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Harborhawk Retrospective Episode #2 · Harborhawk Retrospective

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome into episode number two of the
0:15
Speaker 1: Harborhawk Retrospective Podcast. Last episode, we talked with Harborhawk's general manager,
0:22
Speaker 1: Nick Johnson, about his role with the team and his story.
0:24
Speaker 1: If you didn't listen to that, I'd encourage you to
0:27
Speaker 1: go back and do so. Nick, Was just awesome. And
0:31
Speaker 1: in that episode, he talked about how the analytical revolution
0:35
Speaker 1: has played a role in the Cape League, where he
0:37
Speaker 1: focuses on building a team and what makes him unique
0:40
Speaker 1: compared to other league general managers. And we also talked
0:42
Speaker 1: about the state of the Cape God League, where he
0:44
Speaker 1: sees it moving forward. For this episode, I wanted to
0:48
Speaker 1: sit down with someone whose role is more visible to
0:51
Speaker 1: the public. The general managers in the league tend to
0:53
Speaker 1: not get nearly as much attention as the managers. Cape
0:57
Speaker 1: Cod League coaches and managers are often seen as some
1:00
Speaker 1: of the great minds in all of baseball. Some of
1:02
Speaker 1: the lesser known, but if you really talk to baseball guys,
1:07
Speaker 1: they'll bring up some Cape League managers. And because of this,
1:10
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to Harborhawk manager Mitch Carriker. You know,
1:14
Speaker 1: there are basically two types of managers in the Cape
1:17
Speaker 1: Cod Baseball League. The older, grizzled veteran managers who have
1:19
Speaker 1: been coaching forever and now are retired from coaching other
1:22
Speaker 1: than this job. And the younger coach who, outside of summer,
1:26
Speaker 1: coaches a small college team or high school team. Carriker
1:30
Speaker 1: is the latter. Carriker joined the organization the same year
1:34
Speaker 1: as me in 2024, but his baseball career started long
1:37
Speaker 1: before that. Carriker is a West Coast guy through and through.
1:41
Speaker 1: He's from Clovis, California. played his college baseball at the
1:45
Speaker 1: University of Oregon from 2009-2011, playing with future big leaguers
1:50
Speaker 1: Kyle Garlick, Tyler Anderson, and Ryan Healy. After graduating, he
1:55
Speaker 1: jumped right into the coaching circuit, serving as the bullpen
1:58
Speaker 1: coach for the Team USA Collegiate National Team in 2012,
2:00
Speaker 1: which we will spend a little bit of time discussing
2:03
Speaker 1: in the episode. He spent six seasons with his alma
2:06
Speaker 1: mater in a variety of coaching positions, including pitching coach,
2:09
Speaker 1: catching coach, and first base coach. He then spent three
2:13
Speaker 1: seasons as an assistant at Baylor, then Loyola Marymount, before
2:18
Speaker 1: being hired as the head coach at the school he
2:20
Speaker 1: currently coaches at, Fresno City College, a junior college.
2:25
Speaker 2: In 2022.
2:25
Speaker 1: His numbers there are just ridiculous. A win-loss record of
2:30
Speaker 1: 142 in 38 over four seasons. On the Cape, he's
2:34
Speaker 1: won two division titles in three seasons and has a
2:37
Speaker 1: record of 61, 53, and 6. His career Calm Demeter
2:43
Speaker 1: and lack of ego stands out as someone who has
2:46
Speaker 1: seen him every day for three summers. He's a uniquely
2:49
Speaker 1: quiet person for a baseball coach, doesn't yell, rarely argues
2:52
Speaker 1: with umpires, and always seems in control. I mean, this
2:55
Speaker 1: is just a true and true family man. You'll always
2:58
Speaker 1: find his wife and three daughters at the games. And
3:01
Speaker 1: there is honestly no better person, in my opinion, to
3:04
Speaker 1: have coaching young men. So let's not waste any more
3:08
Speaker 1: time and let's get right into it. Without further ado,
3:11
Speaker 1: here's Mitch Gerker. on the Hard Rock Retrospective Podcast. All right.
3:20
Speaker 1: I'm back with Hyannis manager, Mitch Carriker. And Mitch, thank
3:24
Speaker 1: you for joining us today.
3:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks for having me on.
3:29
Speaker 1: My first kind of question is just overall, kind of
3:32
Speaker 1: give me a little bit of your story and your
3:34
Speaker 1: background specifically on how you ended up with the Cape
3:38
Speaker 1: and with Hyannis. Yeah.
3:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was coaching out in California where I still
3:45
Speaker 3: am right now.
3:45
Speaker 2: And a good friend of mine who I'd worked with
3:49
Speaker 2: at previous schools reached out and said, hey, are you
3:52
Speaker 2: interested in a in a K position?
