May 30, 2024 • 49 mins
What does it take to transform a 56-game-winning team into playoff contenders? Listen as we sit down with Brian, the Kansas City Royals' pitching coach, who shares the secrets behind their extraordinary turnaround. From strategic player acquisitions to fostering a winning culture, Brian reveals the pivotal factors propelling the Royals toward success. He discusses the nuances of coaching a diverse group of players, highlighting the importance of tailored approaches and the balance of experience and innovation in shaping a formidable team.
Get an insider's perspective on the evolving role of a pitching coach in modern baseball. Brian offers a fascinating look at how traditional coaching methods are now interwoven with contemporary data analysis to drive performance. He reminisces about his mentorship under veteran coach Carl Willis and provides anecdotes about his unique strategies during mound visits.
But there's more to Brian than just his coaching prowess. Discover his rich baseball journey, including his unexpected transition from the Padres to a successful stint in Japan. He shares personal stories of cultural immersion, the exquisite Japanese cuisine, and representing Italy in the World Baseball Classic. This episode is packed with personal anecdotes, from the camaraderie within the Royals clubhouse to the remarkable career of Bobby Witt Jr., making it a must-listen for any baseball enthusiast.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello and welcome everybody to SoundOff with
SinkOff.
I'm your host, brian SinkOff.
Thanks so much for joining ushere today.
Of course, soundoff issponsored by the SinkOff Realty
Group a full in Minnesota.
Brian is the pitching coach forthe Kansas City Royals.
Brian, it is so good to see you, man.
(00:30):
Thanks for joining SoundOffwith Sync Off.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hey, thanks for having me on, brian, I
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
So Brian, of course, let's talk.
Before we get into Brian'sbackground, let's talk a little
bit about the Royals.
Is there a bigger surprise inbaseball Currently, as of this
taping, three and a half gamesback at Cleveland in the AL
Central Unbelievable improvementfrom last year's team 56 wins a
year ago.
Bobby Witt Jr one of the bestplayers in baseball.
(00:57):
Salvador Perez amazing year thepitching which is where Brian
comes in 3.39 ERA right nowfifth best in the majors.
Brian, your team won 56 games ayear ago.
You're now, as of today, kindof in that playoff mix, one of
the top echelon teams in theAmerican League.
What a difference a year makes.
(01:18):
Tell us a little bit aboutwhat's been the difference for
this club.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, it's not a surprise for us, right?
This is what we had beenplanning on.
Just, yeah, definitely a betterstart to the year than last
year, as we get a third of theway through close to that.
It's been fun watching theseguys create the culture, the
winning culture, that we've allbeen looking for.
And yeah, we didn't win.
(01:45):
You know how many?
We had 35 wins.
We didn't win our 35th gameuntil like August 1st of last
year.
So that's a better feeling fora coach.
And you know the guys that webrought in the Seth Lugos, the
Michael Wacca, the Will Smithsin the bullpen been there, done
that before.
Having that veteran presencearound is almost like having an
(02:07):
extra coach.
They know how to win, they knowhow to act and know how to get
through a professional seasonand able to help out the young
guys.
Invaluable experience for us.
And really giving a year ingives me the opportunity to
continue to gain their trust andto be able to teach right,
because there has to be arelationship there in order to
teach and you know, and you haveto have that trust factor.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Brian, how hard is it ?
Because you often hear you knowI'm 53.
You're kind of of my generation.
I had a wrestling coach.
The old school wrestling coachwould pound you and you know
more push-ups, more sit-ups.
It's not like that anymore.
Coaching, coaching kids,coaching young men how has that
(02:52):
been for you?
Coaching athletes, let's faceit, make probably a whole heck
of a lot more than you do, andthey're of a different mindset.
Is that tough for you to makethat adjustment?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, I guess it is tough, right, cause you're
learning.
It's more of an individualizedapproach.
You're learning individuality.
Each individual is different.
You know we have guys that havehad have 10 years in the major
leagues, that are in their mid30s, and then we have guys that
are in their early 20s that onlyhave a couple of years in the
major leagues or not, or none atall, and and how you speak to
(03:23):
them is different.
How they were coached isdifferent.
So having a different coachapproach is quite important.
So you need to have more thanone tool in your bag to respond
to these guys and how they goabout their business.
So I was lucky to grow up withcoaches who gave some tough love
, so I know that end of it.
I know what that looks like.
(03:44):
And then being a part of youknow, coming up in a minor
league system with the Philliesas a coach, moving on to
Cleveland where they used alittle bit of very innovative
combining experience andinnovation, has really been my
favorite way to go about things.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So Brian became the Royals pitching coach for the
2023 season.
You were hired in December of22.
We mentioned last year thetough year 56 wins.
I think it makes me warm andfuzzy, man.
It like puts a smile on my facebecause I love the fact that
(04:28):
you're not, you know, a billiondollar team.
You're not getting all thesecrazy free agents year in and
year out and you guys have sortof I want to say quote unquote
done it the right way.
That has to give you and yourteam and the guys on your staff
a sense of pride doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, I think it's important to know that
everybody's involved in this.
Right, it's not just a coachingstaff.
We have an owner that's onboard to how to okay these
signings.
We did spend some money in theoffseason.
People were surprised, but Ithink that's what you do when
you try to improve a team right,you want to develop players
from within.
It's okay.
Where are our gaps?
Right, and then you try to fillthose gaps to make us a
(05:09):
well-rounded team.
So the vision of JJ Piccolo, ourGM, and the vision of our owner
, mr Sherman, just was fantasticthis offseason.
You know, we got our buttskicked last year and it was
really important.
We got together five days afterthe season, right After getting
your butts kicked.
You kind of want to just gohome and just.
You know you want to forgetabout things, but that wasn't, I
(05:32):
think, the right thing to dofor us.
We needed to learn from.
Learn from that.
How are we going to learn?
We brought the organizationtogether.
We all went to Arizona there'sabout 200 of us from all
different domains and ourgeneral manager, jj, put a give
us a true north.
It's like all right, this iswho we want to be, this is going
to be our vision and ourdirection.
(05:53):
All right, how can eachdepartment work, work around us?
Do we agree or disagree?
We left that place with a, witha direction Right and then, and
then we went to work.
Baseball isn't just a spring andsummertime thing Hopefully,
fall, fall thing as well.
As well, for the Royals it's ait's a year round thing.
You're acquiring people, you're, you're building systems,
(06:17):
you're getting better in eacharea, you're hiring the right
people.
We did that last off seasonGreat collaboration, great
effort by everybody, and we'reseeing the fruits of that labor.
Uh, but again we're.
This is a long season 162 gamessustaining.
This is really important so, uh, brian.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Of course some people listening to this podcast may
know that brian has some capitalregion ties.
Brian currently lives in inclifton park with his lovely
wife Connie, their two, twodaughters a great family, brian.
And your manager, your boss, isMatt Quattrero, who is a my
family and I.
We live in Slingerlands.
He's a Bethlehem high grad.
(06:54):
He's got a lot of contactsstill in the community.
I just think that is so coolthat you've got a section two
guy, a capital region guy, asthe skipper of one of the Major
League Baseball teams and you'rea Capital Region guy now.
You have a residence here andyou're the pitching coach.
The odds of that are justastronomical, but other than
(07:15):
maybe you and Matt passing hereand there, it's not like you
guys grew up together.
So how did that relationshipcome about, your connection with
Matt and then ultimatelygetting that Royals pitching
coach job?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, isn't that kind of crazy, two people from the
Capital District now on the samestaff of a major league team.
You might have a better chanceof winning the lotto than that
happening.
You know, the baseballcommunity when I first moved to
the Capital District, you knowback in the late 90s, was kind
(07:49):
of small, a little bit smaller.
You know, facilities were beingbuilt because of the weather
and you just kind of knew peoplethat were involved in the game
and I had met Matt.
I needed somebody to throw with, he needed somebody to throw
with, he needed somebody tothrow with, he needed to
practice his catching.
So we threw together a couple oftimes, became, you know, it's
(08:11):
like just good, good, good dude.
Right, it was a really gooddude and he went on and his
playing career I went on withmine.
Didn't see him very many times,uh, in the offseason, one time
we went out to lunch, but we'dsee each other as coaches.
When I came with Cleveland toTampa we'd always say hello, a
lot of chatting, just goodpeople, and with our connection
(08:33):
to the Capital District he wasreally easy to talk to.
I'm like you know, matt's agood dude, wouldn't you know it?
I got the opportunity tointerview with him and I fooled
him and he chose me as his, hispitching coach and hopefully we
can keep that relationshipgrowing but brian, I mean,
you're a modest guy but you youhave.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You have got to be a guy credited with with some of
this turnaround.
The royals I mean, if somebodymentions the royals, the initial
thought is, yeah, right.
And then you look at them andyou're like wow, they're era 339
, fifth best in in, uh in themajors, tied for fifth ryan.
What's been the?
What's been the turnaround?
You've had some career years.
(09:13):
You've got raggins, you, you,you.
You have some guys that arehaving some amazing years, but
what do you think has been theturnaround with this pitching
staff?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think it's important to know that being a
pitching coach is definitely nota one man job anymore.
Right During my interview I I Iwanted to let them know that
there's probably I couldn't dothis by myself.
I would love a pitching teamaround me and that that includes
an assistant pitching coach, abullpen coach.
You know the assistants, youknow newer in the game, you know
(09:45):
been around maybe 10 years orso where you have that third
pitching coach you used to bethe pitching coach, bullpen
coach.
Then you got some bullpencatchers and you know there's
too much information.
It's irresponsible of us tothink that we can do it on our
own.
We need good people around us,smart people with diversity of
thought, right to help bring inthe ideas, to help make guys
(10:06):
better.
So, assistant pitching coach,bullpen coach, analysts, you
know, and then strategists, guysthat are during the game, that
are seeing things from adifferent angle.
Having all of those views makesus better and that was
important for me to have around.
I don't know, I'd probably getfired in two weeks if I had to
(10:27):
do this on my own.
I have really good peoplearound me.
I'm really lucky.
But again, it extends beyondthe pitching team.
Right.
We go into the R&D department.
We also have strength andconditioning, the medical
department, nutrition, ourbehavioral science.
It's a well-rounded base thatwe have to help make the players
(10:47):
better, and when I decided tobecome a pitching coach, I'm
like I think this is the bestway to go about things, this
holistic approach, and that'show we're doing it here at KC.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Brian, I'm 53.
I've followed sports since Iwas eight years old.
And I don't know, You're goingto laugh.
I don't know what a pitchingcoach does.
Right, that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You need to know why?
Speaker 1 (11:15):
so it's perfect.
Look, I probably know more thanthe average person what you do,
but can you explain what it isyou do?
Obviously you're looking at thedevelopment, the growth of the
entire staff and I know you'reworking with individuals and
certain guys are working, butexplain what it is you do, man,
(11:36):
on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, I mean I think it's changed over the years.
