Going back, how did you guys originally acquire Landon?

Ricky Van Asselberg had him in Shreveport and he didn’t have room for him because he had a guy that he got from me that we called Big Papi, about a 6-foot-5 third baseman/first baseman who previously had hit about 21 homeruns and drove in about 107 for me here [in San Angelo]. So I thought it was time to move on for him, and Ricky got him in the American Association. And he says, “I’ve got a tall, slim guy, sort of like Big Papi, and I don’t have a spot for him.” I said, “Well, I do. Bring him over,” and I just brought him over and told him, “I’m gonna put you in the lineup and I’m gonna play you every day. Go have fun.” And he was with me 68 games, drove in 68 runs, and hit 24 homeruns. And he did the same thing last year – he broke his hand, missed about five weeks, he came back and hit 24 homeruns and had somewhere in the 60s RBIs. So he’s had two great years for me.

He actually mentioned the thing about you basically saying, “Look, you’re gonna play every day, just do what you do.” It seemed like he really blossomed after that. As a manager, is there something you see in a guy that you know that’s what he needs to open up and play well?

I really saw the talent. He’s 6-foot-4, weighs about 220, and he’s got a gun for an arm. I mean, he can throw the ball across the infield. And he’s an average major league runner, that big. Cal Ripken played for me in the minor leagues before, and everything that Ripken did for me at Triple-A, [Camp]’s done here. He may run a little better than Ripken, but Ripken is one of the smartest players to ever walk on the field. But Camp, he’s just got all the tools, and I feel that the only way you can develop them is to let him play all the games that he can.

You said he had a couple great years and then this deal with the Marlins happened in the spring. How did that come about?

Well, Bobby Brown, who was my coach last year – he’s gonna manage in Abilene this year – knew a guy who was a hitting coach, one of the hitting instructors, for the Marlins, and we sort of got in touch with him, Bobby did. And then Marty Scott became the new farm director with the Marlins, and I’ve known Marty for years, and so we just made an approach and said, “We think you should bring this guy to camp and look at him.” And I still think he’s got a chance to go to the big leagues, myself.

You think he’s got what it takes to be a guy who plays in the major leagues?

Well, he’s got the tools. If you don’t have the tools to work with, you can’t invent the tools. The good Lord takes care of that part. I just know that the major league average for a big righthander like that is about 4.3 – he probably runs a 4.2 down the line, little bit better, and he’s got a major league arm. He has everything. When you go into spring training with a major league organization, you have to go in and blow somebody out of the water, because their guys are already in the organization, and I still feel that if he gets another chance he can make it.

You’ve said a bunch of stuff that he’s good at. Is there anything in particular that you would point to him to say, “If you improve on THIS, you’ll have a better chance next time?”

Just basic skills. Now they rush them. We used to feel like you get your 1400, 1500 at-bats under your belt at the minor league level and play a hundred games a year, or whatever. If you’ve got the talent, just getting on the field and getting 1500 at-bats and just walking to the plate – you’ve got to develop your tools. I came out of the Cleveland and the Baltimore Orioles organizations, where everything was developed. Your job at the minor league level was to develop their players, and I really believe in that because I was a developing type manager at the minor league level, and loved it. And when you get players who come in and the good Lord gave them tools…like I mentioned Cal Ripken. He was 20 years old when I had him in Triple-A, but he had all the tools. He could field, he could throw, he could hit, he was smart, and the good Lord takes care of that. My job is to get him on the field, put him in the lineup, and if I need to say something to him I thought would help him develop, instinctively you just say it to a player once you realize that your job as a minor league manager is to develop the players that the scouting department signs for the big league club, eventually.

How many players have you sent on from the Colts to affiliated organizations?

I’ve been here six years. It’s over 20, I know that. What makes it easy for me too is our general manager, Mike Babcock. He believes in when the players come here, we want to develop them and try to get them into an organization. He really gets enjoyment out of that the same way I do. When you get your general manager and your field manager on the same page it sure makes it a lot easier to push that guy.

Is it disappointing when a guy like Landon gets a chance to go to spring training and it ends up not working out and he comes back? I know it’s nice to get a middle of the order bat back…

I would much rather him stay.

Right. So it’s a little disappointing when he comes back.

Well, it is. But if you realize that in an organization – all organizations, you put them together – if you sign a thousand guys, only 50 of them make it. So when we send a guy in it’s probably the same percentage, who makes it and who doesn’t. I had two guys when I was with Sioux Falls: George Sherrill, who’s still in the big leagues with Seattle, and I had another kid that came out of the Pittsburgh organization by the name of Matt Duff. I got him one year in a trade and he just heated up and by the next year he was in the big leagues with the Cardinals. But he had a problem then, his elbow sort of barks on him, and never did get his elbow back and he had a bunch of cysts in his back, but when he first made it you knew he was going to the big leagues. Just like George Sherrill was gonna go to the big leagues. George is still there. He probably has seven or eight years in the big leagues now. But we’ve sent a lot of guys. A lot more guys, probably between here and fourteen years of being in independent ball, there’s been a lot of people we’ve sent in. It’s about the same success rate. If you send a hundred in, you’re lucky if maybe ten of them stay. It’s just the way it is. And when you think of it that way, the people who see the players make the big leagues, they don’t realize that about a thousand of them have to be signed for 50 of them to make it.

It seemed like, from talking to him, that was something that Landon went into the spring with that mindset, that it was a numbers game and he should really do the best he could and just enjoy himself.

Yeah, exactly, and I’m honest with them to let them know when they come outside of an organization, they’re the step-child, going into an organization. They can’t just go in and be as good in spring training, as the people who have been signed by that organization and already are in there. You have to play a little bit better, a lot better, than they did during that spring, because you have scouts that are working for you. Their players should come first, because they’re working year-round, and when you come from outside the organization and someone gives you an invite, you’re really very lucky somebody thinks enough of you to go to bat for you and get you into spring training. But it’s still a tough road to hoe for the simple fact that the people in the organization realize that the players they signed within that organization are going to get the first chance. And it should be that way. That’s what they sign them for.

I had asked Landon what the process was with him coming back to San Angelo after the spring, and he said that you guys had agreed beforehand to draw up a contract and if he had to come back it was there. Is that something you do with a lot of guys?

