Big League Moment Angels Pitcher Hector Santiago Interview

For the 2014 off season the Angels participated in a 3-team trade to try to solve the rotation problems of the previous season. Slugger Mark Trumbo was dealt and in return the Halo's received two young arms Tyler Skaggs, a former Angel prospect, and Hector Santiago. Santiago is developing into a reliable arm in the rotation, building up a solid innings count with a very good K/9 ratio supporting his 3.56 ERA. While many writers are focusing on the potential of Skaggs, Santiago's arm has the potential to be the key bridge in the rotation for Halos this season and farther down the line.

Santiago was kind enough to do an interview and answer a few questions for me about his MLB career.

First off, new member of the Angels. How did you find out about the trade? Who broke the news to you about it?

"Rick Hahn, GM of White Sox called me."

How did you find out you were being called up to the Majors with the White Sox in 2011?

"My Double A manager called me early Sunday morning and asked if I could pitch for the Sox at night."

After your call up did any player go out of their way to show you the day to day of being a big leaguer and help mentor you?

"No not really I kept to myself and just went about my business."

Pitching coach Don Cooper, what was his biggest piece of advice to you as a young pitcher? 

"He always said focus and fastball command two big things pitchers need to have success."

You're a fan favorite in Chicago and likely one in the Anaheim being so twitter active. What's the biggest thing fans can do to show you support?

"Fans show their support all the time through twitter but actually showing up to games and cheering us on in good and bad times gives us confidence and trust in the fans. We love when we talk out and see our teams colors and logos all over the place. "

The White Sox are a popular franchise, how do you feel about autograph seekers? Do you mind it? Anything you especially enjoy signing?

"I don't mind signing anything or anytime but I hope that fans understand that we are at work and we can't always stop and sign. But I try to sign as much as I can! And I like signing team baseballs the most because it shows your team fan! But sweet spot is pretty cool!

This team is gonna be great. I see some MVP type seasons ahead and hopefully a Cy Young! Don't forget about Rookie of the Year!"

It was great of Hector Santiago to do spend some of his offseason doing this interview and I'm looking forward to him becoming an anchor in the Angels rotation for years to come. If you don't follow him on twitter you should follow the fan friendly pitcher's twitter @HecSantiago53

Big League Moment Grant Green Interview

While at the Brandon Barnes Wiffleball event I used some time to interview Angels' infielder Grant Green. Grant was extremely personable and a pleasure to do an extended interview with, that gave a great glimpse into his time so far as a Major Leaguer.

First question. How did you find out you were being called up the majors?
I was actually in AAA Fresno. My manager was the same high school I went to, I start to get dressed for the game, he was like "Hey grant don't get dressed yet." so I'm just sitting in the visiting clubhouse wondering what's going on. I go into his office and go so whats the deal, " He tells me you're getting called up you're getting on a plane tonight you're going to Pittsburgh." And I'm like are you kidding? He says he'd never joke about something like that."

When you first get to the clubhouse what did the As have waiting for you?
"I mean they have the jerseys and everything. It's nothing special just jerseys. But the coaches are there waiting congratulate you, say hi and what not. To me thats one of the coolest things when you get that first call up how excited everyone is for you. Everyone goes through it, everyones been there before, they're all just so happy."

I know some teams break it up. Did the club house manager give you a number?
"It was my number in spring training so they just kept it over for the season."

So you were traded to the Angels, how did you find out?
"I start to get on the field for a game. Same thing manager says "hey we can't let you play today you're taking the day off." I knew Sogard had been hurt a couple days before so he says hey you're just in a holding pattern right now. We're just going to see what the deal is. So I went up and was lifting in our clubhouse and a couple of pitchers come in and ask what the deal is. I tell them I don't know  yet. Finally one of them says congratulations. For what? You just got traded. I was like…bull…I would have heard something. And he says no it's on twitter. I ended up finding out a little after that when the GM's called."

The stories about Billy Beane...are they true? Is there an organizational idea, hey this is what people think about our organization? Or is it more baseball and less numbers than everyone tries to make it out to?
"There's definitely less numbers. He's not going to reward you for walking 500 times. It's the type of thing where a lot of teams are just starting to looking into now its On Base Percentage. He's really big on that and not to the extent that most people think but he's still into OBP and playing the game the right way. Although its not as bad as everyone says it is, it's still present in the organization."

