Baseball Talk

Seattle University faces Grand Canyon in the 2021 Western Athletic Conference MBB Tournament

Fresno Grizzlies pitcher Jarrod Cande talks about the differences between California versus his home area of Tampa. Plus he shares what it was like to play summer college baseball on the same site where Jackie Robinson attempted to make his Brooklyn Dodgers spring training debut

Doug Bernier works as a defensive coordinator with the Colorado Rockies minor leaguers. The former Rockies and Minnesota Twins infielder talks about his role as a coach plus his baseball company. He also praises his Twins manager Ron Gardenhire

Former second baseman Placido Polanco discusses his upbringing with the St. Louis Cardinals. He shares what it was like to play for Tony LaRussa and Jim Leyland. The three-time Major League Gold Glove Award winner is a special assistant in the minor leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers

Ben Sems first homer with Fresno

San Francisco Giants Special Assistant Ron Wotus joins me to discuss his current role with the club which involved work at the major and minor league levels. We kick it about his 24 years on the Giants big league coaching staff and his minor league managing days. Ron defines baseball lifer

Rick Mathews is a Special Assistant in Player Development for the Colorado Rockies. He’s one of the few who has been with the club for all 30 years. Prior to Colorado he managed Mark Gubicza, Bret Saberhagen and David Cone in the minor leagues for Kansas City. He brings around 50 years of professional baseball experience

Jim Eppard is the minor league coordinator of hitting for the Oakland Athletics. He’s been in professional baseball season for 42 years. He and I talk about many of the places where baseball has taken him and about a conversation he had with George Brett after Jim achieved his first major league base hit

Recorded in 2009; Jim Davenport spent his entire major league playing career with the San Francisco Giants (1958-70). The former third baseman was the first batter ever in San Francisco Giants history. We cover him being teammates with Willie Mays, and he discusses watching Mays play in the Negro Leagues for the Birmingham Black Barons. Jim was also the first manager of the Fresno Grizzlies in 1998

Fresno Grizzlies left-handed Mason Greens joins me to discuss the team’s success and his 27-0 record at Central Missouri University. Plus he’s yet to pitch a night game this season

This was recorded in 2010 when Tim Wallach managed the Albuquerque Isotopes which were then the AAA-Los Angeles Dodgers. Some of the discussion includes his first major league All-Star Game in 1984 and playing in Dennis Martinez perfect game in 1991

Recorded in 2008; Tony Gwynn talks about what it’s like being a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and watching his son Tony Jr. working his way to the big leagues

From 2010, I interviewed umpire Cory Blaser then in the Pacific Coast League. He’s been a full-time Major League Baseball umpire for over a decade. Cory explains the long road from umpire school to the big leagues and how he got interested in the profession

Fresno Grizzlies right fielder Yanquiel Fernandez hits a Grand Slam

From May of 2010 before Buster was called up for good. Little did we know what would be accomplished by him and the team so it’s fun to listen about his maturation as a pro catcher and when he played all nine positions in one game at Florida State

Former major league outfielder Daniel Nava shares memories of coming up with the Boston Red Sox and hitting a Grand Slam in his first major league at-bat, only a handful have accomplished that. Plus he will tell you his favorite baseball player was growing up. Nava is the bench coach for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the California League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Former major league manager Clint Hurdle is now a Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Colorado Rockies. We cover his days as a minor league player in the Kansas City system to what it was like to manage the Rockies to the National League pennant in 2007. And much much more

Fresno Grizzlies outfielder EJ Andrews and I talk about what it’s like to play professionally in Fresno after being an All-Mountain West player at Fresno State

Braiden Ward was just promoted from Low-A Fresno to High-A Spokane. He led the California League in hitting at .367