Yes. I want to give them the feeling that there’s somebody there that cares what happens to them if they don’t make it. And I told him, “You’ve played two years here for me. You’ve got great friends on this ball club.” And it’s a big disappointment when you don’t make it, and I said rather than going home and sitting down and sulking about it, I wanna let you know that your team is gonna be there – if you don’t make it – to welcome you back and you’re gonna be with people who care about you. Instead of sitting around and moping about it you go back with your friends and see if you can’t have the year – well, in his case, two or three years in a row now – and no doubt about it, cause he’s got a great personality for that, to spring back.

Right, to get right back into it and start moving back forward.

I told him, you don’t want to go to another team right away. If it gets to where you come back and you feel like, “Okay, I need to go to a different league,” I’ll make it happen. When the season’s over this year I’ll go ahead and get you to a different league. You’ll still feel you have progress.

It sounds like there’s a lot of loyalty between you guys, and also a lot of open communication.

There is. First thing I tell these young guys – obviously they’ve never been in the big leagues and I’ve got a lot of years in the big leagues, managing and playing and coaching – and the first thing I say, I have a meeting, I go, “Men, I’m going to treat you like big leaguers. And I expect you to learn how to act like a big leaguer. And I’ll help you, but that’s one thing I want to achieve here, is teach you how to act like a big leaguer. And if you can do that you’ll not only enjoy your club here, they’ll enjoy you and it’ll be as good a feeling playing baseball here as it will anywhere.” And we have a tremendous clubhouse atmosphere here. We have for the six years I’ve been here, because I let them know what’s expected, and sometimes I’ll say, “Why should your teammate have to put up with you bickering and moaning sitting next to you when he’s trying to play ball?”

So they get a sense of the major leagues.

I want to treat them like it, I want them to act like it. I really care for them and I care what happens to them. Some of them will get to the point where they don’t think they’re gonna make it, and they’ll hang it up. Some of them maybe too quick. Once they make their decision, what they want to get in life, that’s their decision. It’s their life. I get pretty close to my players. When they need advice, I have no problem sitting down, and I don’t mean just – other than professional advice.

In addition to Camp, I spoke with Colts manager Doc Edwards and Marlins Director of Player Development Brian Chattin for a story on Camp’s career trajectory. That story appeared early last week at Marlins Daily; the Q&A with Edwards can be seen here tomorrow.

You came out of Oklahoma City University, you had a pretty solid career there. Were you expecting to be drafted when you came out?

Yeah, actually, only because I’d talked to a few scouts that basically told me that that was what’s gonna happen. I knew I wasn’t gonna get drafted high, by any means, just because I was a senior, but I did expect to at least get a shot right out of college, just from what the scouts had told me. And then when it didn’t happen, of course I was pretty disappointed. But I got a phone call from the Sioux City Explorers, they wanted me to come play for them, and I said, “Yeah, sure. When do you need me?” And they said, “Well, you’re actually in the starting lineup tomorrow night, if you can get here.” [laughs] So I hopped in my car about 4 am and drove to Sioux City, Iowa, which is all the way, ALL the way, north in Iowa, way up there, it was about a ten-hour drive. So, kinda different [laughs].

Is that something you had thought about, though, beforehand? When your name wasn’t called had you thought, “Maybe I’d like to go play independent ball?”

To be honest, I had always told myself that if I didn’t get drafted, I wasn’t gonna play. And when draft day came and nothing happened, I thought twice really quickly. I did, I was like, “Well, if I don’t get drafted, what am I gonna actually do with my life?” I was 22. I got my degree, so I could’ve gone to work, but that just didn’t sound like a lot of fun. I mean, making money’s fun, but playing baseball’s a lot more fun. For what little money you’re gonna make in independent ball, it still outweighs sitting behind a desk.

And then you went on, you had a great 2010, a great 2011 in San Angelo, and then the Marlins signed you in the offseason. How did that come about with them? How did they contact you?

Actually, I got a phone call from Doc [Edwards], my manager. I had a missed call and he left me a message, and his message was like, “Hey, call me back, we got some contract stuff we need to talk about, blah blah blah.” So I’m thinking, heck yeah dude, I’m getting a raise! [laughs] That’s what I was thinking, I’m like, “Yeah, I’m getting a raise!” When I called him back, he had this long, drawn-out story, and all I kept thinking was, “Come on, Doc, tell me what’s going on here.” And he finally told me that he sold my contract to the Marlins. I was actually getting a Braum’s Burger at the time, and I just sat there in line for like five minutes because I couldn’t believe it was going on. I’m pretty sure the people behind me were mad but I didn’t really care at that point. Just hang out back there and let me enjoy my spot for a minute.

Just let you have your moment, right?

Yeah, and I think the people who were working were probably thinking I’m crazy, but I just didn’t care, man. Something like that is like a dream come true for me, to spend three years in independent ball and finally got my shot! I was so excited.

As you went into spring training, what were you thinking? Obviously you were trying to make a full-season team, but what was your mindset going into spring training?

Yeah, obviously it was, “Hey, let’s make a squad,” but at the same time I knew what the chances were. I knew that it was a slim shot because they didn’t have any money invested in me. I got a shot, I was gonna take it, but to be honest my mindset was to just go in and enjoy it. Just have a blast, because it was my first spring training. I was going in, 25-years-old, we’ll call it a rookie because technically I was for organizational purposes, and I just wanted to go an enjoy myself because I didn’t know if it was gonna happen again. I didn’t know if I was gonna stay, and I just did something that not too many guys have gotten to do, that play this game. There’s so many guys that play for long periods of time and don’t get a chance to do that. So I just went in, I was relaxed, didn’t have a care in the world, and played like I was eight-years-old again. I played cause it was fun. And I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed every SECOND that I was there. I don’t think I took a ground ball without a smile on my face. I was just so excited, cause like I said, it was something new, and it was a dream come true.

Did you feel like anyone there – other players, coaches, anybody – did you feel like they looked at you or treated you a little bit differently coming from an independent league, as opposed one of the guys, like you said, a guy they had some money in? Did you feel you were viewed differently?

No, not really. The only thing that people maybe really thought about was, a lot of them were really curious, because a lot of the guys that I played with were younger guys. That was who I was working out with. And all of them were like, “Hey, what’s independent ball like? Cause if things don’t work out here maybe I’ll wanna play,” and I told them, independent ball is the greatest invention in history, I think, because you get to play baseball. You get paid to play baseball. Most of them are in small towns. They come out and support you and do all those things. And yeah, you get a little bit of money here and there. If that’s the reason why you’re playing, independent ball is not for you, man. Cause Lord knows you ain’t making any money playing independent ball. I’m making a little bit, at least [laughs]. You make a little bit of money but you ain’t making a living.