Did anyone take you in and show you how to be a big leaguer?
"With Oakland I knew a lot of the guys already from Spring Training every year. I knew Trumbo from being around here, Conger's from around here. Kole Calhoun from playing against him. All the guys have been there before so no one treats you any differently. There is a bit of rookie hazing but its all in good fun. everyone was nice and forward with any information I needed."

What was your rookie hazing?
"We wore Speedos with the Angels, but I wasn't there for it with the A's. Usually its in September with the September call ups but I wasn't around for it."

What's your favorite park as a player?
"New Yankee stadium is always nice. But still my favorite the one I had the most fun in, maybe because it was my call up is Pittsburgh. I had a blast. I thought the ballpark was gorgeous, such a beautiful ballpark the city we stayed in was really nice. All around great."

What are your goals as a team or individually?
"As a team it's to win games make the playoffs and hopefully heat up at the right time and win a World Series. Personally same as every year. Get better be more consistent. Wherever the chips fall theres nothing you can control besides working hard and trying to do your best."

Big League Moment Brandon Barnes Interview

While I was at the Brandon Barnes 1st Annual Wiffleball Invitational I took the opportunity to talk to Brandon for a few minutes and he was kind enough to do a quick interview. Below is the transcribed conversation.

First off Rockie now, who was the first person to tell you?
"I was actually going to professional athletes outreach in Florida, its a Christian convention. I got off the plane and had a message from my GM. I gave him a call and he told me I was traded."

Are you looking forward to that outfield?
"Yeah definitely I played there once last year. It's a big outfield. I like to run around and go after balls and I'm very excited. It's a hitters park so its even more fun."

How did you find out you were being called up?
"Called in by my AAA manager in 2012. I thought it was to talk about the game. Talked about my attitude and said it had been a little different then he told me he was joking and I was being called to the Majors."

Did you get any rookie hazing by the Astros?
"We had to wear speedos the first year in Chicago. This year I was super woman but I don't remember where it was it's all a blur."

First annual wiffleball tournament. Are you planning another event? Was it easy to work with the organization?
"Not yet I think I'll let some time go first. I've worked with PCRF before so it was pretty simple to start but pulling this all together was pretty tough."

You have items from Vinne Pestano, Mark Trumbo, but Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. How were you able to get everything?
I have a lot of good friends and connections. In the baseball world we all have each others numbers were all pretty close so just reaching out.

Did you think about the cycle?
"No. Until I stepped up and knew I needed a double thats the only time I ever thought about it."

Did you feel it off the end of the bat?
"No. I mean I got it pretty good and it just shot down the right field line."

I know the Astros are pretty young did any veterans take you in?
"Rick Ankiel and Carlos Pena really helped me a lot. "

It was great to take a chance to talk to Brandon Barnes and get to know more about him as a player and a little about how he got involved in working with the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.

The Ultimate Big League Moment, Justin Masterson

During the 2012 season, the best Big League Moment that could possibly happen occurred at Angel Stadium when the Cleveland Indians were in town to play the Angels. The Indians acquired pitcher Justin Masterson from the Boston Red Sox in the middle of the 2009 season for catcher Victor Martinez. As many of you know I'm a big Red Sox fan and Masterson was one of my favorite players on the team after he debuted on the team and went the longest debut without taking a loss at home in the franchises' history.

I went to Fenway repeatedly after he debuted to buy a player t-shirt with his name on it, and finally got one the first day they were available. I was there for his start in 2009 when Jacoby Ellsbury stole home off Andy Petitte to get the go ahead run to give Masterson the win. When he was traded to the Indians I was always sure to try to get tickets to see his starts and would wear his Red Sox shirt to show support. Even though this normally gets me plenty of pretty rude comments from Angels fans, Justin's a favorite player so I always take it.

I wore my Masterson shirt to the game and when I was getting to my seat a guy came up to me and asked if he could take a photo of my shirt. I said sure and let him take a photo of the "Masterson 63" on the back. I asked if he knew him, and he responded yes. He was his agent and he was sending the photo to Justin's wife. I couldn't resist so I asked if he could help me get Justin's autograph. At the end of the game he let me come along to wait with him since he was picking up Justin.