I was lucky enough to have,when I I came to Cleveland,
there were some veteran coachesthere Terry Francona, yep, as a
manager I get to see how hecommunicates with players and
you know why he was sosuccessful Carl Willis, 20 years
as a major league pitchingcoach, got to see.
(11:58):
In the beginning he coached meand when I was in Seattle he was
my pitching coach in Seattle.
So I got to see him before dataand information and then go
through it and then after, whata learning experience I had with
him.
I had like a paid internship tolearn how to be a pitching
coach with Carl Willis, who Istill he's a mentor of mine, who
I still keep in contact with.
(12:18):
So you see, it used to be allright.
It's like all right.
All we do is teach.
Well, what's important for me?
Right, the environment has tobe right.
We want an environment wherethese guys have the freedom to
be themselves.
Right, because everybody's anindividual and they'll show it
to you.
They want to be that right.
Nowadays, in that environment,we have to communicate right
(12:39):
Extremely important Deliverinformation, you know, and then
teach.
So there's a lot of stuff thatgoes into it A lot of computer
work.
I didn't realize when you gotinto baseball.
You can do a lot of work on acomputer, from video to going
through the data.
And when people think of datait's not like this crazy, you
(13:01):
know crazy analytics.
Sometimes it's like what's whatpercent of your fastball do you
use inside versus outside inthe zone?
So you've got, we've got a 10%inside, we've got 90% away.
It's like okay, now we haveinformation, that's data, right.
We take that data and we use itto help them make the picture
better.
It can be as simple, it can beas simple as that.
(13:23):
It's like, wow, all yourfastballs are away.
They're leaning out over.
You might want to throw somemore sinkers inside.
Boom, that's, that's part ofour teaching.
But we have that Now.
It's at our fingertips, wherewe don't have to look at a chart
and use a calculator and figureit out ourselves.
We have a department or we havesystems that we can look at.
It's like, wow, this is, youknow, you can see it right on
(13:43):
your computer screen.
So a lot of our work is beforethe game.
Once the game gets here, that'sthe easy part, that's fun,
right, because we're prepared.
I've talked to Q about.
You know what it might looklike.
Even though the day changesvery quickly, the pitching part
changes very quickly during thegame.
We're prepared before the game.
We've done our walkthrough,kind of like in football, and
(14:08):
when the game starts you adaptand adjust from there and you
let the guys go play.
If you're trying to teach ortell them what to do in the
moment, you're a little bit latecoming to the game.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
So, brian, I'm throwing up a photo here now.
You could probably see it onyour screen.
You're visiting the mound here.
When you do that, obviously thesecond visit, or when it's time
to make the sub uh, quattro oryour cue your, your manager,
comes out and makes this up, butthe substitution what are you
typically saying, who are youspeaking with here is that we
(14:40):
got alec marsh uh, our one ofour pitchers and freddie fermin,
our catcher.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I think that time I was saying hey, alec, I
appreciate it.
You know I wanted to get on TVtonight for my dad and my wife,
so thanks for giving me some TVtime.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Are you just telling them to calm down?
You know what I mean.
I'm trying to figure out wherethat is.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh, that's last year's pullover, so we're
talking that's 2023.
I made a lot of mound visits in2023.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, you did, I got out there.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I was out there a good amount and it depends on
the guy Right the mound visits.
Some guys just need straight,honest answers.
Other guys I'll try to make ajoke and break the tension.
Sometimes I go out and give abreather.
It looks like I'm who knowswhat face I'm making there,
maybe I'm trying to make himsmile come out with a scouting
(15:37):
report.
You know, alec, he's a guy thatneeds it direct.
He needs a kick in the asssometimes and that sets him back
straight.
So learning that sets him backstraight.
So learning that individual isextremely important.
This guy, alec Marsh, came up ashe could barely play catch in
spring training.
He had some.
His first major league campwould come in and he's got Zach
(15:59):
Granke around him, all theseveterans and just a little
nervous.
He had trouble dealing withthat anxiety Right.
And where he's come from.
You know at this point whereyou're seeing me having this
mountain visit last year to themountain visits this year
totally different because hehe's he's grown so much as a
human being and as a baseballplayer.
(16:21):
Couldn't be more proud of him.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
At three, 24 ERA for Alec this year Unbelievable.
So, Brian, of course youstarted.
We'll get to your playingcareer in a bit.
You were with the Mariners, ofcourse.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
That should be a quick segue.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Played in Japan.
We're not done with this stuffyet.
Started with the Phillies as apitching coach in the 2015
season, 2016-17, you were withtheir single a affiliate.
What was that like?
Cause it's kind of cool in away.
We had a little bit of like acareer.
You know I was going to when Iwas in television.
(16:55):
I was going to small marketstrying to climb the ladder kind
of the same thing with you bothin playing and then even on on
the on the coaching managingside.
You had to climb the ladder andgo to some of these small
cities, small leagues.
What was the Gulf Coast Leaguelike for you in 2015?
And then single A I mean dude,you're living the lap of luxury.
Now You're a major leaguer.
(17:15):
What was it like climbing thatladder nine years ago?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
on the coaching side, yeah, that transition is a
really interesting one.
In 2014, I was 39.
I was still playing in AAA, soI had plenty of minor league
time already as a player, whichI think set me up for my journey
(17:42):
in coaching.
I hurt my elbow in August of2013.
I tried to rehab it for 10months.
I had to make sure I had toturn over every stone and make
sure that my playing days weredone.
Even though I was in AAAbaseball's fun.
I didn't want to stop playing.
Even though I was 39 and I wasin AAA.
I'm like I could do this for afew more years and my wife dealt
(18:05):
with me.
Oh, there's me at All-Stars.
Yeah, those pants are from 1990as well.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yeah, late 90s.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You got some oldies there, dude?
Yeah, I got some old ones onthere, and so I ended up coming
home and rehabbing my elbow.
We got to June and I needed topitch, so I ended up pitching in
the Albany Twilight League Wow.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
What year is this?
2015?
.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
This is 2014.
Okay, okay, summer of 2014.
I had to find out if my elbowwas right.
I threw three innings and itwas not good.
I went home.
I had a big bump.
I had a tear in my elbow 70%tear in the ligament.
It was time to be done.
(18:50):
But the best part that happened,after I pitched, the manager of
the team said hey, do you wantto play another position?
No, you can't pitch.
Do you want to play outfield?
I said sure, why not?
I was ready for a major leagueseason and I was like, yeah,
I'll play.
I fell in love with the game allover again, playing in the
Albany Twilight League and alsoin the men's, the Capital
(19:12):
District men uniform getting mad.
When we got rained out, Irealized, you know, playing that
summer with a bunch of guysfrom the Capital District, I
(19:33):
fell in love with the game and Isaid this is what I want to do
for the rest of my life.
And that's how I got mytransition into coaching.
And when I sent out my resumeto a bunch of people I didn't
know I didn't have a resumeright.
I was playing for 18 years.
Baseball doesn't typically doresumes at the time, so I had to
build one, send it out.
Only two teams got back to me.
You know, for a coaching job.
(19:53):
I was like, wow, this is, thisis challenging, and I didn't
know which way to go.
I'm like, well, the Phillieswere the first to get back to me
.
They got, they got right backto me.
I said I owe it to me.
I said I owe it to them.
I said I'd like to be a part ofthat organization because they
jumped on it quickly and theysaid you're going to go to the
Gulf Coast League all the way atthe bottom.
So okay, let's do it.
(20:14):
So I'm at the complex.
I think everybody that joinsthe professional ranks should
start at the complex.
You learn so much.
You have to deal with differentcultures.
You've got to deal with a hugestaff 20-something pitchers.
You have major leaguers comingin and out.
You have a lot of action.
You have to help developsystems and programs to make
these guys better.
I became a better coach becauseI went to the Gulf Coast League,
(20:34):
and this is at a time whenthere was no data in the
organization just yet.
So I went from there and thenwent to Lakewood, new Jersey,
which was great.
I could drive three hours homewhen I wanted to see my, see my
daughter play lacrosse atCatholic High or see my younger
daughter dance at a recital.
I can drive home if need be,and you know, going going to
(20:58):
taking 16 hour bus rides.
There we go.
We got the blue claws.
What a look.
That's my first time really onthe road Again as a coach.
I had some really cool managersthat I got to work for in an
affiliates organization.
We went from Lakewood, newJersey, all the way to Rome,
georgia, on a bus.
(21:18):
Oh my gosh, I wouldn't suggestit.
I definitely wouldn't suggestit.
You learn a lot about yourselfand what you want to do in life
on a 16-hour bus ride and, thankgoodness, every once in a while
we'd have a cooler between themanager and I.
We'd enjoy a beverage, get somework done and build some
(21:40):
culture, a winning culture forthe guys.
So, getting off a bus, I thinkthat took years off my life, um,
those two years, but it was awhole lot of fun.
We had some fun together, um,you know.
And then you know, I had theopportunity to move to, uh, move
to cleveland.
Yep, you know, after, afterthat second year, uh, really
lucky to get to talk to terryfrancona and have him ask me to
(22:03):
be a part of his staff.
And I actually, because of whatI, the Phillies, I'm kind of, I
like, I like to say I'm, I'mloyal and I've changed teams
twice.
How loyal am I really?
But it's, you know, when I waswith the Phillies I'm like I
don't.
I like what we're trying tobuild here.
I really do.
But now I have a hall of famemanager asking me to be on his
(22:25):
staff.
I think it would beirresponsible to me and my
family not considering this.
What a blessing.
I went from a place where I cutmy teeth in coaching with no
data, having coaches around methat have been in the game a
long time, that taught me how tocoach and communicate with all
different types of players, to aplace where there was
(22:48):
innovation and analytics.
You know, just really creativein how they do things.
So I get to see both sides ofit.
I got to learn in my five yearsin Cleveland and decide that,
wow, I think the best way ofdoing this is combining the
experience and innovation tohelp make it make a team better.
So my my journey through bothof those organizations and
through the capital districtbaseball, you know, to help me
(23:10):
fall in love with.
You know has has helped me growinto the coach I am today.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Awesome journey, as you, you know.
You climb the ladder with thePhillies, the Gulf coast league,
and then you, you, you get tobe with the, with the, with
Cleveland, the bullpen coach in2019, and then obviously get the
gig with Kansas City inDecember of 22.
Brian, let's go back to yourplaying career, because
obviously you're in thisposition that you're in now
(23:38):
because you have some experiencein the big leagues.
You played in the majors, youplayed in Japan.
You know a seven-, eight-yearcareer.
Take us back to that and I'mgoing to throw up some photos
here of you and in your playingdays.
This is probably a pretty cool.
I know this is a cool picturefor you.
(23:58):
Let me show it to you righthere.
This is you when you were withSeattle at Yankee Stadium.
Right?
How cool is that?
