Latest / Chasing Baseball Dreams / Episode #10: Adam Eaton | What Baseball Parents Get Wrong About Success, Development & Failure
Transcript
- Bobby Minor: And welcome to Chasing Baseball Dream. So today I'm joined by Adam Eaton, 10-year Major League Veteran, 2019 World Seas World Series champion with the Washington Nationals. He's currently the first base coach for the Los Angeles Angels, who ⁓ put a whoopin' on the Yankees last night. But Adam was a 19th-round draft pick who built a big league career on competing, getting on base, playing hard, and just finding ways to help his team win. And after his playing career, he also spent time working in player development at Michigan State. before returning to the major leagues as a coach. So Adam, I really appreciate you joining me today. Adam Eaton: Bobby, it's ⁓ it's a privilege. ⁓ some of the guys that you've had on here, ⁓ I don't know if I can follow up with them, but they've had some really, really good knowledge and I how we connected is a really neat thing, you know. ⁓ seeing what you're doing in the game of baseball and social media is is ⁓ is tremendous and I'm just happy to be here and be a part of it. Bobby Minor: Well, I appreciate it. It's very it's humbling for me and I have to always have to give my wife props because my wife had been telling me for five years, you know, you need to start doing something in baseball and baseball and baseball beyond just, you know, coaching travel ball and coaching my son. which is what I was doing. And I finally in November I just said, you know what, I'm gonna start from ground zero, I'm just gonna start posting and it's just it's very humbling just where it's gone in the span of, you know, eight months or so. So ⁓ I'm just excited, excited to see what's happening now and see it excited to see what the future holds. So let's jump right into it, man. So you were five foot nine inches tall. ⁓ it's funny, I was talking yesterday with somebody that I went to middle school with. I was four eight when I was in the eighth grade. And luckily I grew I grew I grew it you know, my junior year, I ended up five ten and a half, and I still take that half, but but I mean you're five nine, nineteenth round draft pick. ⁓ you s you've said that you were never like this big time prospect. Adam Eaton: Me too. Bobby Minor: But you played ten years in the big league. So for the parent whose twelve or thirteen year old is smaller, you know, not highly ranked, maybe not playing on one of the big national teams, feels like he's fallen behind, what would you tell them right now that actually matters and what should they focus on? Adam Eaton: well, i it depends on where you're at. You know, I think falling behind can happen as early as eight years old in today's youth programs, it seems. And ⁓ you know, as a young as a young player I I I remember very, very vividly through my dad that it was just about enjoying the game. It was about working the right way, being disciplined the right way, and just enjoy the game. ⁓ you know, as ⁓ we progressed to eight to ten to twelve to thirteen, thirteen fourteen is when the game kinda started to choose me, so to speak, where it was like, you know what, this is ⁓ this is something that I enjoy number one, because I learned that at an early age, but it also was, you know, I'm decent at it. You know, this is a game of baseball is kinda grabbing a hold of me a little bit and was like, Hey, you know, you might have something here and moving forward and and ⁓ you know, as I progressed to thirteen fourteen, that's when the work really started where I felt that ⁓ I enjoy working at this game. I enjoy trying to figure it out to the the best of my ability. And and and like I said, I just remember my mom and dad being so hands-off with it. It just kind of letting me go and and just trying to continue to reiterate the right thing, right way to do things. ⁓ working the correct way, I think, was a huge advantage for me. You know, when I got into, you know, say the cage or onto the field, it was ⁓ productive work. It was ⁓ very ⁓ to the tip of the spear so to speak. It it wasn't I was going out there and just kind of, you know, flailing about. It was I was very accurate in what I was trying to accomplish that day and ⁓ watched a ton of baseball. I think that helped me as well too. It was ⁓ you know, sitting on the couch where my my heart was at fifty beats per second and and being able to watch big leaguers do some really, really impressive things and saying, ⁓ I'd love to do that, as well as watching their mistakes. And seeing what ⁓ they were working on, maybe it'd be, you know, guy got thrown out at second base trying to take an extra base. And my dad would be like, write down why he tried and why he was successful or wasn't successful. We watched Sunday night baseball like it was a religious holiday for me. It was church in the morning, church in the evening, and we would get home and we watch Sunday night baseball. And ⁓ the commentary was just so ⁓ great for me because it was a learning experience for me every single Sunday night with my dad and ⁓ you know, I think a combination of again having fun, enjoying the game, and being a student of it, ⁓ help an undersized player learn the game, learn what it takes to win a game, learning that it was a game and ⁓ trying to use all those attributes to help my team win in any fashion possible. Bobby Minor: That's good stuff. were you so growing up, I got a couple of questions. ⁓ growing up, did you play multiple sports? Adam Eaton: Of course, yeah. Yeah. I was still I was still the multiple sport athlete. I played ⁓ soccer, basketball, and ⁓ baseball. My dad was actually a football player in college, ⁓ before getting drafted in the Vietnam Warriors military. But ⁓ I was five and eleven, my freshman year in high school. My dad being a college football player was like, You're gonna die. Like you're this is bad. Like don't you're gonna go out this Ohio football, you know, this is this is not ⁓ you know, run of the mill and he said, you know, you're gonna sit. you know, for at least first two years, you're five eleven, man. They you know, these guys are grown men that are playing on Friday nights. You're gonna probably sit Friday nights, sit f you know, Saturday mornings. So I played soccer as a kid and I actually credit soccer a lot ⁓ for my foot s ⁓ my footwork. You know, I think baseball was ⁓ one thing that is ⁓ maybe not harped enough or not ⁓ noticed enough is how good guys footwork is. I I think of like a moo Mookie Betts, a Freddie Freeman ⁓ guys that are really supreme athletes in a lot of different areas, their feet work so well. ⁓ to put either their glove into a position or their bat into a position or even footwork on the bases. And for me, soccer in the fall ⁓ was a huge ⁓ booster of that, you know, just be having my feet about me and knowing kind of where my feet are in space. And then basketball was really my true love. I just was really short. I loved it. I thought the spacing of the game, the intensity of the game. You know, ⁓ playing high school ⁓ basketball at the varsity level was just a thrill. You know, there's a lot of people in the stands. I felt like I could kind of show athleticism more frequently in that game than of course baseball. You know, baseball you can only show your athleticism when you're it's called upon or the ball is at you. And ⁓ I love the spacing of it, the flow of the game. ⁓ kind of I feel like that's where I kind of learned what can I do to help my team win. Again, being undersized, not being able to shoot very well. But getting guys ball the ball in a correct space and a and being able to manipulate guys a little bit, which you can do all in baseball. So I think, you know, those two sports really helped me to progress in baseball because then when I got on the baseball field, my footwork was better. My conditioning was of course better in baseball. You don't really need it, but you you do need it in some capacities. And then ⁓ you know, just understanding spacing and manipulation and body manipulation, maybe be stealing a base, or maybe be, you know, fielding a ground ball in the left center field gap and kind of manipulating, ⁓ getting the ball in quickly and and dri trying to make them process the game a little quicker and slowing them down. And ⁓ so I think those two games really, really helped me and ⁓ kind of flowed into baseball and gave me ⁓ not an advantage, but just another outlet to to hopefully improve that game. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good stuff. ⁓ okay, so you mentioned being undersized for basketball. Can you dunk? Adam Eaton: My last time I dunked, ⁓ funny enough was I met my wife my ⁓ in college and ⁓ I tried to show off for her and I I dunked in college. I well dunked in high school, but I dunked in college and that was the last time that I ever was able to to do that. ⁓ you know, as baseball progressed, you don't ever really go up very often. So that that type of training of jumping was a more of a college outlet, but ⁓ yes, yes, I could. Bobby Minor: Well you know you say that, but being an outfielder, man, it seems like like you see like do you see the catch last night? I think it was the Orioles, ⁓ the game, the home run robbing, they it would have been a walk off and the guy I mean, so y you know Adam Eaton: Yeah, and yeah. And Meckler's done it a lot in our right field. Joe Adele for us as an angel, you know, at three and one game. You know what's interesting is that there's so few and far between, but you know, it's ⁓ you know, as an outfeeder, you do go vertically at times, but to to to have that as a mainstay in your workout, you know, box jumps, do you want definitely want some explosion going that way, but it ⁓ it became less and less of a focus. Bobby Minor: Yeah. ⁓ yeah. Yeah, no doubt. So okay, you're an outfielder in in the big leagues. Did you what did you what position did you play growing up? What position did you play in high school? Adam Eaton: Yeah, so when I was younger, of course, it was all about fun. I played third base, first base, and outfield. ⁓ you know, being left handed and short. ⁓ but having an okay arm as a youngster, it was just play wherever you want to, you know, and it was to have fun with it. It wasn't like we ⁓ they stuck me in center field and that was me my position for the rest of my life. It was ⁓ kind of played everywhere. As I grew older, you know, I went to center ⁓ majority of the time. You know, I was too short to kind of play the infield at that point. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: And ⁓ I got to college. My freshman year I was a center fielder. ⁓ we had a guy named Ryan Curl that was a heck of a player at Miami of Ohio that ⁓ kind of slid me over to right, which I really loved right field. ⁓ got drafted as a center fielder, played center field and kind of left and right throughout the minor leagues until I kinda got my foot ⁓ you know, my feet ab ⁓ below me in the minor leagues. And then when I got to the big leagues, I was ⁓ AJ Pollack was in Arizona and Herrard Oparo was in Arizona. Some really, really, really good outfitter. So I kind of shuffled about. But once I got ⁓ traded to Chicago, it was kind of nice. They handed me the keys to center field there. And ⁓ you know, and ⁓ was it four fourteen and fifteen? And then Austin Jackson came in ⁓ to Chicago in 2016. He made my career. I I credit that man with so much of how He was such an unbelievable teacher to me because moving to right field was very foreign to me. I had played center for, you know, two plus years at that point. And really that was my background. And getting reads in center is much easier than the corners. And he really took me underneath his wing and he did he I ⁓ like I said, I owe him my career to him because I moved to right and I I really hit it the ground running and it was credit to him. I was ended up having a really good defensive year over there and ⁓ he changed my mindset with a lot of different things. And ⁓ really made my career. And then like I said, I ⁓ then I got traded to the Nationals and played s ⁓ played center there. You know, we had Harp and right and Worth and left. And then once ⁓ Harp left and ⁓ you know went to Philadelphia, ⁓ I ended up moving to right for Victor Robles, another unbelievable center fielder. And at that point, you know, I was in my late twenties, thirties and kinda not slowing down, but slowing down. ⁓ so went back to right and just again I loved playing right field in Washington. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: ⁓ and then of course, you know, finished my career out with Chicago and Anaheim and and kind of played all of them at that point, just trying to hold on. And and but you know, being able to play all three was fun. And then ended up playing first base as an Anaheim Angel, which I thought was one of the scariest moments of my life. ⁓ yeah, probably the shortest first baseman in that in that year, ⁓ for sure, but had a great time and then ended up ⁓ was on the mound. ⁓ Ironically enough. I was actually a pitcher in college too, but I was on the mound there at the end too, which was a blast. So kind of played them all. Bobby Minor: Okay. Yeah. I I like man when I see teams bring in, you know, bring in position players and blowouts and everything, I wanna see guy like Mitch Moreland, you play for the Rangers. He he pitched two in college. He'd come in and I mean he's throwing gas, like trying to get guys out. That's what I wanna see. I don't wanna see somebody like lobbing, you know, lobbin balls up there and you know, but Adam Eaton: Well, the cool thing about that ⁓ inning was ⁓ I remember Joe Madden coming underneath and said, Hey, do you want to pitch? We're taking bets on whether or not you want to pitch. And I said, I thought you'd never ask. Like I was so fired up for it. You know, I text my wife and my dad, you know, of course we're in LA, they're in Ohio and Michigan, and they're like waking up because I'm gonna go pitch. And and so he left the room. He's like, All right, you're in next inning. And he left the room, and all of a sudden I'm like, I actually have To do this. Like it th this was a fantasy dream of me to pitch in the big leagues, but now I'm actually going to tow the rubber in the big leagues, first big league hitters. And I was at that, well, well, what am I going to do? And I was like, you know what? I decided I was going to pitch. So ⁓ Kurt Suzuki, actually our manager now, was ⁓ our battery. And ⁓ you know, I I went after him. I, you know, I think I touched 91, 92 miles an hour. I threw three other pitches and ⁓ grinded through my inning, but I ended up with a scoreless inning. But I'm with you. I think you know, ⁓ the Bobby Minor: Okay, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. Adam Eaton: The position players, you know, we have a guy on our team that I think has eleven appearances in his career, which I think is just crazy that position players are throwing so frequently now. And I understand the roster restrictions and ⁓ you know, the up and down of the pitchers, but it is a little bit different when a, you know, position player just comes in and lops it in and there's a couple homers. And it just it feels a little not ⁓ lack of gin, you know, being genuine, I guess, with baseball, but it's it's part of it. But yeah, I'm with you. I think position player gets in there just Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah. Adam Eaton: You know, have fun with it. Throw some pitches. Throw decently hard. You know, I couldn't wipe my you know, I couldn't wipe my butt for the next two two weeks after that. I remember I played the next day in the outfield and I was thinking, Man, last night was really cool, but I can't even lift my arm right now. I don't know how Otani does it. I really don't. I think he's ⁓ he's amazing 'cause it ⁓ it takes a toll on you nonetheless. But ⁓ yeah, I'm with you. Bobby Minor: ⁓ no doubt, no doubt. So good stuff. And parents, I hope you're listening ⁓ out there. So like you've now seen player development from both sides. I mean you played at the highest level, obviously the MLB, and then you spent, you know, a couple of years working with college players at Mich at Michigan State. So what do you think parents misunderstand most about what a kid actually needs to become a college baseball player? Adam Eaton: ⁓ you know I I I think everybody in any circumstance, for sure in college and you learn this in high schools, that this is a game. It is a game. It ⁓ this is not ⁓ it's not a talent contest. It's not how hard you can swing, it's not how hard you can throw. At the end of the day, especially people that are maybe undersized, maybe don't have the you know, hitting off a T the exit velocity or Or maybe the arm at the perfect game, you know, and and being able to establish themselves of throwing over a hundred miles an hour across the infield and, you know, having a hundred and five to a hundred, whatever the exit velocity at that age is. ⁓ but understanding that there it is a game at the end of the day. And you're gonna be on a team that has certain entities within that team that allow that team to either win or lose the game. And and what you can do for your team is the most important. So if you go out and you go one for three with a walk and your team wins, the the message system at home should be, Hey, great job taking that walk in the eighth inning to give your t your your team a chance. Hey, good job button, your second time up. You got that guy to second base and you gave the guys behind you a chance. You know, hey, you know, good job on the the three ⁓ take, you know, at that point in the game. You know, that three-o the three-o swinging maybe wasn't called for, but you took and then the next pitch you got, you end up getting a hit, and that was the reason you did. And that was really good. You didn't have a selfish bat there. So for me, I think, you know, and Michigan State specifically, you know, Jake Boss does a really good job of finding baseball players and finding gamers, you know, at the at the Michigan State. ⁓ we're not getting the SEC players, you know, we're not getting usually upper echelon guys ⁓ to Michigan State. But to Jake Boss's credit, he won two games at the Big Ten tournament ⁓ versus some really, really impressive players and you know organizations. And but ⁓ again, credit to Jake Boss. He goes out and finds baseball players. So, you know, if you're a high school guy that again maybe doesn't have the attributes or the size, stay with it. Continue to play the game to win the game. ⁓ continue to do whatever the game takes in order to win the game that day. And same thing for the defensively, you know, ⁓ for an outfielder to check down and not show his arm off. Goes a long way. You know, if a guy goes first and third in front of your face, your ego says, I can throw it a hundred miles an hour to third base and I want to show it off. But that's not what the game calls for. The game calls for you to check down, get the ball to second base, keep the guy at first base, keep the double play in order, help your pitcher get out of the inning any way, shape, or form. And ⁓ I think, you know, you take the ego out of it at a young age and you learn how to play the game to win the game. ⁓ you're gonna be very valuable to more teams than you believe. Bobby Minor: Yeah, good stuff, good stuff. You I I don't know what made me think of this question, but you know, when we're talking about some of the outfields that you that you were a part of, obviously you've played with some great players. ⁓ who's the best player that you would say that you ever played with? Adam Eaton: ⁓ man. best player that I ever played with. It you know has to be a tie ⁓ between Juan Soto and ⁓ and Shohei Otani. I mean what Otani does, I mean it's yeah, we when I say those names, you're like, ⁓ that figures. ⁓ you know, when he has Shohei starting every fifth day and hitting 30, 40, you know, plus home runs stealing bases. ⁓ great clubhouse guy. ⁓ does ⁓ does a lot for the team. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: And then, you know, on the flip side, we know Juan Soto. I met him as an 18-year-old kid when I went to Washington. And skinny kid. Like he's very skinny, but man, could he swing the bat. He was in spring training. I'm like, man, this guy really has barrel accuracy. He works the other way really well. You know, you see a young player like that typically where they all they want to do is pull the baseball. And Juan didn't. He had ⁓ unbelievable discipline. And ⁓ then you see him the next year, and I'm like, this guy is. is built like a tank now and has really worked on what he did. He had perfect English, you know, he he really worked on different intricacies that sometimes young players don't. And his mind just works completely different than most people. And just being able to be around both those players and seeing what they can do. But just the small things that they do that a lot of people don't see, ⁓ I think is what separates them. Bobby Minor: Yeah. I mean I used to have this debate with both of my sons about Otani a few years back. You know, I would say, like, yeah, he's he's a really good hitter and he's a really good pitcher. but you know, but that to me that was it. Now I've totally changed my tune on Otani. I he's just like he's yeah, I mean he's just off the charts ⁓ to me a once in a lifetime type talent. Although the Rangers, the Ranger the Rangers have a a two-way, ⁓ I think he's Japanese also a Japanese two-way player. down and maybe like single A somewhere like that. You know, I don't know if it's low A, high or whatever, but ⁓ maybe he'll be the next Otani. So Adam Eaton: Yeah. And and and d you know, to the people at home and the parents at home and and you know, if your son is fifteen, sixteen, the discipline that these people display is off the charts. Like you you it's hard for people to even myself being around baseball and you know, you know, being in this game twenty plus years now, including college, to see these guys working every day and being at the park early and and having their routine. It's hard to fathom the dedication that these people have. Even guys like myself, or even guys within, you know, you can ask Mookie and you can ask Freddie and be like, hey, what do you got on him? And talk about his discipline. It's different. It it it's just, ⁓ you know, we're all human beings and there are days where you don't feel like doing things. And typically professional athletes can push through those things pretty consistently, but you still have your downfalls. These guys do not. They just don't. They ⁓ the the the way they in which they go about their day is just it's it's hard to explain how dedicated, how disciplined they are and what they do throughout their day in order to get themselves to do what they have to do on the baseball field. ⁓ it's it's mesmerizing even for guys that are pros. It's it's they're pros pro, if is the best way I can put it. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good. I we gosh, my son Julian is twenty one now. So when he was fourteen, we went down to Houston, and the Astros are playing the Angels and we got to go down on the field for B P and so we got to see Otani up close, you know, taking B P and I mean he was just I mean, it was crazy. And then we we got to see Yordon, Yordon taking B P and that day he actually hit one off of the the screen the t you know, the scoreboard in far right field and broke out a section of the of Adam Eaton: Crazy. Bobby Minor: Yeah, I call it a jumbotron, I know what it is now, you know, but ⁓ it was pretty, pretty impressive. So, okay, so you you brought up some good points. So, like you as a player, like your game was built around doing a lot of things well, like getting on base, running the bases, playing good defense, competing, you know, finding ways to help your team win. What are some things that a young player can do that coaches notice on a day when like he goes ophur? Adam Eaton: Y yeah. ⁓ I think going over, and you know, you had Dustin that really ⁓ harped on it ⁓ in your podcast earlier, which I ⁓ really caught my eye and I think it's how we got connected, is that how you handle failure in this game is everything. You know, you don't have to be happy with the failure. You you it's a it's an odd acceptance and it's an odd ⁓ acceptance that it's going to happen and keeping your mind level through it. ⁓ it's so difficult. Because you work so hard and you you you expect success consistently and it's just not what the game of baseball is. It's not how the game of baseball is. It's like no other game. You know, failure is built into this game. It's built into it. It it's not ⁓ it'd be like a basketball player taking the perfect three pointer, and then all of a sudden there's somebody at the rim that just knocks it away and says, even though you had the perfect release, the perfect spin, the perfect angle, and you're not gonna you don't get the three pointer this time. You can do everything right and still be wrong in this game. And that is some of the most difficult things that I think you talk to a lot of players that maybe get to high school then all of a sudden they don't play. And you ask them, Well, why why'd you stop? It's like, well, I couldn't hit the breaking ball or I couldn't hit this. And it's like, well, nobody does. You know, everybody stinks. It's just when you stink, how good are you when you stink? ⁓ everyone's gonna stink at this game. It's just how how how do you combat it? How do you get through it? How how when you are bad, how good are you? And ⁓ you know, the great players in this game, when they're bad, they're still pretty good and they find ways to be good. They add value in other different avenues of the game. So when you go 0 for 4, where else are you adding value? You know, for me, I think a lot of young players is if the bat doesn't work, everything doesn't work. And that's you can't, that's just not how the game works. If if ⁓ if you go 0 for 4, try to work a walk. Bobby Minor: Right. Adam Eaton: You're not gonna you're a human being, you're not a robot. There's gonna be days where you don't feel good. So when you go into the game, first off, have the realization that I'm not feeling sexy today. It's just that's it. My hands are slow. I was in the cage. Hey, I was off the T. You know, these guys have these little cages set up on, you know, these these ⁓ you know, tournaments, and all of a sudden you just don't feel great that day. Well, you you're not going up there with your sharpest spear. So how can we be better today? How can we work a walk? How can we lay down a bunt? You know, I know everyone's a bunter. I get that. But even from a smaller, undersized guy, it's like, how can we add value? And sure as I if I'm not getting in hits, nobody else is. That's just how it is. It's just nobody else is. And and I think a lot of players at that age two is like they take the frustration out of the field. So just like I was talking about the first to third play with the backside runner, you know, when you go over four, you would have a tendency to say, I'm gonna do more. And that's not it either. Just be solid, become consistent every single day. Understand that your ego, even though you may not be doing things at the plate, does not mean that you try to go above and beyond in the outfield. You know, you you still keep your head on your shoulders and you still make the correct play. You see where young players sometimes will combat it and push it. You can see it as soon as the ball is hit. You can see a shortstop making a back-handed play. Bobby Minor: Right. Adam Eaton: and he's 0 for four and now he wants to throw it a hundred across the infield when he doesn't have to. He can just make his play, be sturdy. And so for me, I think a lot of the recruiting in Michigan State, you know, even going and seat in Brighton baseball in Michigan and you watch kids that do fail. And then you watch a kid that is 0 for three and then he makes a play where he can take some of his anger out and he doesn't, you're like, hmm, he's he's got something. You know, he's a guy that can combat this. He's a guy that can work his way through it. So You know, I think that value of, especially in major league baseball, when you're gonna have your 0 for 20. So you're you you are, you are. You know, I had a one for thirty-two in my career and and you ⁓ man, you wanna talk about a lonely place, you know, nobody cares. And that's the thing too, is that when you fail, nobody cares. Really. You know, you parents might, they might give you a hug after the game, but really nicely nobody