3:54
Speaker 3: And I said, absolutely.
3:56
Speaker 2: He had actually played for Hyannis, I think, when our
4:00
Speaker 2: GM Nick was an intern at the time. And so
4:02
Speaker 2: they kind of remained close over the years. And Um,
4:06
Speaker 2: so he put me in contact with Nick and, uh,
4:08
Speaker 2: met with him and the president at the time and, um,
4:11
Speaker 2: went through the interview process and, uh, was fortunate enough to,
4:13
Speaker 2: to get the job.
4:14
Speaker 1: So obviously being in baseball, I'm sure you had a
4:17
Speaker 1: little knowledge about the Cape, but how much knowledge and, uh,
4:20
Speaker 1: did you have entering this?
4:23
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, I think I, I obviously knew it
4:24
Speaker 3: was one of the best leagues in the, in the country.
4:26
Speaker 2: Right. And, um, had a bunch of friends and teammates
4:30
Speaker 2: that had gone and played.
4:31
Speaker 3: And, uh, one of my, one of my best friends
4:33
Speaker 3: had coached up there. for a little bit. And so
4:36
Speaker 3: kind of knew a little bit about it.
4:37
Speaker 2: Um, didn't really understand the ins and outs in terms
4:40
Speaker 2: of roster management and that kind of stuff. So that
4:42
Speaker 2: was always a, a big learning curve my first year,
4:45
Speaker 2: even two years when I was up there. Um, but
4:48
Speaker 2: I knew it was the best and you were going
4:50
Speaker 2: to get quality players, uh, a lot of scouts obviously, and, um, just,
4:55
Speaker 2: just a great opportunity. And I didn't, I didn't understand
4:58
Speaker 2: really the kind of the nostalgia that kind of comes
5:01
Speaker 2: with the Cape of like the types of fields that
5:03
Speaker 2: you play on and it's all donation based. And so
5:06
Speaker 2: it's very, it's a very pure form of baseball with
5:09
Speaker 2: some of the best players in the country. So just
5:11
Speaker 2: that experience over the last few years has been, has
5:14
Speaker 2: been really fun to be a part of.
5:15
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And then I kind of want to get into
5:18
Speaker 1: a little bit, you know, um, coaching, you know, in
5:20
Speaker 1: when it's not in the summer, you're obviously at Fresno
5:23
Speaker 1: city college, you've had tons of success there kind of
5:26
Speaker 1: what are, obviously there's gotta be a lot of differences,
5:28
Speaker 1: but can you compare a little bit between coaching the
5:31
Speaker 1: summer ball with these D one guys and coaching, um,
5:34
Speaker 1: you know, Juco players. Cause there's, I mean, both have
5:37
Speaker 1: a lot of, uh, developmental aspects to them. Yeah.
5:40
Speaker 3: I mean, I think, uh, I mean, obviously the talent
5:42
Speaker 3: level is going to be a little bit different, right?
5:44
Speaker 2: Like we're dealing with, you know, division one players that
5:47
Speaker 2: are the best in the country out in the Cape.
5:49
Speaker 2: So just from a talent level, obviously there's differences there.
5:52
Speaker 2: You know, the difference to me, like when I coach
5:55
Speaker 2: at Fresno city, they're players that I recruited. I coached that,
6:00
Speaker 2: you know, I'm trying to build a program with and
6:02
Speaker 2: develop those guys to help them move on to the
6:04
Speaker 2: next level. Um, in the Cape, I feel like there
6:08
Speaker 2: are more players that are on loan to us, right?
6:10
Speaker 2: Like they, they are there to develop obviously their own
6:14
Speaker 2: individual stock for the draft and all that kind of stuff,
6:17
Speaker 2: but they're there to get better for their school.
6:19
Speaker 3: When they get back.
6:20
Speaker 2: And so, um, to me, I don't feel as much
6:24
Speaker 2: of like, they're my players in the Cape. It's more
6:27
Speaker 2: of like, Hey, I'm, I got these guys on loan
6:29
Speaker 2: for the next two months. My job is to get
6:31
Speaker 2: them as good as I possibly can and help them
6:34
Speaker 2: along the way in their development journey. Um, but it's
6:37
Speaker 2: not my job to implement what I want for them.
6:40
Speaker 2: It's more of like, okay, what does your college coaches
6:43
Speaker 2: want for you? How can we assist in that process?
6:45
Speaker 2: And so, um, that's one of the biggest differences for me. Um,
6:50
Speaker 2: the relationship part, you know, providing them with opportunities to
6:53
Speaker 2: be successful, like that's all the same. Um, but it's
6:56
Speaker 2: just a little bit different in terms of, it's not
6:58
Speaker 2: about what I want. It's more about like what they
7:00
Speaker 2: want and what their college coaches want, uh, them to
7:03
Speaker 2: do in order to get better, uh, for the next season.