But yeah, that’s what all those guys asked me about, and I don’t think the coaching staff really viewed me any different other than they wanted to know the story as well. They wanted to know how everything was. There were only a couple guys there that had even been an independent ball manager, or there were a couple guys that played there for a couple years after their careers were over, but other than that they liked my story. They wanted to hear it because I’d spent so long in independent ball and finally got my chance. I worked with guys that got drafted, played for a couple years, went to independent ball, and then came back. It’s a completely different route. That’s about the only thing that they viewed differently, was they just wanted to hear what was going on and how it all worked out.

So even though you were released in the end, do you look at that as something that’s good to have on your resume, like teams in the future are gonna look at it and maybe say, “Well you know what, somebody took a shot on this guy before so he may be worth looking at again?”

Yeah, I mean, I HOPE that’s what they look at. I hope that they see it and they say, “Okay, they gave the guy a shot in the offseason, he must have something going for him.” But at the same time, I’ve had a good couple years and hopefully I can keep putting them together and maybe somebody will see it and think that I am worth it. So, I HOPE that’s what happens [laughs]. I really, really hope that that’s what happens. But I think that getting a chance in spring training and everything is definitely to my benefit, for sure, because I felt as though I did very well in spring training. And all the feedback that Doc got was the same thing. There just wasn’t a spot for me on that team. All those spots were filled up, and they were all by drafted guys, and I understand it. I understand the business. I get all of that. I was just happy to have a shot to go down there and hang out in Florida for awhile.

Before you decided to return to San Angelo, how much time passed, and what other options did you consider?

Me and Doc had an agreement, before he sold my contract, that me and him were gonna fill out a contract and not put a date on it. That way, if something happened and I wanted to come back, he’d put a date on it and everything would be good. I got my release at about 8:30, something like that, in the morning. I called Doc about 9:40 and the deal was done. I had a few other options, and I still keep getting phone calls, but San Angelo – 2010, my first season there, was probably the most difficult season I had, because I got traded four times within like a month.

And then when I finally got to San Angelo, Doc’s the one who said, “Hey, you’re gonna be playing every single day. Don’t worry about anything. Go out there, play your game, and know that you’re on this team for the rest of the season. Just go and play.” That, to me…that will put you at ease at any point in time in your life. Then I spent the last two seasons with Doc, and the decision was easy, going back there. I love San Angelo. I love the fans. I love the town. I love the guys that play with me. And I love Doc. He’s a great guy, great manager, even better person. He’s probably the biggest reason why I went back, was to play for that guy, because I’m a very loyal guy and it’s hard for me to go away from a place that’s treated me so well through the last couple of years.

Like you said, you alluded to it – you got your foot in the door a little bit. You got to go to spring training. Does that make you even hungrier now to work harder and do whatever you can to get another chance at doing that?

Oh, absolutely. Oh yeah. I guess the terminology is a cup of coffee? That’s what I got. I got just a little taste of affiliated ball, and it was everything that I had expected, and I didn’t even get to play a season. I wasn’t even in there during a season to get that idea of what was going on. I just went to spring training and got to hang out and practice, basically. You know, I played a few games here and there, but it was more so practice than anything. Seeing the guys that were at the same position, watching those guys work out, watching those guys do everything baseball-wise, and everything not baseball-wise, you learn a whole bunch while you’re there because you watch the Double-A guys, the Triple-A guys, watch the big league guys, and that’s what you strive for. Watching that, it just showed me where I needed to be and gave me the mindset to work to get to that point.

Doc always tells me that I carry myself as well as those people, and all these things, and I feel like I do. When I got there and saw how those guys did it, I almost second-guessed myself, because you can tell the guys that have been there and done it, and those guys that are on their way to the top. You can see it just walking into the hotel. If they’re standing downstairs, you can see it real fast, who’s gonna make it to the next level and who isn’t. And yeah, that right there just gave me more of a will and more of a determination, because the way you go about your business is 90% of the battle. And Doc always told us, “You gotta act like a big leaguer to be a big leaguer.” I understood what he was talking about whenever he told me that, but never put it into context until I got down there, and that’s when it all clicked.

Right, it’s different to actually see people acting that way and having that attitude than it is to just hear about it.

Oh absolutely. I’ve never been around big leaguers before. The only one I’ve been around is Freddy Sanchez, because he went to OCU, and he came up and hit a few times while I went there. Seeing through him, you only see a little bit of what’s going on, but being around a bunch of them, all at the same time, you REALLY get a feel for it.

Photo: Go San Angelo

Last year, you came in late, but I feel like you were one of the feel-good stories of the year, bouncing back from independent ball to be the MVP of the finals. In some ways, was last season one of the most difficult seasons you’ve had as a professional?

Yeah, it definitely was probably the most difficult start because I didn’t get a spring training invite. I didn’t know what that felt like. After nine years, it was a pretty tough thing to deal with. But at the same time, getting signed after you’ve gone to independent ball and basically worked your butt off in the hopes that you would get signed, so once I did get signed it was a really good feeling, and it kind of made you appreciate playing for an organization a little.

You said you didn’t get an invite. I was gonna ask what the circumstances were that took you to Lancaster. Going into the season, what were you expecting?

I was expecting to get a call from some team and get a spring training invite. A couple teams called and showed interest, but nobody invited me to one. So just for a backup plan in case I didn’t get a spring training invite from a team, I had called a buddy that I heard got offered an independent ball job, and I asked him who he talked to. He told me about the Lancaster Barnstormers and that they needed an infielder. So I actually called them and I said, “This is my resume; I heard you guys needed an infielder,” and he asked around about me a little bit and he offered me a job. So in case I didn’t get picked up, that was going to be my plan. And it turned out I didn’t, so I went there and I played there every day and I loved it.

And you played for Butch Hobson there, right?

Yeah.

I worked with Butch years ago, when he was in Nashua, and he’s always had that reputation as a guy who’s great with veteran players, knows how to talk to the older guys. What were your impressions of him, playing for him?

Oh, he’s a great guy. He’s the kind of manager you want to play for. He’s the kind of guy that knows what it’s like to be a player, has always been around the game, he loves baseball, and he cares about helping you achieve your personal goals before he cares about himself looking good, which is really tough, I’m sure, even in independent ball. So that’s one thing I liked about him a lot, is he was really motivated to help us get better and help us get signed with a team.

Did he yell at any umpires while you were there?

