DJ Dozier Part 2

This week's Diamond Conversations picks up the chat where we left off with former NFL and MLB dual sport athlete, D.J. Dozier. D.J. finishes our discussion exploring the final stages of the minor leagues and getting ready for the elusive call up to the New York Mets roster in 1992 and the pressures that went with finally cracking the big league squad.


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Episode Transcript

(00:18):
All right, let's get back inhere today on Diamond Conversations, of course,
every single week here on the CreativeControl Network. Picking up where we
left off in Part one on apart two now with the great DJ Dozier.
I think the seventh multi sport athleteto cross the NFL MLB landscape.

(00:39):
It might be number six or itsnumber seven. I'm not sure, but
nonetheless you're in a very elite group, DJ, But welcome back here today
to Diamond Conversations. Thank you,thanks for bringing me back in. Whether
it's six or seven, I hada lot of fun, that's for sure.
So I'm truly thankful for all theexperiences and the people in relationships that

(01:02):
were built a burning bank. Idon't want to undercut you. That's why
I'm not sure it's six or seven. I think it's the seventh. But
still, nonetheless, when we leftoff, we were talking about your time
in the minor leagues and that beingyou know, kind of the trying times.
You were already in the NFL.You knew what it was like to
be at the absolute pinnacle of yoursports career, but you decided to switch

(01:23):
tracks. You went to baseball,and now you had to start at the
bottom, and we talked about,you know, some of the harder times
of the bus trips, the hotels. You were telling us stories about some
horror things that happened in some ofthose hotels, but nonetheless the story being
what it was getting to the majorleagues, let's talk about before we talk
about the MLB debut, maybe someof the more happy times in the minor

(01:48):
leagues, maybe the right before timebefore you know, Norfolk, the Tidewater
Tides being in your home area,Norfolk, Virginia, the New York Mets
Triple A. At the time youget to Norfolk, what's your thoughts and
kind of performing in front of thehometown crowd being on the Norfolk Tides or
the Tidewater Tides at the time,that's right, Tidewater Tides. Well,

(02:12):
first of all, you know what'swhat's great about me playing for the Tidewater
Tide is that's that's where I'm from, my hometown. And so what that
meant is that my father, whouse you know, both my parents being
number one fans and another family members. But you know, my dad's a

(02:35):
huge, huge, I mean hewill watch anything sports, it didn't matter.
Well, he can out watch squash, but or cricket. But anything
American, any American sport, hehe'll watch. I think he'll even watch
soccer these days, which has becomeone of my favorite uh sts watch,

(02:58):
at least at the national level.And but anyway, so playing in tab
Water was special for me because youknow, I could play in front of
home clowd Um, not home Cloud. But I knew personally I went to
school with a certainly family um.So the call up from from Double A

(03:21):
to Triple A and eyes was special, especially because at that time I was
playing for, or before the callup, I was playing for Williamsport Bills,
which was of course the Double Ateam we had moved from Jackson,
Mississippi to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Andnow that that was a tough experience,

(03:49):
only because even the lighting there wasnot as as good as he would expect
for baseball. But some great momentsthere with when Hurdle as the manager.
I mean, he was just afun guy to play for. I remember
a matter of fact, I rememberone game he uh he came into the
dugout and the other team's pitcher wasthrown a no hitter. So we hadn't

(04:12):
gotten any hits. And it's aboutthe fourth and he came into the dugout
it stuck his head and before hewent out to third base and he said,
take guys, so he gets everybody'sattention. He says, let's get
some hit, meaning you know,hit single ar not hit hits, uh
with an S and uh, let'sget some hit. And I mean we

(04:32):
all cracked up here enough that inand we ended up getting getting some hits.
And so I mean he was thatkind of guy, that kind of
manager. In one particular game,we were tied at going into the bottom
of the ninth and he said theDJ, he says, look, let's

