Interview With Brent Mayne (Part Two)

With the first part of the interview complete and the audio now live and ready for download, I finally completed the second part of the interview that I conducted with MLB catcher Brent Mayne. Enjoy the interview!

To read part one of the Brent Mayne interview, click here.

To listen to the audio, click here.

******* *********

Jorge Says No!: This is something that I've always felt was kind of interesting just having watched Oliver Perez pitch for a couple years. What's it like to be behind the plate and watch a pitcher implode on the mound?

Brent Mayne: It happens, you know. What's it like? Its not fun. As a catcher, you always take whatever the pitcher does and whatever happens defensively is...you knjow, if you're going to accept responsibility when things go great and a guy throws a no hitter and you're going to say that you had a part of that, then you have to take the bad too.

You never want to see a pitcher do bad, whether he's struggling to find the zone or if he's mentally lost it...like I said, you kind of have to be a junior psychologist out there and figure out when to pat guys on the butt, which guys like to be patted on the butt, which guys need to be kicked in the ass, and what guys need to be left alone. So a lot of that you take personally and if they struggle and can't figure out, then you take that personally and try to help them.

It's a hard thing to watch a be apart of, but with that said, this is baseball, a game of failure, that's challenging on a whole bunch of different levels for everybody.

Jorge Says No!: In your opinion, how has the catching position evolved over the past 10 to 20 years?

Brent Mayne: Not a whole damn lot. It seems to me to be a pretty stagnant thing. You know it's definitely gotten more athletic as catchers even watch a Yankee Classic game and watch Thurman Munson play in the mid 70s and it's light years from there.

Just as far as how hard pitchers throw, glove mechanics that need to adapt to that; but has there been any major hurdles cross or any major mechanical thing that has happened, no there hasn't. And if you read my book or take a lesson from me, you'll make a jump-a quantum leap-from that 1970's Johnny Bench style catching to what works now.

But the position has kinda of gone by the way side. You know, you put the gear on a certain kid and shove him out there and go.

Jorge Says No!: And for you personally, do you want to get back to minor league level coaching or major league level coaching?

Brent Mayne: No, not really. To be honest with you, I'm 41 years old, but like a lot of 41 year olds out there, I feel like I'm 25. When I retired, it wasn't because I got released or something like that. To answer your question, I feel like I can still play. And if I could be involved in major league baseball in any way, I'd just be a player. In my opinion, there's only a few really good jobs in professional baseball and that's to be either a player or an owner.

So the reason I retired was because of family, all the travel, and all the peripheral stuff; it just wasn't worth the money I was getting paid.

So no, at this point I'm not interested in doing something like that, but if the Angels or something are going to offer me a contract to play just home games....

Jorge Says No!: Was it difficult to keep your body fit and healthy when playing such a demanding position? The baseball season seems to be a grind as is...

Brent Mayne: It's a very difficult position to play. Every position is tough, but when you take into account putting on all the gear and squatting down, it's alot. Being a catcher is very difficult and demanding physical position. So yes, it was very difficult. No matter what position you're playing in baseball, you need to take care of your body and figure out how much sleep you need, and take care of business in the weight room, and on the yoga mat if that's what your into. Whatever it is you need to figure out how to stay out of the training room and put your act out on the field everyday. That's part of the challenge.

Jorge Says No!: I know that you we're a first round draft pick. How did that feel? Was it a lot of pressure? Excitement? Or a combination of both?

Brent Mayne: Both. It was definitely both. I was excited because I was going to make more money than I ever did in my life, which wasn't a lot at that time considering what kids are making now. It felt like a lot at the time so that was exciting.

But also with it came a whole bunch of expectations that I needed to deal with. It wasn't the first thing of major expectations I had ever dealt with, but it was a big one.

******** *********

I encourage everyone to take a listen to the audio to hear Brent talk about the inning he pitched....he even got the win (20 min mark)!