I know your family got to bethere for this, but that's you
coming into the game against theYankees back in the day.
Oh, you had a nice ERA.
I think you had a zero ERA backthen in four games In four
(24:21):
games.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, that's a small sample size, that's all right.
I think it definitely went upas the year went on.
Yeah, that was a fun trip, youknow.
I think probably 2010,.
I came back from Japan and youknow my family hadn't seen me
play.
You know, being gone to Japan,it's challenging to see your
family and you had a whole bunchof people at the game and, boy,
(24:46):
we had a good time.
You know, got to go out afterand, you know, get to see
everybody, so that was exciting,yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And there you are with Seattle, obviously your
last couple of years with theMariners.
You started with the Padres.
How did you end up in Japan?
For what?
Four years playing three howmany?
Three, okay, how did that comeabout?
And what was that like from acultural uh perspective?
And then just because baseballis very different there on a lot
(25:17):
of levels, yeah it, itcertainly, it certainly is.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
That's uh.
I'm so lucky that I get Iopportunity to go there.
I mean each part of my journeyas a player when I was going
halfway decent or if I stunk hasall turned me into the coach
that I am today.
A big change was going over toJapan, and that happened when I
(25:45):
got sent down.
I pitched in oh, that's a fun.
I got sent down.
I pitched in a oh, that's a fun, that's fun, fun time Getting
getting the girls on the field.
I was pitching at the majorleague level with the Padres.
I had a really rough day and wehad to make a transaction.
They sent me down.
I ended up making a start inOmaha go figure which is the AAA
affiliate for the.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Royals right the.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Royals, right, yep, and some scouts from Japan were
there to see our first baseman,john Knott, and wouldn't you
know, I started that day.
That was my first outing sinceI came back from the big leagues
and I had a good day and I wason their radar.
Big leagues, and I had, I had agood day and I put them, I was
(26:28):
on their radar and they ended up, um, after I uh was designated
for assignment, uh, at the endof the year, they, they wanted
me to come over and that was atough decision too.
Right, you know, you grow upwanting to be a major leaguer,
um, you know, but when somebodycomes offering a guaranteed
contract, uh to uh to a mediocrepitcher, uh, well, I didn't
think I was mediocre at the time, but the major leagues did and,
(26:49):
uh, it was.
It was something that I wasexcited about doing.
I'd played in venezuela andwinter ball.
I'd played in the dominicandominican republic for winter
ball.
Um, you know, japan soundedlike an amazing experience and
it was.
Did I learn so much aboutbaseball, about the culture in
Japan, how incredible thatcountry is?
(27:10):
My kids got to go to schoolover there for a little while.
Really really a lot of fun, youknow with my experience, so I
got to play with you Darvishover there, oh yeah, yeah, he
was 19 when I got over there andone of the top five pitchers
I've ever seen.
He's just won his 200th gamebetween Japan and the United
(27:32):
States.
Just the impact he's had on the.
There's amazing baseballplayers over there.
It's still 60 feet, 6 inches,90 feet between bases.
Right, it's all the same.
They go about their business,maybe in a little bit different
way, just like somebody from theDominican Republic would, or
somebody from Venezuela, right,but we're all playing the same
game and there's some highcaliber players coming over from
(27:54):
Japan, as you know.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
How, brian?
What was it like living there?
I mean, honestly, I've talkedto my wife.
It's very expensive.
We'd love to go there.
I'm a huge sushi fan.
I just love that culture aswell.
What was that like, uh, beingthere, and you mentioned your
family moved with you there fora couple of years they did, they
did, yeah, yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
If you like sushi, you know, if you like sashimi
and japanese food, if you goover there and have some and you
come back here, you'll nevereat it again here because it's
totally it's, it's I mean thefood amazing.
I mean the food amazing.
You know the Japanese food isamazing and then, but they also
have excellent chefs that cookgood Italian food, wow, good
(28:36):
Mexican food.
So we got that experience aswell.
You know food from Korea aswell.
Just really tremendous, atremendous culture.
I would say, if anybody had theopportunity to vacation in a
different parts of Japan Tokyois awesome, right, but there's
other parts in northern Japan,like in Hokkaido, in Sapporo,
(28:57):
where Sapporo beer is from.
You know Sapporo beer.
That you know that's anincredible area to fish is
amazing.
Then you go over to you, overto the western part of Japan,
and you're getting differentcuisines.
I couldn't be more blessed tohave that opportunity to play
there, to grow as a person, growas a baseball player and then
(29:17):
ultimately help me as a coach.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Ryan, I just have a couple more questions for you.
I really appreciate you takingthe time.
This has been awesome.
Today, you played for Italy inthe World Baseball Classic in
2013.
You were a pitching coach forItaly as well.
How was that experience in theWBC, both as a player and then
on the coaching side?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Wow, what an amazing.
That was that atmosphere in2013.
We had a pretty good team, gotto the second round, had a
chance to move on.
What year is this one?
I think I was a coach at thistime.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, I think you might have been a coach here,
that's Oliver Perez Is thatOliver Perez, the former, Met
right.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Yep Oliver Perez a former teammate of mine when I
was with Seattle.
I think we were reporting atour families up in a stand
somewhere.
That's cool, just a good personLike everybody.
You know the baseball community, that's a part.
A lot of people know each otherand then competing, you know,
for your country, for a heritage.
That's a big part of yourfamily.
You wonder how Brian Sweeney ison the Italian team right with
(30:25):
that name?
Yeah, Explain.
Well, yeah, explain that I dohave a mother with a last name,
spinella.
So you know you have twoparents.
So you know Sweeney's dad,spinella is my.
My mom has a fam family thatwas from Sicily and you know
really lucky to be a part ofthat, to to pitch in that.
Um, pitching in it way easierthan coaching in it.
(30:47):
I'm going to tell you that muchReally.
Yeah, because you've got tomove quick and fast to scout
these teams and to get theinformation you need to prepare
the pitchers.
These guys just got to play,which is the fun part.
Coaching man, that gave me aheadache Figuring out who's
going to pitch, because you haverestrictions on how many
(31:11):
pitches that can be thrown, howmany days rest.
Uh, what, what, what achallenge it was.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Um, you know how many ?
How many guys spoke italian onthe team?
I know you had a bunch ofamericans that had, like you had
, the italian heritage.
Did you, was there acommunication issue at all, or
did you not have many trueitalian?
You know there were.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
there was about five, uh, five true, italians, but a
lot of them spoke english and ifthey didn't, we had a
translator there.
That that worked for us.
And you know, right before Iwas, you know, I was asked again
last year um, what was it?
Two years ago, in 23, we didworld baseball classic.
Um, I was asked again by theyou know manager, mike piazza,
to be the pitching coach.
(31:51):
I unfortunately had to step downbecause I got the job with
Kansas City, right, that wasreally hard, right.
Because I went to Italy.
We had, like, a whole bunch ofthe players came over, we came
together to try to build acamaraderie, had a really nice
trip and was preparing for that.
And then on my way home I foundout I had an, I had an
(32:12):
interview with the royals, so Ihad to get off a plane from
italy the next morning, get on aplane to kansas city to, uh,
you know, to interview, um,fooled him, like I said before,
got the job and uh, and had tostep down in in december uh, not
, not soon after from the jobwith team Italy, which was
really, really hard.
Some of the guys give me a lotof crap for it, like Vinny
(32:34):
Pasquantino, who was playing ona team, said we, we let him out.
I abandoned him, but I thoughtmy being around for the pitchers
with the Kansas city Royals wasprobably the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, I mean I'm not your agent, nor your financial
advisor and your personaladvisor, but that's probably not
a horrible idea, brian.
I mean I think you're obviouslythe guys from Italy were ribbing
you a little bit.
They knew you made the rightmove as well.
Of course, brian, one thing Ifind so fascinating I think this
(33:08):
is why a lot of thesedocumentaries on Netflix and the
hard knocks, the NFL, sort ofthe behind the scenes.
I've always loved that and I'veinterviewed you a bunch of
times and I always ask you sortof and I love the fact you're so
open about this stuff Obviouslynot giving away locker room the
locker room inside stuff, but Ijust love the behind the scenes
(33:31):
of major leagues and like whatyou guys do on a daily basis.
so what is like a day in thelife of brian sweeney?
What does it consist of?
Take me through that, thewaking up, the going to the
ballpark like I want to.
I want to dude, I want to livevicariously through your life,
man sometimes I don't know whatday it is.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Uh, you right, you know baseball, when you have,
you know, have a night game,right, you have, there's.
There's certain things you dothroughout the day and then you
wake up and you do it, you do itagain and you still play on the
weekends, right, sometime.
You know we have 13 games in arow coming up.
I'm not going to know what day,what day is gonna going to.
Um, it's, it's going to be, youknow.
So after our next off day, wegot 13 in a row, we got two days
(34:14):
off in a month, um, which isthat's.
That's quite challenging,that's a that's a little
challenging.
You know, going through a majorleague season, you know, with
you know, june, we were playingthe Yankees, we're playing
Cleveland, we're playing theDodgers, we're playing some,
some quality teams and we'regoing to be writing it.
You know we're going to begoing through this fight and the
(34:35):
day, if we have, there'susually three games, a three
game series.
That that we're, that we'regoing through and day one of a
series, really challenging,you're, you're preparing.
You know we're preparing forthe Padres now.
You know we have a game tonight, but we have to have make
preparations for the padres.
So you're always doing that,you're constantly doing work.
(34:55):
Uh, you're on the computer toprepare for that um, but you
know we have a game to wintonight.
So day day, one day, one of aseries we have um, I'm doing
computer work and it's boringstuff that you probably.
It's not real exciting.
In the hotel room or at homeI'm on a computer, I'm doing
(35:15):
different things.
You chat with the family, getsome lunch, get a workout in,
but when you get to the ballparkI'll get to the ballpark
usually around 12 o'clock for anight game, 6.40, 7 o'clock game
I'm at the ballpark and westart our day when the clubhouse
opens, typically at 1 o'clock.
We have our daily meeting withthe pitching team.
(35:37):
We go over the night before wetalk about how we can get guys
better, how we can developplayer plans for these guys, and
while we're sitting there wehave guys that think differently
.
We have some diversity ofthought, which I think is really
important.
Right, we butt heads aboutthings, which is great, and the
cool part is we can butt headsand then have a beer after the
(35:58):
game together and we're tryingto help guys get better.
Then you know we, we, we get,you know we get all that work
done.
We get the meetings done.
We might have meetings withpitchers to go over, have an AAR
with the pitcher from the lastnight's game and then you know
you're getting into.
There's plenty, plenty of lockerroom banter, if you, if you
(36:19):
could imagine a lot of sarcasm.
We have a really cool coachingstaff guys that make me laugh
every day and I'm so gratefulfor that because I needed it
last year when we were gettingour butts kicked.
Um, where we can keep humoreven in a in a tough, in a tough
environment where you'regetting your teeth kicked in Um,
you know.