7:05
Speaker 1: And that kind of leads me into where I was
7:07
Speaker 1: going next with the, you know, you mentioned like you're
7:09
Speaker 1: essentially wanting these players. And I mean, I imagine there's
7:12
Speaker 1: an element of balancing when you're trying to coach them, right.
7:16
Speaker 1: Cause you don't want to overstep. You don't want to
7:17
Speaker 1: tell them to do things or make adjustments that their
7:20
Speaker 1: college coaches don't want to. Cause at the end of
7:22
Speaker 1: the day, those are the guys that have have the priority.
7:26
Speaker 1: How do you kind of balance and manage and have
7:29
Speaker 1: your coaches kind of manage coaching these guys and making
7:33
Speaker 1: adjustments and helping them out without overstepping and, uh, you know, overreaching?
7:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, I think communication
7:42
Speaker 2: is key, right? I mean, I think communicating with the
7:44
Speaker 2: player first, when they get.
7:45
Speaker 3: There, like, Hey, pumped, you're here.
7:48
Speaker 2: What do you want to do this summer to get better?
7:50
Speaker 2: You know, uh, for pitchers, sometimes it's working on a
7:52
Speaker 2: certain pitch or, um, you know, strike throwing ability or
7:57
Speaker 2: increase my stuff. Um, For hitters, it might be, hey,
8:00
Speaker 2: I really struggle with a breaking ball or my fastball
8:04
Speaker 2: timing or I'm working on this in my mechanical load
8:07
Speaker 2: or whatever the case may be. Communicating with that player
8:11
Speaker 2: about exactly what their mindset is and then obviously having
8:15
Speaker 2: conversations with the coaching staff back at whatever school they're at.
8:19
Speaker 2: So we hope that we have a good enough relationship
8:21
Speaker 2: that we can communicate with those schools and say, hey,
8:24
Speaker 2: what would you like us to help you with in
8:26
Speaker 2: this process? Uh, as we, as we have this guy
8:29
Speaker 2: for the next two months and sometimes it's, it's really nothing,
8:32
Speaker 2: just let them go play.
8:33
Speaker 3: And get at bats.
8:34
Speaker 2: Um, but I think the communication is the biggest part
8:36
Speaker 2: in that is, is can we communicate with the player?
8:38
Speaker 3: Can we communicate with the coaching staff back at their school?
8:41
Speaker 2: Uh, make sure we're all on the same page, uh,
8:44
Speaker 2: kind of as we start the summer and as we
8:45
Speaker 2: go through the summer.
8:46
Speaker 1: For sure. And then kind of in-game managing and coaching,
8:50
Speaker 1: what were the differences? Obviously, there's more of an emphasis
8:52
Speaker 1: on winning when you're at school, but in terms of
8:57
Speaker 1: game-to-game managing and in-game decisions, what were kind of the
9:02
Speaker 1: differences between the two?
9:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think at school, I have the
9:08
Speaker 2: entire fall to understand who our personnel is, what they
9:11
Speaker 2: can do, what they can't do, and then we kind.
9:13
Speaker 3: Of run a system based off of what we know.
9:17
Speaker 2: In the summer, we have a general idea of what
9:20
Speaker 2: these guys can do, but we have a very short
9:22
Speaker 2: window of trying to mesh that group together before we
9:25
Speaker 2: start playing.
9:25
Speaker 3: And then we're, then we're playing every single day. So
9:27
Speaker 3: we're kind of learning on the fly. Yes.
9:31
Speaker 2: Winning is probably more of an emphasis at school, but
9:33
Speaker 2: we like to win in the cave too.
9:34
Speaker 3: Right.
9:35
Speaker 2: And so we're trying to put our guys in a
9:37
Speaker 2: good position to be successful on the baseball field. That
9:39
Speaker 2: means playing fundamentally good baseball. Are we stealing at the
9:43
Speaker 2: right time? Are we bunting when the game tells us
9:45
Speaker 2: to bunt? Can we hit and run? Can we.
9:48
Speaker 3: You know, from an approach standpoint, offensively.
9:50
Speaker 2: Are we doing a good job with that based on
9:52
Speaker 2: who we're seeing on the other side? You know, I think,
9:54
Speaker 2: you know, the development process doesn't change based on like
9:58
Speaker 2: whether you want to win or lose. You're still always
10:00
Speaker 2: trying to get better. But can you try to get
10:03
Speaker 2: better in the concept of let's win some games, too?
10:07
Speaker 2: So I think for for me, like the in-game decision making,
10:09
Speaker 2: it might be a little bit different at school because
10:11
Speaker 2: I control a little bit more of that, especially on
10:14
Speaker 2: the offensive side. But it doesn't change that much. I
10:18
Speaker 2: run it very similar at school that I do in
10:21
Speaker 2: Cape Cod.
