February 18, 2025 • 13 mins
Christian Walker, the new first baseman for the Houston Astros, joined "The Matt Thomas Show with Ross" from the first day of full-squad workouts at spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida. The three-time Gold Glove winner signed a $60 million, three-year contract with the Astros last December and discussed his decision to play in Houston and building chemistry with his new teammates.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, Christians Walker is the newest Houston astro wearing
the Monday through Friday whites Man.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
That's a prey looking look right there.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Yeah, it feels good.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
By the way, what the hell were y' all wearing
in Arizona last few years? You'll want some terrible ash uniform.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
The colors got weird there for a little.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Colors, everything got weird. I mean, what was that all
about it? I could you couldn't figure out what you
were wearing.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Yeah, those those city connects to Serpientes are lover hate.
It's it's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, like six different I mean the Diamondbacks changing your uniform.
You must have worn fifteen uniforms while you were there.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Yeah, it makes it tough. I like having some custom
gear in season and you never know what colors are,
what color schemes ordered during the offseason.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
But got to get a couple of things knocked out.
Our program director is an SEC fan. He wants to
honor you with your great days at South Carolina. Give
us your great moment as a South Carolina baseball player.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
So the soon without a doubt, the I mean easy answer.
The National Championships, perfect ten twenty eleven, we were back
to back national champions there. We got to close out
Rosenblat and then open up that new stadium with Natty,
So kind of a fun thing.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
There all right, Now, we're gonna be honest and then
a side of it. You won the National League pen
in a couple of years ago. We hate the Rangers.
You as Americans. Let as America, let us down.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
You know that, right?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Do you see their parade if you would have wanted,
you did in a nice pray, I've been to Phoenix
many time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm the Rockets and Asers.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
We go there all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Great city.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
They were at a freaking Walmart grocery store one of
the champ pretty sad parade in Arlington.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
So next, praye, you need you always want here.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Right to make sure it's here for sure? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Uh, take us through this for agent process.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You had been in Arizona for ninety percent of your
major league career, so a thought or two about what
that was like.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Did you enjoy the experience?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Did you were you intimate in conversations with your agent
on the daily or did you say, hey, get back
to me when you wanted to hear something you liked yeah, a.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Little bit of both.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
There's definitely quiet periods and crazy periods of the off season. Fortunately,
we had a little bit of leverage coming in, so
I wasn't too worried about, you know, if if somebody
was gonna call. It was just a matter of finding
the right fit and the place that that I wanted
to play there. There's not a lot of chances and
opportunities in the business side of things these days to
get to pick where you play. Yeah, try to pick
(02:08):
a place where you want to play. So so we
were we wanted to use that to our advantage. And
you know, Arizona was great, but but it was pretty
far from home for us. We live in South Carolina,
so so going into the off season, my wife and
I had Houston circled. It was a city that we
were excited to be a part of and just super
pumped when when the front office reached out.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
And what's it been like for you getting here, getting
acclimated obviously first full team workout here today, but from
the outside looking in and now kind of being here
for a little bit, getting to know the guys that
the the Astros.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
It's the club clubhouse. You'll feel for you Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
It's uh, you can tell winning is is at the forefront,
but in the same sense, you know, at this time
of the year, it's just getting back into the swing
of things, and it's it's a pretty lighthearted attitude, I think.
You know, you see guys working hard and getting their
reps in, but also you know, joking around and having fun.
It's it's a it's a good time of year. We're
all we're all got the itch after a long offseason
(03:04):
and uh, you know, being being back in the good
weather and playing playing baseball again is what we want.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Did juny ricon about the astros An organization when you
knew they were on the shortlist for yourself?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
A little bit, a little bit other than the obvious things,
you know, it's it's cool, uh you know, meeting a
guy like Bagwell, getting to have some conversations with him,
how much pride he has for this organization. And you know,
he said something today, he's been wearing this this uniform
since nineteen ninety. Uh so so here in hearing little
things like that really remind you of the culture and uh,
(03:36):
you know, the the winning tradition.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Three straight gold gloves for yourself First of where are they?