Then we're doing our on-fieldwork.
Uh, you know where, where theguys have their throwing program
(36:43):
, we're designing different,different exercises for their
throwing program, whether it'splyos or baseballs.
We got bullpens um, guys thatneed support.
We got all the technologyputting all of that together,
which is a whole other world.
If you've seen Edutronic video,it's really amazing where you
(37:03):
can help tweak guys in themoment and make them better.
Go inside, get a bite to eat,have a meeting with you know,
have a meeting with the managerabout our, the game plan and
what it's going to look like.
That always changes in game.
Rarely ever stays the way we'dlike it, but that's that's.
That's baseball.
We adapt and adjust and thennext thing you know, we got the
(37:24):
game, the game is here and youknow when that national Anthem
comes on, and it you put, youput your lid on and it's it's go
time.
So it's uh, and, and you letthe, and you let the guys play
brian.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
I've always actually this is a question I, my wife
and I have actually talked about, because she kind of likes this
stuff too.
Like when you're in new york,right, you play in the yankees,
you don't have to tell us whathotel you guys stay at, but like
you guys take a, you take a busto the state.
Are you, do you stay near?
Because I always found itfascinating, like where the heck
(37:58):
do you stay in manhattan or doyou in?
Are you in the bronx, you inmanhattan?
Then you guys take a bus, likehow does that work?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
you know we stay, we stay in midtown and we take a
bus, which is a pain in the ass,to be honest.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
I'll take the subway um, because it takes a long time
right to get especially withthe traffic.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yeah, it's really.
Yeah, it's really a pain, um,but do you have like?
Speaker 1 (38:19):
a heart palpitation that you guys are good, like
you're when you're drivingsomewhere with the track, like
you're gonna be late.
See, that would like freak meout, dude, because I'm being a
retentive like that, right?
Seriously.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
These bus drivers.
They're from New York, theyknow what they're doing, right,
they, absolutely these guys canhaul ass through the streets.
They're really, really good attheir job.
Think of a New York driver.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
These bus drivers are are right on top of it.
But if I don't, if I feel likethere's a lot of traffic, I'll
take some of the coaches, we'lljump on the subway.
How about, like, when you'rehome or when you're probably
driving to the ballpark?
Only when you're at home that'sprobably not a big deal because
you kind of know the trafficpatterns and all that stuff.
Right?
Speaker 2 (39:03):
I'm getting there at 12 o'clock.
If I miss the game, it's at 610.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
There's a problem.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
There's a huge traffic jam, that's for sure.
I could probably walk there allthe time.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
All right, brian, I want to show you this before we
let you go, because I find thisis hilarious.
All right, so I dug up some oldBrian Sweeney baseball cards,
okay, and we are going to findthese here right now.
Here we go.
Okay.
Before we do that, though, waitone second.
(39:36):
Talk to me about.
Talk to me about Bobby.
What is Bobby Witt like?
Because Bobby Witt Jr, weshould say.
11 years, almost a $300 millioncontract.
You talked about the Royalsownership spending the money.
They did.
They put their money wheretheir mouth is.
They have this young guy in histhird year and they upped him
(39:57):
for 11 years.
First of all, that's got tomake you so fired up, knowing
that you're part of anorganization that makes that
commitment, but then you watchhim play.
He's just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
What's it like being in a clubhouse with him and just
being around with junior?
Yeah, baseball baseball fansshould be proud that the Royal
stepped up and and signed Bobbyto that contract.
He's, he's, deserving of acontract like that.
If you hang around this guyeach day, you'll you you'd be
amazed at how down to earth andhuman he is.
You know, I don't know if yousaw last year Samad Taylor got a
(40:34):
game-winning hit A rookie, youknow, we didn't have many
game-winning hits last year.
He hits it over to centerfielder's head.
We win the game.
Bobby runs out.
The center fielder left theball.
Bobby ran out and got the balland ran it back to Samad saying
here's the ball, and ran it backto Samad saying here's the ball
for um, that you just hit.
And that's the type of guy Bobbyis.
Uh, he cares about histeammates, he cares about the
(40:57):
front office, he cares about thecoaches.
Um, really down to earth andfun to be around.
Uh, if anybody's deserving of acontract like that, it's, it's,
it's Bobby.
He's an elite player in thisgame.
I got to see Jose Ramirez dohis thing in Cleveland another
elite player.
These guys are fun to watch.
And when guys like those twoget contracts like that.
(41:21):
I know it's a lot of money, butthat's just what the going rate
is right.
It is what it is Exactly.
You should be proud that yougive bobby with that kind of
money because you want that guyaround for a long time.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
All right I had to ask you about wit because I love
, I love the guy I love him.
Love him.
All right, let me uh, brian,let me show you.
This is this.
We're going to end on this,because I think this is awesome
when is that All right.
So these are your hang on,these are your baseball card.
(41:56):
Some of this hold on.
Let me get to the page.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
It must be in the bottom of somebody's closet,
that's probably where they are.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
I found this.
These are old baseball cards ofBrian Sweeney.
This is your upper deck worth abuck 38 dude okay, whoever pays
, that's getting ripped off allright, here is here is your I'll
give you one for free.
Yeah, you got.
I mean, I'll take them, I ain'tscared.
I'll display them in the officewith a little b sweeney
(42:25):
autograph.
Here's a throwback to the 52card.
That's worth 369 man.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Whoa, I'll tell you and then here's a nice one.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Oh, this one is an upper deck.
Uh, that's going for 428 forwhat a ripoff.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Somebody's trying to rip you off on that one um.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
You got an upper deck silver for 342.
The trio prospects when are you?
You're right here in the middle, right?
Aaron Looper, Rhett JohnsonObviously, you know those guys.
Yeah two guys I played with.
Yeah, yeah, that's $1.68.
Here's your Lakewood Blue Claws.
(43:07):
What are you a pitching coachthere, yep, and then, oh, that's
not you.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
I've got to work on my posture and my pitching coach
position.
Who's that?
Was that?
Katsuzaki, that bottom?
Speaker 1 (43:23):
one that was Shibakusa.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
I don't know why that came up on your page but Maybe
because I played, maybe becauseI played in Japan.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Yeah, so that was I found that to be really fun.
I was just, I was just Googlingyour, I was just Googling your
your baseball cards, and that'swhat I came up with.
Do you have your own baseballcards, by the way.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
So I've been given, I've been given a whole, a whole
bunch of them that usually whenyou have, when you get a card
they give, they give you someright.
You know.
So I, you know I I do have, Ido have a few, and a lot of
times I tell the kids that wehave a dartboard.
I'm like, put my, put mybaseball card up there and throw
(44:09):
it, throw it over, see if yousee, if you can hit me, hit me
in the neck or something likethat.
But yeah, it is, it is cool,right.
You know I grew up withbaseball cards.
You know, looking at the backof baseball cards, you eating
the gum that didn't last longenough.
The know I have Don Mattingly's1984 card top score Donruss, I
(44:31):
have that too, yep.
Yeah, and it's like you know, Iget to see him now, right,
because he's a coach withToronto.
Right, you get to meet guyslike this.
I'm like man, I had your posteron my wall in Yonkers, new York
, you know, when you were at theYankees.
So it's like you know, it'sreally.
(44:55):
I get to be around a lot of, alot of people, a lot of cool
people, some good baseballplayers, which is, you know,
really exciting and get to learnfrom, learn from them too.
Right, terry Frank Cohen hadbeen in baseball a thousand
years.
That old bum he probablylaughed at that, you know.
And you know to see to see howhe does things.
You know I'm constantlylearning.
You know I'm new to thisposition as a pitching coach Not
(45:16):
easy, right, you know, puttingyourself in a leadership
position.
It's not that you have to doless, it's you have to do more.
Right, you are responsible forthe guys around you, including
the pitching team itself.
You want to help make thembetter.
You know the guys, the coachesaround me, they want to be
pitching coaches one day, right?
So I want to help them achievethose dreams too.
(45:37):
So there's more responsibility.
So it's really, you don't wantto take a minute off for these
guys.
You want to be there, you wantto show up, you want to be
authentic, honest and consistenteach day.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Brian, my last question you played in.
You want to be authentic,honest and consistent each day.
Brian, my last question youplayed in the majors.
You are a pitching coach forthe Royals.
Have you do you?
Especially now you're inMinnesota?
You're about to go to a ballgame Do you do you?
Do you sometimes just likepinch yourself and go?
How is this real?
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
Shoot, just even having the opportunity to come
out of Mercy College now MercyUniversity.
By the way, just in caseanybody wants to know that Mercy
University Mavericks they aregetting the opportunity to get
to be signed out of out of MercyCollege to play independent
league, which is not the bestroute.
If you want to be a majorleaguer, coming out of Mercy
College to play independentleague, which is not the best
route.
If you want to be a majorleaguer, coming out of college
(46:32):
and spend seven years in theminors, get the opportunity in
the big leagues, play in Japan,play winter ball, play for Team
Italy.
Really, I was being set up tocoach playing the Albany
Twilight League.
All these little parts of myjourney have set me up to have
the opportunity to coach for theKansas City Royals.
(46:52):
And you know I was driving toVermont I think it was
Thanksgiving weekend after myinterview with the Royals.
Connie was in the car.
We were driving to see somefriends when I got the call
about how they wanted to offerme the job as the pitching coach
.
Oh, my gosh, I have Connie nextto me because we're on
speakerphone, right, because I'mnot going to talk on the phone
(47:13):
while I'm driving.
Be responsible.
And you know they said you knowwe'd like to offer you the job
as the pitching coach for theKansas City Royals and you know
I could still see that.
In my mind it's like wait, wait,I have a really cool job.
I'm at a place where I'mcomfortable in a way that this
(47:38):
is, I love it.
I don't need to do, I don'tneed to be a manager, I don't
need to go to another team.
I'm not looking to climb theladder.
Never was.
This is a great place to be.
I have good people around me,we have a good team, we have
good systems.
I have the best job in theworld.
Why would I want to move on?
(47:59):
I'm in a place where I hope Ican retire.
I love being around here.
Win or lose, right.
We got good people in place andthen when you go through a
fight together like that, youcan make something special
happen.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
What an awesome way to end it.
Really great story.
Brian.
One thing I do love about youis you have such a unique
perspective and I think you getit.
You understand you're blessed,you're in a great spot and it's.
You know I root for you and Iknow everyone here in the
Capital Region roots for.
You're blessed, you're in agreat spot and you know I root
for you, and I know everyonehere in the Capital Region roots
for you as well and Matt andthe Royals I know everyone has
(48:36):
their teams around here, butit's an awesome special 518
connection.
I want to thank you so much fortaking the time out of your day
and joining me.
I really do.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
No, I'm grateful that we could catch up, talk some
baseball and maybe have somemore Royals fans in the Capital
District.
Right, If you have a connectionwith Matt or I, it's not like
all the Yankee fans and Met fans, the Boston fans.
