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Draft Day to All Star - Torii Hunter · Rosters to Rings Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to rosters, to rings everyone. I am Ryan McDonough,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: joined as always by Thad Levine. That we have a
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: pack show today. We're in mid July. The NBA Summer
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: League is going on here in Las Vegas where I'm
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: recording this show. We're gonna have Tory Hunter, legendary Minnesota
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Twins star on in a little bit. But what I
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: want to start the show with that it's kind of
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: your wheelhouse, your area of expertise. The Major League Baseball Draft.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: A few weeks ago we talked a lot about the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: NBA Draft. We know the hype and spectacle around the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: NBA Draft, which is now spread out over two days,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: starts on a Wednesday with Round one and then as
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a few years ago, they have the second round on Thursday.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: So I think the NBA has done a pretty good
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: job overall promoting the draft that I think in a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: lot of ways they copied what the NFL did when
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the NFL spread out their draft over multiple days. The
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: difference for me is it doesn't have the runway that
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: the NFL does, where the Super bowls in early February,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the draft, I believe in the NFL is in mid
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: to late April, so they have a couple months to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: promote it. The NBA draft this year is just a
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: few months after the fire, actually just a few days,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: two days after the finals ended. But I want to
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: get your thoughts on the MLB draft, and this is
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: a listener question that we had. The question is why
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: can't Major League Baseball seem to get the same hype
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: and spectacle out of the draft compared to the NBA
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: and NFL.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Well, welcome, Ryan, great to see again. I think that
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: you know, it starts with there's a few things that
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: I think are contributing factors here. It starts with the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: fact that amateur baseball players are just not as well
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: known as their basketball and football counterparts. You just don't
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: see the same level of frenetic fandom of college baseball
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: that you see of college football in college basketball, and
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: I think that has a lot to do with television
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: coverage of the three sports. Baseball just isn't up to
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the same speed as football and basketball in the college
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: TV realm. Also, as your reference to Major League Baseball is,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: historically they used to do the draft over three days,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: so we're fifty rounds now they're twenty rounds. Even the
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: most die hard fans lose interest after a couple rounds.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, heck, Major League Baseball only televises the first
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: three rounds, which I think gives you a pretty good
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: indication of how compelling a product they actually think it is.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: And then I think the last thing to consider here
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: is that you know, Major League Baseball has a very
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: developed minor league baseball system, So when a high school
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: kid gets drafted, that fan is probably not seeing that
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: player in the major leagues for five years. When a
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: college player gets drafted, that fan's probably not seeing that
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: player in the major leagues for three years, Whereas the
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: NFL and the NBA offer instant gratification if if your
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: team selects a player in one of those two drafts,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: they're likely going to be playing, if not impacting, your team,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: in the very next season. So I think those are
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: the major differences that make the Major League Baseball draft,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: while interesting, not nearly the musty TV that the NBA
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: of the NFL draft are.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, great points that and one of the shocking stats
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: I read recently was that a high school right handed
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: pitcher has never been one to one first overall pick
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: in the draft. That's never happened, I believe in the
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: history of the Major League Baseball Draft didn't happen either
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: this year. So that's something that they really floored me.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: But you know, maybe we get into that a little
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: bit later as as far as why that's the case
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: that overall, as we zoom out and look at the
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: draft big picture, there were some surprises, seemingly from a
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: fan media perspective. Starting with the number one overall pick,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: what are some of your biggest takeaways from the MLB Draft? Well, Ryan,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: in just a touch for a second, on the high
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: school draft, the high school pitcher, it's represented the highest
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: risk player health wise in the pool of players. So
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: that is something that all teams are aware of. We
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: are always enamored with the high school arm but they
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: have led to the most injuries and so they tend
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: to not fall in.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: That one to one slot. You and I've talked about
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: it on the show a number of times. There are
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: two types of drafts, one where you have a consensus
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: one one and one when you don't. And this was
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: a draft where I think there wasn't a consensus one one. Interestingly,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: there was also another theme was that there was a
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: lack of college position player selected in the first round,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: which is very different than what we've seen over the
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: last few years.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: When Major League.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Baseball teams are building championship rosters, they tend to build
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: up the middle, which is to say, they're drafting shortstops, catchers,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: starting pitchers, in center fielders. Well, this draft was no
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: different in that regard of the thirty players selected in
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the first round, all thirty play up the middle, play
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: one of those four positions. Specifically, there were fifteen shortstops
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: that were drafted in the first round, fifteen high school players,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: fifteen college players. Of the high school players, just to
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: echo your point, Ryan, thirteen were position players, twelve of
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: which were shortstops, only two were pitchers. There were fifteen
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: college players taken. Seven were position players, eight pitchers, Three
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: of them were shortstops.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: One of the things I think that that's interesting from
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. I'm the voice of the fan here
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: on this show, right. One of the things I think
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: is interesting for those who know less about the Major
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: League Baseball draft, which I think is a majority of people.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: As you pointed out, I but as far as fan
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: and media interest and coverage, NFL draft clear one to
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: me NBA draft second, and then Major League Baseball probably
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a distant third, NHL somewhere in the mix. So when
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: you hear about reaches, you know, teams reached at the top.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: The top two selections in the draft face some criticism.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: You know, a lot's been written about it that. What
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: is your opinion, do you think those top two picks
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: were reaches and what do you think the thought processes
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: that those teams went through to arrive at those guys
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: with the top two selections.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Well, right, I think the word reach is easy to
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: be said by the members of the media, but I
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: think a few things to consider here, and as I'm
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: sure you can attest in the NBA, the two guys
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: that are selected first, so the National select ELI with
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Willitts with the first pick in the draft, and the
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Anaheim Angels select Tyler Bremner with the second pick. They
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: were both consensus first round picks. So with only one
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: pick in the first round, if that's the guy that
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: you want, you got to take them one and two
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: if you want to get them. So I'm sure their
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: reflection you have of the NBA draft, where sometimes you're
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: not necessarily taking what the pundits would say in the
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: mocks or where you should select the player. If you
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: only have one first round pick, you got to take
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: the guy when you want to take him. So Eli
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Willartson just a little bit about him. He's the son
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: of Reggie Willets, who was a very successful big league
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: player and a big league coach for quite some time.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: He grew up around the game. I think the one
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: detractor about him, he's a high school short step. He
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: was one of the youngest kids in the whole draft.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: I think one of the knocks on him was that
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: he doesn't have like a plus tool, And in baseball
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: we refer to the five tools as being your hit tool,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: your power, your fielding, you're throwing in, your running. He
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: doesn't necessarily have one clear plus tool. But what he
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: is regarded as is the player with the best baseball
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: instincts in this whole draft. The Washington Nationals said he
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: was number one on their board. They took him number
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: one overall. Tyler Bremner was getting a little bit criticized
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: for being the second pick in the draft. He probably
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: was a consensus top fifteen pick. All he does is
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: a right into pitchers throw ninety five to ninety eight
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: miles an hour with what was regarded as the best
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: change up in the whole draft. So I'm not sure
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: how much of a reach these two guys were ultimately.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: The other things just to consider is in the Major
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: League Baseball draft, you have slots per pick, and that
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: is the dollar amount that is a target for you
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: to spend per player. What we may be seeing is
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: in both those teams, rather considering there wasn't a consensus
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: one to one or one to two in this draft,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: we may be seeing that those teams are going to
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: spread the money out and try to build the best
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: draft classes they can rather than just have the best
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: player at the top of the draft. Of note to
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: me was the fact that the Anaheim Angels selected three
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: high school players in the third, fifth, and sixth round.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: The National selected high school players in the third, fourth,
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: and fifth round. I'm going to monitor the post draft
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: signings to see if they save money on their first
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: round picks and overpay those high school players to incent
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: them to come play professional baseball. The last thing of note,
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: which is very unique about the Anheim Angels. They've been
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: widely regarded as a team that does not inst invest
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: a ton of money in player development. That said, over
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: their last four drafts when Perry Manacien has been their
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: general manager, they've had their first round pick the fastest
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: to the big leagues almost every year. Sam Bachman in
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty one comes to the big leagues this season
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: and a half later, Zach Netto in twenty twenty two
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: comes less than a season later. Nolan Shanwell famously only
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: plays forty games in the minor leagues before being promoted
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: to the big leagues. And Christian Moore was their first
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: round selection last year. He showed up in the big
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: leagues in May this season. So I'm going to be
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: watching this draft to see when does Tyler Bremner come
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: to the big leagues and maybe sooner than we think.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: Ryan.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: One question I wanted to just ask you when we
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: just talked about the slots in Major League Baseball? How
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: does it work in the NBA? Are those firm signing
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: bonuses when you select a guy won one versus one five?