nobody cares. Like you the game is gonna go on without you. So for me is how you respond to those O for fours, how you continue to Bobby Minor: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Adam Eaton: Give your team value because you're eventually going to come out of it. The hits are going to come. You trust your process. You trust who you are. And it's so much easier said than done. I am not in the fire. I'm sitting here in an air conditioned room. I'm not playing baseball. I'm not, you know, in the pressures of the bright lights. But ⁓ the more you get used to those 0 for fours and still adding value, ⁓ the better at that you get and having the right mindsets, everything. Bobby Minor: that's good. And I think at the very least you're having a bad day at the plate, you can still be a great teammate. You know, you can be you know, that that's like the easiest thing to do. Well you're saying that was making me think so my oldest son quit baseball when he was nine to play golf. And one of his golf instructors ⁓ was amazing. Her name was Amy Fox. And I remember her telling him, It's not how good your good shots are, it's how good your bad shots are. And that's kind of exactly what what I heard you, you know, same thing. I g it's funny I give a lot of golf references just 'cause Adam Eaton: Yes, absolutely, yeah. Bobby Minor: You know, it just it there's so many parallels, but it's the same thing. It's not how good your good swings are, it's how good your bad swings are. Adam Eaton: Mm-hmm. Hundred percent. And now, you know, not playing, I've dabbled in golf. I never really played golf ⁓ growing up or you know, even when I played. But you're a hundred percent right. ⁓ the pressure that golfers have because they are the only people that can control the ball is just sitting there. You're in control of everything. It is such a mental battle and grind for these guys. It's amazing watching Scotty Shuffler, it's amazing watching these guys in the weekend and how consistent they are. And you're a hundred percent right. When your misses are huge, you're not a very good golfer. When your misses are small and you when you're bad or your putts, say, you know, as a run-of-a-mill three putter, you know, when my putts are bad, they are bad. And it's not good. And that's no different in baseball. You know, w you know, you have to try to stay consistent. You have to try to stay on that line as much as you can. And like you going back to your original point of being a good teammate, that will help flip you too. Because if you're a good teammate and you have people in your corner and you have guys that Bobby Minor: Mm. Adam Eaton: you still are patting on the butt even when you're struggling, you'll get that in return. And that will help you flip flip, you know, your failures really quick as well as there's nothing better than a good team bond. You know, I was on a World Series team and there's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. And ⁓ and like I said, ⁓ you know, you know, wrapping all that all up, it's just, you know, be a good teammate, continue to grind. And like you said, when you're bad, how bad how good are you when you're bad? And and how much value can you bring when one of your attributes is gone? And it's gonna they're gonna be gone. That's just that's just how baseball is. It's built into the game. Bobby Minor: Yeah. I was interviewing ⁓ Cameron Rupp last week. I don't know if you ever met Cameron, but he played for the Phillies and up now he's a he's yeah, he's an assistant coach ⁓ with UTA here in in Arlington and we were talking about ⁓ when he was at Texas, he said an N Cou A record, division one record for most strikeouts in a game. I forgot if he said five or six, and I guess it was an extra inning game because it was, you know, ⁓ got a lot of it bats. I I wanna say he went like one for eleven or something. I don't know, something weird, but he struck out I think six times. ⁓ Adam Eaton: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Played against him. Bobby Minor: But the very next day he came came back, I think he said he went like four for five. You know, and that's just you have to another guy, I don't know if you ever met Dave Collins in any of your your your journeys, but ⁓ he played fifteen, sixteen years in the bigs and he was a coach ⁓ coach for a while, but ⁓ he's a friend of mine and we were talking, he used to write Fido on the on the brim of his cap, F I D O, and stands for forget it and drive on. You know, and it's just you have to you know, but you have to have amnesia, you have to flush it, whatever it is, but like You literally have to because it's inevitable. You know, you you what happens when you you know, you get up there and you take you know, take two fastballs down the middle and then you get rung up on a back haul and you're pissed off because you just struck out, you go out there to your position, what's gonna happen? Probably first batter's gonna hit the ball right to you. You know, that's how the baseball gods work. So you just gotta let it go. Adam Eaton: Yeah, a hundred percent. And and you know, like you said, it the the perspective on it from your teammates too is like you you can't just let it compound. You gotta you g like you said, you gotta fight ⁓ you gotta you gotta continue to drive on because you again, you like you said, you don't know that four for five's gonna come the next day. Another thing too, I think young players, at least how ⁓ I gravitated towards failure, is that my like I I would work angry at times. And I think, you know, for me, I think that was actually a productive thing. You know, when when when things weren't going well, and it's not like that my work went up, but the sharpness of my work went up and the intensity of my work went up and the really the focus of my work went up. And ⁓ you know, with so much failure in baseball. That was a lot of work that was focused in because every single time that that happened, it was like, well, why did it happen? And I you know, there's a lot of things that we can touch upon that and talk about baseball, but I'm not gonna go into it. But ⁓ you know, that work went up. If I missed a backhand, I you know, I was working, you know, ⁓ on a backhand for the next two months. It was just that's what it is. I'm not gonna miss another one, you know, with If it was a ⁓ a an O two count on a down down and end slider, it's like, well, you know, I need to watch more video because I need to understand where that ball's coming out of and I need to do that. And of course you're gonna continue to do it. But my point is, is that when you start to fail, you basically just try to continue to sharpen those tools and you you with with energy. And that's just how I went about things, was that when that failure continued to rise and continue to go, the energy towards ⁓ trying not to allow those things to happen again was just heightened. ⁓ and you don't get out of control with it. It took you some time to not get out of control with that that energy level, but you know, that heightened focus always helps. Always helps. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good stuff. Who's the toughest pitcher you ever faced in your major league career? Adam Eaton: ⁓ man. Kershaw, when I first got called up, I I've told this story a few times. I don't know if I've told it to media, but definitely to other people. But ⁓ I saw him my my first year and I don't know why I started off of him. I I guess it's welcome to Major League Baseball and good luck, kid. And ⁓ I guess I can thank ⁓ Kirk Gibson for that. ⁓ but ⁓ I had a nightmare all off season of him. And couldn't see the baseball, didn't have my shoes on, you know, tight enough, couldn't find my helmet, no bat. And it's probably a good thing I didn't step in the box versus him. But ⁓ he was ⁓ very scary from a left-handed young hitter with ⁓ cutter, breaking ball, put it where he wanted to, just his aura. He's a a very big human being, ⁓ ultimate competitor, you know, a lot of respect for him when you step into the box and you can kind of feel his presence. And ⁓ a guy that I had the ultimate respect for and had an unbelievable career, gosh darn it, but a guy that is just ⁓ w you know, one of the best of all time. And then another guy that maybe not many people have heard of is Tommy Lane. You know, it's funny how some baseball players see guys really well and then see, you know, maybe a good pitcher really well, and then some guys that maybe not are mainstream but could not Tommy Lane pitched for Boston. Funny enough, I played with him in triple A. And then I got he got to Boston was a specialist reliever when you didn't have to throw to three batters. And I would see him in the AL, of course, playing for the White Sox all the time. And I remember I had my tenth at bat, and I bet you I had five, six strikeouts, maybe seven strikeouts off of and I touched it. And I ran to first base with this biggest grinning ear to ear because I was just so fired up that I touched the sinker. I just could not see him. So yeah. Two lefties, unfortunately, but ⁓ you know, I feel like that's par for the course for us lefties. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned Lane. I I I miss the days of the Loogie, the you know, the good lefty one out guy. ⁓ Yeah. It's funny so now again I never played professionally, but I'm I'm throw right handed, but I bat left handed. My dad was lefty lefty and I just copied his swing and I it's weird. Now again, I've never faced Kershaw. I felt like I always I always hit lefties well. It was just one of those things. Adam Eaton: ⁓ yeah, yeah. Bobby Minor: ⁓ okay, let me ask you this. This is something when I was 12, way back in the day, I went to TCU baseball camp, and I think it was Coach Watkins, he was an assistant there. He taught me how to drag bunt. And that was it was to me like such an amazing part of my arsenal. Because going back to those days where you're kind of struggling, like a good a good drag bunt from the left side can be so hard to defense. How important do you think it is for for every lefty knowing how to to lay down a a good drag bunt? Adam Eaton: Yeah, you well, you see in the big leagues today the gate the bunt is definitely coming back. It's coming back quickly. Yeah, it's coming back quickly. ⁓ you're gonna have your freaks, you know. If you're a high school guy and you are six five, six six and have a ton of power and you're already recruited to go to an SEC school, bunting might not be for you. You know, you but I would say that honestly, sixty percent, seventy percent of the big leagues in probably the next five years are gonna be able to bunt. You know, you look at Milwaukee, you look at Tampa, you know, putting pressure on defense is huge. Bobby Minor: I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Adam Eaton: You know, ⁓ another thing, you know, ⁓ I have a guy, you know, Meckler, you know, kind of a grinder, played for San Francisco for a little bit. He's kinda, you know, ⁓ really ⁓ set himself up for having a good career, you know, with us, has had a good year. And him and I talk a lot about bunting and and ⁓ you know, being able to put a bunt down and add pressure to the defense, is is a great thing. You know, you put the bunt down if with a runner on first base is either a sack, a hit, Or they throw it down the right field line. You know? And for me, when you can add pressure, you can add thought process. the it goes beyond just the statistical categories. So say that I'm a lefty, I'm Meckler, and the third baseman's playing back. And I squared a bun, I lay down a bun, I get a single. The next time up, the third baseman comes in. Well, now I'm gonna try to hit 105 by rear. Or I hit a 13 hopper and it's a r now it's a double down the left field line. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: You know, say there's a runner on first base and I'm a bunter. You know, the defense has to shift in order to defend me. and it allows things to happen behind, you know, ⁓ different doors of going first to third. You know, a runner on second base, I square to bunt, the third basem creeps in a little bit too far. Now we have a chance to get a backdoor back. You have different movement pieces. You have a pitcher now that it's like, is this guy gonna bunt? You know, ⁓ there, you know, if you can hit and run, there's so many different avenues being able to handle the bat. And I ⁓ we've really focused that on that with the Angels to be able to impact the game with certain skills without even doing them. ⁓ yeah, I you know, I say laying down a bun is this is the same thing as if a big guy acts like he's gonna vault for just one pitch. Guess what the pitcher's gonna do? Well, he's gonna slide step. They might put a drop glove on. Now all of a sudden the focus kind of has to disperse. Where before you just stood there. And you didn't do anything, guy would raise up, you'd be a one-five, one-sixth of the plate. He could throw whatever he wanted to. He didn't have to worry about bouncing it. And you just give them one little thought-provoking thought. And now the entire game and landscape changes. The focus goes to the manager. The manager's like, huh, he might do that. Well, let's put a slide step on. Let's let's throw a fastball here. It's no different with bunting. You, you, you squirt around a bunt, and I did that a lot. I, I, I would, if I was gonna take a pitch, I wasn't gonna take it standing up. I was going to take it squaring around because what I wanted to do was just have thought-provoking takes. You could see the ball really well. You made the third basem move. You made the second baseman move. You keyed into the outfielders, like, ⁓ okay, now he's going to bunt. And now all of a sudden you kind of shift that defense. You shift that mindset. You're not real sure. And then it opens the field up as well. You know, a lefty that can bunt, the whole left side of the infield typically is open because on the ground you're going to pull it, typically, and that third baseman comes in. Bobby Minor: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Adam Eaton: You know, the shortstop's over. Yeah. It's just ⁓ the value of being able to bunt, being able to bunt well and shifting focus just does so many very, very good things other than the bunt itself. And of course, like you said, laying down a perfect bunt as a lefty is there's just nothing better. You know, you hit it f 35 miles an hour and it's a single and you put pressure on it. And at this moment, you know, you've watched plenty of baseball. They have a difficult time fielding, you know, certain positions, you know. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah. Adam Eaton: Third baseman coming in, half in a bare hand of play. That's a difficult play at the pitcher running off a hill, you know, half in a bare hand of play, you know, and then all of a sudden the throw might be a little off balance. And then now the first baseman's put in a tough position. It's just pressure. It's it's ⁓ and like I said, if I'm a young player and I'm not in that top 30, 20% of guys that are gonna thump. I know it's ⁓ egoless, I know it's not sexy and I know it's not a hundred and ten and embarrassing somebody, but for me if ⁓ value of winning is going up and I think the Bunt's making a ⁓ a big comeback. Bobby Minor: Yeah, I love it. I love it. That's good stuff. I meant I meant to ask you this earlier when you're talking about watching a bunch of baseball as a kid, which I think that's definitely not the case. It it's crazy to me how you literally I mean, I can pull this out right now and watch any major league game, anywhere, you know what I mean? I can watch highlights and everything. So they have more access than they ever have ever had, and they watch less baseball. Growing up, who is your favorite team? Who is your favorite player? Adam Eaton: ⁓ so I have two favorites, but I'll say my favorite team was the Cleveland Indians. You know, my dad grew up in ⁓ East Canton, Ohio, which is right on the outskirts of Cleveland. So and I grew up in '88. So it was pretty easy to be a nineties baseball fan, ⁓ especially being of the tribe. so you know, you'd be able to watch Jim Tomey and Manny Ramirez. I mean, you can go to all of them. The unbelievable. But I Kenny Lofton. Kenny Lofton was my favorite player of all time. Bobby Minor: Okay. ⁓ yeah. Adam Eaton: ⁓ him being a leadoff hitter, being able to steal bases, ⁓ being an unbelievable outfeeder. You know, he was an Arizona sixth man, like being a basketball guy. ⁓ you could kind of, you know, see his athleticism. And man, the swagger on that guy. Gosh. Man, I wanted his shoes so bad as a kid. I thought his shoe the k the Kalo shoes were just it for me. Like I just I loved everything about that guy. And funny enough, I haven't been able to meet him. You know, I Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: I've ⁓ he was with San Francisco when I was around, but nonetheless, like he was always my guy. Like I just I I adore that guy. And I follow him on Instagram. He's that kind of motivational speaker now. So I love hearing his stuff. But ⁓ yeah, he was my guy. And then the the the second guy I'll say is my favorite player is Yogi Berra. I ⁓ being kind of a baseball I love baseball history. I'm a baseball purist at heart. And ⁓ I had his autobiography on cassette. Bobby Minor: ⁓ wow. Adam Eaton: That I had in my car. And you can ask anybody I went to high school with. That's all that played in my car was Yogi Bea's autobiography. And ⁓ I just thought it was amazing that he has 10 World Series rings. He's pick he's he's he's caught a perfect game. He was been a manager player. You know, his one-liners, his characteristics, who he was as a person, you know, he fought in World War II. This is a man that they don't make anymore. They just don't. They don't make these types of humans anymore. He's just sold the earth, do anything for anybody, you know, Mer you know, everything about him I just adore. And ⁓ what an impressive human being, what an impressive career. And ⁓ you know, I I guess I I'm upset I didn't get to watch him play live. It's just it's ⁓ unbelievable. But you know, also to your point, you know, the accessibility that we have today. I I think that the kids these days, studying is not really at the forefront. You know, we see it too at the professional level, we see two at Michigan State. When you ask guys to study the game, may it be video, may it be ⁓ you know, just watching the game on the bench. It it takes a little bit to nudge them to get to do it. And for me, I remember as a rookie, Kirk Gibson would sit me versus most lefties. And for me, I I loved hitting off lefties. I didn't mind them. I really didn't. ⁓ my number power numbers went down versus lefties, but my average was stayed kind of similar. It wasn't too bad. And I loved him. And and I remember being frustrated. I was like, and I'm not frustrated with Kirk Gibson, 'cause Kirk Gibson is the man. I love Kirk Gibson, you Michigan guy. I live in Michigan now and and still keep in contact with him. Love the man to death. And I remember when I would sit, he