There's more of a connection.
You should join up, Jump on thebandwagon with us.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
I'm there, man.
I am absolutely there, brian.
I want to.
I'm going to sign off here in asec.
I want to wish you good luck,appreciate you joining me, and I
want to thank everyone outthere for joining me as well.
It's SoundOff with Syncoff,sponsored by the Syncoff Realty
Group.
Thanks for checking out thepodcast.
Make sure you like, give us asubscribe, and I really
(49:28):
appreciate it and we'll see younext time.
Hello and welcome everybody to SoundOff with
SinkOff.
I'm your host, brian SinkOff.
Thanks so much for joining ushere today.
Of course, soundoff issponsored by the SinkOff Realty
Group a full in Minnesota.
Brian is the pitching coach forthe Kansas City Royals.
Brian, it is so good to see you, man.
(00:30):
Thanks for joining SoundOffwith Sync Off.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hey, thanks for having me on, brian, I
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
So Brian, of course, let's talk.
Before we get into Brian'sbackground, let's talk a little
bit about the Royals.
Is there a bigger surprise inbaseball Currently, as of this
taping, three and a half gamesback at Cleveland in the AL
Central Unbelievable improvementfrom last year's team 56 wins a
year ago.
Bobby Witt Jr one of the bestplayers in baseball.
(00:57):
Salvador Perez amazing year thepitching which is where Brian
comes in 3.39 ERA right nowfifth best in the majors.
Brian, your team won 56 games ayear ago.
You're now, as of today, kindof in that playoff mix, one of
the top echelon teams in theAmerican League.
What a difference a year makes.
(01:18):
Tell us a little bit aboutwhat's been the difference for
this club.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah, it's not a surprise for us, right?
This is what we had beenplanning on.
Just, yeah, definitely a betterstart to the year than last
year, as we get a third of theway through close to that.
It's been fun watching theseguys create the culture, the
winning culture, that we've allbeen looking for.
And yeah, we didn't win.
(01:45):
You know how many?
We had 35 wins.
We didn't win our 35th gameuntil like August 1st of last
year.
So that's a better feeling fora coach.
And you know the guys that webrought in the Seth Lugos, the
Michael Wacca, the Will Smithsin the bullpen been there, done
that before.
Having that veteran presencearound is almost like having an
(02:07):
extra coach.
They know how to win, they knowhow to act and know how to get
through a professional seasonand able to help out the young
guys.
Invaluable experience for us.
And really giving a year ingives me the opportunity to
continue to gain their trust andto be able to teach right,
because there has to be arelationship there in order to
teach and you know, and you haveto have that trust factor.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Brian, how hard is it ?
Because you often hear you knowI'm 53.
You're kind of of my generation.
I had a wrestling coach.
The old school wrestling coachwould pound you and you know
more push-ups, more sit-ups.
It's not like that anymore.
Coaching, coaching kids,coaching young men how has that
(02:52):
been for you?
Coaching athletes, let's faceit, make probably a whole heck
of a lot more than you do, andthey're of a different mindset.
Is that tough for you to makethat adjustment?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah, I guess it is tough, right, cause you're
learning.
It's more of an individualizedapproach.
You're learning individuality.
Each individual is different.
You know we have guys that havehad have 10 years in the major
leagues, that are in their mid30s, and then we have guys that
are in their early 20s that onlyhave a couple of years in the
major leagues or not, or none atall, and and how you speak to
(03:23):
them is different.
How they were coached isdifferent.
So having a different coachapproach is quite important.
So you need to have more thanone tool in your bag to respond
to these guys and how they goabout their business.
So I was lucky to grow up withcoaches who gave some tough love
, so I know that end of it.
I know what that looks like.
(03:44):
And then being a part of youknow, coming up in a minor
league system with the Philliesas a coach, moving on to
Cleveland where they used alittle bit of very innovative
combining experience andinnovation, has really been my
favorite way to go about things.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So Brian became the Royals pitching coach for the
2023 season.
You were hired in December of22.
We mentioned last year thetough year 56 wins.
I think it makes me warm andfuzzy, man.
It like puts a smile on my facebecause I love the fact that
(04:28):
you're not, you know, a billiondollar team.
You're not getting all thesecrazy free agents year in and
year out and you guys have sortof I want to say quote unquote
done it the right way.
That has to give you and yourteam and the guys on your staff
a sense of pride doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, I think it's important to know that
everybody's involved in this.
Right, it's not just a coachingstaff.
We have an owner that's onboard to how to okay these
signings.
We did spend some money in theoffseason.
People were surprised, but Ithink that's what you do when
you try to improve a team right,you want to develop players
from within.
It's okay.
Where are our gaps?
Right, and then you try to fillthose gaps to make us a
(05:09):
well-rounded team.
So the vision of JJ Piccolo, ourGM, and the vision of our owner
, mr Sherman, just was fantasticthis offseason.
You know, we got our buttskicked last year and it was
really important.
We got together five days afterthe season, right After getting
your butts kicked.
You kind of want to just gohome and just.
You know you want to forgetabout things, but that wasn't, I
(05:32):
think, the right thing to dofor us.
We needed to learn from.
Learn from that.
How are we going to learn?
We brought the organizationtogether.
We all went to Arizona there'sabout 200 of us from all
different domains and ourgeneral manager, jj, put a give
us a true north.
It's like all right, this iswho we want to be, this is going
to be our vision and ourdirection.
(05:53):
All right, how can eachdepartment work, work around us?
Do we agree or disagree?
We left that place with a, witha direction Right and then, and
then we went to work.
Baseball isn't just a spring andsummertime thing Hopefully,
fall, fall thing as well.
As well, for the Royals it's ait's a year round thing.
You're acquiring people, you're, you're building systems,
(06:17):
you're getting better in eacharea, you're hiring the right
people.
We did that last off seasonGreat collaboration, great
effort by everybody, and we'reseeing the fruits of that labor.
Uh, but again we're.
This is a long season 162 gamessustaining.
This is really important so, uh, brian.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Of course some people listening to this podcast may
know that brian has some capitalregion ties.
Brian currently lives in inclifton park with his lovely
wife Connie, their two, twodaughters a great family, brian.
And your manager, your boss, isMatt Quattrero, who is a my
family and I.
We live in Slingerlands.
He's a Bethlehem high grad.
(06:54):
He's got a lot of contactsstill in the community.
I just think that is so coolthat you've got a section two
guy, a capital region guy, asthe skipper of one of the Major
League Baseball teams and you'rea Capital Region guy now.
You have a residence here andyou're the pitching coach.
The odds of that are justastronomical, but other than
(07:15):
maybe you and Matt passing hereand there, it's not like you
guys grew up together.
So how did that relationshipcome about, your connection with
Matt and then ultimatelygetting that Royals pitching
coach job?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, isn't that kind of crazy, two people from the
Capital District now on the samestaff of a major league team.
You might have a better chanceof winning the lotto than that
happening.
You know, the baseballcommunity when I first moved to
the Capital District, you knowback in the late 90s, was kind
(07:49):
of small, a little bit smaller.
You know, facilities were beingbuilt because of the weather
and you just kind of knew peoplethat were involved in the game
and I had met Matt.
I needed somebody to throw with, he needed somebody to throw
with, he needed somebody tothrow with, he needed to
practice his catching.
So we threw together a couple oftimes, became, you know, it's
(08:11):
like just good, good, good dude.
Right, it was a really gooddude and he went on and his
playing career I went on withmine.
Didn't see him very many times,uh, in the offseason, one time
we went out to lunch, but we'dsee each other as coaches.
When I came with Cleveland toTampa we'd always say hello, a
lot of chatting, just goodpeople, and with our connection
(08:33):
to the Capital District he wasreally easy to talk to.
I'm like you know, matt's agood dude, wouldn't you know it?
I got the opportunity tointerview with him and I fooled
him and he chose me as his, hispitching coach and hopefully we
can keep that relationshipgrowing but brian, I mean,
you're a modest guy but you youhave.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You have got to be a guy credited with with some of
this turnaround.
The royals I mean, if somebodymentions the royals, the initial
thought is, yeah, right.
And then you look at them andyou're like wow, they're era 339
, fifth best in in, uh in themajors, tied for fifth ryan.
What's been the?
What's been the turnaround?
You've had some career years.
(09:13):
You've got raggins, you, you,you.
You have some guys that arehaving some amazing years, but
what do you think has been theturnaround with this pitching
staff?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I think it's important to know that being a
pitching coach is definitely nota one man job anymore.
Right During my interview I I Iwanted to let them know that
there's probably I couldn't dothis by myself.
I would love a pitching teamaround me and that that includes
an assistant pitching coach, abullpen coach.
You know the assistants, youknow newer in the game, you know
(09:45):
been around maybe 10 years orso where you have that third
pitching coach you used to bethe pitching coach, bullpen
coach.
Then you got some bullpencatchers and you know there's
too much information.
It's irresponsible of us tothink that we can do it on our
own.
We need good people around us,smart people with diversity of
thought, right to help bring inthe ideas, to help make guys
(10:06):
better.
So, assistant pitching coach,bullpen coach, analysts, you
know, and then strategists, guysthat are during the game, that
are seeing things from adifferent angle.
Having all of those views makesus better and that was
important for me to have around.
I don't know, I'd probably getfired in two weeks if I had to
(10:27):
do this on my own.
I have really good peoplearound me.
I'm really lucky.
But again, it extends beyondthe pitching team.
Right.
We go into the R&D department.
We also have strength andconditioning, the medical
department, nutrition, ourbehavioral science.
It's a well-rounded base thatwe have to help make the players
(10:47):
better, and when I decided tobecome a pitching coach, I'm
like I think this is the bestway to go about things, this
holistic approach, and that'show we're doing it here at KC.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Brian, I'm 53.
I've followed sports since Iwas eight years old.
And I don't know, You're goingto laugh.
I don't know what a pitchingcoach does.
Right, that's good.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
You need to know why?
Speaker 1 (11:15):
so it's perfect.
Look, I probably know more thanthe average person what you do,
but can you explain what it isyou do?
Obviously you're looking at thedevelopment, the growth of the
entire staff and I know you'reworking with individuals and
certain guys are working, butexplain what it is you do, man,
(11:36):
on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Yeah, I mean I think it's changed over the years.
I was lucky enough to have,when I I came to Cleveland,
there were some veteran coachesthere Terry Francona, yep, as a
manager I get to see how hecommunicates with players and
you know why he was sosuccessful Carl Willis, 20 years
as a major league pitchingcoach, got to see.
(11:58):
In the beginning he coached meand when I was in Seattle he was
my pitching coach in Seattle.
So I got to see him before dataand information and then go
through it and then after, whata learning experience I had with
him.
I had like a paid internship tolearn how to be a pitching
coach with Carl Willis, who Istill he's a mentor of mine, who
I still keep in contact with.