[laughs] No, he stayed off the umpires. He’s a little bit more laid back, probably, than he used to be.

You hit .381 there in about a month, just over a month. Going into the Atlantic League, did you kind of go in with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder, like you felt like you had something to prove to all the organizations that didn’t sign you?

I went in more with the mindset of, “I need to get better. How can I become the best hitter I can be? What can I work on?” And I just kind of went in there more motivated to show that I do belong with a team and to dominate that league like I don’t belong there. And that’s what I went in there to prove.

Did starting out there last year, not getting the invite, did that change anything about the way you prepared for this season?

I always take every offseason to get as good as I can get. I’ve never really slacked. So I took this offseason like I’ve taken every offseason. I worked as hard as I could in the weight room, I tried to work on the things defensively and offensively that I thought I need to work on, so it didn’t really change much for me in the offseason. I think my philosophy behind hitting changed a little bit, so I did different types of things, but the motivation factor wasn’t any different.

Was it a little easier mentally with this offseason? Did you know you were coming back to the Blue Jays organization?

Yeah, I signed back with the Blue Jays right away, and it WAS a lot easier. It’s a load off, and it really lets you concentrate on getting better as a player, not having to call teams and deal with other teams that don’t have to do with that. So it was a load off my mind and I was really thankful for the Blue Jays opportunity, and hopefully I’ll have a chance to sign back with them right away next year.

When I counted up, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, I counted fifteen different teams you’ve played for in eight organizations. Is there a place that you liked playing better than others, and a place that you’d be happy if you never saw again?

It’s actually nine organizations.

Okay, nine. I counted wrong.

You have good experiences and bad experiences. I wouldn’t blame it on an organization as much as sometimes you’re with coaches you don’t get along with for whatever reason, and players that maybe you don’t like. So I’ve had some rough years, but there wasn’t a particular organization that I didn’t like or really liked. I think if there’s any organization that separated themselves at all it’d be Toronto. They make it a point to hire staff and sign players that are good in the locker room and just cool people to hang around, not people that you don’t want to be around. Because you’re here every day with all these guys, and if you have one miserable guy in the locker room it’s making everybody miserable. I think they do a good job with that. Especially with the staff. I’ve pretty much liked every single person, staff-wise, I’ve worked with with the Blue Jays so far.

Was there any ballpark or city that you particularly enjoyed playing in?

I really like playing in Dayton, my first year with the Cincinnati Reds.

I hear a lot of good things about Dayton.

Yeah, it’s amazing. Other than that, I like the cities a lot in the PCL. Reno is real fun, Sacramento, good atmosphere in those. I liked playing in Jacksonville. I played there in 2007 for a little bit. I had a really, really cool manager there. Other than that, I’d say – what is that place in the Carolina League? In South Carolina? What’s that place – the Pelicans?

Oh, Myrtle Beach?

Myrtle Beach. That place is pretty cool. So those would be the top spots, I’d say.

And obviously Manchester.

[laughs] Oh yeah. Manchester is actually a really, really nice place too.

You’re thirty – again, correct me if I’m wrong – you’re thirty, you’ve got close to a thousand minor league games under your belt. Do you feel like that almost requires you to take more of a leadership role on any team that you’re on, especially a team like this where you’ve got a lot of younger guys?

I feel like I’ll be a leader if needed. If the guys seems like they’re on the right path – a lot of these guys have played, it’s not like it’s the first or second year for these guys – but if guys are asking questions or don’t know what stuff is like, I’m definitely not shy about giving my opinion and telling people what I think.

You played for the Thousand Oaks team, and you guys won the Little League Junior World Series in 1994? This may be a dumb question, but how does a title like that compare to an Eastern League championship, or a minor league championship?

[laughs] Well I think when you’re that age, everything is a little bit more fun and better. There’s just no kind of excitement like the excitement when you’re 13 years-old. I had the time of my life doing that, so not even a World Series title, I don’t think, could compare to when you’re 13 years-old. It’s just a lot of fun, being a kid, not having anything else to worry about but that. But I definitely think it prepared me a little bit more to deal with the pressures of what I had to deal with coming up through the baseball system.

When I was looking stuff up, after the clincher you told a writer for the LA Times that the goal of your life was a professional career. If you could go back and talk to yourself, the 13 year-old you now, what kind of advice would you give yourself? Or things to watch out for, or anything like that?

I have had a pretty good heads-up on what I was going to go through and the people that were advising me and giving advice. My parents, and my brother had a couple friends that went through the minor leagues. Everybody was pretty much right on. I don’t think I’ve gotten surprised with anything. I just think sometimes, when opportunities come, some people are playing well at the right time, and I think sometimes when my opportunities have come I haven’t been playing my best. So if that’s something you can change then I would definitely want to change that, but I don’t think it had to do with anything sneaking up on me or not being prepared. I just think sometimes you get hot at the right or wrong time.

So just put your best out there every day and be ready?

Yeah, I think I’ve gone about things the way I’ve wanted to go about them. Prepare as hard as you can and go out there and play as hard as you can, and I feel like I’ve done that and I’ll continue to do it.

“I think when you’re that age, everything is a little bit more fun and better,” Howard said with a laugh last week in the Media Room at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, home of his current team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. “It’s just a lot of fun, being a kid, not having anything else to worry about but that. But I definitely think it prepared me a little more to deal with the pressures of what I had to deal with coming up through the baseball system.”

The fifth-round selection by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2002 Draft, Howard certainly knows the pressures of which he speaks: in the decade since the start of his professional career, the 30-year-old infielder has done his share of bouncing around, appearing in games for fifteen teams in nine different organizations.

None of those years featured a beginning as difficult as the one he faced last season: after nine years of relative certainty, no organization offered an invite to spring training.

“I was expecting to get a call from some team and get a spring training invite,” said Howard. “A couple teams called and showed interest, but nobody invited me to one.”

As the days passed and nothing materialized, Howard worked on a backup plan. He called a friend who had landed a job in independent ball and asked for assistance. The friend directed him to the Lancaster Barnstormers, an Atlantic League team managed by former major league player and manager Butch Hobson. Rumor had it that they were in need of an infielder.

The Barnstormers were his backup plan; when that spring training invite continued to elude him, however, they became his team.

“I went in with the mindset of, “I need to get better. How can I become the best hitter I can be? What can I work on?” said Howard. “And I just kind of went in there more motivated to show that I do belong with a team and to dominate that league like I don’t belong there. And that’s what I went in there to prove.”