10:22
Speaker 1: For sure. And then, you know, you're one of the
10:24
Speaker 1: younger coaches on the Cape. Who have been some of
10:27
Speaker 1: the guys that you've kind of learned from, you know,
10:30
Speaker 1: whether it be, you know, Roberts when you first got
10:35
Speaker 1: here in Katua or, you know, Orleans or YD, those
10:39
Speaker 1: guys who have been here a while, who have been
10:41
Speaker 1: the guys that have taught you a lot and you've
10:43
Speaker 1: developed relationships with on the Cape? Yeah.
10:46
Speaker 2: I mean, I think, you know, our, our manager crew
10:50
Speaker 2: among the Cape is, is pretty special. And I know
10:53
Speaker 2: we've had some new faces come in and out, even
10:56
Speaker 2: in my time up there.
10:58
Speaker 3: But it seems like we all get along really, really well.
11:02
Speaker 2: You know, for me, the two guys that really stand
11:05
Speaker 2: out are Kelly Nicholson and Scott Pickler. I mean, a
11:08
Speaker 2: couple of West coast guys that were, you know, kind
11:11
Speaker 2: of down the street from me that I've known for
11:13
Speaker 2: some time, even before the Cape.
11:15
Speaker 3: And so, uh, just picking their brain on a lot of.
11:17
Speaker 2: Different things, you know, um, how to navigate, uh, host
11:20
Speaker 2: families and, um, you know, players coming in and out
11:24
Speaker 2: on a regular basis and roster management. And how do
11:27
Speaker 2: you like using your pitchers and what do you do
11:30
Speaker 2: offensively that that might be a little bit different than
11:32
Speaker 2: what we're doing. Um, and, you know, there's a lot
11:35
Speaker 2: of guys that I met, uh, since I've been up there,
11:38
Speaker 2: like coach Smythe and, and, um, Jamie over at Brewster
11:43
Speaker 2: and Rob over at Katua. I mean, the list goes on.
11:46
Speaker 2: Like every guy I feel like I get along really,
11:48
Speaker 2: really well with. And we're all kind of pulling on
11:51
Speaker 2: the same end of the rope. Like we're trying to
11:53
Speaker 2: beat each other, but at the same time, we want
11:55
Speaker 2: to give these kids a really good experience and, and
11:59
Speaker 2: help them reach their goals of, you know, hopefully eventually
12:01
Speaker 2: playing in the big leagues someday.
12:02
Speaker 3: So it's a really.
12:04
Speaker 2: Fun balance of like competing against each other, but also
12:07
Speaker 2: on the same, same side of it. Like let's help
12:09
Speaker 2: each other out to make sure this is, the best
12:11
Speaker 2: league and it continues to be the best league in
12:13
Speaker 2: the country.
12:14
Speaker 1: And, you know, I want to get into a little bit,
12:17
Speaker 1: cause what makes the Cape unique is that host family
12:19
Speaker 1: aspect guys are coming from all over. You're in a
12:22
Speaker 1: kind of a relatively unique situation. You're one of the
12:24
Speaker 1: younger guys, you know, you have a family and you're
12:27
Speaker 1: coming from California to literally the opposite side of the country.
12:31
Speaker 1: Can you go into managing, you know, you've done for
12:34
Speaker 1: three seasons now where you're, you know, shipping up and
12:36
Speaker 1: you're taking your family across the country. for three months
12:40
Speaker 1: and then you're going back. What, uh, kind of talk
12:44
Speaker 1: a little bit about how you manage that and that
12:46
Speaker 1: balance and kind of that whole process of managing life
12:50
Speaker 1: and trying to, you know, be a productive manager.
12:54
Speaker 3: Yeah.
12:55
Speaker 2: I mean, I think, you know, we have three, uh,
12:57
Speaker 2: three girls, seven, five, and three that, you know, keep
13:00
Speaker 2: us busy. That's for sure. Uh, even without baseball, um,
13:03
Speaker 2: you know, I'm very fortunate. My, my wife grew up, uh,
13:06
Speaker 2: a daughter of a coach. He actually still coaches with
13:10
Speaker 2: me here at Fresno city. And so she understands kind
13:13
Speaker 2: of the lifestyle that comes with it. And, you know,
13:16
Speaker 2: the Hyannis family has been great to our family. It's
13:20
Speaker 2: a lot to pick up and move, you know, three
13:23
Speaker 2: kids and your wife across the country for two months.
13:28
Speaker 2: But man, the, the community and Hyannis and you know, our,
13:32
Speaker 2: our front office has been tremendous in welcoming our family
13:36
Speaker 2: and they absolutely love the summer in Cape Cod.
13:39
Speaker 3: I mean, they, they soak it up as much as possible.