I mean, do you have them in your at the
house or where where can I find the goal glove
of yours?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, they're they're in the house.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I have a little workout room upstairs with some some gears,
some bats that I've had signed by guys and some teammates,
and and they're in there, you know, on the on
the the trophy rack if you will.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Who is your first baseman idol growing up?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
So I didn't actually start playing first base until college.
Growing up, high school, middle school, I was, I was
an infielder, but mostly third base.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
I loved watching Scott Roland. He was he was my guy.
I got a chance. I was a Phillies fan growing up,
so he he came through Philly and and you know,
watching him was was a lot of fun. And then
and then Ryan Howard, you know that that first year
he had that rookie year, broke onto the scene. That
was that was a lot of fun to watch too.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I was.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I was in high school for that when we were
growing up, and probably you as well. A lot of
the first basemen were biggy guys.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Just find a place for him.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
First of all, I grew up watching Jeff Bagwell, so
I knew there was intricracies to it.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Juliguriel before a couple of years before her the same situation.
The art of playing first base, thankfully, I think is
no longer.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Just put the fact out there. It's a skill.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Holding runners on fielding your position, Well, tell me the
biggest adjustment for you going from the left side of
the to the right side of the infield and being
able to say, yeah, I want to own as part
of the field.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
I think what helped me was was playing on the
other side of the infield at one point and knowing
what it's like to feel like you have to make
a perfect throw, feel like you got to hit.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Somebody in the chest over there for them to make
the play.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
And you know, I pride myself on not being that guy.
I want to be somebody that, you know, my shortstop
can lay out in the hole and come up and
throw from his knees and know that if he gets
it close, we're gonna make the out. That that always
helped me as an infielder, know when I had somebody
over there, So you know, that's something that's important to
me playing first Base.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Now Christian Walker, Newest Houston astro with us here on
the radio program. Very excited that you came here because
we were all anxious about what's gonna happen with Alex
and figuring out with Kyle and whatnot. When you finally
signed on the dotted line, tell me what it was like,
get trying to find your teammates, know what was going
to be there, and honestly, this infield is going to
(05:48):
be completely different. How long do you think it's going
to take and is there gonna be a magic day
that you're go All right, we as a collective group.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Know what we're doing in here.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Now, that's hard to pick a data. I think.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I think Tony Perry's cheek is gonna do a great
job of making sure we get quality reps out there together.
I think practicing fast is important. Yeah, you know, feeling out,
feeling out each other's range and and you know, like
something little like knowing that you know, Juban is such
a great arm uh but but trying to figure out
his arm action.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Does he does he cut it? Does he does he
does he throw it clean?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You know?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Is it is it a true ball? Does it have armside.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
You know, everybody has the has their tendencies, so so it's, uh,
it's fun to get to know, you know, some new
really really good infielders. How long can that take to
get used to in that climate too? This time of year,
it happens pretty quick. It's uh, it's never really a struggle.
It's just you know, before we know it, here, we're
gonna have hundreds of ground balls together, and you know,
hundreds of double plays that we've turned on the backfield.
(06:43):
So it happens quick, i'd say, here, and you know,
about a week or so, we all start feeling pretty
comfortable with each other.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You have a lot left in your career, But once
the clock turns thirty and beyond, did you have to
just getting ready for this season? Getting maybe a little
sooner as compared to maybe when you're in your twenties
coming up on the game.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I mean, yes, I know.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
I think there's there's a side of it where the
more time you spend around the game, the the more
you know yourself and you know your routine and you
know what you need to be ready for a season.
Sprint trainings, it can be, uh, it can be a
long amount of time and it can be short.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
It's right.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
It's like some years you feel like you just you're
not clicking. You're not clicking, and then all the opening
day comes and it's it's it's it's lightning, and and
then other years it's like by ten at bats in,
you feel like you're in a good spot and you
could go Opening Day the next day. So it's you know,
the the the age or anything like that. That's that's
that's nothing that's on my radar. My body feels good.