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Or is their latitude each team has.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: There's a little latitude Thad, but it's not significant. They
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: are slotted the first picking the draft this year, that
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: was Cooper flag out to do going to Dallas. He's
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: going to make around fourteen million dollars this year. On
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: the rookie scale contract, you can only move the base
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: amount up or down twenty percent. That usually for the
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Topics it is one hundred and twenty percent rather than
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: one hundred. You can move it down to eighty percent,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: And that is something that you'd want to pre negotiate
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: with the agent. Teams picking toward the end of the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: first round. Sometimes we'll do that, say, look, you know,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: we're up against the luxury tax crunch, and if you
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: want your guy to be in the first round and
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: get the two years guaranteed on the rookie scale with
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: team options for years three and years for will he
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: accept eighty percent. So a lot of times those conversations
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: will happen before the draft. But yeah, there's not that
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: much to negotiate. Cooper flag make around fourteen million this year.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: The thirtieth and last pick in the first round make
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I think just under three million, So there's about an
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: eleven million dollar range. But I think it's good from
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: the team perspective because you're not worried about, you know,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: signing a player like you have been historically in Major
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: League Baseball, will a guy be too expensive and all that.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: If he's draft in the first round, he's most like
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: to play. One final note on the draft that the
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: thing I'm most interested in following, because I thought it
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: was a really cool story, was the Colorado Rockies drafting
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Ethan Holiday with the fourth pick. Our listeners recognize that name,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: son of Rocky's great Matt Holliday, a shortstop out of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: I thought the picture is pretty cool that Matt Holiday
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: picking up Ethan as a kid, and then apparently after
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the draft, Matt Holliday thought it'd be a good idea
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: to pick up an eighteen year old Ethan Holiday looked
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: like a heavy Lifford for him at that point. But
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: I'll be watching that to see how that turns out
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: for the Rockies and Ryan.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: That comes full circle for me. I was with the
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Colorado Rockies in nineteen ninety nine through two thousand and five.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: I was there during Matt Holliday's heyday. I saw him
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: with Jackson Holiday with Ethan Holiday in the clubhouse playing
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: wiffle ball. Those guys could rake when they were like
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: two and four. Lord knows what they're going to accomplish
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: in the Big Leagues as a brother brother duo.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: There really really neat story. I think Rockies fans are
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: excited about that, and I'm excited about the guy we
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: have coming up next. That is Tory Hunter, a former
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: star of the Minnesota Twins. You know who he is
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: in and All Star bunch of times. One of the
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: most synonymous names with the Twins franchise, probably in franchise history.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: He'll be joining us right after this on Rosters to Rings.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to Roshurst Rings. We are fired up to
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: bring Tory hundred on the show. Let me give you
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: a little background as to who Toy is. Tory grew
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Nineteen ninety three. He was
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: the twentieth pick in the first round by the Minnesota Twins.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Over his nineteen year major league career, he had three
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty three home runs, accumulating almost fifty a
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: little bit over fifty war He played for the Twins,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: the Angels, and the Tigers. Five time All Star, nine
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: time goal Glover, two time Silver Slugger, received MVP votes
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: in five different seasons. He was known for his highlight
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: reel catches, his bombs, his epic clutch bombs, but he
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: also happens to be a great father and a tremendous businessman.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: One of his closest friends and longtime teammate, La Troy Hawkins,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: could not have said it better when he said, you
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: won't find a guy with a better heart, a better
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: work ethic, or a better leader than Tory Hunter on
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: behalf of Ryan McDonough. Tory, welcome to Rosters to Rings.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: Hey, thank you guys, man. I guess I gotta pay
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: you guys later for sand it. That was extravagant intro.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: That was crazy.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: It made me.
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: I was like, that was me? Is that me? They
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: talked about me?
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Hell, yes, that is you. Every bit of it is you.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: Wow, that's that's awesome.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: That said he was going to read it just the
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: way you wrote it, toy. He said, he just worked
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: for a word. Go ahead, Yeah, I'm.
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: Going wrote that fifty books.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: I tripped up on one of those things.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: I apologize.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: I'll reread it later. Hey, Tory, start us off, like,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: growing up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, how did that shape
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: you as a man and as a teammate throughout your career?
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: Well, you know what now that I look back, But
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: as I was going through it, man. You you know,
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: as a kid, you're you're constantly saying like, man, this
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: is not the life. You know, just just the whole
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: area that I grew up in. It was so much
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: drug use and gang balance. But at the same time,
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: there was a lot of loving people. You know, my
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: mom knew everyone, my dad knew everyone. So if you
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: did something, uh that was not right outside, they had
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: the right to spank you. So you could get spankings
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: from a person you don't even know what they know.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: I know your daddy, you did this, I'm gonna spank you, right.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: It's like it took a village to really raise the kids.
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: Where I'm from in Pampa, Arkansas, And you know, I
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: had my grandmother and my grandfather, and my grandfather worked
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: you know, at a wood mill, and he walked to
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: work every day. My grand my granddad was jacked. He
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: was so jacked, man, and he was so in shape,
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: and he walked all the way to he was like
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: seventy five eighty and he worked till he.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Was about seventy five eighty.
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: So just watching him put in the work and always
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: go to work on a day to day basis, man
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: that's someone that I really looked up to.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: My dad worked late nights.
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: My dad served in Vietnam and and but came back
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: and during that crack epidemic in eighty four, actually got
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: hooked on that. And and then that's when you saw
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: the life start to spiral in turn. It was different
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: for us. And and so sometimes you know, as a kid,
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: you're like, man, this is not the life.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: You start comparing yourself to other people's life.
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: You look at their parents, you look at they're clean,
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: they're good, they're working. And then you look at my parents.
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: My mom was a teacher, she was actually good. My
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: father just not there and because of other things that
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: was happening in his life, that demons in his life
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: that he couldn't get over.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, I wouldn't.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: Now that I'm I'm wiser now, older, wiser, I look
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: back and it was like that was necessary. All those
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: things that I that I went through when I was
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: younger and seen when I was younger, it was actually
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: necessary because that's what built me up to get through
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: some of the rough times during Major League baseball. You know,
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: if there was a slump, I'm like, man, I survive shooting.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: You know, if there was nights where I didn't have
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: any money and I was hungry in the minor leagues,
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: I was like, man, I've done this before.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: I can handle this.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: So all the things that I went through in Pine Bluff, Arkansas,
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: growing up good and bad, actually it was it was
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: kind of like my preparation for what was to come.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: And so I definitely think of Pine Bluff I learned
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: a lot. I wouldn't take it back for anything. I
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: wouldn't wish it on anyone. But I think majority of
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: our young youth need to go through something, and they
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: don't have to go through what I went through, but
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: they have to go through something and actually prepares them
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: for what they really have to do in life.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: You know, Tory, I think you're bringing up an awesome
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: point here. Like I've always thought baseball is such a
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: melting pot. You know, You've got players from the Dominican Republic,
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: from Venezuela, from Panama, from Korea, from Taiwan, from Japan,
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: from the United States, all playing together, and we're asking
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: guys to all build this unity in this team. I've
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: always felt like some of the players who really perform
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: well in the face of adversity are the guys who
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: face bigger adversities in their lives. You know, when I
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: heard your story for the first time and you talk
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: about how there were nights where the electricity wasn't on,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: or there wasn't necessarily food on the table, or there
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: was some erratic behavior around you, and then I fast
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: forward to Oka, like how does he handle hitting? You know,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: when the game's on the line and you're at the plate,
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: It's like, well, that's not as pressure packed as what
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: you've experienced in your life. And I do wonder out
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: loud if some of the kids who've had no adversity
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: throughout their lives and when they're facing the first adversity
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: in the big leagues, it's overwhelming, and you know sometimes
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: it really you know, they can't overcome those moments. You
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: had a lot of adversity in your life and all
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: of sudden that prepared you well for your baseball career.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: Well, you know, some people can can have that adversity
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: and it becomes them.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: For me, I kind of as I got older, but
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: when I was younger in the minor leagues, I actually
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: still had some of that I was holding on to, Uh,
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: and it became my prison right. And so you know,
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: when things get hard, you like, you know, you tell yourself, man,
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: it's bad at home. My brothers are hungry, the lights
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: are cut off. I'm here in Fort Myers, Florida with
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: the Minnesota Twins, and you know, I'm struggling and I'm
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: going through a lot.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: So it can be a toll on you, and I can.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: I saw it on the field, but as I got
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: wiser talking to guys like Kirby Puckett who's been through
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: a lot in Chicago and telling me, you know, hey,
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: no matter what, once you step on the fields, you're
• 17:55
  Speaker 4: safe haven.
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: This is heaven.
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: You know, the family could be going through hell, but
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: when you step here, this is heaven. You have to
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: go out there and perform and do it for your family.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: Have something bigger than you, right, It's not about your
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: individual goals. It's not about you getting MVP. It's not
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: about getting making an All Star Gold Gloves. It's about
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: a vision of a legacy, something bigger than you. And
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: my whole goal was, all right, I gotta go save
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: my family. Before I got married, I was like, I
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: got to save my brothers. I gotta save my family,
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: and I got to play for them because I got
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: to get them out of poverty. I get them out
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: of the lights to cut off from they're hungry and
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: they're calling me. And so once I heard that from
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: Kirby Man, it's like, you know, you go out there
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: and you play, and I put that in my mindset.