13:42
Speaker 2: And I feel like every year they get more and
13:45
Speaker 2: more excited to go back. You know, the beach, the
13:49
Speaker 2: ice cream shops, the baseball games, like it's just, there's
13:52
Speaker 2: something special about it.
13:53
Speaker 3: And so it makes it very easy for me to
13:56
Speaker 3: manage that. Right.
13:57
Speaker 2: If they're having a good time and they enjoy coming out,
14:00
Speaker 2: then it makes my life, a lot easier and I
14:02
Speaker 2: get to do what I love and coach baseball and
14:05
Speaker 2: hang out in Cape Cod all summer.
14:07
Speaker 3: So it's a pretty good gig.
14:09
Speaker 1: And then kind of looking back to year one, obviously
14:11
Speaker 1: year three, what were kind of the biggest things you've
14:14
Speaker 1: learned in terms of coaching and everything? And biggest differences
14:19
Speaker 1: when you look at, you know, 2024 first year, Mitch Carriker, who,
14:23
Speaker 1: I mean, you won the division, you know, quick start. everything,
14:26
Speaker 1: but what have you kind of learned and developed? You
14:29
Speaker 1: think most as a coach in your three years here? Yeah.
14:33
Speaker 2: I mean, I think obviously the roster management stuff is
14:36
Speaker 2: a constant battle. And so just not being afraid to
14:40
Speaker 2: communicate honestly with not only our players, but with the
14:44
Speaker 2: coaches on the other side of that, of like, Hey,
14:46
Speaker 2: this is the situation that we're in and we're going
14:48
Speaker 2: to have to make a move very, very quickly. And
14:50
Speaker 2: Nick does a great job of that with our roster.
14:53
Speaker 2: But I think I, have gotten better at assisting him
14:56
Speaker 2: in that process of making sure we have the right
14:58
Speaker 2: guys in at the right time to make sure that
15:00
Speaker 2: we can be as good as we possibly can on
15:02
Speaker 2: the field and, and put a good product out there for,
15:05
Speaker 2: for the people that come and watch us. The other
15:08
Speaker 2: part is I think just being free to coach these guys,
15:11
Speaker 2: you know, my first year, I kind of, tiptoed into
15:14
Speaker 2: it a little bit, just kind of let them do
15:16
Speaker 2: their thing, kind of see how they operate. Obviously they're
15:19
Speaker 2: high caliber players, extremely driven. You know, I had done
15:22
Speaker 2: that a little bit before coaching with team USA and
15:26
Speaker 2: just felt like I didn't need to do much, but
15:27
Speaker 2: I think these guys still have a lot to.
15:29
Speaker 3: Learn and they want to get better when they come
15:31
Speaker 3: up here.
15:31
Speaker 2: And so getting aggressive is a tough word, but I
15:36
Speaker 2: think maybe a little bit more aggressive on the coaching
15:38
Speaker 2: side of things. And Not being afraid to talk to
15:40
Speaker 2: these guys about what their approach is or mechanically what
15:43
Speaker 2: they're doing. Just understand that I have something to offer
15:47
Speaker 2: these guys instead of just be there to write a
15:49
Speaker 2: lineup and that kind of stuff. So it's been a
15:52
Speaker 2: fun experience and I've developed some really good relationships along
15:55
Speaker 2: the way with players, coaches that have come and gone.
15:57
Speaker 3: Obviously our front office and stuff.
15:59
Speaker 2: So I continue to grow and always looking to get
16:02
Speaker 2: better each and every year that I go back.
16:04
Speaker 1: For sure. And I want to bring up, you mentioned
16:06
Speaker 1: your team USA when you worked as a coach for
16:09
Speaker 1: the national development team in the summer. What are kind
16:14
Speaker 1: of obviously that was kind of a while back, but,
16:17
Speaker 1: you know, they always say that you're either the best
16:19
Speaker 1: players right in college baseball. They're either going to team
16:21
Speaker 1: USA or the Cape. What are the similarities and differences
16:26
Speaker 1: between those two things? Obviously, it's a shorter period of
16:29
Speaker 1: time for USA. Yeah.
16:32
Speaker 2: I mean, I think team USA, you know, Eric Campbell
16:36
Speaker 2: over there, their general manager does a tremendous job of
16:39
Speaker 2: making sure that he tries to find the best players
16:42
Speaker 2: he possibly can.
16:43
Speaker 3: And it's not just about talent, but it's about how
16:46
Speaker 3: do we win when we go overseas?
16:49
Speaker 2: It's important that we represent our country extremely well. And
16:55
Speaker 2: that goes for not only talent, but character and how
16:57
Speaker 2: we carry ourselves and, obviously we want to, we want
17:01
Speaker 2: to be as good as we possibly can on all
17:03
Speaker 2: those fronts.
17:05
Speaker 3: You know, I think the, the difference is obviously, like
17:08
Speaker 3: you said, it's a little bit shorter stint. It's extremely competitive.
