When you have Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, all those guys, and the farm system has come up so huge ? it just felt like a no-brainer for me to come here.
I remember coming here in the 2003 playoffs with the Braves, and just the electricity that surrounded the ballpark and everything that went with it. I remember watching an HBO special about how they’re dying for a championship.
What I imagined is what’s going on right now.
I grew up in Carlstadt, N.J., which is a suburb right next to East Rutherford. I could see Giants Stadium out my bedroom window as a kid.
My dad was a national sales manager for a shoe company. My mom still is a hostess for the Sea Shack. It’s a restaurant in Hackensack, N.J.
My dad used to tell me, “Whenever you hear something from somebody, look at who’s telling you, and then wonder if it should affect you or not.”
I’ve tried. (1) When they’re ready to move, I’m ready to help them out. I do my best to take care of them. They’re very proud people. All they want is for their kids to be happy and have everything. Believe me, the conversation has taken place. It takes a lot to get my parents to move out of a town they both grew up in and raised a family in.
Remembering my first time going to Yankee Stadium and getting to see Don Mattingly play was magical. He was my guy growing up. I got a chance to meet him in Columbus in Triple A.
Choosing a college, I had a few schools that wanted me to play quarterback and a few schools that wanted me to play shortstop, but none willing to let me do both. So, when the Ivy League came calling and my parents heard “the Wharton School of Business” and “the University of Pennsylvania” and the opportunity to play both sports and not have it be a problem, that pretty much sealed the deal.
Drew Brees. I compare myself to him a lot because he’s a pocket passer. He’s not a big runner. He is not your prototypical quarterback in that he’s not 6- 4, 6-5. He’s a guy who gets it done on sheer ability and hard work. That’s a guy I think I’d emulate the most.
I left after my junior year. It was a big sticking point in my household. My mom wanted me to stay in school, my dad wanted me to sign. I felt like school was always going to be there for me. I could always go back and get my degree. I was drafted in the seventh round(2) and I felt like that was a good enough round. They’d invested enough money in me where they were going to give me an honest look, an honest shot at getting to the big leagues.
I think people don’t realize that when you first sign and go off to low A ball, you’re making about $850 a month. There’s not many people who can survive on that.
My first year in Eugene, Ore., I was sleeping on an air mattress on the floor with a cinder block for a TV stand and eating Ramen noodles and Cheerios all day.
I was a big stat rat and always followed the numbers and carried a calculator with me and tried to figure out my batting average until one of the guys on my team took my calculator and busted it and told me that I needed to grow up a little bit.
My first at-bat was against Randy Johnson on “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN. I struck out on four pitches. I was able to tip two fastballs. The thing I remember the most was I swung and missed a slider for strike three and it got away from the catcher and I’m running down to first base, saying to myself the whole time, “That’s Jeff Bagwell playing first base.”
The 2003 playoffs against the Chicago Cubs, I got a game-winning double in the bottom of the eighth in Turner Field off Dave Veres to help us win the game. That was big.
Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, the guys that I played with, those are the memories I cherish the most.
(1): To buy his parents a new house.
(2): By the Braves in 1996.
