them online. She'd be like, Oh, her
solo's coming up in one minute. I'm like, okay, perfect,
pull it up on my iPad. Pulled up on my
(41:11):
iPad and and watch it. So it's it's been good.
Went to a couple things down in Denver, just drive,
you know, drive thirty minutes. She goes on there for
a minute, and then and then.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Her next one's in four hours.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Then I give her a hug and say great job,
and then I go home. And luckily, my wife really
seems to enjoy it, so so she handles all that well.
I'm using in charge of the boys in their sports.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
That is perfect. And you've also gone back to your
high school.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
I know you've done a lot with them, giving back
charity wise, helping them kind of build some more facilities too,
which I think is really cool. It's nice that you
are recognizing your roots and are close to the people there.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Still looks like, yeah, I mean my high school coach
actually just died this past year and it was tough,
but it was you know, going back to the funeral
and seeing some of the buddies that I played high
school with and you know, I had and seen third
almost thirty years. You know, it's quite a shock. And
as you're going through the coaching journey, like I've been
doing it just with my kids, you start realizing the
(42:08):
coaches that you had and kind of the impact they've
had and kind of what you took from them, what
you liked from them, and also learned kind of as
a player, what did I can see what coaches liked
in me, and I can see what maybe they didn't
like in me, you know, because I can, But as
a player, you don't. I never thought about that, you.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
Know, and especially when you're young, when you're young.
Speaker 1 (42:26):
Exactly exactly right, and so it's it's been a great experience.
And you know, my high school was my coach was
awesome and kind of went against the grain, which I
don't know if they do that much anymore, where they
took a chance on calling up a sophomore from JV
to to play to take a senior spot. I don't
know how much that happens anymore, because you know, coaches,
coaches are too scared. I don't want to deal with
(42:47):
their parents.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
I don't want to deal with that. And so it's
you know, he took a chance on me and it worked,
and you know, be forever thankful to him his family
for that, And.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
That's pretty cool. How did that happen?
Speaker 2 (42:58):
Do you know, like how we took you from being
a JV player up to varsity?
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Was he just noticing you or well?
Speaker 1 (43:04):
I think they were struggling. I think they were struggling
a little bit, and and the JV coach was like, well, hey,
like we've got this kid. He's pretty good. I think
he can help you guys. And so he's like, okay,
well then let's do it, you know, so go out
there and play right field, and I think I hit
four sixty four to seventy or something that year, and.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Then you played right field.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
So did you play as an outfielder in high school?
Speaker 2 (43:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (43:22):
I played outfield, and then our third basement got hurt
my senior year, and so they're like, hey, I want
you to play third. I'm like, okay, did you ever
back play third?
Speaker 3 (43:29):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (43:30):
I didn't play the outfield again until I think maybe
four In Dodger Stadium, it's probably you did. Yeah. I
played a game or two and left field just to
get some of my bats. Yeah, it's very very different experience.
I'd never because every time before that you played in
the outfield, you can always hear the ball being hit.
So now you're in Dodger Stadium it's crazy loud, and
(43:51):
you see him swing and then you see the ball
and you're like, all right, really know how hard you
hit that? Because I can't hear the contact. You just
kind of see the ball.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
So it was oh wow, it was ever thought about
that you can't hear contact.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
No, you can't, not in one of the loud places
in the Dodger Stadium, that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Oh my gosh, interesting.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
All right, Okay, so as we wrap this up, Garrett,
this has been really cool to catch up with you.
I ask all of my guests what they would tell
other people. And you have a great opportunity now as
you have the young kids that you're coaching, when they
are down or things aren't going well, what are you
telling them to try and get back up? And you
came from such a different I think mentality than most
(44:28):
of Like you're able to get past it a lot easier.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
So there's a lot of people that can't get past
it as easy as you did.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
I would just say, learn, learn from it, and move on.
And you know a couple of things, especially with baseball
and hitting and that sort of stuff, it's like, all right,
you can be like mad about it, you know, from
the batter's box, you know, back to the dug eye.
Once we get our helmet off and our batting gloves off,
our bats put away, now we're going to cheer on
our teammates. And if we're cheering on our teammates, we're
being a team player and we're rooting for other guys.
(44:56):
It's really hard to be down on yourself if you
really genuinely care for the next guy up to get
the job done that you couldn't get done. It'll help
you get over it much faster.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Good advice. Do they listen?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Yeah, I think they've slowly gotten better, right, Like they're
at that age where they can be very emotional. You know,
it's twelve thirteen years old, so you know, the only
other thing would be yeah, the same thing that they
say in the big leagues is once you've taken a shower,
that game's over with because we got another one tomorrow
and you.
Speaker 3 (45:25):
Got to get your mind more after that.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
You got to get your mind right.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
That's right, that's right, all right. And how's the golf game?
Speaker 1 (45:31):
It's okay, it's okay. Yeah, it's uh, my body gets
a little more sore than it used to from playing,
you know, three or four days or trying to play
thirty six holes, but it's okay. I can drive the
ball a long way and then that's about it. It's
about a three right now.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Oh okay, yeah, I think it's okay.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Okay, I can still I still have the hand eye,
you know that the touch and feel maybe not so much,
but I still have some hand eye coordination.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
That's awesome, all right. Garrett, thank you so much. How
was your first podcast? Do you feel this was fun?
Speaker 1 (45:59):
Yeah? This was great. I appreciate you having me on,
and hopefully it goes well.
Speaker 2 (46:03):
This is fantastic and people will be excited to hear
from you because it feels like you've disappeared.
Speaker 3 (46:08):
So now you know you're back.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Now I'm back.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
They're going to recognize you in the grocery store again
and they're going to ask autographs.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
I don't know about that. That's one thing that's nice
about you know what I did. Yeah, nobody, nobody really knows,
and it's nice.
Speaker 3 (46:21):
Incognito is not a bad thing at all.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Peyton and John don't have that luxury.
Speaker 3 (46:24):
No, they can't go to King Supers.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
No.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
All right, Garrett, thank you, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
You welcome, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
Thanks Garrett.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
New episodes of Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired are released on
Tuesdays on nearly every podcast platform. Please follow, download, and
review this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. You can
get social and find out about new episodes on Twitter
and Instagram at CTFR podcast, and also check out the
website CTFR podcast dot com. To find out more about me,
(46:52):
visit Susiewargen dot com. Thanks again for listening, and until
next time, please be careful, be safe, and be kind.
Speaker 3 (46:59):
Take care,