A big thank you goes out to Brent Mayne for conducting the interview with me. Not only was this interview very informative, but it actually made me much more interested in the little intricacies of catching. I encourage everyone to check out Brent's website http://www.brentmayne.com/ and buy his book The Art of Catching.

Brent Mayne: The Interview

There is no doubt that interviewing a professional baseball player is hit or miss. Some of them want nothing to do with you and would rather have their wisdom teeth extracted on the spot instead of spending a few minutes explaining the game to you.



Thankfully, Brent Mayne is not one of those guys. Most of you know Mayne as a big league catcher for 15 seasons with the Royals, Giants, Mets, Rockies, and others. Mayne has spent his post baseball life focusing on baseball by creating a website devoted to catching www.brentmayne.com and writing a book solely about the ins and outs of catching entitled The Art of Catching.



After listening through the interview I conducted with him again last night, I became giddy. Mayne's wealth of knowledge and detailed explanation into the art of catching and the baseball world would have any baseball fan mesmerized.



So in short, enjoy the interview. In the past I have done my best to transcribe the full interview, but that task became far too exhaustive this time given the detailed conversation and responses. So instead, I have transcribed part of the interview and I will put up the FULL audio of the interview with Brent Mayne tonight.

********* ********

Jorge Says No! Interview With Brent Mayne



Jorge Says No!: You currently have out both a book and website devoted to all things catching. What do yo want baseball fans to learn and understand about the position?



Brent Mayne: I just want people to learn the right way. In my experience, from the earliest years until now when I'm retired (over 25 years of catching), I just never found that there was anybody who knew a whole lot about the position. We're talking about a game-baseball-that's pretty well dissected from every angle. If you want information about pitching, infield play, or hitting; it's a trip to the library or a couple of clicks on the computer and you get that information or quality people.



But catching, which I think next to the pitcher is the most defensive position on the field, just seems to slip through the cracks and most of the time its not taught at all and if it is taught, it's taught incorrectly. It become a matter of picking the biggest kid and slapping some gear on him and putting a bat in his hand. It's my experience that even at the highest level, there really wasn't a whole lot of instruction. So in writing the book my main priority was just to kind of help out the baseball community with a good piece of information about the position. How to do it safely and correctly while bringing the position into a modern day game.



Jorge Says No!: Why do you think it has taken so long for the catching position to advance and evolve statistically with the rest of baseball?



Brent Mayne: I don't know. It baffles me. Like I said, I think its like a real important position because the guy is touching the ball almost every time the ball is put in play. And we're not talking about some obscure sport, like I said, this stuff has been written about extensively so that the catching position has kind of slipped through the cracks baffles me.



That being said, it's kind of a good niche. I'm most happy to fill that role as catching guy.



Brent Mayne: It's such a multi faceted position; you have to be a psychologist because your dealing with so many different personalities (umpire, pitcher, hitter). And at the same time, your trying to process all the game information and game plan...so there is alot your processing mentally. And at the same time, dealing with the rigors of catching over 100+ games every year. When you add all those things together, its an interesting dynamic. It's a great position, but there is so much to learn and so much technique that can keep people from getting injured and ultimately maximize whatever their God given talent is.



Jorge Says No!: I understand that you also give private lessons now as well. What's the most common problem you've seen with young catchers today?



Brent Mayne: I've started doing them almost a year ago and I'd say that the most common thing that I see is improper throwing mechanics. For some reason there's a misconception that catchers have a real short arm, similar to a second baseman or something like that, but that's not the case. It's a misconception. It's more like that of a shortstop or something; it's definitely not as long as a pitcher or outfielder, but definitely not as short as a second baseman.



I think a lot of kids kind of whip their glove over their right ear trying to be quick and short and kind of losing all their power, throwing velocity, and arm arc in the process. All of those things gone in one fowl swoop. I have to correct that quite often.



Jorge Says No!: One of my favorite players growing up was Mike Piazza. But Piazza was absolutely terrible at throwing out base runners, no matter how much time the Mets tried to work with him on throwing runners out. What’s the secret to throwing out base runners?