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: That actually changed my game because I was playing for
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: something bigger than just me. You know, I want to
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: get to the big leagues, and I want a World Series,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: and I want to ring or I.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: Want MVP all these things about III.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: I got into a point where I had more a
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: vision of something that was greater than me. And that's
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: actually that pulled me more than anything versus the selfish
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: way of getting these things.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: An incredible backstory, toy, and I'd love it if you
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: take us back to the summer of nineteen ninety three.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: If Dad mentioned you were the Twins' first round pick,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: twentieth pick overall out of Pine Bluff High School in Arkansas,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: What was your mindset? What was your thought process? Was
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: college of consideration or do you do you know as
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: soon as you heard your name called on draft night
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: that you're going to be a pro right away?
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: Well, no, Actually, my mom was a school teacher, like
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: I told you, And so I signed with the University
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: of Arkansas to play in baseball. And and so summer
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: weren't We were negotiating, and we didn't get the deal done.
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: The twins and I we didn't get the deal done.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: And I was on my way to summer school in
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: Badville and my mom, I'm telling her, Mom went the
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: first round.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: I should she don't. I don't care what the first
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: round is. I don't even know what that is.
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: But you are going to get your education and you're
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: going to go to school, and he gets you a
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: good job, and you're gonna work for somebody. And I
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: always told her, I want to have my own business.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: I don't want to work for no one. I want
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: to have my own business. She was like, shut up, boy,
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: you're getting your degree and you're gonna work for somebody.
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: And so that was the old mindset of the boomers.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: And so, uh, she said, I was going to school.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: I'm like, went in the first round. She said, I
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: don't know what that is, and I don't care. And
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: so Mike Ruth was a scout, damn still a scout,
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: probably with the twins, and he came and talked to
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: her and gave us the first offer. And the first
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: offer was, you know, two hundred and fifty K no school,
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: and she's like two hundred.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: She was thicking two hundred and fifty dollars.
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: She was like fifty. She said, get out of my house.
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: And he's like, no, two hundred and fifty K in thousand,
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: and she was like what he said, two hundred and
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: fifty thousand. So she kind of kept her cool. And
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: my uncle Robert sold furniture right at a Havebrity's and
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: so he kind of he came in and spoke for us,
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: and he kind of used me as furniture. He's like,
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: all right, he's starting negotiating and saying, hey, plus pay
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: for school because he has a scholarship, we have to
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: pay for that. So they came back and July fifteenth,
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: they said, hey, we'll pay for school, and we'll give
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: you four hundred thousand, I mean four hundred and fifty
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: thousand dollars plus school. And so my mom was like,
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: oh my god, take it. So I went and I
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: was seventeen years old and drove to four miles, Florida
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: by myself as a seventeen year old twenty two hours,
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: stopped at every rest stop to take a piss.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: That's awesome, Tori, and Mike Ruth is still with the
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: Minnesota Twins. It's incredible. Hey, I just want to ask
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: you one additional question about Draft Knight. You referenced your
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: grandfather earlier when I heard you first talk about him.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: You referenced that he was a guy who wanted to
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: play in the Negro leagues and that draft night was
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: a big night for him because it was kind of
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: your guy dream coming true and maybe his dream coming true. Like,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: can you just take us through that, Like, what was
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: that experience like for your grandfather?
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: Man?
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: It was it was awesome.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: I mean just when I was about nine years old,
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: I would my mom.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: Worked in Little Rock.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: She was a teacher in Little Rock, which is about
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: forty minutes north, and then I stayed. My school was
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: right next to my grandparents' house, So after school at
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: two forty five, I would walk to my grandparents house
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: to wait for my mom to get back, you know,
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: around five o'clock every day. But my granddaddy wouldn't let
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: me take my backpack off and made me sit down
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: and watch the Cubs because it was day games all
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: the time WGN, Harry Carey watching the Cubs and Andre
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: Dawson is playing, Ryan Stanberg and Mark Grayson. So all
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: these guys are playing, and my granddad will say, sit down.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: I never knew any words that he said. Just the end,
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: he'd be like, I don't know what he said, right,
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: he mumbled all his worth and then he'll say baseball.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: So I knew I had to watch baseball. That's all
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: I heard. And so I'm sitting on the couch. I'm
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: watching baseball, like I don't want to watch this sport, man,
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: I want to play some football, right, And he said
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: keep watching the game. So Andre Dawson he hits the
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: home run in the seventh inning, right, and I think
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: he tied the game up, and the game was over.
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: At the end of the game, I'm like, man, I
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: gotta I'm going to school and I'm gonna come back
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: the next day.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: I'm sitting down on the couch.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: I sit down on the couch. The next day. Andre
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: Dawson home run. I'm like, oh my godness, dude is smashing.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: He hit forty nine home run. I think one hundred
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: plus RBIs that year and that was the year I
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: think he had gave him a blank check and they
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: just rolle in what he was worth a million dollars
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: and it might have been eighty eighty six eighty five
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: somewhere around there. And so I ended up watching pretty
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: much all his home runs, forty nine of him that year.
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: And it was excited to go to my grandparents' house
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: and sit on the couch for my granddad. And so
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: he took me outside almost every day after the game,
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: and he showed me how to throw, showed me how
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: to hold the bat, showed me how to do all
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: these things. And then I went out and tried out
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: for a team called Mad Butcher that year and made
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: the team at nine years old, and these guys were
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: eleven and twelve. So I played up all the time.
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: And so I have to command my granddad for doing
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: that man, because without him something that he wanted to
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: do so bad. And during that time, there was a
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: slim chance that he was going to make it to
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: the major leagues during the time he was coming up
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: in the thirties and forties. But he actually taught me something,
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: and I never knew that it was going to be
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: a thing that I make a career out of and
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: a late leave a legacy out of. So I really
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: thank my granddad for putting part in that wisdom into me.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Great story, Tori, I love de Andre Dawson piece of
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: it as well. He was a guy that my friends
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: and I emulated growing up. We try to wrap our
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: back and almost pointed at the pitcher, and we didn't
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: have nearly the hands and wrists that he did around
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: that Quickly, we think we just watched the ball go
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: by us when we're trying all that stuff, and we
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: realized how unique he was. But take us now to
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: the west coast of Florida. You're seventeen years old, you're
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: a star in Arkansas, first round pick. You know, you
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: get the big signing bonus, Famili's happy and all that.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: And then I think one of the things our listeners
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: may not realize that I didn't fully realize, even as
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: a fan of Major League baseball is when you get
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: to spring training, what a big operation it is. How
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: many people are there? Think of teams? Everybody looks the
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: major league team, but all the different minor league team,
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: short season, high a LOWA, all that stuff. What was
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: that like as a seventeen year old kid. I'm sure
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: there were a lot of pressure as the number one
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: overall pick or number one pick for the twins. What
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: was it like walking into Fort Myers seventeen years old
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: and seeing some of those legends from Minnesota?
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: Oh man, Well, right away, you don't see the legends
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: back then.
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: They didn't allow you to even touch them.
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: You know, they were on the one side of the stadium,
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: and the only person that would come over was the
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: Kirby Pucket. He had a great person out and we
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: didn't see Chuck and O Block. We didn't see kenn
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: Herbeck too much. But Puck would come over in the
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: car and just kind of scream and talk trash to us,
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: and you know, get to know everybody. It was just
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: his personality. But other than that, you didn't really see anybody.
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: So I just kind of sat back. At seventeen years old.
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: It was July sixteenth. I signed and the next day
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: I was for marsh Florida. And I sat down and
• 26:35
  Speaker 4: Jerry White, a guy named Jerry White, actually took me.
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: I landed got to the stadium in my I was
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: in jeans and I was coming out of I was
• 26:47
  Speaker 4: getting out of the cab and he said, put your
• 26:51
  Speaker 4: shorts on, come out, the practice is over. I got
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: there around three or four. Practice is over. He said,
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: put your clothes on and then meet me outside in
• 27:02
  Speaker 4: center field. He's out there. I just landed. He's out
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: there teaching me. Oh, when the ball get to the wall,
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: you have to grab it with the hand. If it's dead,
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: you know, if the ball's not moving, you grab it
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: with your hand, not your glove. You might miss it.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: So grab it with your hand, spread your hands out.
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: And he's just teaching me all these things in the outfield.
• 27:20
  Speaker 4: I'm like, who is this guy? And he stayed on
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: me from day one and I ended up, you know,
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: playing the big leads and I was with him for
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: about ten years, eleven years of my career with him
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: in the big leagues.
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: So I gave him my second goal glove man.
