Episode 367 - Jay Jackson

In this episode, Jay Jackson shares his journey through baseball, discussing his experiences in the MLB and NPB, the challenges he faced with injuries, and the importance of maintaining a positive mindset. He reflects on his book, 'Nine Innings to Living Your Best Life,' and how his personal experiences shaped his outlook on life and baseball. Jay emphasizes the need for support systems within the sport, particularly for young black players, and shares valuable lessons learned from his son, JR. The conversation also touches on the cultural differences in baseball between Japan and the U.S., and Jay's aspirations for the future.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello, and welcome to Backflips and Nerds, the baseball podcast
with the British Twist. It's John here and I'm again
joined by my great mate Russell. How are you today, mate?
I'm doing good.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm doing good.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
It's another very interesting interviewee that we have in line
for you all, and I'm really looking forward to this.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, it's a good one. This guy is gonna definitely
bring the energy. Our guest today has pitched over one
hundred Big League games across six seasons with six different
MLB clubs, and also made almost two hundred appearances in
Japan's NPB across three seasons with the copp and the Marines.
He's also the co host of the excellent Brushback podcast

(00:51):
and the author of a recent book collecting his approach
to the game of baseball and to life, Nine Innings
to Living Your Best Life. He's also known as the
Happiest Man in Baseball Powered by Smiles. Welcome, Jay Jackson.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
How are you mate? I'm creating well. How are you
appreciate the great introduction? For sure? That was awesome. But
I'm doing well, doing well?

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, well, of course, I mean you really are. Let's
start there, Jay, Normally we start these conversations at the
beginning of a baseball career, but it feels appropriate to
start with where you are right now, and that's a
published author and a guy who's been touring the States
doing motivational talks in schools and in colleges. So tell

(01:35):
us about the book, tell us about why you wrote it,
and what it says about you as a ballplayer and
as a person, because it feels like a lot of
the essence of Jay Jackson is and the lessons that
you've learned through life and that you share across your
social media are right there in print now.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
No, for sure, it's definitely words to live by, my
words that I personally live by. I actually reread it
quite a bit and read other things like it a
bit just to kind of like, no matter what stage
of life I'm at, so like right now, I'm just
kind of reading through it again just to like check
some boxes and make sure I'm on the path that
I truly need to be on as well. But the
book came about kind of funny, Like I didn't think

(02:12):
I was going to play last year, even though I
ended up getting a major league deal. I didn't think
I was going to play, and so I talked to
a guy who I was going to have bet my
mentor for like life after Baseball, and he talked to
me for a couple of minutes and was like, hey,
like you should write a book, and I was like, well,
I don't know the process to writing a book. And
then he put me in touch with a publisher and
an editor, and my editor did a great job getting

(02:35):
my book out and helping me fulfill my dream of
doing that since you know, I was kind of doing
it and living the book as I was writing it
because of the simple fact that I was going through
some injuries and going through some things with the team
and kind of having the season that I didn't want
to have. So other people getting getting the book or
getting a lot of me and a lot of my
struggles that I had last year and a lot of

(02:57):
my in depth feelings about how my life was going
at the time, trying to make sure I was staying
positive through some kind of really negative situations but just
taking the best approach I can and enjoying the moments
I had when I could. And so it's just like
it just came about like just wanting to keep my
word to the publisher after I told him I was
going to do it. I got signed to a major

(03:18):
league deal after so I was like, hey, you know what,
Like I always tell people, I'm going to be a
man of my word, and so I was like, hey,
I'm going to do the book. I'm going to do
it whenever I have time. And then I mean, I
guess I got lucky and had the injury, and so
I had more time to finish the book and finish
it in a more or more rapid pace. But it

(03:39):
just came out and came to be like I got
to lift through the book and got to put some
of my principles in my life lessons and kind of
like what my life was going through in the book
as well. So it was it was a great time
for me, honestly.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
And what changed in the book based on your circumstances,
because we'll get into your career a little bit later
on in the conversation, but it is, as I said
in the start, it's it's been quite secureus as these
things go. But last year was an interesting one for you.
You started the year on a real high. It was
the first time that you'd made a major league gross
to straight out of spring training, and you know they

(04:11):
didn't go probably as you'd hope. So do you think
that this ended up being a different book or is
it still essence to you coming back to your your
center and the things that have kept you going as
you've as you've come through all of the challenges that
you have through your career.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
I think it. I don't think it would have been different.
I think it's actually better, honestly because of the things
I was going through, because like I said, it wasn't
the year I wanted to go through. But also come
to find out, I was playing through some injuries at
the same time. I ended up having to give a
PRP injection in my left knee and in my right shoulder.
So it kind of shows you kind of what I

(04:46):
was dealing with and trying to play at that level
with those injuries and not been out there one hundred
percent or even at ninety percent really and trying to
get the best hitters in the world out. I mean,
it's going to going to go how it was, And
for a little bit there right I was having some success,
you know, I was having some good innings, but it
was just as the season war on and as the
innings piled up, like my knee and my shoulder just

(05:08):
couldn't take it anymore, and so it just ended up
being you know, I was just trying to get through it,
and it just like I said, it's tough. It's tough
to get out in the big leagues when you're not
at full strength. Ended up you know, not being the
year I wanted to, but it is what it is.
So it's just you know, the book is me going
through that and making sure that I was keeping a
positive mindset through me knowing that I was pitching not

(05:31):
at the best level and going through these injuries and
trying to make the best situation because honestly, at the time,
I felt like the team needed my help because we
had some other injuries in the bullpen, and you know,
I was trying to just cover and be there and
be the best teammate I could, but ended up not
being in the best situation of the best efforts for me.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
That's really interesting what you're saying about, you know, struggling
through injuries and I it's a conversation that you hear
a lot of or his my wife's just popping in
the background. It's It's a conversation that you hear a
lot of guys in baseball have about their career, about

(06:09):
how you stress your injuries, particularly about where you are
in your career. Right, So, you being in your situation,
you you over the last three or four years have
established yourself as a big leaguer, but still you're on
the margins, on the bubble of those rosters are sort
of middle inning transitioning to lightening relievers, and so being
open and honest about your injuries is always a risk

(06:30):
for you right in those situations. This is this is
something that loads of big leagues talk about after they've retired,
that being straightforward about how injured you are is always
a risk when you're in a big league clubhouse, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, yeah, for sure, especially now it's more you know,
guys do it. I mean, I'm from the older school
where we never told about our injuries and that we
kind of just played through everything. Now, guys, you know,
they tell you to go to the trainer and go
in there and get checked up as much as you
can to make sure you stay on the field and
stay healthy. And I feel like it's it leaves Like
you know, I feel like, if you say it all