It was crazy to see players walking out smiling and not be shooed away or ignored when I stood there. I said goodnight to Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Perez, and Sandy Alomar Jr. as they left. The inner grapher in me was tempted to try racking up on the players as they left, but I knew the experience was a very special one so I just nodded and said goodbye to them as they walked away. Justin ended up walking out to say hi to some friends who waited after the game and signed for all the regular graphers who were waiting to get signatures. He signed multiples, was very personable sharing stories and answering questions while he signed for everyone who asked.

When he was done talking and signing for everyone Justin's agent introduced us and I got to talk to one of my favorite players uninterrupted. I shared the story of me getting his shirt in Boston and freaking out when I saw Jacoby break for home against Petitte and he laughed saying "he stumbled home." While I was talking to him I told him how I made sure to wear the shirt even though it's unpopular and right on queue an Angels fan walked out and lightly slapped me on the chest saying "Red Sox! No wonder the Angels F***ing lost" Justin looked very shocked and responded "Well goodnight to you too lady!" and I told him it was no big deal since supporting him was worth the abuse.

He said thank you for the support, autographed a ball I got from Chris Perez during BP, and took a photo with me saying photos were better than autographs anyways. Seeing as he's 6'6 and I'm 5'10 on a good day it's a pretty funny photo. It was definitely one of the best memories I've ever had and very appreciative that he and his agent made time for me so I could meet one of my favorite players.

Nowadays fans stop caring or even being polite when a player goes to another team, and sometimes I understand (Johnny Damon to the Yankees) but if the player has no choice and is traded why stop supporting them? I'll always support Masterson's career and hope he continues to have a bright one.

I'm very happy to have this Justin Masterson autographed baseball in collection and I'm excited he was finally named to the All Star team during the 2013 season so I had Masterson autograph a jersey.

Big League Moment (8) Ian Kennedy

During the 2012 season the Angels played the Diamondbacks as part of inter-league play. Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy was kind enough to share a little bit about TTM while he signed a few autographs on his way into the stadium.

I said thank you for signing on his way into the stadium and Ian said no problem, so I mentioned that I was happy to get his autograph since I had mailed him a request last year at the stadium. He laughed kind of sheepishly and said "Not everything gets to me and I don't really sign during the season, but I try to get some in the off season. My wife has a big stack of it at home for me so I don't lose it. You know who does sign his mail though...but don't tell him I told you or I'll get in trouble."

I thought it was pretty awesome of Ian to be honest about his TTM signing habits and I really appreciated him passing along a tip for another player he knew who did sign TTM during the season. I can't share the player here since Kennedy asked me not, but the whole experience was cool. There have been a few readers who weren't too thrilled I didn't spill the beans on who Kennedy tipped out as a reliable signer but I've got to respect what was asked of me.

Big League Moment (6) Arte Moreno

On Memorial day 2012 I had been doing some post game graphing and ran into Angel owner Arte Moreno. After he signed a few autographs for fans I went over to him to ask a question that's been bugging me for a few weeks. As a season ticket holder I tend to get a little bored living at the stadium and wander a bit. In right center field here is a large Angel logo that has a out of place two rows of red flowers. I asked why the flowers are there expecting some sort of significant meaning. Arte looked at me wih a puzzled look and his wife started laughing when he fumbled for an appropriate response and finally responded, "They're there to be...aesthetically pleasing...they don't mean anything." 

Great Arte. Lie to me. Say it's for Nick Adenheart. Say they're your wife's favorites. Don't tell me I stare at this random set of flowers just because you felt like it.

Big League Moment (5) Mark Langston

As Mr. Langston is a radio broadcaster for the Angel's 2012 season I've had the chance to ask him additional questions and he's always been nice enough to share his memories. Mr. Langston is a classy guy and was kind enough to not only sign his autograph for me, but answer some questions.

I asked, "What was your favorite park to pitch in as a visitor?"

"That's an interesting question...Chicago. Wrigley. The whole place has a good feeling when you're in it. Any big park is good for a pitcher, I like Oakland."