(04:53):
get out of here. Can youjust hit a home run so we can
go home? And you know,I happened to be the first batter up
first pitch and end up hitting aline drive home run and uh, you
know and in the game. Soyou know, we had moments like that
that were that were special, uhin that time. And I was fortunate,

(05:14):
like okay, like I said,to get called up to the tides
and you know that was I mean, it was just a special moment,
you know, I mean, itwasn't it wasn't an easy transition that first
couple of first couple of days,but you don't like anything else, and
you you get used to it andyou and you make the adjustment. That's

(05:36):
what baseball is all about, right, If you're gonna be good, you've
got to analyze your where you're atand make adjustment to the competition. Yeah,
you played, uh, you played. Let me see here. It's
seventy four games for Williams Support innineteen ninety one before you moved to Norfolk,
where you played forty three games,and Steve Swisher was the manager at

(05:58):
the time. And it's funny becauseRon Washington was actually one of the coaches
at the time, so is BobApodaca, and those are guys that would
go on to have really long careersas coaches. And Ron Washington still is
the third base coach for the Braves. Yes, but that's quite the move.
You know, seventy four games intoa season, you you've already been
there in Jackson. You know,you're in Williams Sports for seventy four games.

(06:19):
You move on to Norfolk, you'realmost midway through the season, almost
three quarters of the way through,so you have to now adjust to the
triple A pitching. So is therea difference between the double A triple A
pitcher and what you have to adjustto? Yeah, so overall, yes,
there is a difference. You know, of course you would imagine that,

(06:40):
you know, guys in Triple Athey have Bloemore experience, So I
mean it is one step below themajors for a reason. I know,
there have been lots of analyst oryou know, even athletes out there to
say, well, you know,really, there's no there's no big difference
between Double A and Triple A.So I'm gonna contradicting myself. I mean,

(07:01):
that's that can be true because theguys that are hit, that have
hit that double A level are areready for something more. And and those
that are you know ready and thenstep up, you know, so their
abilities, uh, you know areat the Double A. And quite frankly,
there have been some guys that movefrom Double A to the big leagues

(07:26):
because at the end of the day, here's here's here's here's my my my
personal opinion. At the end ofthe day, whether you move from Double
A or Triple A big leagues,there's nothing like the big league, right,
so you're gonna have to make majoradjustments either way. And because a

(07:48):
matter of fact, in my opinion, playing in Triple A does not help
you in the big leagues. You'vegot to play big league baseball to become
at a big league baseball player,right, And I had to learn that
the hard way. And so that'swhy you see guys when they get to

(08:11):
that major league level, why theystruggled. So you know, for so
long that first year, for maybethe first couple of seasons. I remember
one of the first guys, GregJeffers, when he was first called out.
I remember how he struggled. Idon't remember you know the details of
it, but I do remember hestruggled, but he guess what, he
made the adjustin eventually him a greatplayer. Jeffries had the big he had

(08:37):
the September in nineteen eighty eight wherehe just floored everybody and made the postseason
roster. But then in nineteen eightynine he didn't come out of the gate
the same way he had in nineteeneighty eight, and it was like,
Wow, where are we at withthis guy? Because he was jeff Jeffries
was the first guy I would sayto have more of the modern player,
like look to him, you know, he was the guy he was doing

(08:58):
this things in the pool, youknow, and working on, you know,
the mechanics that we would know moreas the more like I guess,
you know, and it's not modernanymore, but more the modern player the
template. But with you per se, you know that nineteen ninety one season
being a jump from double A totriple A and kind of getting you to

(09:20):
the frits of moving to the nextlevel. Where did you think you were
at in nineteen ninety one? Didyou think you were ready to make that
next move to the to the majorsor do you think you needed a little
more seasoning? Yeah, yeah,yeah, that's a great question. So
I think that I was at leastready to make in my mind, I
was ready to make immediately team becausewhat I didn't know was how much of

(09:46):
an adjustment I would have to make. But mentally I was prepared to comte
at that level in the region.I'm saying it is because of nineteen ninety
when I got moved from Saint Lucyto Jackson and moving from single A to
double A. Remember that was myfirst move. Yeah, right, So