(07:39):
I spend a decent amount of time in the weight room.
It's something that I pride myself on. It's it's helped
me stay on the field for a while, so, you know,
feeling strong, feeling feeling ready to go and and looking
to looking forward to playing a lot of games.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Your overall thoughts about playing it at what Dyke and
Park Now you've been there obviously a few times over
your career.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm very excited.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I like the dome feel. I think that's cool.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
I think I think the consistency in the environment, knowing
you know, the the weather in Houston and the rain,
I'm sure, I'm sure it comes in quick. And the
humidity and all that. So knowing if there's a home
game we're playing, I think that that mental, uh, just
just knowing what to expect getting into a routine. You know,
there's there's nothing like waking up on a on a
gloomy day and trying to figure out if there's gonna
(08:22):
be a delay or if you're hitting VP on the
field and this and that.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So so I'm looking forward to that. And then you know,
the fans.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
It's something that's always stuck out to me coming in
as a visiting team, is playing in front of the
fan base.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
What was your conversation's been like so far with Joe's
spotted because I mean, as you know, first base was
in flux for the last couple of years. Now, did
you like give you a big hug, say, I'm happy
to put you in first base every day?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Any conversations also about.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
DH and can you play left field? Kidding?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, we're trying to figure out left field. Everybody their
mothers wants to play left field.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Of Carol and I actually coming up with a few
different teams. There was a lot of really good first
basement in front of me, so I have played left.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Field there we got Fox from headline. Here we go.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Hopefully we just started a controversy to see it, because
it's not a it's not pretty out there, no, I mean,
I mean d agent cool, like if that's something where
you know, it's a way to maybe take a day
and and and get the legs back under me. But
but honestly, I like to be out in the field.
I think it helps me stay in the routine offensively
and you know, stay moving, and it's it's something that
(09:23):
I've I've just grown up doing.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I enjoy.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
I enjoy being out in the field for sure, But
but yeah, I think I think there's something too, uh,
coming in and feeling valued. You know that that makes
you excited to play, makes you excited to prove everybody,
everybody right, You know that the standards are real, the
expectations are real, and it's it's something that that you
crave as as a big leaguer. You want do you
want somebody to put pressure on you and and you
(09:47):
have to go out and prove it.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So you're a South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Native, yeah, no, no, no, I grew up grew up
just outside of Philly.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Oh, I was gonna say, because I was like you
have no accent whatsoever. You do have a Philly accent
of a South Carolina accent and none of that.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, they've they've both kind of disappeared. I I
went to school there obviously, and and just fell in
love with the area and never left, but grew up
just outside of Philly, same city as Mike Piazza and
Gino Arima.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Do your research, Matt, come on, yeah, Tommy Lasorda.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
By the way, we know we know your We know
your dog's names too.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
What was it, Dottie and uh Jack Jackson, Millie Millie?
We had, we had there's a cat. Oh okay, yeah,
she's she's a she belongs to the neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Oh really, the neighborhood cat.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yeah, she's just so un What part of.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
South Calm do you in Columbia itself?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Or we do just north of Columbia. We're like, we're
like fifteen minutes from campus.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
So can you walk around town incognito? Or do you
do people stike at the grocery store.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
They they they recognized me for sure, But it's it's
it's more from the game Cock days than than from
pro ball. The Braves are the team there, so so
everybody knows knows the game Cocks more than more than that.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Did they realize how many home run's you've hit in
the last five years?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Yeah, yeah, Arizona. Arizona was cool. It's a crazy thing
getting recognized. It's it's humbling and all that. But but
back home in South Carolina, it's it's mostly from the
from the national championships.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Okay, Uh, I've never been to South Carolina. Apparently quite
an experience. I mean for football basketball, the women's team
never loses. I mean, I don't know that's all about.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah they did they.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Did any s SEC smack talk in the clubhouse at.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
This point, not yet, not yet. I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
I'm sure it'll start once, especially when football season starts
back up, but but nothing, nothing so far.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Well, we're very happy to have you here.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Such a nice surprise when you came here. I mean,
I mean, we're anxious. This is kind of new to us.
