Growing up, who was your favorite team and player?

I grew up in northern New Jersey, I always cheered for the Mets and Yankees.  1986 was the year I fell in love with baseball, my favorite players were majority from the Mets.  Keith Hernandez, Wally Backman, and Mookie Wilson were three of my favorites.  I really liked the way Don Mattingly hit so I always admired him too.

Which of your coaches influenced you the most?

That's a difficult question, I think I have been lucky to say that I've had several great coaches.  If I had to break it down, my father would be my most important coach.  He taught me so much about the game and was still someone I would seek advice from even in pro ball.  I guess I always felt he knew me best. 

How did you come to play for the Kalamazoo Kings?

I finished my senior year at Coastal Carolina University in 2001 and was not drafted.  That summer I went to every workout I could find out about with affiliated teams.  Nothing happened.  I began to look towards independent teams.  Chris Newell was a coach from college summer ball and a good friend of mine [who] contacted Kalamazoo for me.  He thought it would be a good fit for me, eventually Woody Sorrell called me and offered me a contract.

You always hit for average. Was it something you had to work on? Did you study film or anything like that?

For as long as I can remember, I was told, "If you can hit, they'll find a place for you to play."  I constantly hit.  During the off season, I would usually take a month or two off, and then jump right back into it.  I always felt I could improve my swing and always worked with the mentality of there is someone working harder than me.  To this day, I think hitting is the hardest thing to do in any sport.

Can you tell us a little about winning the batting title in 2003?

I remember coming to spring training that year feeling real good.  I trained real hard that off season with my old hitting coach, Bubba Dorman.  I felt prepared.  In 2002, Aaron Sledd - a great teammate with Kalamazoo- showed me his hitting log.  A notebook he kept while playing pro ball with every single at bat, pitch, and pitcher he ever saw.  He told me how much it helped him and recomended that I try it.  I did and I began to see changes, I continued with the notebook in '03.  The hitter's log helped me develop a game plan, as the year went on, I felt more and more in the zone.  It was a great feeling.

What were your emotions when the Orioles acquired you?

I was with the Kings when I was signed.  We were at the hotel in Gateway and the phone rang.  I never expected it to happen.  I was contacted all through the year by teams, but nothing came from it.  I started to get frustrated with it, so I decided to not worry about it anymore.  So it really was a HUGE surprise when I got the call.  I couldn't believe I got that call and had to get to Delmarva, MD as soon as possible.  My world did a complete 180!  Being excited was an understatement.  Let's just say, I didn't tell my family until several hours after it happened.  Just a great feeling.

What are some of the differences you noticed between affiliated ball and the Frontier League?

At first, I had to adjust to the pitching.  The Frontier League style of pitching was more based around off speed pitches.  My first week with Baltimore was a challenge, pitchers would establish their fastball early and go off speed later. 

As a player, is there a different mindset playing for an organization as opposed to an independent team?

There was.  I always thought I was a little closer to reaching that dream of making it to the big leagues.

What went through your head when the Orioles let you go?

I remember getting that dreaded knock on my hotel room door at 5:30am in spring training.  Probably the worst noise ever!  After getting to the ball park I met with the player director.  He explained to me why there was no job for me that year and encouraged me to keep playing.  There was no doubt that I wanted to keep playing.  When the meeting was ending, Crash Davis from the movie 'Bull Durham' popped into my mind.  I always loved that movie, and I knew at that moment what he felt like when he got released.

Upon returning to the Frontier League, why did you go to Washington and not return to Kalamazoo?

After I decided that I wanted to go back to the Frontier League, I called an old college teammate of mine, Randy McGarvey.  He played in Washington the year before and was going to return again in 2005.  I asked him if he thought they would want to sign me.  Ten minutes later, I was on the phone with John Massarelli - the manager.  I instantly got a good feeling about Mazz and knew that's where I wanted to go.  On top of that, I was going to play with two former college teammates again being Randy McGarvey and Ryan McGraw.

What is it about the ballpark in Washington that results in the Wild Things hitting lots of triples?

I don't think it was the ball park, it was more the way the team was built.  We always joked that your weren't a Wild Thing until you hit a triple.  Mazz was agressive when we were on the bases and he built his teams that way.  Mazz stressed the importance of base running all the time.  In Spring Training, we would run triples as our conditioning for the day, Mazz would post the times in the club house.  The next day, we had to beat our previous time.  It was definitely cool when we lead all of professional baseball in triples in 2005.

You played on three playoff teams in four seasons in the Frontier League. Does any playoff series stand out more than another?

The 2005 playoffs stand out most.  We really thought we had the team to beat.  Unfortunately, we ran into a real good Chillicothe team.  Game five was probably the worst baseball beating I've ever experienced.  We were all disappointed in how the season ended.

What were some of your favorite moments as a player in the Frontier League?

My favorite moment in the Frontier League was playing in the All Star game in 2003.  I enjoyed the experience of playing with the best players in the league in a relaxed environment.  Not really worried about who wins or loses the game, just enjoyed the game.

Were there any ballparks you enjoyed playing in more than others?

While I was with Washington, I loved going back to Kalamazoo.  Their fans are great there and I always enjoyed talking with them after the game.  Playing in Evansville and Dubois County were a great experience two.  The first time we played at these two parks, I probably took about 200 pictures.  It was like I was on the set of a movie, being that these were two of the fields from the movie, 'A League of Their Own.'

You were teammates with a lot of good players. Can you tell us about some of them?

Aaron Sled was a teammate in K-Zoo.  He introduced me to the hitting book.  He brought the veteran leadership to the clubhouse.  He was a great leader and team player.

Joe Gerber was a teammate in K-Zoo.  This guy could hit!  We became good friends, our host families were across the street from each other, so there were many Tiger Woods golf battles.

Mike Arbinger was a teammate in Washington.  Mike is probably my all time favorite teammate.  The fans in Washington loved him.  I still think that he could run for Mayor of Washington and win!  He played hard, but still enjoyed the game.  We had many good conversations in the outfield.

Can you tell us about the managers you played for?

Woody Sorrell (K-Zoo) was a great first manager to play for.  He was around the league and always had the open door policy for his office in the club house.  I remember opening day '02 when they announced the starting lineups.  When the announced my name he was the first hand I shook and he said, "Welcome to pro ball, rookie!"

John Massarelli (Washington) was a great player's manager.  Mazz worked us hard during BP.  I think other teams thought our team was nuts for the amount of work we did before home games.  Most of the time we would cover first and third defense, bunt defenses, and we'd always have a situational hitting round.  All of this would happen before batting practice would actually start.  To Mazz's credit, his team was always prepared.  Before the start of every series, Mazz would have extensive scouting reports on the team we were facing that night. 

I have a lot of respect for both of these two men.  They both taught me alot about the game and I became a better player because of them.

Any funny off field stories you can share with a family audience?

In Kalamazoo there was a radio promo that was if a Kings player hit a grand slam in the 7th innning of a home game.  A selected fan would win $10,000 if they were in attendance that night.  One night, Joe Gerber hit a grand slam in the 7th.  We couldn't believe it.  Later that night we found out that when the radio station contacted the selected person that day, that person told the station they wouldn't go to the game because it would never happen.  Well.........I often wonder what that person was thinking at that moment!

Is there any advice you'd like to pass on to younger players just coming into the Frontier League?

This is a great league to start your professional career.  Players do get signed out of this league.  You have to work hard and when you think you worked enough, do some more.

Are you currently still in baseball?

I live in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  I own a baseball school called the Coastal Baseball Academy.  It's a lot of fun and keeps me busy full time.  Nothing beats watching a student of mine play in a game and do well.