Howard did exactly that during the month he spent in Lancaster, playing shortstop and hitting .381 with four homeruns and 17 RBI in 31 games. In mid-June the Blue Jays came calling and he was back in affiliated ball, assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. After two months with the 51s, he arrived in New Hampshire in time for the final month of the season and the team’s playoff run.

In seven playoff games for the eventual Eastern League champion Fisher Cats, Howard hit .348 with a homerun and six RBI. His performance earned him the league’s postseason Most Valuable Player award.

Howard’s 2011 season ran the gamut of human emotion, from early disappointment to the eventual elation of a league championship, but 2012 got off to a much better start. He re-signed with the Blue Jays quickly in the offseason, a convenience that allowed him to focus his attention on working out and improving as a player instead of scrambling around trying to find a job. It also allowed him to return to an organization that he feels has separated itself from many of the others with which he has been involved.

“[The Blue Jays] make it a point to hire staff and sign players that are good in the locker room and just cool people to hang around, not people that you don’t want to be around,” said Howard. “Because you’re here every day with all these guys, and if you have one miserable guy in the locker room it’s making everybody miserable. I think they do a good job with that, especially with the staff.”

So far this season, Howard is hitting .316 with one homerun, eight RBI, and three stolen bases in ten games. He’s bounced back from the most difficult time of his professional career, but he refuses to become complacent.

“I think I’ve gone about things the way I’ve wanted to go about them,” he said. “Prepare as hard as you can and go out there and play as hard as you can, and I feel like I’ve done that and I’ll continue to do it.”

We spoke late last week about his lost 2010 season, playing in Australia, and falling victim to the organizational numbers game.

Back in 2009 you had the long hitting streak, which everybody knows about and I’m sure you hear about constantly, but in 2008 I had seen that you put together a bunch of shorter streaks. Little five or seven game streaks, I think it was. Did that give you any sort of idea at the time that the long streak like 2009’s was possible?

You show up to the ballpark every day thinking you’re going to do something special, or start something special. You never want to rule anything out of possibility. You’re always thinking something special could happen, so you never want to limit yourself and say, “That’s impossible.”

When you’re hitting in however many straight, at what point did you realize that you were working on something that was becoming special?

Probably around 20 games.

Another guy who writes for us had done some writing on guys who played at High Desert who had one great year there and then never duplicated it. You fall into that category, but it also seems a little unfair to say you’re in that category because you had a pretty bad shoulder injury in 2010, right?

Yeah, that’s what happens. I was playing good baseball, I was cruising there, and the shoulder injury kinda messed me up a little bit, set me back a year because of what happened. I would‘ve been able to be in Double-A at 24-years-old. I think I would’ve got more of a chance than just one year in Double-A like I got. This past year, with the Mariners, I got one shot at Double-A and I hit .260 through three months, with four homeruns, and they deemed it wasn’t good enough to come back and give it another shot at 26-years-old.

I know you ran into a wall and separated your shoulder. I’m curious why it kept you out for the full season – was it just surgery and everything afterwards?

I needed surgery. I had shoulder surgery to repair my whole shoulder, cause it was bothering me. It subluxed or separated a few times before that and I wanted to get it fixed. I was thinking about life after baseball, of course. I want to be able to swim and do that kind of stuff and I figured it was the best time to do it, with the rehab and the facilities I had access to, and the health insurance and doctors I had at that point. It was the best time I could take care of myself, and you never know how well or how long your body’s gonna serve you for baseball, but I at least wanted to have it so I get done when I’m 30, 35-years-old I can still play basketball with my friends, go swimming, surfing, that kind of stuff. I couldn’t even do that stuff. I couldn’t play basketball with my buddies. I couldn’t swim and go surfing in the ocean and stuff because my left shoulder was messed up. So when I ran into that wall and dislocated it, I wanted to get it fixed. So I had to sit out for five months. That was rehab.

Do you still have problems with it today?

No, I’m really happy with it.

After you missed that season, then you went over to Australia. What were your experiences like there, on and off the field?

I loved it. I love Australia. I love getting around, meeting new people. I’ve been back there two years now. I went there in 2010 and I went there again this past year, 2011-12 year, and I just have a blast over there. They really love the game. Sure, it’s not the most competitive compared to the Dominican Winter League or Venezuelan Winter League, but maybe one day it can be, and those people really love baseball, and sports in general. I’d really have a blast over there, on and off the field. Off the field, same thing – great weather, the people are enthusiastic about life in general, sports especially. I love it over there.

You mentioned you came back and started last season in Double-A. And then correct me if I’m wrong, but they sent you back to High Desert partway through the season?

Like the last month of the season, at the [trade] deadline.

Okay, what was the reason for sending you back there?

They traded for that guy, Chih-Hsien Chiang, Trayvon Robinson, so they got two outfielders who were putting up All-Universe numbers in Double-A and Triple-A. And the Taiwanese kid came to Double-A with us, I got brought down to High-A. Probably would’ve got released then but James Jones got hurt, another Mariner prospect, so there was room for me in High-A and they sent me back there for the last month of the season. And they played me every day too, which was a surprise. I don’t know why they did that, especially if they were gonna release me. I did pretty well there too. I hit like six homeruns in the month and we had a good time with that team.

Was it frustrating then to feel like you came back from a shoulder injury and you were starting to make some progress, then they kinda pushed you backwards?

It was pretty disheartening, cause once you start getting sent back at that age (25), you’re not moving up you’re moving down, you know you’re not in their vision for the future of the organization. So it was really frustrating and I think, hitting .260 in Double-A you’re a week or two away from hitting .280, with seven or eight homeruns instead of four. I was hitting .260 with four homeruns and I could’ve been a hot week away, you know? A 10-for-25 week with a couple bombs and you’re right back in it, you’re right back on the hot list. But they didn’t give me that chance, that opportunity, so…

You said last year you felt like you were one player away from being released. Did you have an idea coming into this year that it was gonna be a battle to get onto a roster?

I was pretty positive I was getting released, but you always have to give it a shot. If you’re playing affiliated ball, you’ve gotta play with them until they take the jersey away. I was thinking about asking for the release but then they did play me every day in High-A, so that confused me, but I went in there knowing. You see the numbers. Even the Double-A team they have now, those prospects – the Almontes, the Carrolls, those guys – they’re not even playing every day in Double-A. They released Jake Shaffer, the best player on that team last year, besides [Kyle] Seager, maybe. They released him too, to make room for those kids. Shaffer luckily got picked up by the Cardinals right away. But it’s just how it is. You could tell, there just wasn’t enough room there. Even for the guys that were better than me there wasn’t enough room for them.