While that was my moment, a friend of mine also posed a question to Langston. He asked him what his favorite baseball card of himself was and immediately Langston choose his lone card of him ever up to bat. I've yet to figure out what the card is, but rest assured I will find it and have him sign it.

"What was your favorite All-Star year?"
"The first one. The first is always the best."

"Who was your toughest out?"
"My old neighbor Dave Henderson. I guess he wanted to own the block."

"How would you get Mike Trout out?"
"I'd pitch him inside to make him shorten his swing, and you have to keep him guessing by changing speeds. But he's really good at making adjustments even during at-bats. "Do you think you could pick him off?" "Now that one I'm more confident about, I think I could get him."

Big League Interview (4) Kenny Powers

That's right folks, the Shelby Sensation took some time to do an interview with us. Those of you who don't know who Kenny Powers is...well you obviously haven't been watching the best show on baseball since baseball and cameras came together Eastbound & Down. It's a pretty hilarious show based on the life of former star closer Kenny Powers and highly highly for mature audiences only. Kid's don't go flipping through for it, because it's on HBO and rated Mature.

Those of you who think Logan Morrison is offensive but funny haven't seen anything yet if you haven't seen Danny McBrides' Kenny Powers twitter. It's like comparing a glass of water thrown on you to someone beating you in the face with a fire hose filled with salt water. Twice.

Anyways on to the interview and once again for Mature audiences only:

1) If you could hit any player in the batters box past or present who would it be?
Cal Ripken Jr.

2) Popping Macworthy's eye out, how many times have you watched it on Youtube?
It replays in my dreams.

3) What city has the best baseball groupies?  
America 

4) Your World Series ring from Atlanta, what'd you do with it?
It didn't double as a **** ring so I pawned that s*** for a new hot tub.

5) What's the first thing you bought with your signing bonus?
Gold bars.  

6) One thing you want to get back to the Majors to do?  
The legal steroids.


Thanks for the time KP, best of luck getting back to the Majors.  You can find Kenny Powers on twitter if you're interested in more.

Big League Interview (3) Grant Balfour

While at Angel Stadium I was hanging out during the Oakland A's batting practice and noticed a few people with some noticeable accents. By noticeable I mean awesome as there were a few Australians in the stands. It turns out that these were ball players from Australia who knew aussie Grant Balfour.

We had a pretty brief encounter as I hung out listening to their conversation (obviously listening not eavesdropping but they didn't seem to mind) about other Australians in the league and a few minor leaguers. It's a pretty small community and nice to know that they had a pretty good handle on all their countrymen in the US trying to make it in the bigs. It was also cool as he leaned in and shared some insider knowledge that hadn't been announced to yet, that he was told earlier in the day that he was going to get the shot as closer after Brian Fuentes' woes on the diamond.

After the guys left Balfour's family was actually there and he chatted with them for a while (I took a few steps away down the wall so they could have family time and didn't listen in). When his parents started to leave I reclaimed my spot on the wall and talked to Balfour myself for a minute.

Since this happened the first time the A's were in town, Balfour saw a ball come his way and started to check out the 50th anniversary logo stamped on the ball. I told him he should snag a few for his family since it's a pretty nice ball and he seemed to like the design. He handed the one he had been checking out to me and it was actually my first 50th anniversary ball (more on that ball later). He offered to get me a better ball since the 50 stamp was "Pretty beat up" as a thanks for the tip on the anniversary ball, but I declined and thanked him for the offer since it was my first 50th anniversary ball.

His family was on the way back so I had Grant autograph a ball for me then asked him the one question I had been dying to know about the former Tampa Bay Ray.

Did you like playing as a visitor in Boston or New York more?
(Insert Australian accent) "Oh New York mate." I probably should have asked him which stadium in general he liked to pitch at because Balfour's stats against the Sox and Yankees especially away aren't anything he'd be overly fond of. At Old Yankee Stadium he posted a 3.00 ERA and had batters hitting .393 against him. At Fenway a 6.75 ERA and .295 average awaited him.

I didn't have a chance to catch up to Grant the second time the A's came to town, but it was nice to share that little moment at the start of the season.