17:14
Speaker 2: You know, you get the opportunity to travel and see
17:17
Speaker 2: a different style of baseball. You know, in my time,
17:21
Speaker 2: we traveled to Cuba, we traveled to Amsterdam, we traveled
17:24
Speaker 2: to Japan, we traveled to Taiwan. And so, just from
17:27
Speaker 2: a cultural standpoint, being able to see the differences and
17:30
Speaker 2: how baseball.
17:33
Speaker 3: Is played in different areas of the world.
17:37
Speaker 2: And it's a, it's a very unique experience and you
17:40
Speaker 2: get a little bit tighter group because you're traveling on,
17:43
Speaker 2: you know, 18 hour plane rides and staying in hotels
17:46
Speaker 2: and that kind of thing.
17:47
Speaker 3: So it's a very different experience than Cape Cod.
17:50
Speaker 2: Cape Cod kind of mimics more of like what a
17:52
Speaker 2: minor league season would look like in my opinion, right?
17:55
Speaker 3: There are bus trips and, playing on a more regular basis.
17:58
Speaker 2: Um, but both are extremely competitive and, and, um, you know,
18:03
Speaker 2: I think offer kids the opportunity to do things at,
18:06
Speaker 2: at a very, very high level, which is, which is
18:08
Speaker 2: pretty cool.
18:09
Speaker 1: For sure. And, uh, my last thing for you, people love,
18:13
Speaker 1: you know, name drops, right? People. Um, so, you know,
18:16
Speaker 1: obviously you, there's been a lot of fun guys, great
18:19
Speaker 1: guys that have came through, uh, high ends, but just
18:21
Speaker 1: give me some of your favorite guys that you got
18:23
Speaker 1: to spend the summer with over the past three seasons.
18:26
Speaker 3: Oh, man. That's a good question.
18:30
Speaker 2: I mean, Kane Kepley was just an awesome guy to coach.
18:35
Speaker 2: You know, beyond just the type of kid that he is,
18:38
Speaker 2: he wanted to play every single day, which is not normal.
18:42
Speaker 3: You know, it's a long season. He played a lot.
18:46
Speaker 2: I think he was at Liberty at the time, and
18:47
Speaker 2: he was transferring to North Carolina. But he just loved
18:50
Speaker 2: the game so much. And those are the guys that
18:52
Speaker 2: you really enjoy coaching. Jake Schaffner is another one Von
18:56
Speaker 2: Lackey even though he was there for a short amount
18:58
Speaker 2: of time like the personality was off the charts and
19:00
Speaker 2: just really a fun guy to be be around you
19:04
Speaker 2: know there's been a number of guys I mean I
19:07
Speaker 2: mean I there's very few guys on our on the
19:09
Speaker 2: three rosters that I've been a part of where I
19:12
Speaker 2: was like man I didn't really enjoy being around that
19:15
Speaker 2: guy like we've had some really fortunate success with culture
19:19
Speaker 2: and personalities.
19:21
Speaker 3: And guys mending well together.
19:22
Speaker 2: It's It's been a really, really fun experience, and I
19:26
Speaker 2: hope that continues into the 27th season.
19:28
Speaker 1: For sure, for sure. Well, that's all I've got for you.
19:31
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for doing this. This was fun.
19:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, I appreciate it, Daniel.
19:35
Speaker 1: Awesome. Thank you.
19:36
Speaker 3: You got it.
19:39
Speaker 1: Welcome back into the Harborhawk Retrospective Podcast. Thanks again to
19:44
Speaker 1: our guest, Mitch Carriker, for joining us today. Really good
19:47
Speaker 1: insights from the hyenas. head coach. And as we kind
19:53
Speaker 1: of get into the analysis part of the pod, you know,
19:57
Speaker 1: it's been, as we mentioned, I've worked three seasons around
20:01
Speaker 1: the team and spent a lot of time around Mitch.
20:04
Speaker 1: And I can say firsthand, he's got a very unique style. And,
20:12
Speaker 1: you know, baseball coaches are often very intense, very kind of,
20:17
Speaker 1: you know, yellers, animated kind of guys. You won't find
20:22
Speaker 1: a more laid back, relaxed guy managing a baseball team.
20:29
Speaker 1: But at the same time, it doesn't come off as
20:34
Speaker 1: if he doesn't care. He's very, very quiet, confident, confident.
20:40
Speaker 1: you know, if you're really feels like he keeps things
20:44
Speaker 1: in perspective in his life. And that's the thing I
20:48
Speaker 1: find fascinating. I'm happy I had the chance to ask
20:50
Speaker 1: him about, you know, the family aspect. Um, because, you know,
20:56
Speaker 1: I've seen, I mean, he's got a great wife and three,
21:00
Speaker 1: you know, beautiful young daughters. Um, and I've seen them
21:08
Speaker 1: grow up at year after year, on the Cape and
21:11
Speaker 1: I've always found it fascinating that, you know, you bring
21:13
Speaker 1: the team or you bring your family across the country
21:17
Speaker 1: to manage this team for three months in the summer.