(07:03):
the time and you feel like you're injured all the time,
you're mentally you're telling yourself that you're always hurting, like
instead of just playing through certain things. So I try
to just like play through as much as I can
and try to just do the best I can with
what I have, until you know, once my performance starts suffering,
I'm like, Okay, well, obviously there's something wrong, because I
mean last year, honestly, if you know, you look at

(07:24):
it was like my worst year in the big leagues ever.
But also I was taking account of a lot of things,
like if I look at just like the first innings,
I would pitch like I normally had really good first
innings and then I would go in. Then my second
innings would suffer sometimes, and I think that was just
because of the injuries, because I feel like, you know,
my knee and I would get a little stiffer, and
like my shoulder would just become heavy, like it just

(07:46):
didn't go as well as you know, I wanted to
be a multi inning guy at the time. You know,
if I was probably one ending guy, I think I
probably would have been all right. But I think being
a multi ding guy. Last year kind of it caught
up to me a little bit, and I mean that
was just my role too, So it is what it is,
and you know, that's just what you know, we used
to do. Even though I was on a guaranteed deal

(08:06):
last year, I think I felt like I had to
prove why I had the deal to improved that the
year before with the Blue Jays wasn't a fluke, even
though the year with the Blue Jays honestly was just
kind of how I've pitched my whole career. And like
I said, if you kind of look at the numbers
last year, I feel like the first innings like I
kind of did well and then I would just kind
of let let like the second thing just kind of

(08:27):
snowball sometimes. And it was just I was the guy
who had to kind of wear it sometimes too. So
I mean that just shows you how good our bullpen was.
Honestly that as well. But you know, I mean that
was just the role I was in, so one time
you lose them. I mean back in the day, I
was the closer in a set of guy. So it happened.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, So I want to sort of talk about, you know,
the sort of the Jay Jackson Extended Universe. We've got
the book and we've got smile, which is not only
how you you know an act, it's it's the way
you are as a person, It's the way you live.
It's it's also your mantra, which is start making intentional
life efforts. Where did where did that, as your the

(09:08):
sort of core of what you're about come from. When
did you start being the smiley guy in the clubhouse?
When did you start making intentional life efforts? As you
put it, so say, well.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
I think that, honestly, that point started just I just
one day, I just asked the man upstairs. I was
just like, hey, it's baseball what I'm supposed to do.
And if it is, you know, I'm never going to
take the game for granted again. I'm just gonna, you know,
honestly be who I need to be and be happy
that I'm out there every day and kind of try
to make it the best situation possible no matter where

(09:40):
I'm at, as long as I'm out here and if
this is what I'm supposed to do, and realistically, like
the next day I got a phone call from my
agent for me to have a job. It was like Okay, like,
I guess I'm supposed to play baseball and I'm going
to enjoy it. And then from there I still felt
like because before then I kind of was trying to
be like everybody else. I was trying to fit the
act of you know, this is what the typical baseball

(10:02):
player is, this is what success kind of looks like,
instead of being myself. And then I got the job,
and then I started enjoying baseball a little bit more
and realizing like, hey, like this is who I am.
This is when I played my best. And then it
really kind of took off when I went to Japan.
And then in Japan it kind of just became like hey,
like honestly, every time I got three outs, I was

(10:23):
just so like, hey, like, I'm happy that I got
three outs, because especially I was, like I said, I
was a setup guy at the point in time, and
so like me being in those big situations and getting
three outs, I was like, you know what, like, I'm
so thankful that I got three outs, and that kind
of just became who I was, Like I would just
smile working off the field, and then I got to
be known as Smiley Jackson, and then Smiley j and

(10:43):
then it just kind of I was like, you know what,
like I do pitch better when I'm happy and I'm
like in a place of gratitude. And so when I
ended up coming back to America and coming back to
the States, I just kind of kept that same mentality
no matter kind of what was going on. And you know,
baseball's kind of shifting a way away from kind of
the old school and coming into the new day and
age at that point in time. So it just kind

(11:05):
of was a nice little transition like I got to
go away for a little bit and come back and like,
you know, have a new take, but have you know,
be the same old person and just you know, just
enjoy the second half of my career.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
I guess I would say, how did that, Like, how's
that different from maybe like your first few years, like
in Pro Bowl, Because obviously with that seventeen year experience,
you're talking about things on the lane of half of
your career.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
What would like Jay.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Jackson right now be telling Jay Jackson from that it's
like the eighteen year old or the twenty year old
coming into baseball.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
I would have told him to not stress everything so much,
don't try to be perfect, like that was kind of
what it was. I was just I would tell them, just,
you know, enjoy those moments, like there's gonna be times
that you know, you know that you're gonna want to
go do certain things, and you need to enjoy the
moments that you have out there with the guys too.

(11:57):
And I wouldn't change a lot of the things I
did or earlier in my career. I would say, do
the same things, but enjoy it more and enjoy where
I was at more and enjoy the present moments that
I was at there instead of like stressing that oh God,
like if I throw this pitch and you know, I
have a bad outing, I'm gonna get sent down and
blah blah blah. Like it's just, you know, enjoy that

(12:18):
present moment that I'm there, and be grateful for what
I have. Even though you know, like I said, it
was different back then too. Guys are making a lot
more money in the miners than we were back then.
Like back in when I was playing, you know, we
were making you know, one thousand dollars a month, and
that was before taxes, and we had to sometimes pay
for our own housing and our own food and all
these things, and so I mean it was a little

(12:40):
bit more of a stressful situation back then too, But
I would say, for sure, enjoy that moment that I had.
Just be grateful for those moments because I mean the
people around me that truly were around me and the
friends that I still have, you know, they were always
going to be there supporting me. Like in the family
that I have, they were always going to be there
supporting me no matter what. So you know, it was

(13:00):
just making sure that I would enjoy the game a
lot sooner than I actually did, and being grateful for
the moments I had a lot sooner than I did,
because I mean, even my first half of my career,
I had a lot of success. I just didn't translate
that success, you know, probably the way I should have.
I don't think, you know, God wanted me to have
more success because I didn't think I was ready for