(10:09):
I had no idea what double Aall was about I was about to find
out. And so I spent thatthirty one games or whatever that was,
that last thirty one games, thirtytwo games I think we played. Maybe
I have seven games in the playoffssomething like that, right, But that
those thirty one games, I hadto be a competitor as well as an

(10:35):
observer. And when I say whenI say observer, what I mean is
I actually had to do more sittingback and learning the style or the level
of that play versus just jumping inand just swinging the back. And so
on top of that, you know, I went from being fifth in the
batting order in Saint Lucy to Clintat that time, playing hurdle put me

(11:00):
at number four, right with Jackson, and so you know that means you're
going to see a lot of thejump. So I had to sit back
a little more than than in termsof not being as aggressive as a hitter
as that be in the in thein the past, um and so but
it worked. It worked because thatwas a great team, that was a

(11:20):
perfect that was a perfect situation forsomeone like myself because every time, almost
every time I got up, eitherthere was a man on second or third
and I'm an RBI guy. Imean, I see when I see those
pigeons on the on the base man, it something happens to me. And
uh so, and you know,probably seventy percent of a time when I

(11:41):
got up, there was somebody onbase and typically second or third. So
uh it really you know, youlook at my average, that's that um
that part during that time, andyou know I was over three hundred.
I hit I think I don't know, seven or eight triples and not as
many home runs, but my ribbieswere up. I think I hit I

(12:01):
don't know, twenty nine thirty ribbiesin thirty one games. So it was
a it was a you know,phenomenal time, but it was just all
things were together. So the pointI'm making is I learned that, Okay,
I can make the adjustment. Thatwas my first and I made the
adjustment. Now on top of that, there were there was at least one

(12:22):
game what I did strike out for, so so I did have to wear
that hat backwards the next day inpractice. Yeah, that nineteen that nineteen
ninety season in Saint Lucy, youhit thirteen home runs and I mean that's
a that's the high mark for yourcareer thirteen home runs fifty seven RBIs,
and then you'd see it in nineteenninety and excuse me nine ninety one with

(12:45):
the with Williams Sport, you hiteight home runs in thirty RBIs. But
like you're say, in your positionin the lineup being where it was,
there's a difference between guys being onbase and where you were in the lineup.
So you as an RBI guy,yeah, you can see you're trying
to drive the ball, um,But what was it about that nineteen ninety
season. Was it because of thepositioning or were you trying to hit home

(13:07):
runs? Well, I think itwas a couple of different things. I
mean, it was positioning one.You gotta you gotta give that up.
Quite frankly, I was. Iwas more disappointed to hit more home runs.
I think I should have. Ishould have been a twenty home run
year for me, right, Butbut you know, again, when I
got moved up to Jackson, Ihad to do more sitting back, and

(13:31):
so I end up hitting more triplesyou know, in in Rice Center than
in uh than than home runs.And so you know, probably half of
those home runs, I'm sorry,half of those were maybe three quarters of
those triples should have been home runs. Actually, uh, I was that's

(13:52):
my swing? Is that kind ofswing you know when normally when I'm when
I'm sitting act especially so I thinkit was. It was positioning, but
it was also the team. Imean I got moved up to Jackson again.
This team was exposed to great team. Yeah, you know our I

(14:13):
mean our our lineup. I meanthat's why we were I think number one
indivision and probably should have won thechampionship. Did not um but definitely made
some strides in the playoffs. ButI again, uh you know burching home
runs, Yeah, that was goodor fifteen I think total, but I

(14:33):
think it should have been closed totwenty, if not over twenty. And
so the difference though in the nextyear ninety one is not just the lineup.
I hate to say it, butthat was just a terrible situation.
I mean even the lighting was harmlead the difference between Wayam support and then

(14:54):
coming to Tidewater, even the lighting, like you know, and if you
I think, if you probably it'ssome history. I mean a lot of
us, not anybody, not everybodywould say, you know, anybody we
get shadows. I know for afact, being in that that building and
Norfolk that lighting was it was verydull. It was not before they made

(15:18):
all the renovations to the stadium.It was I could see that. I
guess maybe from a hittersh perspective,I could have you hit three twenty four
the season before. You know,you were literally you were a machine,
and I could see it being abig transition. Um, But you know
you also it was I don't know, it's just a different body of work.
But Triple A your your room foryou know, the next level.

