Feb. 20, 2008
LINKS OF INTEREST
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What are your plans for the future of Saturday Soldier? “I still have residual sales coming in. That’s encouraging. I incurred almost all of my start up expenses last year and turned a small profit. The fact that I’m getting residual sales even without large media stories on that means something.”
Is the website still active? “Yes: saturdaysoldier.com. You can buy six wristbands for $19.99. Since we’ve turned a profit, we have a large inventory. All the sales will go towards charity.”
What are the goals for 2008? “We all worked out very hard. Everyone had a slightly different plan in the summer. Some guys played. Some guys worked on their speed and strength. I want to build on last year. I think we have a really capable group of players. Looking around, we have a lot of guys with confidence and ability. I think we have a chance to be a very special team. Individually, I just want to have a solid approach everyday. Many things one accomplishes as an individual, you can only control the process. I can’t control what happens after the ball leaves my bat.”
What are your plans for after this season? “I have a few options open to me. I’d love for the opportunity to play pro baseball. If I were to get another job, I have some options there. At this point, I’m interviewing with different firms, but right now, my focus is on baseball. I know if I take care of business on the field for my team, then I will have an opportunity to play afterwards.”
What is your major? “Economics.”
Who recruited you to Vanderbilt, and how has the program progressed over your career? “When I was 17, I played in the Sun Belt Tournament in McAllister, Okla. When I was in that tournament, I had one of the best weeks of my life. Coach (Erik) Bakich was there watching. From what he could tell, he didn’t think I could make it out. The coaches followed me the entire summer. I had a pretty good summer. From there, they recruited me, along with other strong academic and baseball schools. I really liked my visit to Vanderbilt. I decided this was the place to be. During my freshman year, I was impressed with the consistency of our team on defense, but growing since then, offense has been one of the biggest differences over the last three years. Watching us hit in batting practice and in the games is an unbelievable difference. It’s almost an unrecognizable difference this year compared to three years ago.”
Are you excited to play in Arizona? “Yes. The weather in Nashville hasn’t been too bad the last couple of weeks, but I will be excited to see the ball travel a little bit (further because of the warm weather).”
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