In ’94,my two coaches in the Cape Cod League started calling me “The Mayor.” They thought I was always vying for votes, talking to everyone in the stands, talking to everyone at first base. That’s how it started.
Bagwell’s great. Mark Grace was great conversation. Lance Berkman’s great because we’re good buddies.
Some guys don’t talk. Rickey Henderson doesn’t talk. He’s getting ready to steal. Usually the guys who are getting ready to steal don’t say much.
Jerry(1) and I have a lot of conversations about what’s going on in the game, what happened maybe a couple days earlier. His brother’s an NBA ref.We always talk about that.
One time in spring training I was out and I came into the dugout and I threw my helmet in the bathroom. He could hear it. I ran out out to the field and he said, “Mix in some decaf.”
That was the moment when I felt I’d arrived.(2) I look in the clubhouse and Mike Piazza’s there, Randy Johnson’s over there, Mark McGwire’s over there, Tony Gwynn, Luis Gonzalez. It was unbelievable. I felt like I won a contest.
I was stuck behind Jim Thome, and Richie Sexson was a level ahead of me. I go back and look at spring training in ’98 sometimes and me, Jim Thome and Richie Sexson used to go do picks early everyday. Now we’ve all played in All- Star Games, Jim Thome’s about to hit 500 homers, Richie Sexson’s one of the best hitters in baseball. That’s pretty neat.
This is my seventh year. It’s about time.(3) The mascot’s got a bobblehead.
I loved Mark Grace. Him, Don Mattingly and Will Clark were the guys that I loved.
First major-league hit was in ’97 in Comiskey Park.(4) I’d just hit the game-winning home run in the Triple A World Series, which was awesome, then I got called up to the big leagues, which was unbelievable. First major-league at-bat, I had no bat, no helmet, no batting gloves. So, I used Manny Ramirez’s bat, Tony Fernandez’s helmet and Jeff Manto’s batting gloves, and I got a hit off Jeff Darwin on a 1-2 slider.
I was like 13 years old and went with a friend of mine in a department store. It was Griff ‘s rookie year and the rack pack cards came out.We went through the packs and got about 10 or 15 cards and were heading out, then bam. They were watching us the whole time.
My dad picked me up, went back to the house and made me get a dictionary out and made me read off the word “greed” to him, made me read the word “selfish,” made me read off the word “thief.” It was a great lesson.
Money is security.
I’m kind of a chick-flick guy, like “Can’t Buy Me Love.” I saw “Mean Girls.”
My wife is a special education teacher. She was an innercity special education teacher. The most amazing thing I ever saw was when she taught those classes and I’d go watch her. She’s the most special person ever. That’s when I said, “I’m going to marry this girl.”
We used to have day-game tickets to the Pirates, and I told my dad, “I’m going to be here one day.” I’m in my seventh year in the big leagues and I still pinch myself at times and say, “This is pretty amazing.”
1: Crawford, the veteran umpire.
2: When he made the 1999 All-Star team.
3: The Reds had a Sean Casey bobblehead night.
4: When he played for Cleveland.