(13:20):
it at that time. Well you know, I think I
probably would have done something stupid and you know, trying
to take advantage of it instead of you know, getting
where I got to and being able to, you know,
honestly be grateful and be in that moment of the
success that I had when I did have it.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
It's just touching on the start of your career, right
it is. It is extraordinary, particularly knowing that you've been
a fixture in big league bullpens for the last few years,
and you had a really successful period in Japan were
you're in the miners for seven years before you made
your big league debut, and that, in and of itself,

(13:58):
is is sort of a a lesson in resilience, is
it not? Because there aren't many guys who hang around
for seven years and you were you did everything right.
Some years you were some years you were a starter,
some years you were a closer, some years you were,
you know, doing what you were dead with the twins
last year. How did you manage to sort of process

(14:20):
through that when you were being jerked about and you
played for I think it was the fifth different organizations,
the Padres or was that that you played for when
you when you made your debut.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
I think that I just realistically, I just enjoyed it.
I started enjoying baseball. That's kind of what I told
you before. Like I got to the point where like
I just like I said, I asked the man upstairs,
I was like, hey, like it is baseball. What I'm
supposed to be doing. And it wasn't the job that
got me to Japan, but it was actually like when
I was a free agent playing baseball and I was

(14:49):
actually about to you know, I was about to get
married to my ex wife at the time, and and
she we were about to get married, and like I said,
the minor league pay was kind of terrible. So it's like, Okay,
I got to figure out how to pay for a
family and all this stuff and so and like I said,
I got a job like the next day for free agency.

(15:11):
I was going to be able to provide for my family.
So that was kind of like the thing. And like
I told my dad at a certain point too, as
long as baseball was paying for my bills and I
was going to be able to be out there and
enjoy it, like I was going to keep playing. And
so luckily I kept getting free agent deals and I
kept getting opportunities, and I kept putting up numbers that

(15:31):
I got a chance to enjoy it. Because now, like again,
a lot of people put so much stress on it that,
like I said, once I started enjoying it and becoming
more grateful, I think that I had more success. And
so I had more time when people saw that, and
I think it translated into me being more grateful, translated
in me getting more jobs. So it made it. And

(15:53):
I mean early in my career, like I said, I
was the top prospect for the Cup. A few years,
I was also in the top one hundred prospects. I
wanted championship in the miners with one of my teams.
Like I had a lot of success. It's just like
I said, I don't think at that time it might
not have been my time. But also I did get
jerked around. I felt like a lot. And so going
through that, it just I had to rely on my

(16:15):
mom and my dad and my foundation a lot, which
you know I talk about in my book too, is
the foundation that I have is my parents. And my
mom and dad would always be like, hey, are you
enjoying it? And I'd be like, yeah, I'm enjoying everything.
But you know, the politics of the baseball thing, and
I would love I like, I love the guys, I
love being out here, I love being able to travel,
I love playing baseball. And they're like, well, don't let

(16:35):
that one thing overtake your whole joy of playing. And
so I would just kind of live by that, like,
you know, that was my foundation. My mom and dad
would always tell me that, and so that was just
kind of like how I just got through everything. And
like I said, I just started. As I got older,
and the more grateful I became of the game and
the more I enjoyed the present moments that I was in,

(16:55):
my numbers actually got better and I became, you know,
a better person and a better player. And you know,
like I said, luckily, I just kept be in chats.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
And was there any one like within the game who
was supporting you? Because you know, as you touched on
in your answer to my previous question, you know, you're
you're a top prospects, You're a top hundred prospects. You
were in Triple A within eight like a fixture in
Triple A within eighteen months of being drafted. You know,
and everyone says, you know, progressive prospects is not linear, right,

(17:29):
So it's one of the whole cliches of baseball. But
you must have at points through that needed to support
I mean, your parents obviously a huge part of that.
But whether support networks within the game, who who you
were leaning on, and has that changed over the course
of you know, your seventeen year career that you touched
on the pays better. But the conditions also seem better

(17:49):
in minor league clubhouses now.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Right, No, they're definitely the clubhouses are better for sure,
to all the metrics of it completely, Like they've revamped it.
You know, they have a union now. You know they're
treating it, you know, more friendly and more family friendly
and not so much as such a just bottom line
business from top to bottom. Light from the top, you know,
to the bottom of the miners as well. But honestly,

(18:13):
I was just speaking about this to my friends and
to my family the other day, is I didn't really
have like a lot of support going through the game
because of like you said, how quick I got to
triple A. If most people know the game and a
lot of people don't. It's like you go through the
system a lot of times with the guys you get
drafted with, and so you normally go from each level

(18:33):
with those same guys, and so you build a reputation
or you build a camaraderie, and that's how you see
like a lot of these baseball players that play for
a while, they have friends that are in their weddings
and stuff like that. There's always their teammates and stuff,
because like they went from getting drafted to Low A
to High A, to Double A to Triple A, and
then they were in the big leagues together, so they
spent all this time together because normally they just grew together.

(18:55):
For me, it was crazy because I got drafted and
then we spent a week in Arizona getting ready right
after the draft, and once I signed, and then most
of the college players that I was with that I
would think that, you know, I was gonna grow with.
We all went to short season together, and then from
short season, I was only in short season for two weeks,
so I was barely getting to know the guys I
was with. And then I went to Low A, and

(19:17):
so in Low A I was with much most of
the guys that were drafted the year before I was,
and you know, two years before I was, and then
some of the younger prospects from that time, and a
lot of the same time, a lot of the like
Dominican guys who didn't speak a lot of English either.
So I was there for about a month, so I
didn't really get to meet those guys and hang out
and be like friends with them either. And then I

(19:39):
got to Scent to High A, and then I was
in High A and I actually won a championship with
those guys in High A, and so I thought, that's
what that was the team I was going to grow
up with and like be with. And it was mainly guys.
There's like two guys from my draft. It was me,
Casey Coleman and Andrew uh Carpenter. No it was no, No,

(20:01):
it wasn't Andrew. I forgot who it was. No, it
was Andrew Kashner. It was Andrew Kashner. We were all
together on that team. But then it was guys from
like two and three years before us that were like
the cub's big draft class of all the position players,
like college position players, and so we were there for
the last like month and a half of the season,
and so then, you know, that was my first year

(20:21):
in the minors. Like I didn't get to really make
friends with anybody, you know what I mean. So like
all the guys that I was, all the teams I
was with, had already been together for one or two
years before I got there, So I didn't just get
to I tried to, you know, put myself in there
as much as possible. And so from there, like you said,
the next year, I was in Double A and then
Triple A, and then at the time Triple A with