Big League Moment (2) Zack Hample

Well I woke up on the holiday morning a little bit latter than normal and logged onto my computer to see a wonderful surprise. Author, blogger, and ballhawk extraordinaire Zack Hample had altered his West Coast road trip to include the September 5th game at Angel stadium. To say I was excited is to an understatement. I immediately went into action with the necessary preparations for a surprise visit by his ballhawk-ness.

Less you readers forget, or don't know, Zack is the ballhawk/author who has written the books How to Snag Major League Baseballs, Watching Baseball Smarter, and The Baseball while updating readers with his blog The Baseball Collector in his ball collecting supremacy. I've only read the latter two books and follow the blog, and can firmly recommend all three as entertaining and necessary reads.

But, back to the preparations. I snag baseballs as needed typically with a specific use of the ball in mind when I start. Shockingly I will admit I've always barehanded balls or gotten them handed to me by a player or coach. I've actually only had one drop this season and that was when I was knocked on the arm by someone next to me. Anyways, in honor of Zack I decided the time was right to finally get a glove. I also decided it was necessary to get a hardcopy of his book The Baseball, because my copy was a digital one on my Nook. Thus off I went in the rain to buy both book and glove.

While waiting for the stadium to open it happened, my friend spotted Zack and we went over to introduce ourselves. I'll say it once and I'll repeat it as often as needed, Zack's a nice guy. He not only signed his book but wrote a nice inscription and personalized it to me. I really did appreciate him sitting down to get a better position to sign. We discussed the layout of the stadium a bit and I let him do his thing with a local reporter who was following up on the hero of the first Mike Trout homer. Here's a quick photo outside of them talking.

If you're interested in reading the article about Zack in the OC register you can find it here.

I was able to catch up to Zack inside after he had gone on a bit of a snagging spree after I caught my glove's first ball, a nice toss up by Trayvon Robinson in Center Field. It's a pretty high throw but Trayvon put it right on the money and the fresh glove caught it perfectly though stiffly.

I went down to the seats behind the visiting Mariners dugout where Zack was and he let me tag along with him for a bit to answer a few questions and watch him work trying to get a ball for the warming up Mariners.

It was a bit loud so I couldn't record the interview, but I did take notes. The answers if they seem short and sharp are only because I couldn't write full response in my notes while at the game, but I will say he gave great answers to everything while I interviewed Zack Hample.

You've talked about a few helpful players in your blog and books, who are the players that really help you out with balls?

"Brian Stokes, D.J. Carrasco, Livian Hernandez even though he always asks me how many he's given me this season."

Are there any players who go out of their way to not give you a ball or help?

"It's been a while since a player did that. Probably a few years."

Citing my own failure to reel in a ball by Felix Hernandez, he threw it in the sun and I was completely blinded, are there any big players you'd like to get a ball from?

"Texiera, Matt Kemp even though he's hard to get a ball from, Robinson Cano, plenty of good players it'd be nice to get one from."

Do you have any balls you'd like to get still?

"I'd really like to get any 100th ball from someone."

I was wondering if you thought about trying to get in on Thome's 600th.

"I thought about Thome, but when he was at 598 he was in Detroit. He homered twice in that game, and it's really tough to get balls from there."

Referring back to my earlier drop I had to ask how often Zack dropped a ball. He was pretty candid and put my drop into perspective.

"Even the pros have an error or two and misplay a ball. I probably don't really drop a toss up but can miss a homer on the fly. If it hits the edge of my glove it's probably because I wasn't focusing enough. Earlier I misplayed BP and started to leave when I didn't realize there was another BP group."

I know when certain teams come to town there's a drop off in homers. When the Nationals came there was a bit of a drop. Do you notice if it's harder to get a BP ball in an National League stadium than an American League since there's no designated hitter?

"Really? The Nationals have some power guys. Michael Moorse? I don't really notice a difference."

What type of glove do you use?

"Mizuno and the one before this was Mizuno."

How old is that glove?

"This one I've had for about 15 years" Zack then showed that despite the pretty well used and worn exterior, he had redone the interior of the glove and "hope the glove survives this trip."

Zack was traveling around the stadium with his friends and had been shadowed by a representative of the media due to him catching Mike Trout's first career home run. I had to ask how many times he's been at a game with the media and if it affected him.