(15:39):
You're getting ready, Um, whenthey give you the call, we're fast
forward a little bit. But whenyou can give you the call and say,
all right, DJ, it's nineteenninety two. You're getting in that
call up, what's going through yourmind? Well, first of all,
you've got to understand where I wasmental because in two start off in trip

(16:00):
play, and of course you know, I've had enough experience now to know
what it means to adjust right,to go from one level to the next.
Now I'm starting out in for playin ninety two, and I'm expecting
big things for myself. A matterof fact, I even expected to to
make the or you know, Ihad high hopes of having a chance at

(16:21):
least to make to make league inspring training. That didn't happen because we
had a new uh well we gotto we had a new manager, and
I was a full facelift for theMets organization and absolutely absolutely and you know,
unfortunately, you know, I justI didn't get it. I didn't
get a good look. I didn'thave it. I didn't even play during

(16:44):
part of art um, not untilthey allowed some of the be scrimmages and
played in those. But but Ihad in my mind starting the season at
ninety two, I had something toprove. And instead of going out and
actually proving something, I was probablypressing this and UM in my average I
think at one point below two fiftyUM in the first couple of weeks of

(17:08):
the season, first maybe three weeksUM. And so what I remember is
pressing. And and then just hada moment, you know, had a
god moment, you know, calledit that moment with Jesus, and UH
realized that I was it was toomuch. I was putting too much pressure
myself. Uh you know, Iwas. My expectations were nothing wrong with

(17:33):
having high expectations, uh, butthey weren't relevant enough and here's what happened
here. So I'm sitting in thelocker after a game, and keep in
mind, over the first three weeksin the season, I mean, guys
are going up left and right tothe to New York bad. Ye,

(17:53):
there's a ton of that year.Yes, yes. And so one of
my one of the most depressing momentsthat I had in any of my sports
career was when I was I wasin my locker and it became known that
one of the outfielders in New Yorkgot hurt. And they already had two

(18:15):
of our outfielders at that time,and so I was the third and so
normally that you know, I wouldget to call it. Well, instead
of calling me up, they calledup a utility guy. And that's when
it sort of dawned on me thatman, am I wasting my time?

(18:38):
But the heck and uh So Iwent home and again, you know when
I'm telling you, when I hadwhen I said I had a Jesus moment,
it was a real Jesus moment becauseI woke up that next day a
new person, and and I cameto ballpark as a new person with a
new mission. And my mission basicallywas It didn't matter. It didn't matter

(19:02):
if I was going to make itto the Mets or not. I was
gonna go out and play baseball andbe concerned about just playing baseball, not
to call up, not the Mets, you know, not the big League,
none of that. It was justthe game. And I fell in
love with the game, and asa result, you know, you know,

(19:22):
my average did start moving up.And we were in uh in Syracuse
playing Syracuse I think they were affiliatedwith the Yankees at the time, and
so this is this is literally whathappened. We come off the field after

(19:44):
the game, we walk into thelocker room. I look up at the
television screen and the metro plan.Within fifteen seconds of walking into the locker
room, Vince Coleman, left fielder, pulls his hamstring. Oh wow,
we're watching it right there. Andand one of my buddis Dale Plumber,

(20:07):
who was one of the pictures withthe Tides at the time. Um,
he said, hey, Deep,that's you. And I remember saying to
myself, I said no, Isaid, hey, I'm content, right,
Brian, I'm good. I mean, I had literally come to that
place where he was just baseball.Wasn't the uniforms baseball. I was gonna