We we've known Briggs, we've known uh you're a couple
of years ago, and we had JB and Kyle Tucker.
This is uh, you're actually coming. Not at a bad
time because I think they're all your teammates trying to
figure out what the ViBe's going to be right now.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, Yeah, it's a it's a fun time.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
It's it's uh, you know, if guys, guys come and go,
it's it's part of the business side of things. Unfortunately,
you know, you never want to lose guys, especially people
who you know, we're staples in the lineup and a
part of a lot of successful years. But I think
there's a there's a cool opportunity about that of of
being able to keep the success going with a different
group of guys, different responsibilities, different roles, And so far
(12:07):
the clubhouse has been great and I'm looking forward to
you know, continuing to mesh.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
He alluded to the DH for let your run. Do
you like the DH once in a while to get
off your feet a little bit?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Or is that you just I need to be if
I'm in the lineup, I need to be at first base.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
So I mean, I would much rather be at first base.
But I would rather be in the lineup than not
at all. A full day off, yeah, period, So you know,
if that's a way to get some at bats and
help the team on days where you know, maybe we're
trying to rest up the legs or something like that.
For sure, very very interested in something like that. But
but if it was my call, I'd be at first
(12:40):
every day.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Thank you so much for coming by again. It's our
pleasure to have you in town. You're gonna love the
city of Houston. Diehard Baseball Group, great stadium, not one
hundred and fifty five degrees, and feedix like it is
every day.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
But he meant it, he's gonna suck. I'm just gonna
be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Not great.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah, Well we just to it a little bit on this.
I'm sure. I'm sure it'll be.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It's it's a yeah. And we don't have the dry
we just have like just pure heating.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
You're conditioning on the five minute walk to the park,
you'd be fine.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Yeah, from the garage. I appreciate you guys have it
all right.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Christian Walker. By the way, you get a commedia career
ahead of you.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Two.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
We're a little scared. We're gonna take our jobs, all right.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Christian Walker with us here on the Matt Thomas Show,
with Ross More coming up in a moment here on
Sports Talk seven ninety
All right, Christians Walker is the newest Houston astro wearing
the Monday through Friday whites Man.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
That's a prey looking look right there.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Yeah, it feels good.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
By the way, what the hell were y' all wearing
in Arizona last few years? You'll want some terrible ash uniform.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
The colors got weird there for a little.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Colors, everything got weird. I mean, what was that all
about it? I could you couldn't figure out what you
were wearing.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Yeah, those those city connects to Serpientes are lover hate.
It's it's a tough one.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, like six different I mean the Diamondbacks changing your uniform.
You must have worn fifteen uniforms while you were there.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
Yeah, it makes it tough. I like having some custom
gear in season and you never know what colors are,
what color schemes ordered during the offseason.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
But got to get a couple of things knocked out.
Our program director is an SEC fan. He wants to
honor you with your great days at South Carolina. Give
us your great moment as a South Carolina baseball player.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
So the soon without a doubt, the I mean easy answer.
The National Championships, perfect ten twenty eleven, we were back
to back national champions there. We got to close out
Rosenblat and then open up that new stadium with Natty,
So kind of a fun thing.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
There all right, Now, we're gonna be honest and then
a side of it. You won the National League pen
in a couple of years ago. We hate the Rangers.