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: So when I got there, I kind of sat back
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: and watched allowed some people that have been there, done
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: that to kind of teach me and show me. So
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: I always told myself that I wanted to learn as
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: much as I could from people that's been there, done that,
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: So I kind of watched the whole situation. I will
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: encourage all the young guys that's getting drafted to sit
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: back and watch. Watch how they're moving, Watch how the
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: flow of the practice, the flow of the clubhouse, and
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: watch the flow of you know, the coaches and how
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: they're moving. You got to sit back and watch and
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: not talk so much. See more and talk less. And
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: that's what something that Kirby Pucket and all the guys
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: before me, Matt longon. You know these guys, they all say, hey,
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: just sit back and watch, don't say too much, and
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: ask questions.
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: And that's what I did.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: You know, Tory, one of the things that I think
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: our listeners probably don't fully appreciate is when you come
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: out of Pine Bluff, you are the best player in
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: that league, in that city, potentially in that state. You
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: come into Fort Myers and now everybody is the best
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: player from their city and their state. You know, everybody
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: hit third, everybody hit first, second, third, fourth in their lineup.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Everybody could pitch and probably play center field or catch
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: or play short stuff. So it is challenging making that
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: adjustment from being the guy who's the best player on
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: the field to be one of the guys on the field.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: I wonder if you could fast forward to a night
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: in Double A when you had to call Katrina or
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: your wife and tell her, maybe maybe this game isn't
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: for me, Maybe I'm not gonna be able to cut it.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: What was that conversation like and what was that adjustment
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: like for you going from being the best player you
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: had ever been around, who'd ever been in any league
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: you've been in, to being a guy who's just one
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: of the guys.
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: Now, Yeah, I mean, may you do have a lot
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: of pressure As a seventeen year old kid and drafted
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: in the first round. You know you're gonna hear it
• 29:27
  Speaker 4: from all the players you know, and you know they
• 29:31
  Speaker 4: said you know, subtly, and you're gonna feel the pressure.
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: You're gonna read about it. You're not trying to read
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: about it, but you're gonna read about it. You're gonna
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: hear about it. But getting to Double A when I
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: got there, man, I'll sleeping in my car. In nineteen
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: ninety seven, it's just we couldn't afford the first month.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: Rent.
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: We knew we were going on the road for me
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: and a guy named Arma Brown. We knew we were
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: going on the road that after the first series, and
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: so we just say Hey, we got to save some
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: money and we go on the road. We're gonna get
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: paid on the road. And so we slept in the
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: parking lot of New Britain Broadcast Stadium and in the
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: in the car, and so we got up in the
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: morning the rich the guy clubhouse got rich. Let us
• 30:18
  Speaker 4: come into the clubhouse, take a shower, right, clean ourselves up,
• 30:22
  Speaker 4: chill out for a minute before the manager gets there.
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: We were, which was al Newman. We actually drove to
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: the mall and just hung out at the mall until
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: we have to report, and then we came back as
• 30:33
  Speaker 4: if nothing was happening, you know. And we did that
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: for four games, and then we went on the road
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: and the team provide the hotel for you.
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: So uh, and I was just frustrated, like, you.
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: Don't we don't know what's going on. It might have
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: been you might think, oh, he's struggling, but I was
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: struggling internally before I became uh, before I struggle externally, right,
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: And so I just had a lot on my plate
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: on my mind.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: I just got.
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: Married the year before and now I'm sleeping in the car,
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: and you know, me and my buddy was just like
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: all right, let's just try to save some money. And
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: then we end up standing at a Harthorne Inn hotel,
• 31:12
  Speaker 4: which is thirty nine dollars a week, and so that's
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: the only thing we can afford. And it was rat infested,
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: my roaches and everything. You just do what you have
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: to do, and so I was I think when I know,
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: when I look back, I was frustrated with all the
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: things that was going on, and I felt like it
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: was my fourth year. I'm like, this is this is
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: too long, and I can go home and work at
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: McDonald's and make the amount of money that i'm bringing
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: after taxes. And so it wasn't so much on the field.
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: It was so much off the field issues that that
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: actually clogged my judgment. And I called my wife and
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: I said, hey, I think I'm coming home. I'm gonna
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: go back to school and get my degree and so
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: I can support my family. This is not doing it.
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: And man, if I were to, she said, hey, don't quit.
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: We don't quit. Just wait till the season's over, and
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: if you feel the same way after the season, then
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: we'll get it done. I told my I call my
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: brother to get his advice. He said, well, if you
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: come home, I'm gonna kick your butt every day. I
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: don't want that to happen.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: So so I'm master motivator, Yeah.
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: Master motivator. But hey, he's a he was a tough guy.
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: He was a tough guy, my older brother. So I
• 32:27
  Speaker 4: didn't I didn't want to deal with him every day.
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: If I know him, he was serious about it. And
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: so the season went on. This is this is after
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: April and it went on. In August twenty second, nineteen
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: ninety seven, I got a call ODIs Nickson got kicked
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: in the face and they said, hey.
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: We need you to come up.
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: And I went up and uh and got a cup
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: of coffee for a week, and uh, and I saw
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: the vision. I saw what I was fighting for, and
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: I was able to get a taste of that coffee
• 32:59
  Speaker 4: and uh and it was so when I when they
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: sent me back down to the minor leagues, the rest was history.
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: And I've found out what the vision was, and I
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: found out what the purpose and the dream.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: I tasted it and now I got to have it.
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: So nineteen ninety seven it was that almost quit and
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: that almost give up situation, which I think everybody got
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: has to have. I think all of you and everyone
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: that go out and do great things and successful things,
• 33:28
  Speaker 4: they almost have that almost give up moment, and then
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: before you know it, something happens and then it makes
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: you appreciate it more.
• 33:36
  Speaker 3: And that's when it turned around for me.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: Tori, do you remember what your weekly salary was when
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: you were playing in New Britain?
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: My week is salary after taxes was two hundred and
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: nineteen dollars.
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So I just want that to sink in for
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: our listeners for a second. People think that major league
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: baseball players, professional baseball players just get extremely wealthy playing
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: the game. The reality is a very very small percentage
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: of them. Do We've talked about it on the show.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: You know, somewhere around ten to fifteen percent of guys
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: who get drafted ever make it to the big leagues.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: Tory Hunter was a first round draft pick and four
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: years into his minor league career, he's sleeping in a
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: car because he's getting two one hundred and eighteen dollars
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: take home pay every week. That was the reality of
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: minor league baseball at that time. If that doesn't force
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: you a man to consider quitting, I don't know what
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: would they've cleaned that up a little bit since then,
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: but that was a major problem for guys coming through
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: minor league systems at that time.
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: And at that time, you know what I hate that
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: they didn't have is financial literacy courses. You know about family,
• 34:39
  Speaker 4: You know family, they're coming after you. No one is
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: teaching this. And so when a minor league the draft,
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: especially first round at third round, between first and fifth round,
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: these guys are getting paid pretty good money, and so
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: there should be some kind of lesson for those young guys, like, hey,
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: your own family's coming out to you and friends and everyone,
• 34:57
  Speaker 4: and they gonna make you feel guilty about it. And
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: you know, there's no financial literacy courses for these young
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: guys to really understand what's going on, because majority of
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: time you see a slump, it's only because you didn't
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: get your rest.
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: There's something going on off the field, and you didn't
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: beat the advanced scout.
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: Three things. You didn't get enough rest. There's something else
• 35:20
  Speaker 4: going on in your life, right, and then you didn't
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: beat the advanced scout. So if you can clear you
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: know two of those three things, you got a good
• 35:30
  Speaker 4: chance of getting out of your funk.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: It's just a It's just a constant reminder that professional
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: athletes are exceptional at something in their lives, but they
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: face a lot of the same challenges the rest of
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: us do outside of that thing that they're so talented in.
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: Yep, no doubt about it. We're human.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: We think like you guys think we might work on
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: our craft and really blackout sometimes to what we do.
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: As far as basketball football, you might see a CFO
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: or CEO who blacks out to what they do, you know,
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: and I lost a lot of relationships because I couldn't
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: do what they did.
• 36:06
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm like, no, I'm not going there. I
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: got time for you. You know.
• 36:09
  Speaker 4: I got lost a lot of family members who probably
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: did some things I feel like I couldn't. You have
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: to black out to the craft or the thing that
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: you do well because everybody's trying to pull at you,
• 36:21
  Speaker 4: crabs in the bucket, take you down because and they
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: subconsciously do it. You know, they want your money, they
• 36:27
  Speaker 4: want your time, they want something, and you have to
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: kind of manage and stewart that time and that money.
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: Well.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: So Tory in the summer of nineteen ninety seven, you
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: get your cup of coffee with the Minnesota Twins. You
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: talked about how that motivated you. You're going to play
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: nineteen years in the majors, including as an All Star
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: in your late thirties. Is you look back on your career,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: who are some of the great role players, the veterans,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: the mentors that stand out, and who are some of
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: your all time favorite teammates man?
• 36:56
  Speaker 4: You know, I guess playing with Yeah, I played with
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: the Minis Twins. They kept a lot of greats around.