(20:29):
play and it didn't matter anymore whetherI made it to BIGS. I was
gonna have fun playing the game,because that's I've always had had fun.
And so, uh, it wasmidnight that night that Flint Hurtle knocked on
our due and it was Pat Halleand I in the room, and he
said, hey, you're gonna meetthe team in Atlanta tomorrow. I mean,

(20:51):
I can't. I can't tell you. I mean, you know,
think about it, and you letit all go, right, Like I
said, you had that Jesus moment. Just let it all go, you
know, and and say, youknow what, I'm just gonna play the
game. I'm not gonna worry aboutanything else. And I'm gonna have fun
with the game that night. Sureenough. Isn't that the way it goes

(21:15):
though? And that's the way itis. That's that's unbelievable. So you
get the call, you gotta goto Fulton County Stadium. Yeah, yeah,
great, the great Mecca that wasat the time, what a cavernist
ballpark. But you're joining a teamin ninety two. That's it's got a
lot of problems. It's got alot of issues. I talked to Brett
Saberhagen probably about a month ago atthis time, and he said, the

(21:37):
problem with that team was there wasno chemistry. Right. It was a
lot of great players, but therewas no chemistry. And you're coming up
now, you have that pressure.You're a dual sport athlete. You made
your way through the minor leagues,you worked your way to the top.
What are you thinking as you're comingthrough the door in Atlanta. Well,
you know, I'm like a kidin a candy store, right, because
number one, I relinquished that dreamof playing in the big leagues. And

(22:03):
so then all of a sudden,I'm there. So I'm I am beside
myself and I'm thinking, Man,this is unbelieving. I'm actually here.
I can't believe it. And uhso, and so you know, adding
practice before the game. Uh Now, I didn't end up playing in that
game. Um, but I thinkafter that we had to go to Houston.

(22:23):
I think I think we went toHouston after that series, or it
was it wasn't long after that.And so in Houston, yeah, I
ended up. They told me tograb a bat and it was towards the
end of the game. But here'sthe thing here. You know, I
don't think I've ever shared this publicly. I don't know that there's ever been

(22:48):
a more nervous moment in my lifethan then, because when I've grabbed that
back. Of course, you knowDarrell Boston, he was something back then.
He's got to say something. Oh, here we go, here we
go, He's gonna have his debut. And I'm thinking, I mean,
can you just make it now justa little bit? And uh and literally

(23:11):
as I'm at the uh you know, at the circle. Um, I
mean, it felt like the earthwas shaped and I'm thinking, what is
going on? Why do I feelthis nerve? Um? You know?
And and I tried to talk myselfout of it, but I couldn't.
And I ended up not getting inat back because that person got out and

(23:36):
the game was over. Um.So uh and then we end up going
to uh Natty um and so wasit Cincinnati? Yeah? I think it
was Cincinnati. And I'm getting youknow, I can't remember the schedule.

(23:56):
But when we when we got toCincinnati, I did get my first right,
it didn't get a hit, um, Sabo, I think stole my
what would have been a first hit. H You know third base, you
know, I couldn't get past him. Um, But then I did beat
out of I thought I got myfirst hit when I beat out when I
thought I beat out a rounder tothe Church stout, but apparently he bobbled

(24:18):
it just a little bit before hethrew it. So that was that was
an error. Stole a base inthat game. And then it wasn't until
we got back home that I gotmy first hit off of Roging doubt.
And by the way, it wasnot it was not one of those hits
that you want to advertise. Iwould have never advertise that one. Nonetheless,

(24:42):
it's a hit. It's your firstmajor league hits. So what's you
Roger McDowell now? And I'm alltransparency. I've said him many times.
I'm a Met fan. That's abig key Met guy that you get a
hit off of him as a PhiladelphiaPhilly in Shaye Stadium, So what's going
through your head? You get thehit? Do you call for the ball?
Did they call for the ball?What's the protocol when you get that

(25:02):
first major league hit? So soTommy and McGraw, I mean, yeah,
Tommy McGraw, who was our hittinguh back then? Um, he
calls for the ball. I didn'tcall for it. Uh, he calls
for it, and I said,I said, I said, coach,
I don't want that ball. Isaid, did you just see that hit?