(20:42):
more of veteran free agent guys just going from up
and down to the big leagues. It wasn't like it
is now where it's a lot of prospects and those
guys are getting shuttled up and down. You know. It
was more veteran guys, and so my friends and the
people I was with were all like twenty eight and
twenty nine. I was like only twenty twenty one year
old in Triple A at the time, so you know,

(21:04):
I didn't get to really And then every year I
was in Triple A. From then, like I said, it
was free agent, so the team changed every year. It
was different guys in and out, and so then I
became the journeyman, right, So then I was all over
the place, and so I never really got to make
friends either, So I didn't really have a supportive system.
I think when I was first to prospect, I had

(21:24):
a couple people that were interested in talking to me
and helped me a little bit. You know. I talked
to Marlon Byrd, I talked to Derek Lee a little bit.
Those were the main guys I talked to, especially with
the Cubs, but like for the most part, it wasn't
anybody that was just around me all the time, because,
like I said, I was moving around so much, and
as I got older. I think once I became a

(21:47):
free agent, after my first full year of being a
free agent was I became a free agent in twenty thirteen,
I believe it, went to the Marlins and signed with
the Marlins, and then that off season after that was
like my first year being a free agent, and I
think I was like twenty three or something like that
or twenty four, and every team that called me wanted

(22:09):
me to be a triple A veteran already in my career,
and I was like, I'm only twenty four years old
or whatever it was, and I was like, how do
you want me to be a triple A veteran? That
means you're already counting me out to not make it
to the big league. So, you know, that was tough
for me, and that's just kind of how teams looked
at me so early in my career. And luckily, like
I said, I just kind of just I said I
started being more grateful for where I was at instead

(22:31):
of getting worrying about the people jerking me around and
worrying about you know, the teams and how they would
treat me to a certain aspect. I was just like, hey,
you know what, like, if I'm here, this is my
this is my safe haven, this is the place like that,
I can only control what I can do from out here,
and nobody else can. Like if they want to send
me down, if they want to, you know, send me home,

(22:53):
whatever else they want to do. If they want to
make up little things here and there about my off
field stuff here and there, then fine, they can do it.
But for the most part, I was like, I'm just
gonna go out here and start enjoining it. And then,
like I said, just my career ended up being better after,
you know, going through those things, you know, having the
opportunity to go through those things and battle through those

(23:13):
things of you know, hearing kind of some lies that
people told and some rumors here and there, and you know,
still pitching through it and then trying to find jobs
after then finding jobs and then showing people again and
again and again why I should be you know, on
a team or on a big league team. Is it's

(23:34):
been funny, you know, Like I was telling a story
again to one of the other guys on another podcast
that you look at a lot of the guys that
come back from Japan go from America to Japan and
then come back. I was one of the few guys
who had better numbers than most of the guys who've
come back back over And that's no disrespect to those

(23:54):
guys who went over there and played and came back.
But I didn't have any offers to come back from
Japan back to America and have a big league deal
like these guys did when I think I should have,
and like I had nothing like the year that I
thought that I would have. I didn't get an offer
from many teams in America, and my team wouldn't allow

(24:16):
me to talk to another team in Japan that year.
And then the next year, I played through a minor
injury and I still had a pretty good year, and
our team did well again and I pitched well. I
had no interest from any teams until literally like the
week before spring training started, and I signed literally I
think two days before spring training like officially opened up

(24:40):
for pitchers and catchers and like our report date was
the next day or something like that. And I was
all the way in Japan at the time too, because
I had just had my baby boy in Japan, and
so I had to fly from Japan all the way
to Arizona, which a lot of people don't know. So
I had to do that and it was crazy. So,
you know, it's just like how my career's gone, and

(25:01):
I've just learned to accept it. As long as I
had an opportunity to play and to enjoy life and
enjoy the game I was playing, and that it was
able to provide for me and the people around me
that I cared about, I was just going to keep playing.
So I've just been blessed to be able to do it.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
And You've been quite vocal around kind of like the
the treatment and the opportunities for like young black prospects
in the sport. I guess part of it comes from
your journey yourself, But like, like, is that something like
specifically that you kind of obviously you see for others happening.
Do you talk to other like young guys when you
were around to be like, am I being singled out here?

(25:39):
Or is this kind of something else that's happening on
a larger scale.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
It wasn't something I singled out. You could just tell
just because when I was coming up, we had a
lot less Like I wouldn't say we had a lot less.
You could tell which organizations were more keen to draft
and develop African American ball players and black baseball players
at the time. You know what, my the agent that
I had in the scout who actually signed me, told me,

(26:05):
you know what, teams like to just kind of like
look out for and like kind of like be kind
of just kind of scope it out and just look
at like the discrepancies that they have, like they might
have like maybe one black player in the miners somewhere,
or they look at their draft period like they might
not even draft the black players for the past like
four or five drafts, Like it would just it wouldn't

(26:25):
just be like it would be obvious, but to the
untrained eye, it wouldn't be obvious, you know what I mean.
And so the Cubs, like we had a few guys,
and that's a I mean, I'm thankful that I had
the guys that I had around me, but you see
them drafting and developing more black players and more black
players playing now, but at the same time, you see
more of us drafted and playing, and there's more of

(26:47):
us in the miners, but it's not correlating to it
being the same in the big leagues, like you know
what I mean, Like you look at the eighties and nineties,
there's a tunnel back black players and African American players
on most of the teams, all stages, you know, especially
in the big leagues, there's a ton But then subtly,
slowly it kind of phased out and it got less
and less and the game became like less interesting, I guess,

(27:09):
which is what they would say. But it kind of
phased us out and made base It made football and
basketball more popular, and then you know, you didn't have
any you know, black athletes in baseball being the face
of the league anymore like you did in the nineties
in the you know, in the early nineties and things
like that. So it's my it's I feel like it's

(27:29):
my job to like tell those black players when they
come through, or the ones that are around me, to
you know, give them some help and like give them
other tips and tools and things that I've seen. I
do it for all the players for sure that are
around me, just because I mean, that's the type of
person I am. Like, I want to see everybody be
the best person they can try to be as positive
I can't. But especially like if I see a black player,
especially as much as I've been in triple A in

(27:51):
the big leagues over the past couple of years, if
I see them there, I wouldn't be able to like, hey, like,
you know, give them some extra like little points pointers here,
and maybe out of my way a little bit more
to see them have more success, because I know what
it takes for them to get in the door, and
then not only get in the door, but keep the
door open enough for them to stay for a little
bit and shut the door behind them, possibly so they