After you got released it seemed like you signed on with the Ducks pretty fast. How quickly did you make that decision that you were going to continue your career in independent ball?

I knew I was going to continue my baseball career. Independent ball is the last thing I was thinking about, just because I had some other goals in mind. I wanted to go see Europe and play over there, in the Dutch or the Italian League, but those leagues didn’t have a spot for me because their seasons were already underway and they’ve called over a bunch of dudes, flew them over there, paying $4,000 for a flight to get them over there already, and have them all housed up. They’re not just gonna release them. So I wasn’t gonna be able to play over in Europe, in those competitive leagues there, and I talked to my family and my agent and they were like, “Once you go to Europe, you’re not gonna come back and have a chance at playing high level in the States.” So I said I might as well play at the highest level I can here.

The Long Island Ducks came up, and I’ve heard of the team before, I’ve heard of the Atlantic League. I know it’s a super competitive league. It’s probably gonna be the most competitive league I’ve played in to date, I think, with the players I’ve seen on the team so far. It’s gonna be tough to get playing time on this team. They’ve got two guys that have played in the big leagues, Lew Ford and Reid Gorecki, and then they’ve got a guy who I’ve watched and he really goes about his business the right way. His name’s Kraig Binick. He led this league in batting last year. Those three guys right there are good players. Hopefully I can help out and be a part of that puzzle to help the Ducks win.

But that’s what it came down to, and seeing that, that’s something that’s gonna push me. I can’t be comfortable on this team for sure. And you wanna be pushed. That’s gonna be good for me.

Is it a situation where you might play independent ball for a year or two and then try to go overseas to experience that?

Yeah, definitely, but we’ll see. Hopefully independent ball goes well. So far it’s been a great experience up here in Long Island. The team really goes about their business the right way, really professional. Coaches seem pretty cool so far. So you know, I might end up liking it. We’ve got a guy on our team, Ray Navarrete, who’s played on this team for like six years in a row. He just loves it. You never know. I don’t think too far ahead as far as the baseball stuff goes. There’s so many opportunities in this game, you never know where they’re gonna come from or where they’re gonna take you, so I don’t think that far ahead. But I definitely do want to go over and play in Europe. I’ll definitely want to go back to Australia and play in the winters, and see what happens.

Thank you to James for his time and to Long Island’s Michael Polak for coordinating the interview.

Photo: Long Island Ducks

At the end, I tossed in a joke about how I expected the Skeeters next free agent signing to be Wilton Guerrero, only because he is Vladimir Guerrero’s brother and it would allow them to go with the inevitable headline touting the acquisition of “Longtime Major Leaguer Guerrero,” which would be funny because Vladimir is still out there on the open market.

It was all in good fun…until last Tuesday, when the Sioux Falls Pheasants jumped into the “LOOK WHO WE SIGNED!” fray. The headline? “Pheasants Land Big Fish in Guerrero“:

In one of their biggest moves this offseason, Sioux Falls Pheasants manager Steve Shirley announced the acquisition of veteran outfielder Cristian Guerrero from the Winnipeg Goldeyes in exchange for a player to be named later.

Cristian Guerrero is the first cousin of big-league superstar Vladimir Guerrero, a former MVP and nine-time all-star currently with the Baltimore Orioles.

I honestly don’t know what comes next at this point, but I can almost guarantee I’ll laugh when it does.

The Cassel in question is actually Justin, the seventh round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 2006 draft. Justin, of course, is the younger brother of NFL quarterback Matt* and former MLB pitcher Jack**. The Atlantic League’s Somerset Patriots (“the Five-Time Atlantic League Champion Somerset Patriots” as they like to be called) announced on Tuesday that they have signed Justin to pitch for them this season.

*…who famously backed up both Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC before spending three years in New England as Tom Brady’s backup before finally getting a chance to play when Brady tore up his knee against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first game of the 2008 season, then parlaying his quality performance that season into a big contract and starting job – ironically, with the Chiefs.

**…who slightly less famously was called up by the Astros (though not for the first time; he had eleven major league games on his resume up to that point) on September 7, 2008, the same day Matt stepped in to replace Brady. He then sat for a week before emerging from the bullpen to throw three innings of one-hit ball on the same day Matt led the Patriots to a 19-10 road win against the Jets.

Justin Cassel was drafted in the 30th round by the Oakland Athletics in 2003, but didn’t sign. He was selected again three years later, in the seventh round by the White Sox (nineteen spots behind Brett Pill and nine behind Mike Leake, who did not sign), after attending UC-Irvine. The 21-year-old righthander appeared in 13 games for Chicago’s Rookie team in Great Falls before making four starts at High-A to end the season.

He spent most of 2007 at High-A Winston-Salem but made only ten starts. Google hinted at a shoulder injury in late May of that year. In 2008, he must’ve been healthy because he made 28 starts for Double-A Birmingham, finishing 10-4 with a 3.11 ERA and 104/57 SO/BB ratio and going nearly four months without losing a game.

The next three years saw him reach as high as Triple-A, though injuries limited him to just 16 total games between 2010 and 2011. Following the 2011 season he was named to Team USA for the Baseball World Cup and Pan American Games, and later played winter ball in Venezuela.

I can’t figure out when exactly he was released – he’s not listed on Baseball America’s Minor League free agents list from November, so I don’t think it was a situation where he just ran out of contract renewals – but there he was on Tuesday, one of four guys picked up by Somerset. (One of the others was Matt Crim, who is not – much to my disappointment – the son of Chuck Crim.)

***And here’s the kicker (otherwise known as the fun fact that I couldn’t fit in anywhere else): on September 22, 2008, the day after Matt’s Patriots got blown out by Miami, the team’s first regular season loss since December 10, 2006, Jack and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter. Some families don’t have entire LIVES as good as that fifteen-day stretch the Cassels enjoyed in September 2008.

Photo: ESPN.com

The most glaring sports failure of recent memory was the folding of the Atlantic City Surf.  This professional baseball team called Bernie Robbins Stadium, located blocks away from the casinos, home from 1998 to 2009. While in the Atlantic League from 1998 to 2006, the Surf won the first-ever Atlantic League championship.  It also hosted the inaugural Atlantic League All-Star game and made the post-season four times in five years.