(25:26):
He goes son hits the hit.I said, yeah, I know,
but that's just horrible. Um,I mean, I gotta describe it.
So, you know, Roger McDowell, he's got his fastballs are wicked
right, and he's got so muchplay on his balls. And so here
I am, um in with thetwo old count, all right, and

(25:48):
now I'm loaded two old count.He's got to bring it. And so
he brings a fastball and it tailsinside and so I ended up hitting it
on the very narrowest part of thebat. It is now trickling asking McDowell
towards second base, and I gotto beat McDowell the first base, and

(26:14):
so I end up, you know, beating them out the first So that's
how I got my first hit.I mean, it was literally I mean
you could, I mean it wasthere. I mean you'd have to see
it on the film to really,Hey, hits to hit. I'm sorry,
your first major league hits, it'sbetter than my first major league hit.
So I can give it to you. But now that that's just but
for you though as a conversation,like we talked about in part one and

(26:37):
now in part two, it's aculmination. It's like that hit, even
though you went through three levels ofthe minor leagues, that that hit is
the culmination of your journey from leavingfootball, getting into baseball, getting onto
that field, getting there the firstday. I usually ask who's the first
person you met that day, butthis is different. You've already been on
the professional stage, You've been atthe top. This is a culmination of

(27:00):
getting to that point. Did youfeel that fulfillment once you got that hit
off the off the block? Yeah? You know what's funny, Uh,
As an athlete, it's very difficultto sort of look at yourself from the
outside looking in, and because whenyou're in it, you're you're you're not

(27:22):
it's harder to appreciate where you're ator what you just acer. And you
know, later in life, ormaybe later in this case, you know,
just after the next season, youlook back at those moments and you
realize how incredibly blessed you are tobe in a position like that. Um,

(27:45):
you know, especially me ire becauseThis is not just a guy that
played high school, you know,played baseball growing up, played in high
school, you know, getting draftedby a team and then rolling through the
minor league for the next five tosix seven years. Right, That's that
wasn't the journey. My journey wasfar different. And so for me,

(28:11):
at some point in my life,I thought baseball was on and and so
at this point, every every atback. You know, what I should
have really realized is every at batwas an absolute gift. I mean it
was an absolute gift. And Igot to go back to when at my
first before my first game at SaintLucy, I remember walking out on the

(28:34):
field. I was by myself.I was looking at this field and I
just said thank you. You know, I said God, thank you,
because I mean, this is justunbelievable. But going back to that first
hit in the major leagues, it'shard for me to appreciate at that level,
you know, at that moment,because you know, think about it

(28:56):
in your own mind, you wantedto be something calculum, right that first
you know, the home run ora big hit or something something something more
than a dribble um. But youknow the fact that I got on the
board, getting that first hit,you know, eventually got my first RBI
and first stolen base um and soforth and so on. I mean,

(29:22):
when you look at the overall journeyand the things that I had to go
through to get to that point,that's what makes it special because you know
it it was gone. This wasa dream that was not going to happen,
right, It's unbelievable. It's justsuch a great story, and I
really love it that it was suchto me. My favorite part of the

(29:44):
story is the decision to pursue baseballand what went into it and to see
the culmination. And I mean,I'm sure I watched the game at the
time in nineteen ninety two, butit just it's such a great story looking
back, you know. And thisis the respective part of the program before
we wrap it up. Would youhave changed anything about your journey from the

(30:06):
NFL to the MLB and everything inbetween. Would you have changed anything about
the trajectory of how it all went. That's a great, great question.
I don't think that I could haveThat's the way I'm looking at it.
I don't think that I could havechanged anything because originally I went to Penn
State to play both football and baseball. That was That was the end dent,