"I don't have an actual statistic or tally on that. Probably about a half dozen or so times this year. I may miss a ball or two while we're doing something and be a few seconds too late, but it doesn't hurt too much."

Did you end up getting that Mike Trout jersey? (He asked Trout's mom for an autographed jersey since he was nice enough to return Trout's first career homer, but didn't force the issue and demand it from Trout as a trade for the ball)

"No. I mean I could have insisted on it at the time, but it just wasn't something I was looking to do. I didn't want to come off looking like I was taking advantage of him."

All the locals will want to know, how does Angel Stadium stack up on your West Coast road trip?

"It's medium, an okay stadium to look at with not too much going on. It's a little tough since the double bullpens take away prime power alley space. It's tough to go side to side since you have to go up and around to go from Right to Left. And they stopped me from using my glove trick, so that's a knock."

Really what happened?

"I used it once and a Mariners player who saw it wanted me to do it again. He set up a ball and I did the glove trick. Security came down, made me show them my ID, filed an incident report, and cut the string for the trick."


Zack and I finished watching the Mariners warming up and unsuccessfully tried to get a ball from Adam Kennedy. Kennedy I know is from Riverside, CA and I've seen him give away balls before but I think they were to his own kids or family friends so that didn't really surprise me and is pretty fair I think. I thanked Zack for the chance to watch him work and told him I'd try to get back down to behind the dugout after the game, but wasn't able to make it down. It really was a pleasure to meet Zack and have the chance to ask him questions as we hung out.

You can follow Zack Hample on twitter @Zack_Hample

Big League Moment (1) Scott Downs

Well readers I thought it was about time for me to start adding a new feature to my blog. Many of you actually check in on the blog fairly frequently and I truly do appreciate your readership. After all my hours spent hunting around Angel Stadium I've had a few run-ins with current and past players that don't always make it into the blog post or have an autograph to showcase in the normal RBI format. Rather than let those moments go to waste I've decided to add the "Big League Moment" where I'll post up my interactions with the guys from the big leagues.

This inaugural post includes someone I've actually had trouble getting an autograph from, mainly because I don't have any cards for him. It seems every time I run into Scott Downs when he's signing I've already wrinkled or had my ticket signed, don't have a clean baseball, or haven't been able to get ahold of a card yet. This natural frustration led me to finally take advantage of hanging out before the game and asking him a few questions on his way into the stadium.

(Me standing along the fence and calling out) "Hey Scott, can I ask you a few quick questions?"

(Mr. Downs turning to face me and take a few steps closer) "Sure."

"What's your favorite city to play in as a visitor?"

Without missing a beat Scott responded "Boston." This is actually a fairly surprising response to get from Mr. Downs, and I'm actually fairly certain it has more to do with how nice the city of Boston is, than actual baseball performance. Lifetime Downs has only appeared in 14 games in Fenway where batters hit .317 off him with a 4.70 ERA to go with that high average. Considering he spent 6 seasons with the Blue Jays those are actually surprising for him to have that few appearances and those kind of numbers.

"Who's the toughest guy for you to get out?"


This response was also immediate and the numbers do support Downs answer, "Hideki Matsui. I have no idea why but for some reason I can't get that guy out." In 24 at-bats, Matsui has had 12 hits including 2 Doubles and a Homer.  Matsui has only struck out 4 times while driving in 7 runs. He's tied for most plate appearances against Downs with Robinson Cano at 27 and just ahead of Bobby Abreu's 26. Both are top caliber professional hitters in the same if not higher tier as Matsui, but against Downs only hit .231 and .261 respectively. Seeing as Matsui is a lefty I'm as stumped as Downs as to why he is so successful against the southpaw reliever.

Having responded to my pair of questions Downs turned to go into the clubhouse when I tossed out my final question, "Can I get a ball inside?"

(Still walking away Downs looked back) "Maybe during batting practice."


It was quick, and it was awesome. I really appreciated Scott taking a few minutes out of his day to talk to me, maybe even as much as I appreciate how lockdown he's been in the back end of the Angel bullpen.

If you readers enjoyed this Big League Moment post, please leave a comment or shoot me an email and when I have more to share I'll be sure to post them.