In 2007, the Surf ‘s inaugural season in the Can-Am League, they made the playoffs. The team won numerous league awards, including Manager of the Year and Relief Pitcher of the Year. In 2008, their final season with ex-Yankee Cecil Fielder as skipper, the Surf once again was in the playoffs.

Even though the Surf was successful on the field, they followed Atlantic City sports tradition off the field.  In their last season, the Surf averaged 2,765 fans per game in a stadium that could hold more than twice that amount.  On March 30, 2009, the Atlantic City Surf organization ceased operations. After the collapse of a proposed sale and lack of ownership to continue the 2009 season, players from the team were made available in an April dispersal draft.

How can such a venture fail within driving distance to a major sports market?  Only ownership and an apathetic host city can be blamed.  For a city priding itself on being “Turned On,” Atlantic City seems to be the only one in the dark on its well- documented crumbling infrastructure.  It let Miss America walk.  It let its only professional franchise walk and let its stadium crumble into an embarrassing eyesore.  There hasn’t been any viable construction more than 10 feet away from the hotels in recent memory.  Why should an owner come in to give the abandoned stadium life?  Yes, the economy is bad but keep driving west and you’ll find a plethora of minor as well as major league franchises in all major sports.

In 2011, Bernie Robbins Stadium received a renovation to prepare for a three-day music festival headlined by the Dave Matthews Band. However, it’s just a bandage on a hemorrhage.  With the stadium home to no consistent tenant and most major events going to casino venues, I surmise the ultimate fate of Bernie Robbins Stadium is going to be as bleak as the neighborhood that surrounds it.

It was early January and frightfully cold (as the temperature fell into the single digits, a local news crew stopped by to find out what kind of lunatics would willingly sit outside for tickets in such awful conditions. Trish was their chosen interview subject. I’m not sure her enthusiasm was indicative of the group’s overall mindset. Actually, I’m not sure we were capable of formulating an overall mindset. Who knew brain cells could actually freeze while inside a human body?).

I’ve since done the “waiting in line for something awesome” thing two more times, both at Walmart and both for items coveted by other people: the first with my future wife, who convinced me to join her in waiting for the midnight release of the latest Harry Potter book, and last Black Friday with Chris, Billy, and several other severely misguided souls* who turned a strong desire for a heavily discounted TV into an impromptu all-nighter in Aisle P2-P3 of the Hooksett store.**

*I’m just jealous. I bet that TV was pretty awesome.

***I think I just described the Internet.

All of these experiences pale in comparison, however, to the effort put forth by Charlie Kamer and his 13-year-old son Ryan over the past several years.

Since 2004, the Kamers have waited in line to buy Long Island Ducks individual game tickets as soon as they became available. For years, Ryan was the first kid in the line. Then three years ago, when the previous First Fans decided not to defend their title, he and his dad were there to claim the open spot at the head of the line.

“I was the first kid on line eight years ago, so that was when it started, and the way it started was probably just seeing how these people did it,” Ryan said during a phone call on Thursday night. “We always loved the Long Island Ducks, they’re like the best team, not just playing-wise but to come and have fun at, and we decided this looked like a fun thing to do. So we came and did it.”

The two arrived early Wednesday morning, meaning this year’s wait is expected to clock in at a tidy 75 hours. That may sound like a lot, but it’s positively pedestrian compared to last year’s total: 143 hours, according to the Ducks’ press release.

“We went from Saturday morning to Saturday morning, we did a week,” said Ryan. “We wanted to do that because we wanted to make sure in years to come nobody would ever touch our record.”

Purely from a logistical standpoint, the Kamers don’t need to worry about getting in line so early. Only a couple people generally camp out for an extended amount of time each year, Media Relations and Broadcasting Manager Michael Polak wrote in an email, “and then overnight before the actual day of ticket sales, more people come out to the ballpark and the line wraps around the park.”

For what may be the most patient father-son duo in the world, however, it’s not all about the satisfaction and recognition that comes with being first in line, or having the first crack at choosing great seats for the 40 or so games they plan to attend. Sure, those things are nice, but these few days are appealing because the break from work and school allows them to spend some time together, meet some other fans, and support their favorite team.

“It’s a combination of both,” said Ryan. “We love coming out for the baseball, it’s fun to come out here and hang out with my dad and have fun and everybody gets to know each other, and it’s just a fun thing to do. The best part is coming out here and hanging out with everybody, my dad. People come by and say hi and talk to us.

“This is one of my favorite things to do every year and [my dad] always made me this promise: I can do it if I made honor roll. Which I pretty much do every quarter. So my teachers know about it, they let me slide for these two days, and he always gets off [work] so, we find ways to do it.”

I know you guys are from the Wichita area, but how did Nate get involved with the Wingnuts?

Well, I’m the oldest of four boys. I’m the oldest, then Nate’s two years younger than me, my brother Luke is two years younger than Nate, and then we have another brother who’s a senior at Emporia State. We’re all born and raised here in Wichita. Nate played at Wichita State, Luke was at Wichita State, I graduated from Wichita State. Our father was in the military for 23 years and was stationed here, and our mom was a stay-at-home mom, so we were just Wichita born and bred.

After Nate left Wichita State, he got drafted by the Marlins in the fifth round, made his debut with them and then spent a long time with the Tigers and so on and so forth. My brother Luke was with Oakland. And when I was done playing I moved back to Wichita and started working for the Wichita Wranglers, which was the Double-A affiliate for the Kansas City Royals. And I was with them from 2000 all the way until 2007, when they left for Arkansas. And obviously I had some big decisions to make, whether I was gonna go to Arkansas or whether I was gonna stay here, because I didn’t know at the time what was coming into town.

There were three independent leagues that were bidding on bringing a professional team here: the United League, the American Association, and the Northern League. And Horn Chen, who at the time owned the Wichita Thunder, which was our minor league hockey team, was the one that was bidding on bringing a baseball team here representing the American Association. And he won the bid, and I was asked to stay in Wichita and run the team. Because I’m from here, I know the stadium and know the market, so on and so forth.

Horn didn’t want 100% ownership of the baseball team. He wanted majority, so he wanted 55% of the team, and wanted a local ownership group to be formed making up the other 45%. So that 45% was made up of five gentlemen: Steve Ruud, who I’ve known since I was a little guy and played against his son; Nate [Robertson]; Dan Waller, who’s a VP of a construction company; Gary Austerman, who’s a partner at Klenda, Mitchell, Austerman & Zuercher, which is a large law firm; and Nick Easter, who owns NCRI [National Catastrophe Restoration, Inc.]. All five local owners were born-and-bred Wichita men as well.