21:21
Speaker 1: And it's such a unique thing in a league where
21:23
Speaker 1: you've got Nicholson in Orleans, you've got the guys in,
21:28
Speaker 1: you know, Whitey, Chatham, there's a lot of older coaches
21:32
Speaker 1: in this league. And you're talking about a young guy
21:36
Speaker 1: with a young family that, He comes from the West
21:40
Speaker 1: Coast and brings his family here because he loves the game.
21:44
Speaker 1: He loves coaching. He loves developing these players. And you
21:48
Speaker 1: really see it in these quiet moments. He's not over
21:54
Speaker 1: the top. He really genuinely wants what's best for his players.
22:00
Speaker 1: And I think it's shown with the success, right? Just
22:04
Speaker 1: to give some context as to the success Carriker has
22:08
Speaker 1: had in Hyannis. According to ccblstats.com, Carriker has had the
22:12
Speaker 1: fourth most wins all time among high-end managers with 61.
22:18
Speaker 1: To put that in perspective, the third place guy has
22:22
Speaker 1: 64 wins. Carriker has 53 losses. The third place guy
22:26
Speaker 1: had 103 losses. The reality of it is that this
22:31
Speaker 1: team has not had sustained success year after year like
22:35
Speaker 1: some of the other teams in this league. He's got
22:38
Speaker 1: the second highest win percentage among guys or highest managers
22:45
Speaker 1: who have managed multiple seasons. You know, he has the
22:48
Speaker 1: second highest win percentage. And he's found success immediately in
22:52
Speaker 1: his three seasons. You know, he talked a lot about
22:54
Speaker 1: in the 24th season, he was just trying to navigate
22:57
Speaker 1: and kind of figure things out and learning on the
22:59
Speaker 1: fly and being quiet and letting the guys kind of
23:02
Speaker 1: do their thing. You could tell he didn't feel very
23:05
Speaker 1: confident in his managing that year. But he won the
23:10
Speaker 1: team's first division title in nine seasons that year. Then
23:17
Speaker 1: the next year, you know, he loses. I remember he
23:21
Speaker 1: lost essentially half of his position players to Team USA,
23:25
Speaker 1: you know, after the first two weeks of the season.
23:29
Speaker 1: Chris Rembert was the frontrunner for MVP after the first
23:32
Speaker 1: 10 games of the year. Von Lackey ended up going
23:35
Speaker 1: number three overall in the draft the next year. And
23:38
Speaker 1: is a top 25 prospect in minor league baseball. Myles
23:41
Speaker 1: Bailey was this massive power hitter. All of these guys,
23:47
Speaker 1: he lost to Team USA. And he still managed to
23:50
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs. And should have been born in
23:53
Speaker 1: round one. And then this past season. You know. He loses, obviously,
24:00
Speaker 1: with the roster turnover on the Cape. You're going to
24:02
Speaker 1: lose a bunch of guys. And it took them a
24:04
Speaker 1: while to hit their stride. But then. they went seven
24:08
Speaker 1: of their final eight games and stormed back in the
24:11
Speaker 1: division race, you know, on a seven game win streak
24:17
Speaker 1: and up until the second to last game of the season.
24:22
Speaker 1: And we come back to win the division. We think
24:25
Speaker 1: that some really good coaching kind of mixing and matching
24:28
Speaker 1: and finding things that work. He brings down, I remember
24:32
Speaker 1: he brought Brody Briggs to catch her from last, last year,
24:35
Speaker 1: a guy who, really does not hit very well, but
24:39
Speaker 1: he's a locker room guy. In a league that you
24:42
Speaker 1: don't really think about, you think about just getting the
24:45
Speaker 1: top talent and top graphics, bringing a guy that can
24:48
Speaker 1: be a true locker room guy and is widely respected
24:51
Speaker 1: like that was super smart. You know, he... He has
25:00
Speaker 1: an element to him that is both seen... in his
25:07
Speaker 1: junior college coaching at Fresno City College and his Cape
25:15
Speaker 1: League coaching. There's a Rampage Online article from 2024, which
25:22
Speaker 1: is the Fresno City College's school newspaper, where his former player,
25:27
Speaker 1: or his current player at the time, J.P. Acosta, who
25:29
Speaker 1: would end up actually coming down to the Cape at
25:32
Speaker 1: the end of the 2024 season, To play a few
25:36
Speaker 1: games for Hyannis said, quote, about Carriker, quote, he has
25:40
Speaker 1: a great way of going about his business and sheds
25:42
Speaker 1: down everybody in the program and allows us to play
25:45
Speaker 1: the game that we know how to play, unquote. And
25:48
Speaker 1: you see that. on the Cape too. He doesn't overstep.