Brent Mayne: It's similar to hitting because it's very timing related. You need to be quick. And in order of importance as far as effectiveness of throwing guys out it would be timing first, accuracy of the throw, then coming in a distant last would be velocity.



There are all kinds of players who can throw the ball so well that it makes your jaw hit the ground, but they just can't throw anybody out. Their quickness, timing, and accuracy just isn't good and it results in guys not getting thrown out stealing.



And it goes visa versa; I've seen guys with average to below average arms who can throw people out all day long. So I think velocity is a common misconception that you need to have a cannon to play behind the plate and be an effective controller of the running game. That's not true. It's more timing and technique than anything.



Jorge Says No!: How valuable is it to have a catcher who can throw out baserunners at a high clip?



Brent Mayne: I think it's really valuable. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to understand that a guy blocking a ball or keeping a runner from going 1st to 3rd, or throwing a guy out at second base; maybe the next guy follows him with a base hit. That's basically an RBI for the catcher. It's not hard to make that jump. From that standpoint, I see the catcher's defense having a significant impact on the whole part of the game.



Having a good defensive catcher-a guy who can block the plate, control the running game, etc.- and we're not even talking about calling the right pitches or making sure that guys don't get hits. The catching position has a big impact on the game in general.



Jorge Says No!: One of the big stories in New York over the past month or so was that a number of Yankee pitchers felt uncomfortable with the way he called a game. What kind of preparation did you have to do?



Brent Mayne: Well that was definitely where I made the house payments. That was the strong point of my game. I had the ability to call a game and get along with pitchers and excel at that part of the game. And for me, it boiled down to an instinct. It just got down to an instinctual call. Like I said, you have to assimilate a whole bunch of information. Every time we went to Yankee Stadium or something there would a binder there as big a dictionary from advanced scouts talking about guys.



For example, Jorge Posada: this is what he's hitting now, this is his weakness. Bernie Williams: this is what he's hitting now, this is what he's not hitting. All of this information about every hitter-a gameplan so to speak-about every hitter and what we're going to do. And come game time, by far and away the most important thing to realize is what your pitcher's abilities are and what he is comfortable throwing. It boils down to having him throw a pitch with heart and committment and you want him to throw his very best pitch in the very best situation. But you can't if you got Bernie Williams up, who is the best changeup hitter in the world, but you have Paul Byrd on the mound and his best pitch is a changeup-so I'm going to go with the changeup. I'm going to go with my pitcher's strength over anything.



And you know you have what the coaches want you to do, you have the game situation, and you've got what the umpires strike zone for that day; there is just so much stuff you have to assimilate for just any given pitch. And then also your talking about the hitter and how you've approached him the last 20-30 times. I think I had a really good ability to kind of recall what we had done and patterns and how we approached guys. Like I said, your assimilating all this information and you're supposed to spit out the correct answer every time. I think I was assimilating all that information, but when it came down to it, it was all instinct. You know, this guy was expecting this, so we'll throw him that...



Jorge Says No!: So behind every bottom of the 8th, up 3-2, it's a 2-1 count; there's a whole psychological aspect going through your head behind the plate?



Brent Mayne: There is so much going into it that it's ridiculous. You have to understand how much teams spend on advanced scouts and how much research is done on particular players-if you can get a graph of that, then you can get a graph of anything. There is nothing to chance and every single pitch is charted and graphed and gone over after the game and analyzed and guessed.



Jorge Says No!: Who is your favorite active catcher to watch?



Brent Mayne: That's a good question. I liked watching Carlos Ruiz during the World Series last year. I like guys who are active. There's nothing that bores me more than when guys do the same thing all game long...just catch the ball and throw it back. I like guys with different stances and styles. I like the way Ruiz moved. I like the way Soto moved. I like both of their energy because there is a playfulness with their energy.