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: When you're talking about Rock Carew, Tony o Leva, Harmon, Killerbrew,
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: Kirby Pucket, Paul Mollerder has been man. Paul Mallerder was
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: my teammate in nineteen ninety eight. Paul maller was my
• 37:18
  Speaker 4: coach in two thousand, two thousand and one, and then
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: he was my manager at forty years old in twenty fifteen.
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: And you know, he's been more influential, influential than even
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: my one of my best buddies, Kirby Pucket. You know,
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: Molly's always been a guy who just kind of took
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: me under his wing and talked to me about life,
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: about Texas and no state taxes and you know, and
• 37:46
  Speaker 4: all these different things, whether it be finances or or
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: how to carry yourself or what's you know, what to
• 37:52
  Speaker 4: look for on pitchers, you know, the tipping of pitches.
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: And he was so good at that. He was a mastermind,
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: and he kind of taught me how to do it.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: He had me turn my helmet around. I had a
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: day off in Cleveland and he the helmet has all
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: of them still has a hole on the top of it,
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: and there's a little hole you can see through. So
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: he made me put it on my face. And everybody's
• 38:16
  Speaker 4: on camera. They're like, what is this young guy doing?
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: And Paul Maler had me turn it out on my
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: face and Dave Berber was pitching, and he had me
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: just keep my eye on there for three innings and
• 38:29
  Speaker 4: he said, look for tipping of pitches, and don't take
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: that off your head until you figure it out. I'm like,
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: come on, Molly, you know this is gonna make me
• 38:38
  Speaker 4: look like a fool. I'm pretty, man, I'm pretty and
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: so and so three inners went by, and I threw
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: the helmet off and I said.
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: I got him.
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: I got him, Molly. He said, what do you have?
• 38:50
  Speaker 4: And Dave Berber was set. There was to be the
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: at the time it was the Indians. So he was
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: set on top of his glove and he threw a
• 38:57
  Speaker 4: fastball and he sat lord in his glove through a
• 39:00
  Speaker 4: split finger.
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: Or a change up.
• 39:03
  Speaker 5: I'm like, oh my god, so Dave Burbo, if you
• 39:06
  Speaker 5: go look it up, I'm probably hitting three fifty to
• 39:08
  Speaker 5: four hundred off of them because I knew what was coming,
• 39:12
  Speaker 5: and I knew what he threw strikes.
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: With and what he threw the balls with. So when
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: I knew something was coming and I said, oh, he
• 39:19
  Speaker 4: doesn't throw strikes with that, I just spit on it.
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: But I have to pretend like I was. I was fooled.
• 39:26
  Speaker 4: And so Capaul Maler taught me that, and just having
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: people like those guys around. Harmon Killbrew taught me how
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: to do the autograph hit every letter. He told me
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: a story about at the balls. If kids are playing
• 39:38
  Speaker 4: one hundred and fifty years from now you're dead, and
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: they're playing in the field and they hit a ball
• 39:42
  Speaker 4: and it goes into the forest and they're looking for
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: the ball and then they find one and they see
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: just a T a line and a H and a line,
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: they're gonna be like, we got to know the ball
• 39:51
  Speaker 4: to play with he said, rewind that. He said, those
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: kids are they're playing the field and hit the ball
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: in the forest and they looking for a ball and
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: they see tr h U and t er and you
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: see it with legible handwriting. He said, They look you up,
• 40:06
  Speaker 4: say wow, this guy was a good player, and they
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: put it on the mantle.
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: Which one do you want? I'm like, I want the ladder,
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: you know.
• 40:14
  Speaker 4: So Hamak Killerbrew taught me something that wasn't had anything
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: to do with baseball.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: He taught me something that had something to do with professionalism.
• 40:22
  Speaker 4: And so I've had a lot of guys around me
• 40:25
  Speaker 4: to teach me about a lot of different things. So
• 40:28
  Speaker 4: I advise all young guys to go out and when
• 40:31
  Speaker 4: you're in that clubhouse, you seek the wisest, oldest person
• 40:35
  Speaker 4: in there, and you sit and ask questions. That's one
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: thing Mike Trout did really well was sit down and
• 40:42
  Speaker 4: ask you a question. It was almost like a kid
• 40:44
  Speaker 4: in the backseat saying, are we there yet? Are we
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: there yet? That's Mike Trout.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: Tory put the shoe on the other foot. You've been
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: basically a captain on every team you've played on. I
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: want to ask you like mentoring people, what your relationship
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: like with Byron Buxton, how do you break him down
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: as a player, and what wisdom had you shared with
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: him as the next great center fielder for the Minnesota Twins.
• 41:10
  Speaker 4: Man Byron Buckson is very explosive. I think Byron Buckson
• 41:17
  Speaker 4: hasn't had a chance. We see greatness here and there,
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: but he's still because of his injuries in the past,
• 41:23
  Speaker 4: he hadn't been able to show the world who he
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: really is. Because this guy, I feel like could be
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: a Hall of Famer right this guy, uh is very explosive.
• 41:34
  Speaker 4: Nobody's as fast as him, has a great arm, his
• 41:37
  Speaker 4: his fight to play every day is unbelievable. I think
• 41:40
  Speaker 4: if he stayed healthy through a whole season, you'll see
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: some flashes of greatness. And I think that's what you're
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: seeing now with him being an All Star. He was
• 41:48
  Speaker 4: in a home run derby, he performed well in front
• 41:53
  Speaker 4: of his home state in Georgia and Uh, and so
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: I definitely think that you're gonna see some greatness he
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: stays on that feel for the last you know, ten years,
• 42:04
  Speaker 4: he hadn't been as healthy as he should be, as
• 42:07
  Speaker 4: he could be, and I think, well, once he does,
• 42:10
  Speaker 4: I definitely think that he's gonna do great things. But
• 42:12
  Speaker 4: one thing about Barron bucks And he's one of those
• 42:14
  Speaker 4: guys that actually sit down, ask questions and listen.
• 42:17
  Speaker 3: And still to this day, he.
• 42:18
  Speaker 4: Will call about advice. You know, it can be personal advice.
• 42:22
  Speaker 4: He said, I'm thinking about doing this. Am I right
• 42:24
  Speaker 4: or wrong? And I'll be like right? And then sometimes
• 42:28
  Speaker 4: I tell him he's wrong. Majority of the time I
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: tell him he's wrong. But he's definitely one of those
• 42:34
  Speaker 4: guys that ask questions and whether it be him being upset,
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: and he will call and just see am.
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: I in the right or am I in the wrong?
• 42:44
  Speaker 4: And I really admire that about Byron Buckston, who wants
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: to get some wisdom because I've been through some right
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: and wrong and I don't want you to go through that.
• 42:53
  Speaker 4: So if you don't want to do that, young folks,
• 42:56
  Speaker 4: make sure you talk to the guys that's been there,
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: done that.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Tory Thad mentioned the nine Gold Gloves. In fact, I
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: think I might see one of them behind you as
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: we record the show on one of the cooler looking
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: zoom style backdrops that I see, Yeah, that one right there.
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: Maybe a so slugger there too.
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, this is one of my I love this one
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: because everybody's like, oh, Tory can feel, they can feel,
• 43:19
  Speaker 4: but I think it overshadowed some of my hitting. And
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: so when I.
• 43:23
  Speaker 3: Got this, and I think this was two thousand and
• 43:26
  Speaker 3: nine with the Angels.
• 43:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, just being one of the best centifielder hitting
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: center fielders in the game at that time outfielders, I
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: thought it was special.
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: That was you understand. I cried when I got this.
• 43:39
  Speaker 4: Because everybody's like, oh, he could feel, and I would
• 43:41
  Speaker 4: see highlights and all I see was my fielding. But
• 43:44
  Speaker 4: I just hit thirty jacks. I just hit twenty nine
• 43:47
  Speaker 4: home runs or hit three hundred or whatever it may be.
• 43:51
  Speaker 4: And I'm like, man, I don't get no love for that.
• 43:53
  Speaker 4: But when I got that, I really I felt like
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: I proved some people wrong.
• 43:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: So for those who are listening, can't see over Tory's
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: left shoulder, he has a gold glove over the right shoulder.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: He's got a silver slugger behind me. Is similar to
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: the Hawthorne in I think where he stayed. That's where
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: I'm saying, Las Vegas. But we won't get it too
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: that on this show. Tory now or I do want
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: to go is your defense, because that's one of the
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: things you're known for with the nine gold gloves, the
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: highlight catches. I think a lot of people probably don't
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: realize for an outfield how physical that is in terms of,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: you know, hitting the ground time after time, running into
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: the wall, having the confidence to go up and over
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: the wall. How do you think you got so good
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: at that? And where do you develop the confidence just
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: to kind of go for it, because I imagine there
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: was probably some rough patches along the way where you
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: went for one, did not did not get it, and
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: we're feeling the pain afterwards.
• 44:41
  Speaker 4: I was, you know what, I was told this story
• 44:44
  Speaker 4: about Wally Pitt, So you know I was I was
• 44:51
  Speaker 4: hurting and I was sore the next day. I'll be
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: sore after running to a wall or whatever it may be.