would pat the seat next to him and say, Come sit with me. And he says, Do you understand why you're sitting? And I said, Well, there's a lefty. He said, Yes, but not all of it. And I said, Well, what do you mean? He said, Do you know your heart rate is so low right now? Do you know how much you can learn from just watching the game and just watching what guys are doing tendencies, what guys give away when they steal bases, what catchers like to do when there's a base runner at first base, if their butt gets up, you know, if their butt gets down, if they display the glove, you know, if the guys are tipping pitches, I want you to watch this pitcher and see if he tips his pitches. You know how they're gonna position guys. He says, you can do this with no stress at all. Sitting here next to me and watching, if I played you today, you're not gonna learn as much. Cause you're gonna be in the heat of the moment. Your heart rate is gonna be up. You're gonna be focused on certain things. You're gonna be more tunnel visioned. I want you to sit here with me and I want you to learn how the game is played at the major league level. And so at that moment, I'm like, I still didn't understand. I really didn't. As a young player, I'm like, I wanna play. You know, I wanna play. Put me in there. But now as an older gentleman and like in and now being a coach, I'm like, if I didn't have that, if I didn't have him, you know, taking me into the video room, sitting me when I wanted to play, even though maybe I could have added some value to the team, but he knew that the value for me as an individual was to sit there, study the game, watch the intricacies, watch other guys fail. You watch him fail. Like I said to you earlier about Sunday night baseball. You watch someone do something stupid. You put it in the memory bank. I don't want to do something stupid. Then you watch the guy do something unbelievably. And I'm like, why did he do that? And you start asking questions. And then all of a sudden you start to just, like I said, sharpen your tool with not even playing. And I just ⁓ for me, I'm that's kind of ⁓ my mantra here with the angels is that I these guys get so tired of talking to me because something will happen and I'll come back and I'll be, hey Goozi, hey Perol, you hey Mec. What you got on that? What do you do? He's What do you mean? I'm like, You didn't see that? What you did you see that? And they're What what? What did you see? And I'll look it up and I'm like, watch this. And they're like, ⁓ man, he did that. I'm like, Yeah, you see how that worked? And like and I do this every single day, always talking the game. And some of these times these guys don't want to hear it, which is great because I just still I put my arm around and be Hey, this is really good stuff. Listen, watch this. And just constantly trying to teach in game stuff that When these guys are sitting on the bench, watch the game, educate yourself, because then when you get thrown in the fire, the game will be slower. You'll be able to process the game a little bit better. And things that you have seen will for sure present themselves. So ⁓ I thank Kirk Gibson for that ⁓ through and through. And now I'm trying to kind of relay that message back to our players. Bobby Minor: Good stuff, man. There's there's so much gold in that. So in 2017, probably not your favorite season, ⁓ you tore your ACL, tore your meniscus. My wife had meniscus surgery last year. ⁓ you suffered a high ankle sprain, and basically you lost a season. Two years later, 2019, you're a World Series champ with the with the Nationals. So when a when a young player gets hurt, ⁓ gets benched, goes into a slump, or just gets passed over. Adam Eaton: Yeah. Bobby Minor: What can a what can a parent do to help help their son through that that actually helps him instead of making it harder? Adam Eaton: Well, you know, one thing is having really good people around you. I think that is the first and foremost. If you have a kid that goes through a UCL injury, you have a kid that, you know, breaks his ankle or a knee injury or a hip injury, you know, these kids are getting more banged up there early on because of the overusage. So you know, we can probably go into that if you'd like to, because there's a lot to that. But ⁓ for me is a be an unbelievable support base, you know, and have the your son reali or daughter realize That this is room for growth. And one thing that I had with Washington was an unbelievable support base. The team, number one, just the players in general. ⁓ number two is, you know, our medical staff, our ⁓ my ⁓ my surgeon, ⁓ Dr. West, Seth, my PT, Greg, my PT, guys that I basically was attached with because this is gonna be a year-long process. And through their, you know, mental fortitude and who how they communicated with me. They basically more or less, this is a room for you to grow as a human, room for you to understand, you know, this is not a setback. You're gonna take two full steps forward after this. And ⁓ you know, being injured, especially on a big league club, is a very lonely place. You feel like you're kind of on the outskirts, you're not helping the team win, you feel like you're dead weight. You it it is extremely lonely. And in those times, I think the people around me understood that and really helped lifted, you know, lifted me up. And now looking back, you know, I did a lot to help myself, but a lot of people around me helped me through that time period. And ⁓ now I look back on it, that I wish it happened. Absolutely not. You know, I was kinda at the pinnacle of my career, you know, at sixteen I had an unbelievable year. I was having an unbelievable year in seventeen. And ⁓ you know, taking a leg away from a speedster is not really good at all. ⁓ I learned. ⁓ but nonetheless I look back on those memories very dark, but also that I it's just a tremendous growth. And I I really truly ⁓ can't you know say it enough that that support system was elite. And ⁓ if your son or daughter has these injuries, keep them above water. And, you know, make sure you connect with them and say, you know, this is just a room for growth. We can fix other things. We can strengthen other things. You know, if it is your UCL, well, we're gonna your lower half's gonna get stronger. W you're coming back better. Like that's just how it's gonna be. You're coming back better. ⁓ you know, I don't care if it's a leg injury. Well, we're gonna we're gonna fix your upper body, you know, we're gonna fix your posture, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this. There's so much of available information out there to fix certain things at that time that you have downtime. So, ⁓ Really try to support that athlete as much as you can and really spin every negative into a positive. And when they come out of it, they're gonna be tougher than nails because going through something like that is not easy. ⁓ you have perspective in life. ⁓ you have more of a gratification for the people around you and the game itself. And it's a a tremendous area for growth. Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good stuff. Wow. so I mentioned earlier ca obviously you're the first base coach for the Angels, but you also work with outfielders and ⁓ and you work with the players on base running. When you watch young players today, what's one part of the game that you wish parents and coaches would spend a lot more time teaching these kids before they ever get to high school? Adam Eaton: ⁓ man. Just learn how to be an athlete, I think. You know, I I you know, we go back to playing multiple sports. And that's when you when you said that I immediately went back to that. Is be an athlete and and have some instinctual backgrounds. You know, I you you see, you know, I the first thing that I did when I got to spring training this last year is I went up to every single player and asked them if they played multiple sports. There's eighty I think it was eighty-five percent of our guys played multiple sports. And I th and I think that You know, being a a very observant person and you see the guys that are specialized, they move differently than the guys that don't. ⁓ you look at say a Jose Siri that we have, you can tell as a child, Jose Siri drove his mom and dad nuts and they said, Go outside and play. That man can catch the ball on any foot. They he can catch the ball on the run, he can catch it slow, he can catch it jumping, he can throw it off anything. He is so unbelievably athletic. When he steals a base, he he's just he he moves very, very different than most people do. And I think that when you see athletes that are well rounded, they just move incredibly different. I saw a video last night of Bryce Harper talking about how babies move perfectly, and then all of a sudden you get past that. You know, when they when they bend down, they get in a perfect squat. They lift up their block with a per they don't bend from the waist. They they they go perfectly all the way down, they come all the way up. And it I think for me it's no different. When you can work your body in different avenues and different mindsets and and mentally, physically, ⁓ for me, I think as a parent, you allow that to transpire. You get them outside, you make them play outside, kick them out of the house, lock the door outside. Go play basketball. Go play baseball. Make up a game for all I care. And I know the world isn't the same. Trust me, I have two boys of my own. And ⁓ you know, we're we're on like a little less than a ha acre property. I understand there's restrictions there as well, too. But