Earlier in the year I got to see Pablo Sandoval, who is actually a third baseman, from San Francisco and he was really fun to watch and I really enjoyed his game.

Jorge Says No!: Right now Twins catcher Joe Mauer is hitting .358 with 17 home runs while playing solid defense. How impressive is that considering the daily grind he takes just from catching?

Brent Mayne: He's unbelieveable. If I were to pick a catcher, and I don't think I'm going out on a limb here, I'd pick Mauer. He's a very solid defensive catcher, albeit a very boring defensive catcher (he's like watching paint dry), but he gets the job done. He blocks the ball well, he calls a good game, controls the running game pretty well, and he's a tough kid. Add on top of that the offensive numbers, and he's the guy.



Jorge Says No!: There has been a lot of talk about Matt Wieters, the Orioles young catcher who happens to be 6'5, being too big to catch. Do you believe this?



Brent Mayne: I don't. I think a lot of the injury issues are mental with stress. I'd think 99% of injuries are stress related because you rarely see a guy snap a bone or something like that. I think most of them start in the head and then work their way down to another body part and pretty soon your on the DL. I think there's a mental component that goes into it and there is also the luck componet (not having Prince Fielder run into you) and simply the technique. I think doing things the right way and staying in an athletic position will keep you out of injuries for as long as possible.

****** ******

Stay tuned tonight for the full audio of the interview. Trust me, it's worth the listen.



In the mean time, please check out Brent's book, The Art of Catching, and his website http://www.brentmayne.com/

Ken Griffey Jr. is the King of Awkward Introductions

Junior Being Junior:

French received an autographed jersey from Griffey last month when the Mariners played the Tigers in Detroit, and on Saturday received a typical Griffey "welcome" to the Mariners.

"Mike Sweeney and I were talking when he walked up and stood there near us," Griffey said. "We knew he wanted to introduce himself, so when we were done talking, both of us turned and started to walk away.

"Luke had his hand out and he just stared. Then I turned around and said, 'I'm just messin' with you."

That's more awkward than a fifth grade dance.

Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff, and the Trading Deadline

After the trading deadline, it seems as though everyone and their mother is quick to put out a list of winners and losers that provide instant analysis into which teams hit it big and which teams blew it. Most of these columns are somewhat generic, but this piece about the Orioles caught my eye.

SI.com's Ted Keith believes that the O's were losers at deadline for not being more active:

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Added: Cla Meredith, Josh Bell, Steve Johnson
Traded: Oscar Salazar, George Sherrill

Orioles president Andy MacPhail had vowed that his team would not be a farm system for anyone else, but they may not have done enough at this deadline to help themselves for the future. Sherrill brought back a decent pair, third baseman Josh Bell and pitcher Steve Johnson, both of whom should start learning the Oriole Way at Double-A. But with a handful of other players who could have been traded to accelerate their building program that has begun already with players like Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters and Adam Jones, it's a little surprising that they only made one trade to strengthen their farm system.

I'm guessing by "other players" Keith is referring to Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora, and Danys Baez; all of whom are free agents at the end of the season. None of these guys have a future with the club so in theory it would have made sense for the Orioles to make a move.

However, Keith fails to mention that the market for both Huff and Mora failed to develop. Both guys are having poor seasons and became backup choices at best for contending teams. It's impossible to move guys if there is no market for them.

In addition, a few weeks back it looked like the Orioles could get a nice return on Danys Baez, who was having a solid bounce back season. But over the last two months, Baez has struggled and as a result, his value took a big hit.

I don't agree with Keith's assessment that the Orioles were trading deadline losers. The market for these three players was not there, at least right now anyway. If anything, the Orioles should have traded Huff and Mora after last season when both guys were coming off huge seasons and entering the final year of their contract. That would have maximized both players' value and strengthened the Orioles farm system.

Keith is surprised that the Orioles only made one deal at the deadline, but the reality behind it is clear: the market simply was not there for these players. Maybe the Orioles could get something for Huff, Mora, or Baez in August if any of them are able to produce over the next few weeks. The opportunity might be there and maybe the market might finally develop.