Through the first couple years in existence, our whole front office staff operated the Wingnuts and the Thunder hockey team. After the 2009 season, the local ownership group bought out Horn’s shares of the baseball team, and thus the Wingnuts became 100% locally owned, and Nate took on a bigger chunk at 25%. He’s 25% owner of the team. He’s the second largest owner of the team.

And then all that time, I think a lot of it was Nate’s – hopefully not, but Nate’s been pitching for a long time – kind of winding down on his career, and wanted something to fall back on. He knew that I was staying in town and that I was gonna be involved, and I’m his bigger brother, and our brother Luke, who pitched in the Oakland A’s organization, has been the pitching coach of the team for the past four years. So yeah, one brother’s the owner, one brother’s the GM, one brother’s the pitching coach. And if your youngest brother doesn’t get drafted after this year at Emporia State we’re gonna have him come try out for the team and then see if there’s any professional teams that have had four brothers involved.

Minor league baseball is always about drawing families, getting families out to the ballpark. Do you guys use that, with the three of you there, to sell the team, to say, “Hey look, we’re a family-operated organization”?

Absolutely, and the other four owners, they’ve been friends for a long time as well, so it’s a very unique situation that we have here because the five local owners – which that’s a rarity in sports, period, not just minor league sports – other than Nate, who’s off pitching during the summer, the other four owners are at most baseball games, and you don’t see that a lot. I’m from here. Our manager, Kevin Hooper – Kevin Hooper and Nate are the same age, and they went to Wichita State together, got drafted by the Marlins together, and were on the 2006 Tigers World Series team together. Kevin Hooper’s a Lawrence, Kansas, kid that ended up going to Wichita State, but him and Nate were with the Marlins and Tigers together in the big leagues – well, not the Marlins in the big leagues, but the Tigers in the big leagues, Kevin had a little bit of time in the big leagues – and in the very first year the Wingnuts played, Kevin had become a free agent and I just called him up out of the blue, he’s been a friend of mine for thirteen years, and I asked him to come play shortstop if he didn’t find an affiliated job. And he actually married a Wichita gal and has two daughters, so he already lives here.

So in ’08 Kevin played shortstop for me and then I hired him as my manager and for the last three year’s Kevin’s been my manager, so we’ve got that tie. Hoop’s always been a very popular player wherever he’s played, cause he’s just a little middle infielder that never should’ve played D-I ball, never should’ve played pro ball, and he was a guy that made it to the big leagues.

So Kevin’s our manager, he’s a Wichita guy. My brother Luke’s the pitching coach, Wichita guy. Our hitting coach, Jose Amado, is from Venezuela, but in 1999 he was in Double-A with the Royals, so he was a Wrangler, and he ended up marrying a Wichita girl, got his residency card, and now he lives here. So another unique situation with the coaching staff is that they’re all from here, and it makes it very nice whenever I need to call a coaches meeting and we sit down to talk about building a team that they can just come right over to the stadium and do it. I’m not flying them in and out from their homes over the summer and this and that and the other.

We use that uniqueness and definitely family-oriented background to try to draw people, and we’ve had 35, 34, 33, 3200 a night over the last four years, which outdraws the Wranglers, what they were drawing, the Double-A team here, by quite a bit.

Yeah, those are pretty good-sized crowds, it sounds like.

Yeah, it’s been great. Like I said, in 2007 when the Wranglers were on their way out, a lot of people were bitter about it, but the same people that were bitter about the Double-A team leaving were the same people that probably never came to a game. We were drawing just over 1,000 people a night that year, so to jump up to 3500 a night…

Independent ball has been really refreshing for me. I mean, I was the assistant GM of a Double-A team and the co-GM of a Double-A team, and you have no control of the staff, you have no control of who the players are, and when they get called up or sent down. In independent ball we get to build our own team and build it for the sole purpose of winning a championship. And there’s not a lot of minor league GMs that actually played the game. I played it, I love it, and I have a passion for it, so the focus on winning and entertainment and family value has been really refreshing for me on that aspect of it.

When the new ownership group bought in and Nate was involved – obviously, the independent leagues are different from affiliated ball, but was there any concern about having a guy who was an active player who was also an owner of a team?

Any concern on whose part?

Really, I guess on anybody’s. Obviously internally you probably did your homework, made sure it’s all set and everything, but did anybody express any concern – the league, any teams, anybody?

Wichita is considered to be a baseball city, with Wichita State University always being a powerhouse in college baseball and with the competitive youth leagues that we have here. We also have the NBC [National Baseball Congress] World Series, which is the reason the stadium was built in 1935. So we have basically the College Summer World Series that’s been running since 1935, and it draws 100,000 people in two weeks. So much like Omaha is viewed as the College World Series town, this is viewed as the summer collegiate championship.

And with Nate being a Maize High kid, and a Wichita State Shocker, and a big leaguer, I think it was viewed as being pretty cool that a guy that’s still pitching in the big leagues would wanna put an investment into the team and be a part of it. And certainly with his other two brothers involved it makes it a pretty cool situation, and then obviously Nate has something to fall back on when he’s done playing.

Certainly Nate’s helped with the recruiting process too, when maybe he should be focusing on pitching he’d call us up and say, “Hey, I just heard so-and-so got released, you might wanna give him a call.”

That’s the other thing I was wondering about, is how much he’s able to help you funnel players in.

Well, he’s a big league guy and he’s got his regimen that he goes through, but he’s always looking on our website if they’ve got an off night or he’s not pitching or they’re playing at a time that we’re not playing, and he listens to the games. Surprisingly, when me and him have conversations he generally knows a lot more than I give him credit for. He’s involved through and through with it.

That’s actually interesting because I was half-considering asking, what kind of role does he have with the team? But then I figured, he’s playing baseball during the summer, what possible role can he have? So it’s kind of interesting to hear that he actually DOES have some involvement and kinda knows what’s going on.

Absolutely. Running a professional baseball team is not a cheap ordeal, and so when you get five owners putting the kind of money into a baseball team that they have been, certainly they want to pay pretty close attention to their business, their investment. You’ve gotta look at it, yes, it’s baseball, it’s a game, it’s entertainment, but it’s also a business, and all of the owners are involved to the point of just making sure everything is where it needs to be.

And obviously they all wanted me to stay here and run it, so they trust me to run it with the best judgment that I have and certainly when we have any red flags or concerns then they’re the first to know.

Thanks to Josh Robertson for taking the time to speak with me.