you can get really, really creative with it. You know, ⁓ take ⁓ to a baseball field and bring a s just of different items and just say, do something. Go. Like have fun. Let them figure it out. Let them pick teams. Let them Let them argue about a rule. Let them figure that stuff out. Let them do all that stuff. Because, you know, when you see guys in college, you can tell the kids that have. And then you can tell the kids that have grown up in a cage. And that's all they've done is a cage. ⁓ you can tell the control aspect of that. You can tell pitchers. You can just look at a picture and be like, that guy was a multi sport athlete. And he play he was a position player all through high school. You can just tell by the way he looks, or you can tell a pitcher that since he was age eight, he had been throwing off a mound with a track man behind him. You can just tell. And not saying that's bad. I'm not. But what I am saying is those more rel well-rounded individuals, they they seem to fail a little bit better. ⁓ they seem to move a little bit better. And ⁓ just like I said, Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: The the rhythm of the game just seems to come a little bit easier at times. And again, I'm not knocking anybody that is a one sport athlete because there are some unbelievable baseball players at the big league level that have and they're unbelievable. But in my opinion, those people are freaks. They're just absolute freaks. And not that saying that they haven't worked hard or anything like that. They've worked their butts off. ⁓ but those are freaks of nature. If if I think if you're ⁓ Joe Schmoe in in Kentucky, Tennessee, California, you know, when you name a part of the country, and you are a normal human to some extent, be well rounded. Go out and play. You know, find out where your body is, understand where your body is. And I think that when you can do that to your child, you'll you'll see you'll see a difference for sure. Bobby Minor: Good stuff. ⁓ being a coach with the Angels, you get to see Mike Trout day in and day out. What's one thing that Mike Trout does better than anybody you've ever seen? Adam Eaton: you know, what first came to my mind was preparation, but you have a lot of people that do prepare unbelievably well. I think one thing that he does better than anybody is just this consistency of his personality. ⁓ here as of late he's struggled a little bit and you just you don't know it. You know, he goes up there, he has the same routine, he has the same lifestyle, you come up to the field, you know. I he he just is very consistent. He's a superstar, one of the best to ever play in the world. He was out at two thirty yesterday taking extra ground balls and doing his routine in a hundred degree heat here in LA. At two thirty, superstar. Hundred a couple hundred yeah, I don't know how many hundred million dollars. Has his own golf course, you know. He hunts wherever he wants to. You talking about this dude is a unbelievable freak, has done everything in this game that anybody could ever do, and he still wants more. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: ⁓ you don't see that everywhere. ⁓ again, I'm not throwing shade anywhere else, but Mike Trout is the ultimate pro's pro. It doesn't matter what he's done, where he is, or how he's doing it. He's he stays so focused in his preparation. He continues to try to grow on avenues that he needs to sharpen. And he try he he he's the same guy every single day. He's I can't say enough about it. He it shocks me every day. I'm like, when is this guy gonna falter? When is he gonna change? When is he gonna show a little, you know, chink in the armor? He just he doesn't. And that's probably why he's been so consistent throughout his career. And I think, you know, ⁓ in the last three to four years, he's might have had a small dip, but like hi his intensity and the love for the game that he shows every single day just is it's unwavering. And ⁓ it's a it's it's so fun for the young guys to see. It's like who are you? You know, this guy's out at two thirty doing, you know, this, this and this. He's in the video room looking at this, this and this. You better you better attach yourself to this guy's hip and and and ride along and you'll learn a lot. So he's he's an impressive human being. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah, I a good friend of mine and mentor of mine, guy named Johnny Wembry, ⁓ you know, he used to always say suc success leaves clues. So, you know, if you if you want to learn how to be the best, see what the best are doing and and follow those clues. All right, Adam. So it's time for something I like to do. I like to call it in and out. ⁓ I mean I know you're an outfielder, but it it's you know, it's it's a little bit more fun. I think in and out's more fun when you're in the infield, but ⁓ Adam Eaton: Yeah. Bobby Minor: It's gonna be four questions, four questions, rapid fire, you know, fifteen to twenty second answers. And ⁓ anyway, so we're gonna jump into it. It's time for some in and out with Adam Eaton. All right, Adam, first question. If you could give the parent of a 10 year old one piece of advice, what would it be? Adam Eaton: Have fun. That's it. Have fun. Don't don't y Yeah. ⁓ I don't care where his hands are. I don't care if he's not on time. I don't care if he boots a ball. I don't care any have fun. Your only job as a parent as a ten year old is to make sure he signs up next year. That's it. Bobby Minor: That's good. That's almost it's a microphone. I love it. Second question: What's one skill every young player should get really good at that doesn't show up in a perfect game ranking or grade? Adam Eaton: Coming ready to play every single day. you come ready every day, focused, that will last you a lifetime. Just like we talked about with Mike Trout just you know a few seconds ago. If you come as a as a pro and you come ready to play every single day, good things will happen. Bobby Minor: Okay, good stuff. Third question what's one thing parents put way too much importance on in youth baseball? Adam Eaton: Success. ⁓ you know, I was never unbelievable. You know, I was ⁓ you know, never an all American, never played for USA baseball, never, you know, was all, you know, world. ⁓ it just keep grinding, just keep playing, keep getting better every single day. ⁓ quit thinking, you know, you have to hit five hundred, four hundred, three fifty to do anything. Just continue to love the game, continue to play hard. ⁓ and the success will come. It will come, trust me. Bobby Minor: Good stuff. Last question, here's the slow roller of the group. ⁓ finish this finish this for me. If a kid wants to play baseball for a long time, he better learn how to Adam Eaton: Compete. Yeah, he's gotta compete. You know, when you fail, you gotta compete. When you're having success, you gotta compete. When your team's down six, you have to compete. Every bat matters, every pitch matters. Defensively, you make an error, you better compete the next pitch. ⁓ y you lose the World Series, well, spring training's coming, whether you like it or not. It doesn't matter. ⁓ you continue to compete. I lost state finals. ⁓ I was the the guy on the ⁓ the the mound on the arm. We lost. I still carry this to my to this day. But guess what? It's gotta continue to compete. That's all you have to do. Come ready, come ready to go and and compete your butt off and let the chips fall where they may. Bobby Minor: All right, good stuff. That was In N Out with Adam Eaton. All right, Adam, I want to wrap up our time here today. I just have a few more questions for you. These are more kind of I would say personal questions. I mean fun questions, nothing, nothing too personal. you know, I was gonna say, who, what's one player that you can't stand that no, I'm not gonna ask you anything like that. ⁓ somebody you hated sharing the locker room with, Adam. Tell us about it. Spill the tea. ⁓ okay, your first base coach right now, and you ⁓ this it's just it's been ⁓ Pleasure for me just chatting with you, you know, this time that we spent here together. Surely one day you're gonna be a major league manager. So is that is that a part of a part of your future? I I see it. I'm gonna predict it right now. I'm calling it right now, chasing baseball dreams. Add a meeting, we'll be a major league baseball manager. Is that something that you've thought about? Adam Eaton: ⁓ Y I ⁓ no, no. ⁓ for a number of different reasons. ⁓ what Kurt Suzuki does and what every manager in the big leagues does, it happens so quick. You know, at the end of my career, I was with Joe Madden and I love Joe Madden to death and ⁓ you know I credit him again. I played first base and I pitched like he's he's awesome. And when I didn't play, I asked him, Do you mind if I s sit next to you during the game? Bobby Minor: Okay. Yeah. Adam Eaton: And he said, Absolutely. I said, I just want to know what are the ins and outs. And he said, Absolutely. So I sat next to him in the first day and I remember he was talking to me how he plays the game backwards, you know, and how he he basically how do we get to the ninth inning? We go to the eighth inning, seventh inning, sixth inning, and what happens in starting pitching. And how do I, you know, manage the bullpen and how do I manage, you know, guys in the clubhouse. And there are a lot of moving parts. These managers do not have an easy job in how they go about things. It's It's truly impressive how Kurt Kurt does it. You know, he has John Gibbons in his ear, which has done it for a long