You as Americans. Let as America, let us down.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
You know that, right?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Do you see their parade if you would have wanted,
you did in a nice pray, I've been to Phoenix
many time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm the Rockets and Asers.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
We go there all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Great city.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
They were at a freaking Walmart grocery store one of
the champ pretty sad parade in Arlington.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
So next, praye, you need you always want here.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Right to make sure it's here for sure? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Uh, take us through this for agent process.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
You had been in Arizona for ninety percent of your
major league career, so a thought or two about what
that was like.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Did you enjoy the experience?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Did you were you intimate in conversations with your agent
on the daily or did you say, hey, get back
to me when you wanted to hear something you liked yeah, a.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Little bit of both.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
There's definitely quiet periods and crazy periods of the off season. Fortunately,
we had a little bit of leverage coming in, so
I wasn't too worried about, you know, if if somebody
was gonna call. It was just a matter of finding
the right fit and the place that that I wanted
to play there. There's not a lot of chances and
opportunities in the business side of things these days to
get to pick where you play. Yeah, try to pick
(02:08):
a place where you want to play. So so we
were we wanted to use that to our advantage. And
you know, Arizona was great, but but it was pretty
far from home for us. We live in South Carolina,
so so going into the off season, my wife and
I had Houston circled. It was a city that we
were excited to be a part of and just super
pumped when when the front office reached out.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
And what's it been like for you getting here, getting
acclimated obviously first full team workout here today, but from
the outside looking in and now kind of being here
for a little bit, getting to know the guys that
the the Astros.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
It's the club clubhouse. You'll feel for you Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
It's uh, you can tell winning is is at the forefront,
but in the same sense, you know, at this time
of the year, it's just getting back into the swing
of things, and it's it's a pretty lighthearted attitude, I think.
You know, you see guys working hard and getting their
reps in, but also you know, joking around and having fun.
It's it's a it's a good time of year. We're
all we're all got the itch after a long offseason
(03:04):
and uh, you know, being being back in the good
weather and playing playing baseball again is what we want.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Did juny ricon about the astros An organization when you
knew they were on the shortlist for yourself?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
A little bit, a little bit other than the obvious things,
you know, it's it's cool, uh you know, meeting a
guy like Bagwell, getting to have some conversations with him,
how much pride he has for this organization. And you know,
he said something today, he's been wearing this this uniform
since nineteen ninety. Uh so so here in hearing little
things like that really remind you of the culture and uh,
(03:36):
you know, the the winning tradition.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Three straight gold gloves for yourself First of where are they?
I mean, do you have them in your at the
house or where where can I find the goal glove
of yours?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, they're they're in the house.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I have a little workout room upstairs with some some gears,
some bats that I've had signed by guys and some teammates,
and and they're in there, you know, on the on
the the trophy rack if you will.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Who is your first baseman idol growing up?
Speaker 3 (04:00):
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
So I didn't actually start playing first base until college.
Growing up, high school, middle school, I was, I was
an infielder, but mostly third base.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
I loved watching Scott Roland. He was he was my guy.
I got a chance. I was a Phillies fan growing up,
so he he came through Philly and and you know,
watching him was was a lot of fun. And then
and then Ryan Howard, you know that that first year
he had that rookie year, broke onto the scene. That
was that was a lot of fun to watch too.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I was.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
I was in high school for that when we were
growing up, and probably you as well. A lot of
the first basemen were biggy guys.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Just find a place for him.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
First of all, I grew up watching Jeff Bagwell, so
I knew there was intricracies to it.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Juliguriel before a couple of years before her the same situation.
The art of playing first base, thankfully, I think is
no longer.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Just put the fact out there. It's a skill.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Holding runners on fielding your position, Well, tell me the
biggest adjustment for you going from the left side of
the to the right side of the infield and being
able to say, yeah, I want to own as part
of the field.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
I think what helped me was was playing on the
other side of the infield at one point and knowing
what it's like to feel like you have to make
a perfect throw, feel like you got to hit.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Somebody in the chest over there for them to make
the play.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
And you know, I pride myself on not being that guy.
I want to be somebody that, you know, my shortstop
can lay out in the hole and come up and
throw from his knees and know that if he gets
it close, we're gonna make the out. That that always
helped me as an infielder, know when I had somebody
over there, So you know, that's something that's important to
me playing first Base.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Now Christian Walker, Newest Houston astro with us here on
the radio program. Very excited that you came here because
we were all anxious about what's gonna happen with Alex
and figuring out with Kyle and whatnot. When you finally
signed on the dotted line, tell me what it was like,
get trying to find your teammates, know what was going
to be there, and honestly, this infield is going to
(05:48):
be completely different. How long do you think it's going
to take and is there gonna be a magic day
that you're go All right, we as a collective group.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Know what we're doing in here.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Now, that's hard to pick a data. I think.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I think Tony Perry's cheek is gonna do a great
job of making sure we get quality reps out there together.