(12:18):
So you see, it used to be allright.
It's like all right.
All we do is teach.
Well, what's important for me?
Right, the environment has tobe right.
We want an environment wherethese guys have the freedom to
be themselves.
Right, because everybody's anindividual and they'll show it
to you.
They want to be that right.
Nowadays, in that environment,we have to communicate right
(12:39):
Extremely important Deliverinformation, you know, and then
teach.
So there's a lot of stuff thatgoes into it A lot of computer
work.
I didn't realize when you gotinto baseball.
You can do a lot of work on acomputer, from video to going
through the data.
And when people think of datait's not like this crazy, you
(13:01):
know crazy analytics.
Sometimes it's like what's whatpercent of your fastball do you
use inside versus outside inthe zone?
So you've got, we've got a 10%inside, we've got 90% away.
It's like okay, now we haveinformation, that's data, right.
We take that data and we use itto help them make the picture
better.
It can be as simple, it can beas simple as that.
(13:23):
It's like, wow, all yourfastballs are away.
They're leaning out over.
You might want to throw somemore sinkers inside.
Boom, that's, that's part ofour teaching.
But we have that Now.
It's at our fingertips, wherewe don't have to look at a chart
and use a calculator and figureit out ourselves.
We have a department or we havesystems that we can look at.
It's like, wow, this is, youknow, you can see it right on
(13:43):
your computer screen.
So a lot of our work is beforethe game.
Once the game gets here, that'sthe easy part, that's fun,
right, because we're prepared.
I've talked to Q about.
You know what it might looklike.
Even though the day changesvery quickly, the pitching part
changes very quickly during thegame.
We're prepared before the game.
We've done our walkthrough,kind of like in football, and
(14:08):
when the game starts you adaptand adjust from there and you
let the guys go play.
If you're trying to teach ortell them what to do in the
moment, you're a little bit latecoming to the game.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
So, brian, I'm throwing up a photo here now.
You could probably see it onyour screen.
You're visiting the mound here.
When you do that, obviously thesecond visit, or when it's time
to make the sub uh, quattro oryour cue your, your manager,
comes out and makes this up, butthe substitution what are you
typically saying, who are youspeaking with here is that we
(14:40):
got alec marsh uh, our one ofour pitchers and freddie fermin,
our catcher.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I think that time I was saying hey, alec, I
appreciate it.
You know I wanted to get on TVtonight for my dad and my wife,
so thanks for giving me some TVtime.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Are you just telling them to calm down?
You know what I mean.
I'm trying to figure out wherethat is.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh, that's last year's pullover, so we're
talking that's 2023.
I made a lot of mound visits in2023.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, you did, I got out there.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I was out there a good amount and it depends on
the guy Right the mound visits.
Some guys just need straight,honest answers.
Other guys I'll try to make ajoke and break the tension.
Sometimes I go out and give abreather.
It looks like I'm who knowswhat face I'm making there,
maybe I'm trying to make himsmile come out with a scouting
(15:37):
report.
You know, alec, he's a guy thatneeds it direct.
He needs a kick in the asssometimes and that sets him back
straight.
So learning that sets him backstraight.
So learning that individual isextremely important.
This guy, alec Marsh, came up ashe could barely play catch in
spring training.
He had some.
His first major league campwould come in and he's got Zach
(15:59):
Granke around him, all theseveterans and just a little
nervous.
He had trouble dealing withthat anxiety Right.
And where he's come from.
You know at this point whereyou're seeing me having this
mountain visit last year to themountain visits this year
totally different because hehe's he's grown so much as a
human being and as a baseballplayer.
(16:21):
Couldn't be more proud of him.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
At three, 24 ERA for Alec this year Unbelievable.
So, Brian, of course youstarted.
We'll get to your playingcareer in a bit.
You were with the Mariners, ofcourse.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
That should be a quick segue.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Played in Japan.
We're not done with this stuffyet.
Started with the Phillies as apitching coach in the 2015
season, 2016-17, you were withtheir single a affiliate.
What was that like?
Cause it's kind of cool in away.
We had a little bit of like acareer.
You know I was going to when Iwas in television.
(16:55):
I was going to small marketstrying to climb the ladder kind
of the same thing with you bothin playing and then even on on
the on the coaching managingside.
You had to climb the ladder andgo to some of these small
cities, small leagues.
What was the Gulf Coast Leaguelike for you in 2015?
And then single A I mean dude,you're living the lap of luxury.
Now You're a major leaguer.
(17:15):
What was it like climbing thatladder nine years ago?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
on the coaching side, yeah, that transition is a
really interesting one.
In 2014, I was 39.
I was still playing in AAA, soI had plenty of minor league
time already as a player, whichI think set me up for my journey
(17:42):
in coaching.
I hurt my elbow in August of2013.
I tried to rehab it for 10months.
I had to make sure I had toturn over every stone and make
sure that my playing days weredone.
Even though I was in AAAbaseball's fun.
I didn't want to stop playing.
Even though I was 39 and I wasin AAA.
I'm like I could do this for afew more years and my wife dealt
(18:05):
with me.
Oh, there's me at All-Stars.
Yeah, those pants are from 1990as well.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yeah, late 90s.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You got some oldies there, dude?
Yeah, I got some old ones onthere, and so I ended up coming
home and rehabbing my elbow.
We got to June and I needed topitch, so I ended up pitching in
the Albany Twilight League Wow.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
What year is this?
2015?
.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
This is 2014.
Okay, okay, summer of 2014.
I had to find out if my elbowwas right.
I threw three innings and itwas not good.
I went home.
I had a big bump.
I had a tear in my elbow 70%tear in the ligament.
It was time to be done.
(18:50):
But the best part that happened,after I pitched, the manager of
the team said hey, do you wantto play another position?
No, you can't pitch.
Do you want to play outfield?
I said sure, why not?
I was ready for a major leagueseason and I was like, yeah,
I'll play.
I fell in love with the game allover again, playing in the
Albany Twilight League and alsoin the men's, the Capital
(19:12):
District men uniform getting mad.
When we got rained out, Irealized, you know, playing that
summer with a bunch of guysfrom the Capital District, I
(19:33):
fell in love with the game and Isaid this is what I want to do
for the rest of my life.
And that's how I got mytransition into coaching.
And when I sent out my resumeto a bunch of people I didn't
know I didn't have a resumeright.
I was playing for 18 years.
Baseball doesn't typically doresumes at the time, so I had to
build one, send it out.
Only two teams got back to me.
You know, for a coaching job.
(19:53):
I was like, wow, this is, thisis challenging, and I didn't
know which way to go.
I'm like, well, the Phillieswere the first to get back to me
.
They got, they got right backto me.
I said I owe it to me.
I said I owe it to them.
I said I'd like to be a part ofthat organization because they
jumped on it quickly and theysaid you're going to go to the
Gulf Coast League all the way atthe bottom.
So okay, let's do it.
(20:14):
So I'm at the complex.
I think everybody that joinsthe professional ranks should
start at the complex.
You learn so much.
You have to deal with differentcultures.
You've got to deal with a hugestaff 20-something pitchers.
You have major leaguers comingin and out.
You have a lot of action.
You have to help developsystems and programs to make
these guys better.
I became a better coach becauseI went to the Gulf Coast League,
(20:34):
and this is at a time whenthere was no data in the
organization just yet.
So I went from there and thenwent to Lakewood, new Jersey,
which was great.
I could drive three hours homewhen I wanted to see my, see my
daughter play lacrosse atCatholic High or see my younger
daughter dance at a recital.
I can drive home if need be,and you know, going going to
(20:58):
taking 16 hour bus rides.
There we go.
We got the blue claws.
What a look.
That's my first time really onthe road Again as a coach.
I had some really cool managersthat I got to work for in an
affiliates organization.
We went from Lakewood, newJersey, all the way to Rome,
georgia, on a bus.
(21:18):
Oh my gosh, I wouldn't suggestit.
I definitely wouldn't suggestit.
You learn a lot about yourselfand what you want to do in life
on a 16-hour bus ride and, thankgoodness, every once in a while
we'd have a cooler between themanager and I.
We'd enjoy a beverage, get somework done and build some
(21:40):
culture, a winning culture forthe guys.
So, getting off a bus, I thinkthat took years off my life, um,
those two years, but it was awhole lot of fun.
We had some fun together, um,you know.
And then you know, I had theopportunity to move to, uh, move
to cleveland.
Yep, you know, after, afterthat second year, uh, really
lucky to get to talk to terryfrancona and have him ask me to
(22:03):
be a part of his staff.
And I actually, because of whatI, the Phillies, I'm kind of, I
like, I like to say I'm, I'mloyal and I've changed teams
twice.
How loyal am I really?
But it's, you know, when I waswith the Phillies I'm like I
don't.
I like what we're trying tobuild here.
I really do.
But now I have a hall of famemanager asking me to be on his
(22:25):
staff.
I think it would beirresponsible to me and my
family not considering this.
What a blessing.
I went from a place where I cutmy teeth in coaching with no
data, having coaches around methat have been in the game a
long time, that taught me how tocoach and communicate with all
different types of players, to aplace where there was
(22:48):
innovation and analytics.
You know, just really creativein how they do things.
So I get to see both sides ofit.
I got to learn in my five yearsin Cleveland and decide that,
wow, I think the best way ofdoing this is combining the
experience and innovation tohelp make it make a team better.
So my my journey through bothof those organizations and
through the capital districtbaseball, you know, to help me
(23:10):
fall in love with.
You know has has helped me growinto the coach I am today.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Awesome journey, as you, you know.
You climb the ladder with thePhillies, the Gulf coast league,
and then you, you, you get tobe with the, with the, with
Cleveland, the bullpen coach in2019, and then obviously get the
gig with Kansas City inDecember of 22.
Brian, let's go back to yourplaying career, because
obviously you're in thisposition that you're in now
(23:38):
because you have some experiencein the big leagues.
You played in the majors, youplayed in Japan.
You know a seven-, eight-yearcareer.
Take us back to that and I'mgoing to throw up some photos
here of you and in your playingdays.
This is probably a pretty cool.
I know this is a cool picturefor you.
(23:58):
Let me show it to you righthere.
This is you when you were withSeattle at Yankee Stadium.
Right?
How cool is that?
I know your family got to bethere for this, but that's you
coming into the game against theYankees back in the day.
Oh, you had a nice ERA.
I think you had a zero ERA backthen in four games In four
(24:21):
games.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, that's a small sample size, that's all right.
I think it definitely went upas the year went on.
Yeah, that was a fun trip, youknow.
I think probably 2010,.
I came back from Japan and youknow my family hadn't seen me
play.
You know, being gone to Japan,it's challenging to see your
family and you had a whole bunchof people at the game and, boy,
(24:46):
we had a good time.
You know, got to go out afterand, you know, get to see
everybody, so that was exciting,yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And there you are with Seattle, obviously your
last couple of years with theMariners.