time as well. And just being able to be around those two and understanding how the managerial position works, it's impressive. ⁓ I'm very insecure when it comes to being a manager because there are so many moving parts. You got front office things, you have, you know, day-to-day issues, you have ⁓ you know, being able to manage the game itself. And ⁓ where I am right now as a first base coach is a perfect spot for me. I have very little responsibility. I do a whole lot of coaching and ⁓ I get to take the guys' stuff when they get to first base and I get a high five. And ⁓ in my last ⁓ you know, job is just being a psychiatrist. I told Zook this the other day. I said, you know, I'm the first guy that these guys see when they get out and they're frustrated. I'm like, I'm a little mini psychiatrist over there. I try to either pump them up or I talk baseball or I talk hitting and and so I I love where I'm at. ⁓ could managing be in my Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: know, future maybe for a a ten U team or a twelve U team, but ⁓ a big league team, I I don't I I I appreciate that, but ⁓ that that job is is ⁓ tumultuous to say the very least. Bobby Minor: Yeah. All right, all right, all right, fair enough. I'm still predicting it though. I'm still predicting it. ⁓ all right, couple just lack last really quick questions. ⁓ first one, you're a fan of the game. What is what is your favorite all time baseball memory that at from a fan perspective that you've witnessed in person? You could be it could have been a game you're playing in, but I'm just saying what's something from a fan perspective that you got to witness in person that's one of your all time favorite baseball memories? Adam Eaton: Well, in person, I I didn't get to go to many baseball games growing up. So I think I went to two, two, I think, or three, maybe three before I actually played. So I don't have very many actual memories of ⁓ you know, going to a game where there's been something historic that happened. I mean, when in the two thousand nineteen World Series was pretty cool. ⁓ yeah, to to to be on the field, ⁓ to ⁓ you know, be able to grind all year with those guys with an unbelievable group. And then just to black out. Bobby Minor: Yeah. Adam Eaton: ⁓ when we get the last out in the ninth inning ⁓ was something that I will never forget. ⁓ to say the very least. I you know that that's something that is historic to me. I guess one thing that has popped into my mind is my dad was a huge Cal Ripkin Jr. fan. And it wasn't very often we got to stay up unbelievably late to see a game. And I remember when he broke the record for the most games in a row. And my dad allowed me to stay up and see everything. Cow, you know, the you know, the banner coming down, you know, the the the celebration. Even got to see him, you know, walk around the entire stadium giving high fives. And I remember that so vividly that this man is doing something that no one's ever gonna do again. And ⁓ my dad had a tear in his eye because that was his favorite player of all time, rightly so. I mean, what a what a and I I you know, he's he was it. And ⁓ You know, now I'm with Brady Anderson, it's funny, you know, because he's good buddies with him. But I I remember very vividly him breaking that record and thinking to myself, this is a guy I wanted to be like. I want to play every single day. Wherever I am, you're not gonna keep me out of the lineup. And you know, yeah, of course I never broke that even close to it. I and I played 160 a couple of times, but ⁓ that was so vivid in my mind and I think was one of the staples to kind of how I went about my business the rest of my career and you know, y that was I was really young at the time, but even in high school it was like I wanna be on the field. Bobby Minor: Yeah, good stuff. Growing up, did you ever grow the Brady Anderson sideburns? Adam Eaton: I didn't. Brady still got him. He's still got him. He's still repping them. You know, I had a mustache about ⁓ you know, a week or two ago and I ⁓ I had my sideburns like Brady's and I came in and I'm like, I am not a sideshow, you know, I can't be going to first base and trying to get all this attention with my mustache and the Brady's sideburns. So I end up trimming them up. But yeah, Brady's still rocking him. I love that man to death. He's the best. I I enjoy going to the ballpark every day and seeing him. What a wealth of knowledge. But yeah, he's repping those things even to two thousand twenty six. Bobby Minor: ⁓ really? Yeah. Yeah, I I had my period where I had my Brady Anderson sideburns and then my other my other baseball influence facial hair was when I grew my first Jack McDowell goatee. Adam Eaton: Mm-hmm. Yeah, my my boys want that too. They they're like, hey, do the Fu Manchu or do the goatee. And I'm like, ⁓ all right. Again, I'm not a sideshow over there. I don't need to be having any more attention drawn over there to me. But the facial hair in the big leagues is is historic. You know, Raleigh fan. You can go through all of them. There's been some unbelievably unique ones. ⁓ I there was a guy, I think it was was it Fears that Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Adam Eaton: had the must ⁓ the Foo Man two that didn't go all the way around but went up and yeah, there's been some unique ones. We get bored in the hundred and sixty two game schedule. We get really, really bored and we're like, Yeah, how can we, you know, break up the monotony so Bobby Minor: Yeah, the connector. And and then you do something weird like that and then you go on a s on a you know, go on a streak and then now you can't shave it because you're on a streak 'cause you don't want to you know, you can't mess with the streak. Yeah. So all right, Adam, this has been amazing. Last question. What's your favorite baseball movie? Adam Eaton: You you gotta be careful. You gotta be careful. ⁓ the sandlot. It's easy. ⁓ yeah. Grew up watching it legitimately during the summer. We watched it two and three times a week until our mom kicked us out of the house. ⁓ there's nothing better than a a sandlot, you know, there's nothing better than the the pipe dream that kids all get together to play baseball every single day and we'll do anything to scrounge up a baseball. I just think the the premise of that, the whole entire movie is just gold. Bobby Minor: ⁓ wow. Adam Eaton: And ⁓ you know, even to this day I still follow the characters, you know. I it's it's neat to see them grow up just like we we've grown up. And ⁓ there's one liners for every day of the week here in Major League Baseball with Sam Lot. It's just ⁓ it's a beautiful, beautiful movie, ⁓ awesome movie. It brings back memories, floods memories and and what truly this game is all about. And ⁓ what a movie. It's it's it's it's w it's the best. Bobby Minor: Yeah, I love it. I'm actually gonna have Squints on the podcast. He's already he's committed. I we don't have it locked down yet, but he's already said yes. And ⁓ we had ⁓ we had a dog, a dog that we rescued years ago named Smalls, that just ⁓ just passed away in March. But yeah. Adam Eaton: A little f funny story about Squince is so we, you know, back when I played, especially early on, a lot of guys had aliases on the road, right? So you'd name make up a name and mine was Squince Paladoris and my wife was ⁓ Wendy Paladoris. So whenever my I would check in, you'd have the you know, the envelope and it hit say Squince Paladoris, and then my wife would come and check in, she'd say Wendy, and it was always funny calling down for room service and they'd ask your name and I'd be like, My name's Squints. Bobby Minor: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Adam Eaton: So yeah, you have to tell him that hey, ⁓ you know, big leaguer had this as an alias. Bobby Minor: Okay. gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna DM I'm gonna DM him today so that way I can lock him in. So Adam, man, I I appreciate it so much, man. I I feel like we have to we're gonna have to do a part two at some point in the future because there's just so much there to talk about. It it's impossible to get it into one episode. Adam Eaton: Yeah. Love it. Hey, like I said, ⁓ what you're doing is absolute gold. And I hope that parents really do listen to these podcasts and and just understand that a lot the lot of the guys that you're having on have been there. They have done it. They've experienced almost everything. And I think that if you'd ask ⁓ it ⁓ about their experiences, they would say they haven't experienced everything, but they're pretty well diverse. And that's the humble you know, humble side of things. And and all I think all of us want to do coming onto your podcast is that you're giving guys a voice in order to help the young kids, the young parents try to make this game, especially the game of baseball, any sport as enjoyable that it possibly can. And if they make it, they're gonna have to love it. And if they don't make it, they should still love the game and love their experiences. And I really appreciate what you're doing and how you're going about this and And like I said, I I love that you're giving us ⁓ you guys that have been around the game a voice. And ⁓ you know, I just do I like I said, I I hope the parents understand that you're you're doing the Lord's work right now and and ⁓ listen, learn and ⁓ take what you you can and then and try to use it in in any capacity you can with your child because I think they'll appreciate it. Bobby Minor: All right, good stuff, man. Appreciate you, Adam. Adam Eaton: Thank you, Bob.