I think practicing fast is important. Yeah, you know, feeling out,
feeling out each other's range and and you know, like
something little like knowing that you know, Juban is such
a great arm uh but but trying to figure out
his arm action.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Does he does he cut it? Does he does he
does he throw it clean?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You know?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Is it is it a true ball? Does it have armside.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
You know, everybody has the has their tendencies, so so it's, uh,
it's fun to get to know, you know, some new
really really good infielders. How long can that take to
get used to in that climate too? This time of year,
it happens pretty quick. It's uh, it's never really a struggle.
It's just you know, before we know it, here, we're
gonna have hundreds of ground balls together, and you know,
hundreds of double plays that we've turned on the backfield.
(06:43):
So it happens quick, i'd say, here, and you know,
about a week or so, we all start feeling pretty
comfortable with each other.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You have a lot left in your career, But once
the clock turns thirty and beyond, did you have to
just getting ready for this season? Getting maybe a little
sooner as compared to maybe when you're in your twenties
coming up on the game.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I mean, yes, I know.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
I think there's there's a side of it where the
more time you spend around the game, the the more
you know yourself and you know your routine and you
know what you need to be ready for a season.
Sprint trainings, it can be, uh, it can be a
long amount of time and it can be short.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
It's right.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
It's like some years you feel like you just you're
not clicking. You're not clicking, and then all the opening
day comes and it's it's it's it's lightning, and and
then other years it's like by ten at bats in,
you feel like you're in a good spot and you
could go Opening Day the next day. So it's you know,
the the the age or anything like that. That's that's
that's nothing that's on my radar. My body feels good.
(07:39):
I spend a decent amount of time in the weight room.
It's something that I pride myself on. It's it's helped
me stay on the field for a while, so, you know,
feeling strong, feeling feeling ready to go and and looking
to looking forward to playing a lot of games.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Your overall thoughts about playing it at what Dyke and
Park Now you've been there obviously a few times over
your career.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm very excited.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I like the dome feel. I think that's cool.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
I think I think the consistency in the environment, knowing
you know, the the weather in Houston and the rain,
I'm sure, I'm sure it comes in quick. And the
humidity and all that. So knowing if there's a home
game we're playing, I think that that mental, uh, just
just knowing what to expect getting into a routine. You know,
there's there's nothing like waking up on a on a
gloomy day and trying to figure out if there's gonna
(08:22):
be a delay or if you're hitting VP on the
field and this and that.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So so I'm looking forward to that. And then you know,
the fans.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
It's something that's always stuck out to me coming in
as a visiting team, is playing in front of the
fan base.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
What was your conversation's been like so far with Joe's
spotted because I mean, as you know, first base was
in flux for the last couple of years. Now, did
you like give you a big hug, say, I'm happy
to put you in first base every day?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Any conversations also about.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
DH and can you play left field? Kidding?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, we're trying to figure out left field. Everybody their
mothers wants to play left field.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Of Carol and I actually coming up with a few
different teams. There was a lot of really good first
basement in front of me, so I have played left.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Field there we got Fox from headline. Here we go.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Hopefully we just started a controversy to see it, because
it's not a it's not pretty out there, no, I mean,
I mean d agent cool, like if that's something where
you know, it's a way to maybe take a day
and and and get the legs back under me. But
but honestly, I like to be out in the field.