• 44:57
  Speaker 4: But someone got to me when I was younger about
• 45:00
  Speaker 4: Wally Pipp and Wally Pip took the day off, right,
• 45:05
  Speaker 4: And you know the story of Wally Pip do you
• 45:08
  Speaker 4: and don't you? And so he took a day off
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: with the Yankees. He was a really good player. It's
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: an All Star. I think he was a three time
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: All Star and all these different things, and so he
• 45:17
  Speaker 4: said I want a day off, and so they was like, yeah,
• 45:19
  Speaker 4: we'll put the rookie in. The rookie went six for six.
• 45:22
  Speaker 4: And then the next day he said I'm ready to play.
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: They say, no, take another day off. Rookie went out
• 45:27
  Speaker 4: there and he banged again. And so we never heard
• 45:30
  Speaker 4: of Wally Pip anymore. So I never wanted to be
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: Wally Pip. And I told my sons that story and
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: they was like, hell, no, I'm not gonna be Wally Pip.
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: So I continue to tell that story all the time,
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: even in business and with my managers. We have about
• 45:45
  Speaker 4: thirty managers in our restaurant, and even in business, I
• 45:48
  Speaker 4: tell him the story of Wally Pipp and he never
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: heard of Wally Pip and they'll look him up and
• 45:51
  Speaker 4: they but, oh he was pretty good.
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: But yeah, he lost his job to lou Garring.
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: Hey, Tori, I want to shift gears for a second.
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: When you look at your career, you you played for
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: like the Murderer's row of managers. I mean, just so
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: the audience can understand, you played for Tom Kelly, Ron Garden, Hier,
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: Mike Sosha, Jim Leland, and you talked a little bit
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: about Paul Malader, like these were these were challenging guys.
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: I imagined, they're very demanding, high standards of excellence. They
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: won a ton of baseball games. Tell us a story
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: or two about one of those guys, Like what would
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: the listener not know about some of those guys? How
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: rewarding sash difficult? Was it to play for those guys?
• 46:31
  Speaker 4: Uh? I will say, you know with Jim Leland, Jim Leland, Man,
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: I tell you what, the guy was so fiery man,
• 46:39
  Speaker 4: and I always wanted to play for him when he
• 46:42
  Speaker 4: was with the I was with the Twins, he was
• 46:43
  Speaker 4: a Tiger.
• 46:44
  Speaker 3: He will wear spikes and I'd like, Jim, why you
• 46:47
  Speaker 3: got the spikes on?
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: Man? He'd like, tee, you never know when I have
• 46:50
  Speaker 4: to pitch hit, you know. I just his personality and
• 46:53
  Speaker 4: his fire and his fight is grit. I wanted to
• 46:55
  Speaker 4: play for somebody like that, right, and he will fight
• 46:59
  Speaker 4: for you. And I end up playing for him maybe
• 47:02
  Speaker 4: like ten years later with the Tigers, and man, I
• 47:05
  Speaker 4: had so much fun in twenty thirteen. So he was
• 47:08
  Speaker 4: definitely one of my favorites. Mike Mike social is like
• 47:13
  Speaker 4: this guy who sits and watch reads the rule book.
• 47:16
  Speaker 4: Every morning. He's reading the rule book. So we're walking
• 47:19
  Speaker 4: there and I'd be like, what are you doing? You
• 47:22
  Speaker 4: know what I'm doing, right, And he's reading the rule book.
• 47:25
  Speaker 4: So every time he came out argued he was he
• 47:27
  Speaker 4: would sell rule, put a rule out there that the
• 47:30
  Speaker 4: umpire didn't even know. And so he was, you know,
• 47:34
  Speaker 4: preparing themselves and giving himself an optional of all the
• 47:37
  Speaker 4: rules when the umpire didn't even know the rules, and
• 47:40
  Speaker 4: he would hit him with it. They can't even throw
• 47:41
  Speaker 4: him out because he knew the rule. And so I
• 47:45
  Speaker 4: really took that from him. I'm like, wow, that's actually
• 47:48
  Speaker 4: pretty cool. And uh. And then you talk about Gardner,
• 47:51
  Speaker 4: who was a player's manager, who's you know, every player
• 47:54
  Speaker 4: wanted to play for him because he had your back.
• 47:56
  Speaker 4: He's gonna get thrown out for you. And then you
• 47:58
  Speaker 4: got Tom Kelly. I didn't like his methods at first.
• 48:02
  Speaker 4: He was he was a rough He was the roughest
• 48:05
  Speaker 4: guy I ever played for in my life. But I
• 48:08
  Speaker 4: got to tell you this, that man taught me something
• 48:12
  Speaker 4: that I didn't know I was going to use for
• 48:14
  Speaker 4: the rest of my life, is how to hit the
• 48:16
  Speaker 4: ball to right field.
• 48:17
  Speaker 3: He will take me out of games.
• 48:19
  Speaker 4: Going three for three, I hit three balls next to
• 48:22
  Speaker 4: Miguel to holler right around the blind drive.
• 48:25
  Speaker 3: Three for three.
• 48:26
  Speaker 4: He pitched hit me for me in the fourth and
• 48:28
  Speaker 4: I went off on him right I'm arguing, I am mad,
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: and he said, well, if you don't go to right field,
• 48:34
  Speaker 4: you won't play.
• 48:36
  Speaker 3: I'm like man.
• 48:36
  Speaker 4: So now Tim Huston is pitching and the pitcher can
• 48:40
  Speaker 4: be hit.
• 48:41
  Speaker 3: Almost hit me in my abs. He thought I would
• 48:45
  Speaker 3: say something else hit me.
• 48:46
  Speaker 4: In my abs, and I actually have to go to
• 48:49
  Speaker 4: I shoot at the right field, but I get a hit.
• 48:52
  Speaker 4: You know, it's crazy. And then so my whole career
• 48:56
  Speaker 4: I kind of had it in my subconscious to go
• 48:58
  Speaker 4: to right field.
• 48:59
  Speaker 3: So I can go to right feel anytime I wanted to.
• 49:02
  Speaker 4: And I got to tell you that was something that
• 49:05
  Speaker 4: I needed in my career.
• 49:06
  Speaker 3: And he was teaching me something.
• 49:07
  Speaker 4: And maybe he didn't articulated the right way and anything
• 49:11
  Speaker 4: come across the right way because of the way he
• 49:13
  Speaker 4: said it and did it, But I definitely think that,
• 49:16
  Speaker 4: you know, he was one of my smartest managers I
• 49:19
  Speaker 4: ever played for. And he showed me something that I
• 49:22
  Speaker 4: didn't know it was going to take till I was
• 49:24
  Speaker 4: forty years old, and so, yeah, Tom Kelly, is that
• 49:28
  Speaker 4: guy toy.
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: You played for three different Major League Baseball teams. The
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: one you played with the longest, though, is the Minnesota Twins.
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: Obviously that has a long history with the franchise as well.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: The Twins have reportedly been for sale recently on and
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: off of the market. You started your career there, Tor,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: you ended it as well in that last year in
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. What would you tell a perspective buyer, a
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: billionaire somebody who's looking at the Minnesota Twins what that
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: franchise means to you. We know the history and tradition.
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: If and when the Twins are sold. What do you
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: think the new owner will be getting.
• 50:00
  Speaker 4: If the Twins are sold. I definitely think that you're
• 50:02
  Speaker 4: going to get some organization that stands on tradition.
• 50:06
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 50:08
  Speaker 4: I think that they keep guys around. If you go
• 50:11
  Speaker 4: on there, you make a good impact on the organization,
• 50:14
  Speaker 4: or either just all your colleagues, the people that work
• 50:19
  Speaker 4: in the front office. Man, we build relationship. They keep
• 50:22
  Speaker 4: those people around for thirty and forty years. It's guy's
• 50:26
  Speaker 4: been working at since I was seventeen years old. And
• 50:29
  Speaker 4: I still got a relationship ship with them now. So
• 50:32
  Speaker 4: you buy that organization, you getting an organization that actually
• 50:36
  Speaker 4: believes in tradition, and they don't have a lot of turnover.
• 50:41
  Speaker 4: And I really think they raise good young men in
• 50:45
  Speaker 4: the organization. They go after good people in the organization
• 50:49
  Speaker 4: and good players and players that's not going to hurt
• 50:52
  Speaker 4: the franchise, and players that actually go out and play
• 50:55
  Speaker 4: hard nosed baseball. And I think they draft well. I
• 50:59
  Speaker 4: think they raised the young man well in that organization,
• 51:03
  Speaker 4: and they actually teach well, and they teach the game
• 51:05
  Speaker 4: of baseball. So and the fan base there is they're awesome,
• 51:09
  Speaker 4: They're they're you know, at first I used to think
• 51:11
  Speaker 4: they love hockey more than baseball. But when we start
• 51:14
  Speaker 4: winning and again in two thousand and two, that man,
• 51:19
  Speaker 4: I couldn't believe how loud they were, how supportive they were.