(28:13):
can enjoy themselves and be comfortable. You know, That's what
That's what it comes down to for me. Like I
think Tommy fam I saw a quote from him the
past couple of days that you know, he is talking
about how the game's changed so much over the past
couple of years, that like when he first came into
the game, like the average big league player had you know,

(28:35):
five plus years of service time, whereas now it's gotten
too so bad that it's less than three years for
each player, like right now, like technically I have almost
three years of big league service time, and like you said,
with six teams where you know, I went to Japan
for four years, that probably would have been some years
I'll probably probably hopefully would have got some more. But
the fact that I didn't come back, and like I said,

(28:56):
with a big league deal, with what I did, it's
I don't know if it's the system or if I
don't know, because I mean, I played well, and like
I said, maybe I should have played better, but who knows.
It is what it is, And like I said, I
just try to keep having fun as long as I
had opportunities.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Do you think that I sort of want to ask
you about the state of things right now. You've touched
on it a little bit in answer to Russell's question,
But it does seem like there's a conversation in baseball
happening right now about the place of black players in
the game. You know, you talked about the eighties and nineties.
A lot of people talk about that, but there's also

(29:33):
a few guys in the spotlight. I mean CC Sabathia
going into the Hall of Fame, at the same time
as guys like Tristan McKenzie, Hunter Green being in front
line starters and guys like Kumara Roka and Mark Church
getting an awful lot of hype as prospects. Do you
feel like that's signs of a structural change or are
these just you know, a bit like Mookie Betts. Everyone said,

(29:54):
that's the argument everyone makes, Well, you know, what do
you mean, what are you talking about? One of the
best players in the game is in African American guy?
But he but he's he's the Is he the exception
not the rule? L Kumar Roka and Mark Church the
exception of the rule is it's the point that you
made in answer to the previous question that it's about volume,
and it's about loads of people of African American origin
being throughout the game. That's the issue, not that there

(30:17):
is no Rooky Bats in the way that there was
a Ken Griffey in nineteen nineties.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
I think it's similar to that. I mean, but you
also don't see baseball marketed as well as you know
a lot of other sports too, you know. But it's also,
like I said, it's not so much I feel like
it's from the top down, Like there's no black owners,
you know what I mean, there's no voices in the
front offices really either. I mean you look at even

(30:43):
the GMS and the you know v please that play
the vps of player personnel for a lot of teams,
Like there's no really African Americans there either. You don't
see it, especially the pitching coaches and bullpen coaches around
the around the teams and around the leagues. For African
Americans to have other people to look up to, you know,
you have them in their communities like here and there,

(31:04):
because there's been guys that have played and there's the
old school guys who have played who are like I said,
like I look at you know, some guys like Marvin
Freeman and some of my guys like C. J. Stewart
who I grew up around, and that era of baseball,
Like I said, there's more black players where those guys
are starting to get older now, and so who's going
to teach the younger guys? Like after that wave leaves,

(31:24):
there's not going to be a lot of us, and
then they're gonna want to look at our numbers and
look at the like accomplishments that we have and like
I said, a lot of guys don't have a lot
of time like those old guys did either, And so
I mean and again, and it's not being marketed to
that same community as well as basketball. You know, in
football are you know there's such a raw raw around

(31:45):
basketball and football that baseball, even though like it's a
huge sport and the stadiums are always packed, it's not
on TV the way that it should be. You know,
it's not marketed around the world the way it should be.
It is a global sport because of Showhy, because of
other guys in other countries. But at the same point,
like I said, like they're not talking about you know,

(32:06):
baseball and the barbershops honestly, just to be real, like
you know, it's basketball season and then during the summer,
like it's okay, what summer what's what's high school summer
football looking like? What's how the summer football? Like what's
the summer league looking like? You know, it needs to
be more prevalent to those communities too, where in the
barbershops and those in around those communities where it's like, hey,

(32:27):
like what's such and such hitting like today, like did
this guy did Hunter Green throw nine to day, Like,
how is this blah blah blah. And again you see
what ESPN and the deal with MLB. I think they
just terminated their deal to stop having as many games
on TV too. So I mean it's just it's it's

(32:47):
just not marketed the way it should to the right
people to get that. But then also the front offices
and the people around the front offices and the owners
aren't really out there and pulling for these guys to
be in their organizations as well. I think, you know,
like I said, there's a lot of us and a
lot of black players that are in the minors, but

(33:08):
that hasn't transitioned to the big leagues for some reason.
And I've talked about on Black Baseball Mixtape and I've
talked to on my podcast, and I'm glad to see
that there's more of an influx and I see that
there's more players coming in, but the numbers still say
that I mean, it's still pretty low right now, you know,
So like it's tough to be like, like, I see
it happening, but the proof needs to be there as well.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
And it's almost that there are structural issues beyond MLB,
like the from even what we see from this side
of the pond to be that like the everybody talks
about the cost effectively of a baseball player before even
even touching college. The fact that you have to play
on these travelbl teams, that the thought that you have
to kind of be able to fund your kids spending

(33:50):
probably tens of thousands of pounds on them to kind
of be seen like that's just something that puts it
into like a dick during economic brake bracket people and
then puts out the dis like the the people who
don't do not live in that economic advantage.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
I mean, I think you see it with you know,
you have the NBA, like with these basketball and baseball
I mean not basketball baseball camps, but you see with
the basketball and like the football camps, like the unarmored
football camps. You know, the NBA they have like the
Nike League, the A v d L, the the Adidas League.
You know, all these companies have these leagues to build

(34:31):
these prospects up where baseball like you have perfect game
in these AAU and travel ball teams, and you have
these prospect teams from certain teams for certain places, but
you don't have a like I don't see the backing
to be as you know, marketable, as you know these
basketball teams and these football camps are you know what
I mean. I feel like you see these camps and

(34:52):
you hear about these kids all the time, Like everybody
hears about the number one basketball prospect all the time,
but you don't hear about the number one baseball prospect
as much as I think you should. And I feel like,
I mean, I feel like that's just our game to
a certain degree, like we've always been underrated, but like
and I think people just get bored at a certain

(35:12):
point because we play so many games and it's like
it's just when we're when we're there, I feel like
we're always there, and so like you're like, okay, finally,
like it's enough baseball. But at the same point, like
I've said, like I don't feel like it's been marketed
properly to the right people that it should be. And
baseball to a certain degree is an acquired taste, just