I think it helps me stay in the routine offensively
and you know, stay moving, and it's it's something that
(09:23):
I've I've just grown up doing.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I enjoy.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
I enjoy being out in the field for sure, But
but yeah, I think I think there's something too, uh,
coming in and feeling valued. You know that that makes
you excited to play, makes you excited to prove everybody,
everybody right, You know that the standards are real, the
expectations are real, and it's it's something that that you
crave as as a big leaguer. You want do you
want somebody to put pressure on you and and you
(09:47):
have to go out and prove it.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So you're a South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
Native, yeah, no, no, no, I grew up grew up
just outside of Philly.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Oh, I was gonna say, because I was like you
have no accent whatsoever. You do have a Philly accent
of a South Carolina accent and none of that.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, they've they've both kind of disappeared. I I
went to school there obviously, and and just fell in
love with the area and never left, but grew up
just outside of Philly, same city as Mike Piazza and
Gino Arima.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Do your research, Matt, come on, yeah, Tommy Lasorda.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
By the way, we know we know your We know
your dog's names too.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
What was it, Dottie and uh Jack Jackson, Millie Millie?
We had, we had there's a cat. Oh okay, yeah,
she's she's a she belongs to the neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Oh really, the neighborhood cat.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Yeah, she's just so un What part of.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
South Calm do you in Columbia itself?
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Or we do just north of Columbia. We're like, we're
like fifteen minutes from campus.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
So can you walk around town incognito? Or do you
do people stike at the grocery store.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
They they they recognized me for sure, But it's it's
it's more from the game Cock days than than from
pro ball. The Braves are the team there, so so
everybody knows knows the game Cocks more than more than that.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Did they realize how many home run's you've hit in
the last five years?
Speaker 4 (10:50):
Yeah, yeah, Arizona. Arizona was cool. It's a crazy thing
getting recognized. It's it's humbling and all that. But but
back home in South Carolina, it's it's mostly from the
from the national championships.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Okay, Uh, I've never been to South Carolina. Apparently quite
an experience. I mean for football basketball, the women's team
never loses. I mean, I don't know that's all about.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah they did they.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Did any s SEC smack talk in the clubhouse at.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
This point, not yet, not yet. I'm sure.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
I'm sure it'll start once, especially when football season starts
back up, but but nothing, nothing so far.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Well, we're very happy to have you here.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Such a nice surprise when you came here. I mean,
I mean, we're anxious. This is kind of new to us.
We we've known Briggs, we've known uh you're a couple
of years ago, and we had JB and Kyle Tucker.
This is uh, you're actually coming. Not at a bad
time because I think they're all your teammates trying to
figure out what the ViBe's going to be right now.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, Yeah, it's a it's a fun time.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
It's it's uh, you know, if guys, guys come and go,
it's it's part of the business side of things. Unfortunately,
you know, you never want to lose guys, especially people
who you know, we're staples in the lineup and a
part of a lot of successful years. But I think
there's a there's a cool opportunity about that of of
being able to keep the success going with a different
group of guys, different responsibilities, different roles, And so far
(12:07):
the clubhouse has been great and I'm looking forward to
you know, continuing to mesh.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
He alluded to the DH for let your run. Do
you like the DH once in a while to get
off your feet a little bit?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Or is that you just I need to be if
I'm in the lineup, I need to be at first base.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
So I mean, I would much rather be at first base.
But I would rather be in the lineup than not
at all. A full day off, yeah, period, So you know,
if that's a way to get some at bats and
help the team on days where you know, maybe we're
trying to rest up the legs or something like that.
For sure, very very interested in something like that. But
but if it was my call, I'd be at first
(12:40):
every day.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Thank you so much for coming by again. It's our
pleasure to have you in town. You're gonna love the
city of Houston. Diehard Baseball Group, great stadium, not one
hundred and fifty five degrees, and feedix like it is
every day.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
But he meant it, he's gonna suck. I'm just gonna
be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Not great.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah, Well we just to it a little bit on this.
I'm sure. I'm sure it'll be.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It's it's a yeah. And we don't have the dry
we just have like just pure heating.
Speaker 5 (13:00):
You're conditioning on the five minute walk to the park,
you'd be fine.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Yeah, from the garage. I appreciate you guys have it
all right.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Christian Walker. By the way, you get a commedia career
ahead of you.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Two.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
We're a little scared. We're gonna take our jobs, all right.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Christian Walker with us here on the Matt Thomas Show,
with Ross More coming up in a moment here on
Sports Talk seven ninety
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