• 51:22
  Speaker 3: Everywhere you go, they love you.
• 51:24
  Speaker 4: So, Yeah, if you buy that organization, you buy something
• 51:28
  Speaker 4: very special.
• 51:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: I think the franchise has had a legacy of wonderful
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: character players who happened to be exceptionally talented, and Tori,
• 51:36
  Speaker 2: you were certainly one of those guys. And then you know,
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: the legacy that you left there carried forward, but you
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: also learned that legacy from the people who came before you.
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: One thing, I just want to make sure we hit
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: on before we let you go, Tori. Is you know
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: the impactful role you've played with your sons. You've had
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: a son drafted in Major League Baseball, You've had a
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: son drafted with the NFL. What advice did you give
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: them before they left home to start their careers? And
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: how was that different from the advice you got before
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: you left home to make that drive to Fort Myers.
• 52:10
  Speaker 4: Man, I will always tell them, you know, since they
• 52:14
  Speaker 4: were young, I said, Man, don't have any regrets.
• 52:17
  Speaker 3: You know, you don't want to be, you.
• 52:19
  Speaker 4: Know, thirty forty years old and you look back and
• 52:21
  Speaker 4: you say, I wish I would have.
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: I said, everything that you do, you do it to
• 52:25
  Speaker 3: the fullest.
• 52:27
  Speaker 4: And also build relationships, you know, not just on the field,
• 52:31
  Speaker 4: not just but off the field as well.
• 52:33
  Speaker 3: And that's what I did. I built a lot of relationships.
• 52:36
  Speaker 4: And the reason why I do a lot of investing
• 52:38
  Speaker 4: in do business because I have relationships around the game.
• 52:42
  Speaker 4: I shook hands with people that most people can't get
• 52:44
  Speaker 4: in the rooms with.
• 52:45
  Speaker 3: So while I was in the game of baseball.
• 52:47
  Speaker 4: I got in those rooms and shook hands and build
• 52:49
  Speaker 4: relationship with them, and that's what I did. So you know,
• 52:54
  Speaker 4: you can't you got to have alignment before you have
• 52:56
  Speaker 4: an assignment. So you just can't go and say I
• 52:59
  Speaker 4: got a sign but you have no alignment. So you
• 53:01
  Speaker 4: got to align yourself with people in the business world,
• 53:06
  Speaker 4: you know, the restaurant industry, the real estate industry, the
• 53:09
  Speaker 4: Major League Baseball industry. I actually aligned myself before I
• 53:15
  Speaker 4: started the assignment, and so that's something that I always
• 53:17
  Speaker 4: did for myself and I try to teach my sons.
• 53:20
  Speaker 3: And that's why I was telling you. I just sat
• 53:22
  Speaker 3: back and I listen and.
• 53:24
  Speaker 4: I watch, and I watched the guys like you know,
• 53:26
  Speaker 4: David Artiz who always want to be great. And I
• 53:29
  Speaker 4: watched the guy like Jack Jones who wanted to be great,
• 53:31
  Speaker 4: and I watched the guy like Garrett Anderson and all that.
• 53:35
  Speaker 4: Every team I went to and I watched all the
• 53:38
  Speaker 4: guys can make me better. And that's who I aligned
• 53:40
  Speaker 4: myself with. And then that's how you get the assignment done.
• 53:43
  Speaker 4: And that's what I try to do.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: And I talk to my sons, Tory, Thad sent me
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: a list of some of the things you're working on.
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: Really impressive and diversified portfolio. Most of our listeners obviously
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: know you as a baseball player, and a great one
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: at that, But tell us a little more about what
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: you're doing now and how your baseball career I'll prepare
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: you for your business life.
• 54:03
  Speaker 3: Well it did. It actually helped me out a lot.
• 54:05
  Speaker 4: I realized that baseball taught me so much. And you
• 54:10
  Speaker 4: wouldn't think that baseball would, but I learned that I
• 54:13
  Speaker 4: was a center fielder, you know, And I learned I
• 54:15
  Speaker 4: need a shortstop and a second basement in the third basement.
• 54:18
  Speaker 4: But when you do those same things in business, you
• 54:21
  Speaker 4: realize you need a CFO, you need a CEO, you
• 54:24
  Speaker 4: need a director of operations, you need a managers, you
• 54:27
  Speaker 4: need assistant managers out So I'm able to build teams,
• 54:32
  Speaker 4: you know within you know my barbecue restaurant, tender smokehouse,
• 54:37
  Speaker 4: I have here. I have five of those. I opened
• 54:38
  Speaker 4: the fifth one about seven weeks ago and we're working
• 54:41
  Speaker 4: on the sixth one. And then we have two coffee
• 54:44
  Speaker 4: shops called the finca coffee shop the Farm, and it's
• 54:47
  Speaker 4: really good coffee farm. The table Farm the Cup and
• 54:50
  Speaker 4: it's actually really really good. And then I have Skincare
• 54:54
  Speaker 4: hair care product. I've been with them since I was
• 54:56
  Speaker 4: playing about ten to twelve years Urban Hydration and uh
• 55:01
  Speaker 4: so we're.
• 55:02
  Speaker 3: In twenty five thousand doors in America.
• 55:04
  Speaker 4: Man, it's pretty cool and so uh and then the
• 55:07
  Speaker 4: real estate is just what I love loved doing. And
• 55:10
  Speaker 4: my son took over my real estate company, Tory Jr.
• 55:13
  Speaker 3: He actually is.
• 55:14
  Speaker 4: Running it now. He went and worked corporate for two
• 55:17
  Speaker 4: years after his career in baseball, went corporate in it
• 55:20
  Speaker 4: management and realized like, hey, I want to I can
• 55:23
  Speaker 4: go do all this and make money for my dad,
• 55:25
  Speaker 4: not this big corporation in Europe. And so he came
• 55:29
  Speaker 4: back and said, I want to work. I want to
• 55:31
  Speaker 4: take over your real estate. So he took it over
• 55:34
  Speaker 4: and doing a great job. So every father wants that.
• 55:37
  Speaker 4: But just you know, when you're able to go out
• 55:41
  Speaker 4: and create food, sheltering clothing for people that actually work
• 55:46
  Speaker 4: for you, there's nothing more powerful than that.
• 55:49
  Speaker 3: So and now I always.
• 55:50
  Speaker 4: Look at I used to think baseball was the dream,
• 55:53
  Speaker 4: and baseball.
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: Was the.
• 55:56
  Speaker 4: Thing that actually every like my success, right, Baseball was
• 56:01
  Speaker 4: my preparation all the learning the leadership skills, learning how
• 56:06
  Speaker 4: to listen and align myself with veteran guys.
• 56:09
  Speaker 3: Teamwork failure.
• 56:12
  Speaker 4: You fail in baseball three out of ten times, well
• 56:14
  Speaker 4: you're going to fail in business and life as well.
• 56:17
  Speaker 4: And so baseball has prepared me for this moment right here.
• 56:21
  Speaker 4: So when you could say you got two hundred and
• 56:24
  Speaker 4: fifty employees that actually go home or team members they
• 56:28
  Speaker 4: actually go home and have fool shelters and clothing, there's
• 56:31
  Speaker 4: no greater assignment than that, and I'm all for the task.
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: Well, Tori, you told your mother when you were a
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: young person that you were going to run your own businesses,
• 56:41
  Speaker 2: and you're doing that right now, and you're delivering exceptional
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: value to a lot of people, as you just said,
• 56:47
  Speaker 2: and we want to thank you for being unroster to
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: rings with us today. I think we learned a ton
• 56:52
  Speaker 2: about preparation, about competition, about excelling, but also a lot
• 56:56
  Speaker 2: about life. And that's what you stand for. You're a
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: professor athlete who had exceptional gifts, but what those gifts
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: you're still continuing to give back. It's not all about
• 57:06
  Speaker 2: those highlight reel catches and those clutch home runs. It's
• 57:09
  Speaker 2: about the lives you're impacting to this day, both in
• 57:12
  Speaker 2: clubhouses of all the guys you're mentoring, but all the
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: people in the community whose lives you continue to touch.
• 57:18
  Speaker 2: I want to say thank you on behalf of all
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: those people. Thank you for joining us on Rosters to Rings.
• 57:24
  Speaker 3: Tory, Thank you, guys.
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: Stay with us to the next segment. We'll talk about
• 57:28
  Speaker 2: the NBA summerly. Welcome back to Rosters to Rings. What
• 57:42
  Speaker 2: an awesome conversation we just had with Tory, right, I
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: want to tap into you. You're on an eight day
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: bender in Vegas. I assume you've been locking into Sigfried
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: and Roy and other some great shows. But we got
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: one more listener question that we wanted to ask you.
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: It comes from RF of Southern California. He wants to
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: know how legitimate a prospect is Yang Hanson.