(35:33):
like you know certain other sports might be, like certain
people with cricket and certain people you know with badminton
or ping pong, like you know, things like that, Like
you have an acquired taste to baseball and you ask
people a lot of times, I'm like, oh, well, Baseball's boring.
And then now that they're trying to cater to the fans,
I feel like baseball is losing some of his you know,
keat essence that it had before. And it's I feel

(35:55):
like it's going to circle back at a certain point
in time. But like I said, I think it boils
down for as long it is like for these teams
and these companies to get the word out. I feel
like there should be like some Nike Baseball teams that
they're like promoting, or a Nike Baseball league or something
like that, which would be cool to have. Right, you know,
you can have the perfect game and all these things,
but like if you had a Nike or and Armour

(36:17):
or like a Rebok or Adida's baseball league where you
had the top prospects playing for certain teams, and especially
with the NIL now you can have guys you know,
not necessarily play you know, for high school's prospects, but
also you can have a college summer league where you
have like Nike sponsored like baseball leagues and stuff like
that instead of like, but I think MLB has their

(36:37):
sponsor and backing behind some of the summer collegiate leagues
now too, though, so I think they're kind of like
overseeing all of it instead of, like I said, therefore
you put Nike or somebody else, you get fresher eyes
and newer eyes in different people's opinions of what baseball
could be. Instead of having changed the game, you can
have it in a marketable situation where these people can

(36:58):
come in and be like, hey, well, what you're doing
is already fantastic, but if we get somebody to just
shoot it from this angle, or get somebody to look
at it from this point of view, you might get
some more fans instead of changing the game to make
it try to fit a narrative, instead of you know,
being the narrative.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
So, I mean, I could probably talk about this for hours,
but we don't got to say amount of time, and
we do really want to talk about Japan. Russell and
Night both like love love like talking to players who've
had the opportunity to play out there, because yeah, it's
just it's just like it's exactly the opposite. It's exactly
what you are talking about. Wishing that people felt like

(37:41):
about baseball in the States. Is what it is there, right,
you know it is? It is part of everyday life
and the national obsession. I just want to sort of
like like open the floor to you there. But I
also want to start, like, I bet you didn't think
you were going to pitch in sixty seven games in
that first year with the carp did you?

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Oh? My god? Okay, So that was the funny story
about that too. Like I said, when I'm fully done
playing baseball, I'm going to write another book, and that's
gonna be my autobiography. So there's gonna be a lot
of like untold stories and more in depth things that
like people don't know about my career that I think
will honestly help people see kind of and realize and go, honestly,

(38:23):
go buy the first book hopefully once I get the
autobiography out, but I think everybody should go buy the
first book before the autobioph You anyway, is a great book.
But that first year I went over to Japan was
actually the second year I had honestly become a full
time reliever. So I had just figured out like kind
of like my what my routine's going to be in

(38:43):
the year before I had thrown in like sixty plus
games as a reliever as my first year as a reliever,
and I was just like, okay, like I guess I
figured something out. I guess this works. But it was
like my first four years really when I go to
Japan and I threw like eight or nine games in
spring training, and then I threw sixty seven like you said,
during the regular season, and then I threw in every

(39:05):
game we played in the playoffs but like one. So
I ended up with like almost eighty something games that year,
and so people don't understand, like my numbers in the
Japan series were so bad that year and that was
show Hayes last year, and my numbers were so bad,
and I look back on some of those games and
I was like Jesus Christ, I was really tired, like
and I like you don't think about while you're playing,

(39:25):
cause you're just like, hey, it's the playoffs, Like I
just need to get through this, like I need to
just but like some of my pitches, I was just
like these are not moving whatsoever, because it was just
like I was probably just like I was so tired,
and like I played every game, like not only did
I play every game, like I probably got like up
to get in almost probably I pitched in sixty seven.
I probably got up to throw in a game probably

(39:48):
about one hundred times counting the sixty seven, So yeah,
probably like another thirty times. I probably they were like, hey, Jay,
like we might need you in this situation.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
And you also pitched it in the Mexican Winning League
that winter as well, so at that kind of like
into that. Like, my my question is kind of like
how did the the MPB deal come about? Like were
you was it? Was it a quick conversation. Did that
stint in the Mexican Winning League stoke some conversations or

(40:18):
was it happening beforehand? Are you were you thinking of
like this is gonna be.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
Oh well, sorry I cut you off there, Oh sorry,
but it kind of it was. I was trying to
go over to Japan for like two years before that,
but at that point in time, like I said, it's
crazy how baseball has changed, where now guys that don't
even have big league time are going over to Japan
and like whatnot. Like where before it was kind of

(40:45):
like a requirement that you had big league time at
least some point like you had even if you had
like two winnings of Big League time, Like they're gonna
ask you to come play in Japan more than anybody
that's just got triple A time. But now like it's
you know, if you only have triple A time, like
you're going to big here, you're going over to Japan,
or if you're in Double A, or even if you're

(41:05):
you know, look at uh who is Carter Stewart got
drafted and went straight over to Japan for seven years.
But it's it happened. I was with the Padres, and
the Padres told me that, you know, I was going
to be on the team, making it probably out of
spring training because that was the first year that I
was on the roster. And you know, we have options

(41:27):
in America where they can send you up and down
for like pretty much like five years of your life.
Like you get to be wasted as long as they
want to. As long as you have options, you get
wasted pretty much. So the Padres told me that I
had a good chance to make the team out of camp,
depending on what moves they made during the off season,
but I was going to be part of the bullpen.
Then they wanted me to be a part of the

(41:48):
bullpen and then I got the I got the option
to get called from Japan and my agent was like, hey,
I'm going to tell the team. He's like, do you
want to I was actually in Mexico and he's like,
do you still want to go to Japan? And I
was like yeah, like why, Like what was it? I

(42:08):
was like depending on the deal, like like I'm gonna go,
like but like more than likely, Like I'd rather go
to Japan anyway because it's somewhere like I've never been
and I get to go play baseball. And then he
told me the deals of the contract. He's like, you're
gonna be guaranteed more money than league minimum in the
major leagues. Here, you're gonna get a signing bonus, you're
gonna have a couple of little incentives here or there,

(42:29):
and they're gonna pay for like all your living stuff,
and you're gonna get a flight for your family too
to come visit you. And I was like, yeah, I'm
definitely going, like for sure, like and they and he's like,
they're gonna want you to be either the closer or
the setup guy. He's like, I'm not sure yet, but
you know, they almost made the playoffs. Last year and
they're hoping that, like you know, you can help and