You started with the Padres.
How did you end up in Japan?
For what?
Four years playing three howmany?
Three, okay, how did that comeabout?
And what was that like from acultural uh perspective?
And then just because baseballis very different there on a lot
(25:17):
of levels, yeah it, itcertainly, it certainly is.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
That's uh.
I'm so lucky that I get Iopportunity to go there.
I mean each part of my journeyas a player when I was going
halfway decent or if I stunk hasall turned me into the coach
that I am today.
A big change was going over toJapan, and that happened when I
(25:45):
got sent down.
I pitched in oh, that's a fun.
I got sent down.
I pitched in a oh, that's a fun, that's fun, fun time Getting
getting the girls on the field.
I was pitching at the majorleague level with the Padres.
I had a really rough day and wehad to make a transaction.
They sent me down.
I ended up making a start inOmaha go figure which is the AAA
affiliate for the.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Royals right the.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Royals, right, yep, and some scouts from Japan were
there to see our first baseman,john Knott, and wouldn't you
know, I started that day.
That was my first outing sinceI came back from the big leagues
and I had a good day and I wason their radar.
Big leagues, and I had, I had agood day and I put them, I was
(26:28):
on their radar and they ended up, um, after I uh was designated
for assignment, uh, at the endof the year, they, they wanted
me to come over and that was atough decision too.
Right, you know, you grow upwanting to be a major leaguer,
um, you know, but when somebodycomes offering a guaranteed
contract, uh to uh to a mediocrepitcher, uh, well, I didn't
think I was mediocre at the time, but the major leagues did and,
(26:49):
uh, it was.
It was something that I wasexcited about doing.
I'd played in venezuela andwinter ball.
I'd played in the dominicandominican republic for winter
ball.
Um, you know, japan soundedlike an amazing experience and
it was.
Did I learn so much aboutbaseball, about the culture in
Japan, how incredible thatcountry is?
(27:10):
My kids got to go to schoolover there for a little while.
Really really a lot of fun, youknow with my experience, so I
got to play with you Darvishover there, oh yeah, yeah, he
was 19 when I got over there andone of the top five pitchers
I've ever seen.
He's just won his 200th gamebetween Japan and the United
(27:32):
States.
Just the impact he's had on the.
There's amazing baseballplayers over there.
It's still 60 feet, 6 inches,90 feet between bases.
Right, it's all the same.
They go about their business,maybe in a little bit different
way, just like somebody from theDominican Republic would, or
somebody from Venezuela, right,but we're all playing the same
game and there's some highcaliber players coming over from
(27:54):
Japan, as you know.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
How, brian?
What was it like living there?
I mean, honestly, I've talkedto my wife.
It's very expensive.
We'd love to go there.
I'm a huge sushi fan.
I just love that culture aswell.
What was that like, uh, beingthere, and you mentioned your
family moved with you there fora couple of years they did, they
did, yeah, yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
If you like sushi, you know, if you like sashimi
and japanese food, if you goover there and have some and you
come back here, you'll nevereat it again here because it's
totally it's, it's I mean thefood amazing.
I mean the food amazing.
You know the Japanese food isamazing and then, but they also
have excellent chefs that cookgood Italian food, wow, good
(28:36):
Mexican food.
So we got that experience aswell.
You know food from Korea aswell.
Just really tremendous, atremendous culture.
I would say, if anybody had theopportunity to vacation in a
different parts of Japan Tokyois awesome, right, but there's
other parts in northern Japan,like in Hokkaido, in Sapporo,
(28:57):
where Sapporo beer is from.
You know Sapporo beer.
That you know that's anincredible area to fish is
amazing.
Then you go over to you, overto the western part of Japan,
and you're getting differentcuisines.
I couldn't be more blessed tohave that opportunity to play
there, to grow as a person, growas a baseball player and then
(29:17):
ultimately help me as a coach.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Ryan, I just have a couple more questions for you.
I really appreciate you takingthe time.
This has been awesome.
Today, you played for Italy inthe World Baseball Classic in
2013.
You were a pitching coach forItaly as well.
How was that experience in theWBC, both as a player and then
on the coaching side?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Wow, what an amazing.
That was that atmosphere in2013.
We had a pretty good team, gotto the second round, had a
chance to move on.
What year is this one?
I think I was a coach at thistime.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, I think you might have been a coach here,
that's Oliver Perez Is thatOliver Perez, the former, Met
right.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Yep Oliver Perez a former teammate of mine when I
was with Seattle.
I think we were reporting atour families up in a stand
somewhere.
That's cool, just a good personLike everybody.
You know the baseball community, that's a part.
A lot of people know each otherand then competing, you know,
for your country, for a heritage.
That's a big part of yourfamily.
You wonder how Brian Sweeney ison the Italian team right with
(30:25):
that name?
Yeah, Explain.
Well, yeah, explain that I dohave a mother with a last name,
spinella.
So you know you have twoparents.
So you know Sweeney's dad,spinella is my.
My mom has a fam family thatwas from Sicily and you know
really lucky to be a part ofthat, to to pitch in that.
Um, pitching in it way easierthan coaching in it.
(30:47):
I'm going to tell you that muchReally.
Yeah, because you've got tomove quick and fast to scout
these teams and to get theinformation you need to prepare
the pitchers.
These guys just got to play,which is the fun part.
Coaching man, that gave me aheadache Figuring out who's
going to pitch, because you haverestrictions on how many
(31:11):
pitches that can be thrown, howmany days rest.
Uh, what, what, what achallenge it was.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Um, you know how many ?
How many guys spoke italian onthe team?
I know you had a bunch ofamericans that had, like you had
, the italian heritage.
Did you, was there acommunication issue at all, or
did you not have many trueitalian?
You know there were.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
there was about five, uh, five true, italians, but a
lot of them spoke english and ifthey didn't, we had a
translator there.
That that worked for us.
And you know, right before Iwas, you know, I was asked again
last year um, what was it?
Two years ago, in 23, we didworld baseball classic.
Um, I was asked again by theyou know manager, mike piazza,
to be the pitching coach.
(31:51):
I unfortunately had to step downbecause I got the job with
Kansas City, right, that wasreally hard, right.
Because I went to Italy.
We had, like, a whole bunch ofthe players came over, we came
together to try to build acamaraderie, had a really nice
trip and was preparing for that.
And then on my way home I foundout I had an, I had an
(32:12):
interview with the royals, so Ihad to get off a plane from
italy the next morning, get on aplane to kansas city to, uh,
you know, to interview, um,fooled him, like I said before,
got the job and uh, and had tostep down in in december uh, not
, not soon after from the jobwith team Italy, which was
really, really hard.
Some of the guys give me a lotof crap for it, like Vinny
(32:34):
Pasquantino, who was playing ona team, said we, we let him out.
I abandoned him, but I thoughtmy being around for the pitchers
with the Kansas city Royals wasprobably the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, I mean I'm not your agent, nor your financial
advisor and your personaladvisor, but that's probably not
a horrible idea, brian.
I mean I think you're obviouslythe guys from Italy were ribbing
you a little bit.
They knew you made the rightmove as well.
Of course, brian, one thing Ifind so fascinating I think this
(33:08):
is why a lot of thesedocumentaries on Netflix and the
hard knocks, the NFL, sort ofthe behind the scenes.
I've always loved that and I'veinterviewed you a bunch of
times and I always ask you sortof and I love the fact you're so
open about this stuff Obviouslynot giving away locker room the
locker room inside stuff, but Ijust love the behind the scenes
(33:31):
of major leagues and like whatyou guys do on a daily basis.
so what is like a day in thelife of brian sweeney?
What does it consist of?
Take me through that, thewaking up, the going to the
ballpark like I want to.
I want to dude, I want to livevicariously through your life,
man sometimes I don't know whatday it is.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Uh, you right, you know baseball, when you have,
you know, have a night game,right, you have, there's.
There's certain things you dothroughout the day and then you
wake up and you do it, you do itagain and you still play on the
weekends, right, sometime.
You know we have 13 games in arow coming up.
I'm not going to know what day,what day is gonna going to.
Um, it's, it's going to be, youknow.
So after our next off day, wegot 13 in a row, we got two days
(34:14):
off in a month, um, which isthat's.
That's quite challenging,that's a that's a little
challenging.
You know, going through a majorleague season, you know, with
you know, june, we were playingthe Yankees, we're playing
Cleveland, we're playing theDodgers, we're playing some,
some quality teams and we'regoing to be writing it.
You know we're going to begoing through this fight and the
(34:35):
day, if we have, there'susually three games, a three
game series.
That that we're, that we'regoing through and day one of a
series, really challenging,you're, you're preparing.
You know we're preparing forthe Padres now.
You know we have a game tonight, but we have to have make
preparations for the padres.
So you're always doing that,you're constantly doing work.
(34:55):
Uh, you're on the computer toprepare for that um, but you
know we have a game to wintonight.
So day day, one day, one of aseries we have um, I'm doing
computer work and it's boringstuff that you probably.
It's not real exciting.
In the hotel room or at homeI'm on a computer, I'm doing
(35:15):
different things.
You chat with the family, getsome lunch, get a workout in,
but when you get to the ballparkI'll get to the ballpark
usually around 12 o'clock for anight game, 6.40, 7 o'clock game
I'm at the ballpark and westart our day when the clubhouse
opens, typically at 1 o'clock.
We have our daily meeting withthe pitching team.
(35:37):
We go over the night before wetalk about how we can get guys
better, how we can developplayer plans for these guys, and
while we're sitting there wehave guys that think differently
.
We have some diversity ofthought, which I think is really
important.
Right, we butt heads aboutthings, which is great, and the
cool part is we can butt headsand then have a beer after the
(35:58):
game together and we're tryingto help guys get better.
Then you know we, we, we get,you know we get all that work
done.
We get the meetings done.
We might have meetings withpitchers to go over, have an AAR
with the pitcher from the lastnight's game and then you know
you're getting into.
There's plenty, plenty of lockerroom banter, if you, if you
(36:19):
could imagine a lot of sarcasm.
We have a really cool coachingstaff guys that make me laugh
every day and I'm so gratefulfor that because I needed it
last year when we were gettingour butts kicked.
Um, where we can keep humoreven in a in a tough, in a tough
environment where you'regetting your teeth kicked in Um,
you know.
Then we're doing our on-fieldwork.
Uh, you know where, where theguys have their throwing program
(36:43):
, we're designing different,different exercises for their
throwing program, whether it'splyos or baseballs.
We got bullpens um, guys thatneed support.
We got all the technologyputting all of that together,
which is a whole other world.
If you've seen Edutronic video,it's really amazing where you
(37:03):
can help tweak guys in themoment and make them better.
Go inside, get a bite to eat,have a meeting with you know,
have a meeting with the managerabout our, the game plan and
what it's going to look like.
That always changes in game.
Rarely ever stays the way we'dlike it, but that's that's.