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if by bender, Thad you mean sitting in the
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: hotel room and recording this show with you and then
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: doing serious XM shows all week, and then teaching at
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: sports business classroom, it's been wild. Yeah, I think it
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: really gets pretty wild doing all those things. No, Yang
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: Hanson really interesting prospect, that kind of an international man
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: of mystery in the NBA. There really aren't many secrets
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: anymore with the internet and video services that televise prospects
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: and cut up film all over the globe. But to
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: the extent that in twenty twenty five there can be
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: a surprise a little bit. That was Yang Hanson, the
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Chinese Center the Portland Trailblazers drafted in the mid first round.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: He was not a guy who was necessarily projected to
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: go in that range that most teams had him kind
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: of later in the first round. Most of the executives
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: I talked to thought he was going to be a
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: first round pick. I've seen him play a few times
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: here in Las Vegas at the Summer League, really intriguing prospects,
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: seven foot tall, very skilled. The nickname he got that's
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: probably going to be unfair, I'm certainly going to be unfair.
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: Is that the Chinese Jokic, you know, Nicola Jokic, because
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: he's very skilled with the ball, you know, seems to
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: have some good athleticism. The evaluators that I really respect
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: that some of them went to China to watch him play,
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: which is obviously very different from a scouting perspective than
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: watching guys play at Duke Kansas or Kentucky. They liked
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: his offensive skill a lot, and they think he's an
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: NBA player and maybe a good offensive player. The questions
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: come in, you know, defensively and then the physically. Anytime
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: you're talking about drafting a teenager, how long is it
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: going to take to build up that body, especially at
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: the center spot when you're the last line of defense
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: against pick your athletic freak in the NBA, but Yanna City, Decombo,
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: Lebron James. Yet you have to go body to body
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: with nicolea Jokic, who's huge and it's got all the
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: spins and tricks and skill in the world. That takes
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: some time. But yeah, he's been one of the buzzing
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: names here in Las Vegas, and one of the neat
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: things that is to see some of the international fans
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: come because at the game the other night there were
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: Blazers fan answered just root for the team, regardless who
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: they have, and then there was some look like Chinese
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: nationals who had the flag were jumping up and down
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: going nuts anytime jan Hanson did something. So yeah, there
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: aren't many surprises in the NBA anymore, but that was
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: one that was intriguing where they picked him and when
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: they picked him in Portland, and the fact that he's
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: come out played relatively well. I think the hype around
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 1: him and the interest in his career will only continue.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: You know, I have two follow up questions for you
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 2: on this. One just jumps to mind is how often
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: is it that somebody flies below the radar screen and
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 2: you know, surprises even the most experts. I mean, it
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: sounds like you felt like he would have been drafted
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 2: for sure, but maybe not quite so highly. And then
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 2: do as well as he's done so far, are you
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: surprised by what you're seeing out there?
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 4: A little bit?
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: The Chinese League is different. Usually the American players dominate,
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: and I'll be honest that they don't necessarily love going
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: over there because it's not a place you can usually
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: go and then come back. Usually go and you're committed.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: And the guys who go over there they get good money.
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: You know, last I checked, guys were getting a couple
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: million dollars a year guaranteed to play in China. That's
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: why they go and they dominate over there. But it's not,
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: you know, like the G League is. You make a
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: fraction of that if you go to the minor leagues,
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: but if you play well or a team has a need,
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: you can be on a plane that afternoon and playing
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: in a game that night.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: So that's the kind of the balance that players right
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: on the fringe of the NBA way. Usually it's dominated
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: by Americans. But yeah, young Hansen, you know, he showed
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: enough skill and there's been some interesting articles written about
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: the Blazers process. This is a multi year process that
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: and I think if a player is ever hidden, that
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: is the way to hide him. I think that's the
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: way it's going to happen. The last one who I
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: think is really an all time great player who was
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: off the radar was Janis a Ditakumbo in twenty thirteen,
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: coming out of Greece. He played in the second division.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: Giannis looks nothing like the Yiannis you know.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: He was a skinny kid. He was not a great
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: jump shooter. I remember I was assistant GM of the
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: Boston Celtics, so Danny Age and I were there watching
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: Gianis together in the spring of twenty thirteen, right before
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: I got hired in Phoenix, and we said, geez, I
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: don't know, you know, there's some talent potential, but you know,
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: he kind of had a mid first round, which is
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: where he got drafted.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: Then a few months later, Danny Age and I were
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: both here in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League,
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: him with the Celtics, me with the Suns. And now,
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: you know, in the Incredible Hulk, when Bruce Banner kind
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: of blows up that and it's got like muscles on muscles,
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: we said, wait a minute, who's that guy? And they said,
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: that's Yiannis. So we said, it is like what you
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: know where we like punched drunk getting off the plane
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: where he delirious that that looks nothing like the guy
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: we saw only three or four months prior. So that's
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: you know that to me, that's the last great surprise.
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: I don't expect Young Hanson to be, you know, MVP
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: all NBA candidate Face of the League necessarily like Giannis is.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: But if there ever is a surprise, usually that player
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: does not come from Duke Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina. It's
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: something like this, a story where guy's a bit more
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: off the radar. And that's how I described Young Hanson.
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 2: You know the other part that you just referenced Ryan,
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: which just draws some attention. For me, is just the
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 2: fact that you said he's being being comped to Ye
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 2: to Yoki right now, which is obviously like he's a
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 2: perennial MVP. That's so tough to do, you know. Sean
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 2: Johnson was a long time scouting director for the Minnesota Twins.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 2: He said a rule in the draft, we can't comp
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 2: people to other professional athletes because allow them to be
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 2: the best versions of themselves. Once you start putting a
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: name on somebody, it sets a standard that may be
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 2: really unfair for him to follow. You're talking about a
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 2: guy who is a generational talent. I mean, Yokich may
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 2: go down as one of the best players of all time.
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 2: Seems like, let's just let this guy be be himself
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 2: and shine his own light rather than kind of live
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 2: in that shadow of a player who it's going to
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 2: be extremely difficult for him to reach those heights.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: I would imagine, no question about it. One of the
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: things we tried to do when I was with the
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: Celtics and the Suns is you can say this player,
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: this prospect reminds me of this player because he does
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: this well. But it's not a blanket throwaway line. Then
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: you have to differentiate what is is different?
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 4: Is it the.
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: Skill, is it the makeup? Is it the health? Because yeah,
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: I think those plays comparison is going to be a
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: little bit lazy. That and as you know, each player,
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: each prospect is unique.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 2: Ryan, before we close out the episode, give us like
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 2: one or two highlights from the Summer League that you've experienced.
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the hype around Cooper Flag. I got
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: here Thursday morning, the first day of games was Thursday,
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: July tenth, and that there was a line out the door.
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: It was eleven thirty am here in Las Vegas on
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: a Thursday morning. I was going over there early to
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: do shows for Serious XM from the Thomas and Mack Center.
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: There was a line of one hundred people out the
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: door as one hundred and ten degrees outside just to
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: get in the building for Game one on day one.
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: Keep in mind this is an eleven day event. So
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: what this has grown into Cooper Flag against Bronnie James
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: was a standing room only crowd. The Lakers fans drive
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: through the desert about four hours to come support, and
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: we know a Lakers brand and their draw and then
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: they play Cooper Flag. So they've stood out. Another guy
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: actually up your way in Minnesota who I'm really intrigued by.
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: Johann Barnji French Center. He was in Minnesota Timberwolf's first
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: pick in this year's draft. I think he went number
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: eighteen overall. Yeah, you're really gonna be intrigued by this kid, six',
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: eleven long. Arms he's more not you, know as far
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: off the raider as Young, hanson but under the. Radar
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: this was, not you, know a highly touted. Guy BUT
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: i think he's one of those guys that if his
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: body continues to. DEVELOP i like his, INSTINCTS i like his.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: Touch he's still very. Raw it's going to take a
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: lot of, time BUT i really like the fact That
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: minnesota took a chance on. On one of the things
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: that we talked To Alex rodriguez And Mark laurie about
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: that was him dunking from the free throw. Line they
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: had a private. Workout he ran and jumped from the
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: free throw line and, Dunk so it gives, you i,
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: think a feel for his size and length and. Athleticism
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: So i'm really intrigued to. See it's going to take some,
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: time BUT i Think minnesota is a Great Spot conference
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: finalist team two years in a row for the first
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: time in the history of The. Wolves he's going to
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: get mentored by his, Countryman Rudy. GOBERT i really like
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: that pick for The, wolves And i'm intrigued by his.
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 2: Upside but for some tightness in my hip, FLEXERS i
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 2: can no longer dunk from the free throw line. Anymore
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 2: it's really a. Shame i'm sure that's the, issue the
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 2: only limiting. Factor, well thank you everyone for. Listening again
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 2: we got to hear about The Summer league of The
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 2: Major League Baseball draft and a wonderful conversation With Tory.
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 2: Hunter thanks to everyone here At rosters To. Rings please
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 2: join me host Bad, Levine ryan, McDonough and other general
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 2: managers every week For Roster syrings On, Apple, spotify or
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 2: wherever you get your. Podcasts