(42:50):
I was like, nah, for sure, like I want to go.
And then he went and talked to the padres because
when you normally go through those processes and they have
your rights, they have to jet these team normally has
to buy you out and so they have to pay
the team amount of money. So the padre said no
to the Japanese team. I think like two or three
times before my agent called me and was like, Yo,
they keep saying no, Like what do you want me

(43:11):
to tell them? And I was like, you go tell
them just that, like they can't, like they shouldn't keep
me from this opportunity in so many words, like I'm
gonna get more in depth on that, like I said
in the autobiography, but in so many words, I was like,
you know, like hey, like if they're not going to
tell me that I'm in the big leagues like for sure,
then like why are they keeping me from going and

(43:32):
trying to helping another team win? Like that was kind
of my main thing. And he was like okay, and
then he talked to him one last time and they
finally said yes, and I got shipped over to Japan
and I was, like I said, I was in Mexico
and my team in Mexico, I think we were like
first or second place or something like that. And I
was like, hey, can I stay till at least like

(43:53):
we're for sure, like in the playoffs, and my just
like no. The Japanese team said you cannot stay, like
you need to leave immediately, and I was like all right.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
And so you played those first two years with the
carp who were, as you said at the time, one
of the great teams. And you know, as you said
your first year there was Atarnes last year, but in
your team you had the sort of the bookends of
like two greats of Japanese baseball, where you had a
forty one year old Hiroki Kuroda and a twenty one

(44:25):
year old Saya Suzuki is your teammates on the same team.
That must have been pretty crazy seeing this guy who's
been one of the old time greats of Japanese baseball
but in both the US and Japan, and then this
guy he's gone on to be, you know, a major success.
It's a bit like odd that you were on the
same team as both of those guys at the same time.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
No, it was crazy and I saw, I saw how
good say it could be, like before he even got
over here. And I still think that he hasn't realized
how good he can really be. I think that like
injuries have kind of taken away some of that and
taken a lot of his confidence away, and like how
good he was could he can be? But like prime
Saya Suzuki, like he should have probably like three at

(45:07):
least two MVPs for the Central League over in Japan,
but I didn't think. I mean, I looked at the
team and then, like I said, I saw who was
on the team, but I also saw kind of who
I was following behind. And who I was following behind
was one of my friends, Deontay Heath, like I said,
and they always made the playoffs the year before, and

(45:27):
he had put up fantastic numbers, and I was like,
how did they let this guy go and want me
to come be better than him? One I was like,
that's kind of crazy. So I was like and then
I saw that they signed Corona too, and then they
had Chris Johnson, and I saw just the team that
we were having, and I was just like, you know,
like there's a chance that like, we could be really good.
And then I saw Saya like during spring training in

(45:47):
the first couple of weeks of the season, and I
was like, yeah, we're gonna be good, like and then
people underrated. We had you know, two great players our
first baseman, our second basement with like fantastic. I think
they're probably they should probably both go into the Hall
of Fame over in Japan for Japanese baseball. Uh, they're
both should go in the Hall of Fame over there.

(46:08):
And then we had the m v P of the
league in center field one year too, So, I mean,
and I thought he was going to His name was Maru.
I thought he was actually going to come over to
America at some point, but he said he wanted to
stay at home, Like he got paid more money to
stay at home, I believe than he thought he could
have got to come to America. But he was he
was fair like that. That due was really good too.

(46:29):
I give him a shout out to Yeah, I was.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
I mean, you touched on him before I brought him up.
I was gonna I was gonna mention Kakuchi, who is
like a bit of a sort of Internet darling for
his infield defense.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
Isn't it.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
He must have been pretty he just felt pretty good.
If the ball's on the floor, that that's an out.
That guy he's pretty special defender, right, Yeah, he's won
the Gold Glove.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
I think like every year he's been over there pretty much, right, So,
like but any you knew anything on the right side
of the infield, like if it was a ground ball,
he has a chance to get to it somehow, which
was unbelievable. And so I mean, just trusting the defense
that we had behind you and trusting the team that
we had, I think was one of the best things
like I ever, Like I said, I ever did like

(47:11):
over there. Winning the Japan Series is huge and very
special for a lot of places, but like winning your
league is so much more special, I feel like than
like winning like the Japan Series because you pretty much
do all the things that the Japan Series team does
if you win the league championship, so it's you do
all the same stuff. So like when we're over there,

(47:33):
like I said, we won three in a row. We
won three championships in a row with Hiroshima, so we
had some special teams and like I said, Corona was
a huge part of it. He helped, you know, stabilize
that pitching staff. And I mean he I mean, he's
somebody to look up to, and just the way he
went about his business every day and what he was
doing and what he was able to do at the
age he was doing it, you know, commend him so

(47:55):
like tremendously on that. And then, like I said, you
see Seya and the trajectory you've been on since, you know,
since since I got to see people understand, like I
got to see, say, before he came over here to America,
like I said, and I got to see his like
first couple of years of like baseball in you know
Hiroshima too.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
Yeah, it's like seeing the band before they get huge, Right,
that's your version, like being said before he came over
to the Cubs. I'm so I want to sort of finish.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
A bit jay By.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
I'm sure Russ has probably got some more questions as well,
but asking a few questions about what's happened since you've
come back. So you did sort of touch on this
a little bit in answer to some of our earlier questions.
But what what was it about your experience in Japan
that prepared you for the success that you've had subsequently

(48:47):
in Milwaukee, in San Francisco and in Toronto especially.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
What what was it about?

Speaker 1 (48:53):
Was it just sort of that realization that you could
step up and you could take that really important role
in a successful team.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Is that is that?