Interview with Brent Mayne (AUDIO!)

My interview with Brent Mayne can be found by clicking on the title of the post "Interview With Brent Mayne." From there, just hit download and then windows media (or whatever you use) should pop up with a combination of a phone connection, Brent Mayne, and my annoying voice.

I hope you enjoy the interview. I'm working on a better system for the future to make things easier for everybody, but this is the best I can do for now.

Please take some time to listen to the interview. It's fascinating, in depth, interesting, and will leave you smiling at the end.

Steroids and Baseball: Who Would Surprise You?

When it came out last week that David Ortiz used steroids back in 2003, my reaction was far from surprised. For some reason, it did not surprise me to see Big Papi on the list even though there was no evidence to suggest that he used PEDs before.

Nevertheless, a few of my buddies were actually surprised that Big Papi tested positive. I had no idea why. Didn't they see Papi's massive improvement in 2003? His sudden rise to prominence couldn't have simply been a fluke, right?

How could this be surprising for them? Most of the big names from that era have been linked to PEDs in some form and it seemed almost naive to think that any player from that era was actually clean.

But that got me thinking. Are there any star players from the steroid era, who I would be surprised to find out used steroids or any kid of PED? Here is the list that I came up with (in no particular order):

1. Ken Griffey Jr.

2. Derek Jeter

3. Greg Maddux/ Tom Glavine

4. Tony Gwynn

5. Mariano Rivera

6. Craig Biggio

7. Jeff Kent

8. Curt Schilling

9 Cal Ripken Jr.

10. Chipper Jones

So there you have it. I can honestly no longer say "no one would surprise me anymore" because the reality is this: even though baseball has taken a major hit from the steroid era, there are still players from that era, who I believe in and want to believe in. Call me naive, but the steroid era has not totally eroded my faith in clean baseball. If any of these guys are linked to steroids, I'll be in the same boat as my David Ortiz buddies, surprised and hurt that yet another big name has been linked to PEDs.

What star players (if any) would surprise you if they were linked to PEDs?

Marty Appel: The Interview

Update: Today is the anniversary of Thurman Munson's death 30 years ago. In honor of Thurman, I am reposting the interview I conducted with Marty Appel, who authored the biography Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain. Enjoy.

RIP Thurman

****** *****

There are some moments where I feel very fortunate to be a blogger. Today was one of them. I had the distinct privilege of interviewing Marty Appel, the head PR man for the Yankees in the 1970s. I was lucky enough to read Mr. Appel's latest book about Thurman Munson entitled Munson: Life and Death of a Yankee Captain, which is in stores now. Trust me, the book is worth the read for any Yankee fan or baseball fan. We all know Munson as a tremendous baseball player, but this book gives us a very detailed look into Munson off the field including his tumultuous childhood.

Mr. Appel was kind enough to chat with Jorge Says No! about Thurman Munson, his life, his legacy, and the biography.

For more on Marty Appel, please visit appelpr.com. Or to purchase the book, click here.

********** **************

Jorge Says No! Interview With Marty Appel

Jorge Says No!: What was it about Thurman Munson that made the fans like him so much?

Marty Appel: His approach to the game. The way he respected the team, the respect of the Yankees, the way he respected the sport, and the way he just played his heart out every game.

In the book, it's mentioned several times that Thurman had an image to protect and different personas. Why do you think this was? And why was his relationship so strained with the media?

-It was never clear why he did. You'll see a portion in the book where Murray Chass of the New York Times speculates that teammates might have goated him into taking a more hostile point of view. It was really his biggest flaw as a personality was his difficult relationship with the press, especially after he became team captain. As we see with Jeter, one of the responsibilities of being captain is to be the team spokesman, when necessary. Thurman never got that memo.

You take an extensive look into Thurman's difficult childhood, specifically with his father. What impact did his childhood have on Thurman's life?