That's baseball.
We adapt and adjust and thennext thing you know, we got the
(37:24):
game, the game is here and youknow when that national Anthem
comes on, and it you put, youput your lid on and it's it's go
time.
So it's uh, and, and you letthe, and you let the guys play
brian.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
I've always actually this is a question I, my wife
and I have actually talked about, because she kind of likes this
stuff too.
Like when you're in new york,right, you play in the yankees,
you don't have to tell us whathotel you guys stay at, but like
you guys take a, you take a busto the state.
Are you, do you stay near?
Because I always found itfascinating, like where the heck
(37:58):
do you stay in manhattan or doyou in?
Are you in the bronx, you inmanhattan?
Then you guys take a bus, likehow does that work?
Speaker 2 (38:04):
you know we stay, we stay in midtown and we take a
bus, which is a pain in the ass,to be honest.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
I'll take the subway um, because it takes a long time
right to get especially withthe traffic.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yeah, it's really.
Yeah, it's really a pain, um,but do you have like?
Speaker 1 (38:19):
a heart palpitation that you guys are good, like
you're when you're drivingsomewhere with the track, like
you're gonna be late.
See, that would like freak meout, dude, because I'm being a
retentive like that, right?
Seriously.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
These bus drivers.
They're from New York, theyknow what they're doing, right,
they, absolutely these guys canhaul ass through the streets.
They're really, really good attheir job.
Think of a New York driver.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
These bus drivers are are right on top of it.
But if I don't, if I feel likethere's a lot of traffic, I'll
take some of the coaches, we'lljump on the subway.
How about, like, when you'rehome or when you're probably
driving to the ballpark?
Only when you're at home that'sprobably not a big deal because
you kind of know the trafficpatterns and all that stuff.
Right?
Speaker 2 (39:03):
I'm getting there at 12 o'clock.
If I miss the game, it's at 610.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
There's a problem.
Speaker 2 (39:07):
There's a huge traffic jam, that's for sure.
I could probably walk there allthe time.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
All right, brian, I want to show you this before we
let you go, because I find thisis hilarious.
All right, so I dug up some oldBrian Sweeney baseball cards,
okay, and we are going to findthese here right now.
Here we go.
Okay.
Before we do that, though, waitone second.
(39:36):
Talk to me about.
Talk to me about Bobby.
What is Bobby Witt like?
Because Bobby Witt Jr, weshould say.
11 years, almost a $300 millioncontract.
You talked about the Royalsownership spending the money.
They did.
They put their money wheretheir mouth is.
They have this young guy in histhird year and they upped him
(39:57):
for 11 years.
First of all, that's got tomake you so fired up, knowing
that you're part of anorganization that makes that
commitment, but then you watchhim play.
He's just unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
What's it like being in a clubhouse with him and just
being around with junior?
Yeah, baseball baseball fansshould be proud that the Royal
stepped up and and signed Bobbyto that contract.
He's, he's, deserving of acontract like that.
If you hang around this guyeach day, you'll you you'd be
amazed at how down to earth andhuman he is.
You know, I don't know if yousaw last year Samad Taylor got a
(40:34):
game-winning hit A rookie, youknow, we didn't have many
game-winning hits last year.
He hits it over to centerfielder's head.
We win the game.
Bobby runs out.
The center fielder left theball.
Bobby ran out and got the balland ran it back to Samad saying
here's the ball, and ran it backto Samad saying here's the ball
for um, that you just hit.
And that's the type of guy Bobbyis.
Uh, he cares about histeammates, he cares about the
(40:57):
front office, he cares about thecoaches.
Um, really down to earth andfun to be around.
Uh, if anybody's deserving of acontract like that, it's, it's,
it's Bobby.
He's an elite player in thisgame.
I got to see Jose Ramirez dohis thing in Cleveland another
elite player.
These guys are fun to watch.
And when guys like those twoget contracts like that.
(41:21):
I know it's a lot of money, butthat's just what the going rate
is right.
It is what it is Exactly.
You should be proud that yougive bobby with that kind of
money because you want that guyaround for a long time.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
All right I had to ask you about wit because I love
, I love the guy I love him.
Love him.
All right, let me uh, brian,let me show you.
This is this.
We're going to end on this,because I think this is awesome
when is that All right.
So these are your hang on,these are your baseball card.
(41:56):
Some of this hold on.
Let me get to the page.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
It must be in the bottom of somebody's closet,
that's probably where they are.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
I found this.
These are old baseball cards ofBrian Sweeney.
This is your upper deck worth abuck 38 dude okay, whoever pays
, that's getting ripped off allright, here is here is your I'll
give you one for free.
Yeah, you got.
I mean, I'll take them, I ain'tscared.
I'll display them in the officewith a little b sweeney
(42:25):
autograph.
Here's a throwback to the 52card.
That's worth 369 man.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Whoa, I'll tell you and then here's a nice one.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Oh, this one is an upper deck.
Uh, that's going for 428 forwhat a ripoff.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Somebody's trying to rip you off on that one um.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
You got an upper deck silver for 342.
The trio prospects when are you?
You're right here in the middle, right?
Aaron Looper, Rhett JohnsonObviously, you know those guys.
Yeah two guys I played with.
Yeah, yeah, that's $1.68.
Here's your Lakewood Blue Claws.
(43:07):
What are you a pitching coachthere, yep, and then, oh, that's
not you.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
I've got to work on my posture and my pitching coach
position.
Who's that?
Was that?
Katsuzaki, that bottom?
Speaker 1 (43:23):
one that was Shibakusa.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
I don't know why that came up on your page but Maybe
because I played, maybe becauseI played in Japan.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Yeah, so that was I found that to be really fun.
I was just, I was just Googlingyour, I was just Googling your
your baseball cards, and that'swhat I came up with.
Do you have your own baseballcards, by the way.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
So I've been given, I've been given a whole, a whole
bunch of them that usually whenyou have, when you get a card
they give, they give you someright.
You know.
So I, you know I I do have, Ido have a few, and a lot of
times I tell the kids that wehave a dartboard.
I'm like, put my, put mybaseball card up there and throw
(44:09):
it, throw it over, see if yousee, if you can hit me, hit me
in the neck or something likethat.
But yeah, it is, it is cool,right.
You know I grew up withbaseball cards.
You know, looking at the backof baseball cards, you eating
the gum that didn't last longenough.
The know I have Don Mattingly's1984 card top score Donruss, I
(44:31):
have that too, yep.
Yeah, and it's like you know, Iget to see him now, right,
because he's a coach withToronto.
Right, you get to meet guyslike this.
I'm like man, I had your posteron my wall in Yonkers, new York
, you know, when you were at theYankees.
So it's like you know, it'sreally.
(44:55):
I get to be around a lot of, alot of people, a lot of cool
people, some good baseballplayers, which is, you know,
really exciting and get to learnfrom, learn from them too.
Right, terry Frank Cohen hadbeen in baseball a thousand
years.
That old bum he probablylaughed at that, you know.
And you know to see to see howhe does things.
You know I'm constantlylearning.
You know I'm new to thisposition as a pitching coach Not
(45:16):
easy, right, you know, puttingyourself in a leadership
position.
It's not that you have to doless, it's you have to do more.
Right, you are responsible forthe guys around you, including
the pitching team itself.
You want to help make thembetter.
You know the guys, the coachesaround me, they want to be
pitching coaches one day, right?
So I want to help them achievethose dreams too.
(45:37):
So there's more responsibility.
So it's really, you don't wantto take a minute off for these
guys.
You want to be there, you wantto show up, you want to be
authentic, honest and consistenteach day.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
Brian, my last question you played in.
You want to be authentic,honest and consistent each day.
Brian, my last question youplayed in the majors.
You are a pitching coach forthe Royals.
Have you do you?
Especially now you're inMinnesota?
You're about to go to a ballgame Do you do you?
Do you sometimes just likepinch yourself and go?
How is this real?
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
Shoot, just even having the opportunity to come
out of Mercy College now MercyUniversity.
By the way, just in caseanybody wants to know that Mercy
University Mavericks they aregetting the opportunity to get
to be signed out of out of MercyCollege to play independent
league, which is not the bestroute.
If you want to be a majorleaguer, coming out of Mercy
College to play independentleague, which is not the best
route.
If you want to be a majorleaguer, coming out of college
(46:32):
and spend seven years in theminors, get the opportunity in
the big leagues, play in Japan,play winter ball, play for Team
Italy.
Really, I was being set up tocoach playing the Albany
Twilight League.
All these little parts of myjourney have set me up to have
the opportunity to coach for theKansas City Royals.
(46:52):
And you know I was driving toVermont I think it was
Thanksgiving weekend after myinterview with the Royals.
Connie was in the car.
We were driving to see somefriends when I got the call
about how they wanted to offerme the job as the pitching coach
.
Oh, my gosh, I have Connie nextto me because we're on
speakerphone, right, because I'mnot going to talk on the phone
(47:13):
while I'm driving.
Be responsible.
And you know they said you knowwe'd like to offer you the job
as the pitching coach for theKansas City Royals and you know
I could still see that.
In my mind it's like wait, wait,I have a really cool job.
I'm at a place where I'mcomfortable in a way that this
(47:38):
is, I love it.
I don't need to do, I don'tneed to be a manager, I don't
need to go to another team.
I'm not looking to climb theladder.
Never was.
This is a great place to be.
I have good people around me,we have a good team, we have
good systems.
I have the best job in theworld.
Why would I want to move on?
(47:59):
I'm in a place where I hope Ican retire.
I love being around here.
Win or lose, right.
We got good people in place andthen when you go through a
fight together like that, youcan make something special
happen.
Speaker 1 (48:15):
What an awesome way to end it.
Really great story.
Brian.
One thing I do love about youis you have such a unique
perspective and I think you getit.
You understand you're blessed,you're in a great spot and it's.
You know I root for you and Iknow everyone here in the
Capital Region roots for.
You're blessed, you're in agreat spot and you know I root
for you, and I know everyonehere in the Capital Region roots
for you as well and Matt andthe Royals I know everyone has
(48:36):
their teams around here, butit's an awesome special 518
connection.
I want to thank you so much fortaking the time out of your day
and joining me.
I really do.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
No, I'm grateful that we could catch up, talk some
baseball and maybe have somemore Royals fans in the Capital
District.
Right, If you have a connectionwith Matt or I, it's not like
all the Yankee fans and Met fans, the Boston fans.
There's more of a connection.
You should join up, Jump on thebandwagon with us.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
I'm there, man.
I am absolutely there, brian.
I want to.
I'm going to sign off here in asec.
I want to wish you good luck,appreciate you joining me, and I
want to thank everyone outthere for joining me as well.
It's SoundOff with Syncoff,sponsored by the Syncoff Realty
Group.
Thanks for checking out thepodcast.
Make sure you like, give us asubscribe, and I really
(49:28):
appreciate it and we'll see younext time.
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