(30:29):
that was the game plan and thereason that I did. I end
up not playing baseball a couple differentreasons, but the main reason was the
deal that I struck with Joe ernoAnd and he suggested to me, Look,
you know, you can play baseballat Penn State, but we need
you to play after your sophomore yearof football. So spend a year,

(30:49):
one year at least playing all football, then you can go play baseball.
So I agree to that. Well, after my sophomore year is when I
end up getting the author Scottic surgery, and so you know, I tell
you what. It would have beeninteresting to play baseball, of course,
but the story is so much morepowerful, even though I didn't play five

(31:11):
years in the in the big leaguesanticipating like I wanted to, even though
that didn't happen. I mean,the story, the the and I'm you
know, I'm a I'm a hugeum proponent of inspiration, and so I
love inspiring people. Um, it'sjust a better story, you know,
to to not play baseball in collegeand and think that it's all gone,

(31:37):
you know, to walk in mymy house in college and you know,
my senior year and my buddies arethere watching the Pittsburgh Pirates play and I
make that comment like oh I cando that, and and and they start
digging like what are you talking about? All? I mean this, this
is major leagues. Man, didyou understand I mean, DJ, we
know you're a great athlete. Wouldcome on, come on me a break.

(32:00):
Well four years from that point,they watched me play against Pittsburgh Fire
and after the game, we're,you know, we're they're just looking at
me like, man, I dounbelieve. This is unbelievable. So having
those kind of moments and being ableto share that with others in terms of
inspiration, I think, you know, it allows me not to go back

(32:22):
and not not regret one thing.I mean, yeah, I would have
loved to have played longer. Iwould have loved to have seen my baseball
career hearing indifferently. Um, Butthe fact that I, like you just
said, the fact that I madethe decision, I mean that that's the
biggest hurdle that we all have tomake in life, you know, when

(32:44):
when we're looking at certain our lifeand the fact that I did it and
you know made the most of whatI had. I'm excited, and you
know I'm always excited to share it. I love it. I can't get
enough. And you know when we'vetalked, I mean I always kind of
I try to get some little thingsout of you. So I appreciate you
taking two parts to tell the storyhere on the airwaves on Diamond Conversations.

(33:07):
But I just I'll continue the conversationon the side with us, you and
I. Whatever we talk, sorry, it won't be for the airwaves,
but now I just continue to pickat some of those stories you got locked
up there in the vault. Butagain, your story is one of my
favorites and I'm so glad we gota chance to tell it today. But
before we wrap up, please sharewith the listeners of Diamond Conversations where they

(33:30):
can find anything and everything in theworld. DJ Dozer, Well, I'll
let you share where they can findsome of that memorabilia in But I still
have a book out there, Decideto Dominate Talking about Decisions here. That's
at Amazon dot com. I believeyou can still also get it at Barns
and Nobles dot com, so that'sstill available, or if someone wants an

(33:52):
autographed then you know, I thinkthey can work through your organization and make
sure that they get that, Andyeah, absolutely, you can go to
IB exclusives dot com. We've gota really cool collection of DJ Dozer authentic
memorabilia where it's pulled from his collection, some stuff I had never seen before,
pictures I'd never seen images. It'sit's a very cool concept we came

(34:15):
up with them. We're still workingcollaboratively on it and more to come.
If you're in the Virginia Beach area. In July, DJ will be making
an appearance at the Virginia Beach CardShow, which I'll share of course on
the IB Exclusives platform. But yeah, please go check out the book,
Decide to Dominate. I have italso available on the website. If they

(34:35):
want it signed by you, wecan get that hooked up as well.
So we kind of had it coveredpillar to post in terms of the DJ
Dozer world. So it's all onIB exclusives dot com. If you want
to follow me, it's at Chat, E and B on Instagram and Twitter,
and again it's ibexclusives dot com.It's the website and each week here
it's Diamond Conversations on creative control.So for this great story, it took

(35:00):
two parts and I love that.I love breaking it up from my friend
DJ Dozer. Here, this isIan. I will catch you on the
flip side.