25:51
Speaker 1: He works with the coaches. I mean, he talked about
25:53
Speaker 1: it in the interview, right? The communication aspect of communicating
25:57
Speaker 1: with the guys, college coaches, figuring out where we can
26:02
Speaker 1: help them improve and where the college coaches want us
26:04
Speaker 1: to kind of stay out of the way and just
26:05
Speaker 1: let them play baseball. He knows how to let these
26:08
Speaker 1: guys do their thing, but also guide them in the
26:11
Speaker 1: right way. And he's in that element, I think goes underrated, right?
26:18
Speaker 1: is he's a really good communicator. He's calm, he's non-confrontational,
26:23
Speaker 1: but he knows what he wants to do, he knows
26:26
Speaker 1: what he's trying to do. And it's impressive to watch him.
26:29
Speaker 1: I find it more impressive to watch him, you know,
26:36
Speaker 1: the game started at 6 p.m. And we, you know,
26:40
Speaker 1: with my job with the team, we were getting there
26:42
Speaker 1: between 2.30 and 3.30. From 2.30 or 3.30 to 6 o'clock,
26:44
Speaker 1: I found it more interesting to watch him than I
26:50
Speaker 1: did from six to nine when the game was going on.
26:53
Speaker 1: Just to see how he goes about his business, to
26:55
Speaker 1: see him interact with the guys, to see him interact
26:58
Speaker 1: with the coaches. Because he goes about it in such
27:01
Speaker 1: a calm, chill way that I think rubs off on
27:09
Speaker 1: the team and has that element of, hey, this is baseball.
27:13
Speaker 1: You know what you're doing. Go out there and play.
27:16
Speaker 1: element to it, which is really impressive. I can't emphasize
27:23
Speaker 1: enough how good of a communicator he is with the players,
27:26
Speaker 1: with the agents, with the front office on the team.
27:32
Speaker 1: And again, the Cape is such a unique league to
27:36
Speaker 1: try and manage because you're managing the players. The players
27:39
Speaker 1: have the ideas of what they're trying to develop. You're
27:42
Speaker 1: also trying to win games, but you've also got the
27:44
Speaker 1: agents and the college coaches and you're trying to juggle
27:47
Speaker 1: all of these things while by the way you've also
27:50
Speaker 1: got your Fresno City College job that it's the summer
27:54
Speaker 1: and you're still trying to recruit and you're still trying
27:56
Speaker 1: to communicate with your players there and check in on
27:58
Speaker 1: them and what their training is and you've got this
28:01
Speaker 1: family um so the way he's navigated all of that
28:07
Speaker 1: I find um Really impressive. The way he manages a
28:12
Speaker 1: pitching rotation. On the Cape, it's really tough because, you know,
28:16
Speaker 1: the example I'll use is you may have a reliever
28:19
Speaker 1: that you really want to use.
28:20
Speaker 3: In a game.
28:21
Speaker 1: But he pitched two nights ago. And if you throw
28:24
Speaker 1: him tonight, that's the best chance you have to win.
28:27
Speaker 1: But his college coach doesn't want him throwing two times
28:31
Speaker 1: in three days because they don't want him to overwork
28:33
Speaker 1: his arm or whatever. And so if you do use him,
28:36
Speaker 1: now that college coach is going to be annoyed. And
28:39
Speaker 1: now you lose that connection with that school where they
28:41
Speaker 1: don't trust you. And now in the future, later on
28:44
Speaker 1: in the season when you need a pitcher, later on
28:47
Speaker 1: next season, they're not going to send their guy down
28:50
Speaker 1: to the highest. They're going to send their guy to
28:52
Speaker 1: Bourne or Orleans or Whitey or a different league. So
29:01
Speaker 1: it's the difficulties of being a summer ball manager and
29:05
Speaker 1: the intricacies of it. That he's picked up on really
29:09
Speaker 1: quick and found success immediately with. And really has known
29:16
Speaker 1: how to pick his spots with his guys. Which has really,
29:21
Speaker 1: really been impressive. As that will do it for this
29:27
Speaker 1: episode of the Harborhawk Retrospective. Thank you again to Mitch Carriker.
29:30
Speaker 1: Thank you to League Statistician Chris Toms and ccblstats.com. Thank
29:34
Speaker 1: you to The Rampage Online. Thank you to Baseball Reference.
29:37
Speaker 1: And of course, thank you to you, the listener. Keep
29:40
Speaker 1: your eyes peeled for the next episode. But until then,
29:43
Speaker 1: I'm Daniel Bartolino saying have a good one. Cue the
29:45
Speaker 1: outro music.