-For most of us, those kind of family lives just regenerate themselves and you almost never see someone break that cycle as well as Thurman did. That's why it was so laudable what he accomplished. There was a reference to his Father, who was raised in an orphanage, so that was like two generations at least of home life that was essentially loveless. For Thurman to break that and have a great family life of his own as a adult, boy, he really accomplished that.

Thurman comes off in the book as a devoted and loving family man. How much of this do you attribute to his difficult upbringing with his father?

-It's all part of the same picture. Thurman's father was gone all the time (he was a long distance truck driver) and Thurman was just going to be everything that his father wasn't. And that was his reason for getting into aviation in the first place.

Why did you decide to write this autobiography about Munson? What new information did you uncover about Thurman?

-The reason I wanted to do it is because to me, the first draft (autobiography of Munson) was incomplete. It delivered what Thurman wanted and no more. And I always knew that there was so much more to the story.

In terms of what I discovered, it was really new details about his upbringing. He would have been at the point now in his sixties where if I said to him, "the story of how you accomplished breaking this cycle and developing a wonderful family life for yourself is such an uplifting American story. There are so many people that can relate to that. I think this is an important book so that this message gets out there.

Hypothetically speaking, what do you think would have happened with Thurman and the Yankees after '79? Was Thurman headed to Cleveland? Would he ever catch again?

-It's so hard to say. The wild card turned out to be Dave Winfield. Winfield comes to the Yankees and Thurman is of the belief that he should make the most money so if they signed Winfield, the Yankees are supposed to give him (Munson) more. Would the Indians have been in the position to match that kind of salary? Probably not.

I think Thurman probably would have made the money decision and stayed in New York. But who can be sure? We barely know how many years Thurman had left in him anyway.

He could have turned into a good designated hitter and had a six or seven year run at that. But of course, we'll never know.

Do you think Thurman should be in the HOF? Why hasn't he come close?

-That's a tough question for me because I love the guy and I'm a big Yankee fan, but I'm a real purist when it comes to the hall of fame. I would be a very tough voter if I did have a vote. I gotta go along with what Bill James wrote which is that in the end, he essentially did not have the career numbers to put him in the hall of fame. What he did have was the most severe injury imaginable in his 11th season. But hey, hall of fame careers are often detoured by injuries. And, I think Bill James said this, that there's alot more guys who were injured on their way to Cooperstown than guys who actually made it. So I'm never in favor of putting in a hall of famer that requires an asterisk. Roberto Clemente did not require an asterisk.

That's how I feel, but with apologies, because I know there are Munson fans who believe that he belongs.

After reading this book, the one word that I would use to describe Munson is complex. Is there a word that comes to your head when you think of Thurman Munson?

-Well complex is a good word. He was not just a jock, there was a lot to this guy: his concentration on family, his interest in business, his interest in aviation. He was a real Renaissance man. A good player for his time because he led by example both on the field and off the field.

Do you think readers will be surprised to see just how interested in business Munson was?

-Yeah and also it helped him form a relationship with George Steinbrenner. He used to like to go up to Steinbrenner's office after batting practice and just talk business with him. He'd plop in there in uniform and sit at Steinbrenner's desk and put his feet up on the table and talk business. I think that's different than most players.

Thurman may not have done this out of warmth and friendship, but he also admired Steinbrenner's successes as a business man and wanted to learn all he could from him.

And finally, you got your start in baseball opening Mickey Mantle's fanmail? How cool was that job?

-It was cool that I got to know Mickey Mantle from it and that Mickey Mantle knew who I was, which was unimaginable when I was a kid. The process of answering the mail wasn't that interesting after a while because they all said the same thing: "Dear Mickey, Your my favorite player. Please send me an autographed baseball."

The letters were not as interesting as knowing Mickey!

********** ***********

I'd like to thank Mr. Appel for being so generous with his time. He is truly a class act and I enjoyed every minute of the interview.

Stay tuned for an in depth book review of Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain in the next few days.