Speaker 1 (49:00):
Is that purely what's been behind? What's changed for you
since you've come back to the States.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
No. I think for me, it was just trusting myself.
Like I went over there and I just got to,
like I said, I got to be myself. I got
to turn into Smiley j and I got to just
like I say'd be grateful for the moments I had
over there, and then bringing that back and bringing that
experience back and being on the biggest stage over there
and being able to, you know, handle it, but also

(49:27):
being over there and just the they don't play different
brands of baseball, but knowing like how to approach hitters
and like how to like use my stuff in different
situations a little bit differently. And then when I came back,
honestly having the two catchers that I had the two
years that the first two years I came back, I
had yas Moni Grondhal with the Brewers, and then I

(49:47):
had buster posey with the Giants. You know, they're both
probably good, right, so like yeah, not bad, not bad.
Still they had they instilled a lot of confidence in
me too because of just like talking baseball with them.
That's one thing that I learned over there too, is
like learning how like I said, to approach hitters and
then asking them questions about things, and like having them

(50:07):
have confidence in me to do certain things that I
hadn't done before, but like knowing that I was capable
of doing as well, and you know, being over there,
just like I said, I got to be myself. I
think that was the main thing I learned over there
is that I can trust myself and I can trust
that I'm good enough to be out there. It wasn't
you know, not trusting myself before. But I finally had

(50:29):
the opportunity to be out there and be on the
biggest stage. I had those opportunities in Mexico before, and
I had a little bit in Venezuela, but I just
really never had those opportunities. I was never given those opportunities,
I felt like in America and the few small times
I did like I said, and I played in the
playoffs a couple of times for minor league teams and
we did well. But having those opportunities and then coming

(50:52):
back and knowing like, hey, like I can pitch in
these games like it should I should have trusted myself
all along. I think just knowing that I was able
to do it is was the biggest thing for me
coming back.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
And in terms of the teams that you played for,
you obviously have great memories of all of them. But
the one that I've certainly heard when I've listened to
other podcasts where you've spoken Jay, that you seem to
speak with most fondness is is Toronto, which is which
is kind of kind of remarkable, given that you know
that was a really difficult time for you in your
personal life. You're for people who don't know your your

(51:25):
your son j R. Was was born very premature in Utah, right,
which is not near Toronto on a mat and you know,
you were performing incredibly on an absolutely brilliant Blue Jay's
team with some absolute superstars whilst going through what must
have been like an incredible different, incredibly difficult time in

(51:47):
your personal life. And I just wanted to ask about,
like how the Blue Jays supported you and how you
sort of managed to endure through what must have been
a really difficult situation for you through that.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
Yeah. See, I think that's why I speak so fondly
of them, you know, even though again, same thing that
kind of got jerked around a little bit at the end, right,
it just kind of happens. But just the support they
had in letting me go back and forth to Utah,
and the timing of the things that they were trying
to do, and them working with me and understanding the
situation I was in, I think it did a lot.

(52:19):
And I don't think it was just the organization. I
think it was more, honestly then the organization. It was
the people and the fans in the whole country of Canada. Honestly,
I think they and the support that they gave us
in the prayers they sent out, and all the fans
that supported us and checked in on us and will

(52:40):
speak to us and wish nothing but good and positive
things to us all the time, I think they helped
us more than anything else. I mean, again, I support
and think about the team and the fondness of the team,
with the ability that they had in the front office
of having and allowing me the things that they did
but I think it was the fans and the people
of Canada and just the people of Toronto especially, and

(53:04):
just how they supported us and just wishing all the
wishing us well and making sure like that I was
there and that when I got to be there, that
you know, they gave me nothing but love and support
the whole time I was there.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
I mean, that's absolutely wonderful. And I kind of wanted
to ask you if you don't mind what what Jr's
taught you, You know, you must have learned something from
from him being part of your life and and and
sort of brought that back to your baseball too.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
He teaches me something every day that little man, the
fact that he's here is nothing short of a miracle.
So he teaches me, first of all, that miracles do exist,
and that, you know, the power of prayer and positivity
is definitely a real thing, because you know, a lot
of people around us could have been really negative, and
they had every right to be at the certain points

(53:54):
of times, but you know, all the people around us
were so positive and so supportive the whole time, and
maybe sure that you know that they just kept pumping
nothing but positive energy into not only us, but the
nurses and Jr. And everything else like that, And so
it showed me definitely the power of positivity and the
power of love, and definitely the power of just you know,

(54:15):
like I said, prayer and you know, good vibes and
all that. But he's taught me that, you know, we're
stronger than we'll ever think. That's one thing that I think.
He's the strongest person in our family already. He's been
through so much already. He just literally a week ago
had his tonsils taken out. So this little man's been

(54:37):
through so much already, and he keeps just going and
he keeps being happy, and he keeps smiling and keeps
being him. And you know, I learned a lot from
him just being himself and being here has showed me, like, hey,
like no matter what I'm going through, like I can
get through a little bit more because like he's gone
through so much already, like I've gone through a lot

(54:57):
in my life, and I want him to understand that
when he gets older, that he's going to be able
to achieve anything. But it's been nothing compared to what
he's achieved already. So for me, it's literally he's taught
me just to stay on the right path and just
keep trying to grind through whatever you can. And just

(55:18):
like I said, don't And I think one of the
other main things is don't take any second for granted,
because you never know what could happen. Because at any moment, honestly,
during his whole ordeal when he was in Utah, we
didn't know and they tell us now and they didn't
tell us then about like how close he was possibly
to not being here. And it's you know, minutes and

(55:41):
seconds and millimeters and this chord here. And so it
tells me just to make sure that I'm grateful for
every minute that I have and continue and being grateful
and try to make the best of this thing and
try to be as positive as I can, and you know,
try to hopefully be better for the other people around
me as well. Great.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
I mean, that feels like a sort of perfect sentiment
upon which to sort of end this conversation. Jay, thank
you so much for your time. Encourage everybody to go
on and get their copy of Nine Innings to Living
your Best Life. But if people if people haven't got that,
where else can they keep.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
In touch with you? J?

Speaker 1 (56:16):
Where's the best place to keep up with your progress
over the course of this season.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
The best place to keep up with me is Instagram.
A little bit here on X it's gonna be We're
gonna ramp up some more content and stuff coming up
real soon hopefully, but it's gonna be on Instagram for sure.
And then I'm gonna hopefully be having my Instagram, my
personal Instagram page, of which is gonna be the Smiley
j channel coming soon. But like I said, Instagram is
gonna be the main place, and that's gonna be Jackslyne

(56:41):
five eight j A X L A n D five eight.
That's gonna be the best place to keep up with me.
I normally try to keep some things on there, and
you know, I run that one pretty much personally with
some help of some assistance here and there. But you're
gonna get a lot of me and more content for
me than you probably are on any other platform until
I get the get the YouTube, get the YouTube channel

(57:03):
done from like, I think that's gonna be more of
my adventure once my playing days they're done too, so
as I continue to go through the playing days and
work on like my training and rehab from last year
and getting back to one hundred percent. Instagram is going
to be the best place.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
Right, Well, well, we'll keep up with you that. We'll
look forward to the Smiley J YouTube channel, uh, and
we'll look forward to the autobiography I think, Jay, thank
you so much for your time, and we'll see against
Shining sounds good.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
I appreciate you guys, Chas Jay, no problem, thank you.
I appreciate it. Not that was awesome. I appreciate