Glen Perkins (Transcript)

Robby: What's this experience like for you, just being a hometown boy playing for the team overall? Like, when you're looking at your family, your friends, the guys, the girls, everybody you grew up with, how cool is this life as it relates to baseball for you?

Glen: It's like, I didn't know anything different. And so I don't have a comparison. I always just felt like I went to work like everybody else that I knew. I just went to the Metrodome, or I went to Target Field. I didn't go to an office building—that was just where I worked. And when I came home, we always were able to do everything normally that anybody else did. I had weird hours, obviously, but I always knew how lucky I was, which is why I negotiated contracts to stay and made sure that I wasn't going anywhere. I 100% knew that this situation was not normal and that I just couldn't imagine doing anything else. I couldn't imagine playing anywhere else and not being home. I got to sleep in my own bed, I could go pitch in front of fellow Minnesotans and then come home and sleep in my own bed. It doesn't get better than that.

And I also feel like Minnesota is unique. Any Minnesotan that has success, there's this phrase, "They're one of us. He or she is one of us." And there's an extra level of being proud of somebody that makes good or makes it to the big time as a Minnesotan. And so I knew every time I ran out on that field that all of those people watching me were the same as me. I just got to be the one that they watched. I knew that I was no different. I just was blessed with a left arm that could throw a baseball really hard and accurate, and so every time I took the mound, every time I did an appearance, every time I talked to somebody, it was as an equal. And I think it kept me humble, and I got to experience major league baseball in a way that not many guys do. And you see around the league how many guys, even if it's just for one season at the end of their career, will try to go back home and try to play in the state they grew up in. And I never left. I am just lucky beyond any measure of belief.

Robby: When you look back on that time now that you've had some separation between the end of your career and this phase of your life as a broadcaster, how fucking cool is that to have that be your life?

Glen: I mean, it's cheesy, but could you script it better? I guess if you scripted it better, I would be Joe Mauer—make the Hall of Fame, have my number retired, have a statue outside Target Field. But nobody aims to do that. I got a book when I was in fifth grade that was "If I Were a Minnesota Twin," and it was one of those where all the middle was cut out of every page, and you put your picture in the back. And so every scene in this book is you as a Minnesota Twin. I got to do that. That's nuts, that's crazy, and I got to do it for 14 years, and 12 of those years here in Minnesota. I mean, it's just—I never took that responsibility lightly, and I just know how blessed and lucky I was to be able to do that.

I grew up watching Kirby Puckett and Tom Herr play catch in right field at the Metrodome. I would sit up above the baggie. We would get tickets for a buck. We would smuggle in our own sandwiches, and I would watch those guys play baseball. I would watch Kent Hrbek fake smoke cigarettes every time that Pat Casey would say, "No smoking in the Metrodome," and I would do that. I'm a kid playing coach-pitch baseball, pretending to smoke a cigarette at first base at the beginning of the game, because that's what Kent Hrbek did. And then I got to be on that field, and I got to get to know those guys. And I just, I remember when I was a kid watching those guys play catch, thinking it's so cool that they get to be down on that field, a perfect baseball field, playing catch. And I never thought I would be able to throw a ball that far. I would watch Puckett and Brunansky throw the ball and think I can't throw—I will never be able to throw a ball that far. And then I'm one of those guys.

It's just, I don't know, it's crazy that in batting practice, little kids asking for baseballs, I was one of those kids. I would look at every one of those kids and be like, "That was me 20 years ago. How wild is it that I get to be the one down on the field making that kid's day by giving him a baseball?"

Robby: By the way, that answer you just gave me is shit that nobody else is going to have. When you talk about that stuff, that's exactly what I'm talking about, stuff you can't get anywhere else. You can't Google what you just said. You know what I'm saying?

Glen: I mean, yeah, I don't tell that story. Hey, you never asked me that story.

Robby: Which is, well, I would assume it had been told before. But yes, hey, I have a question. If you don't mind, this is going to be an inconvenience, because we sat there and bullshitted. I'm going to get—we're going to get cut off in five minutes here. Can we disconnect and reconnect real quick? Click back on that link, because it's going to restart the recording. Is that cool? Let me do it right now? Yeah, I'm going to end this meeting. I'm going to stop the recording now.

Robby: All right. So we talked about what that was like. You talked about the dream scenario. So what did Target Field—I was there as a reporter, you were playing. I saw what that did for a town. I did the last year at the Metrodome, first year at Target Field. What did Target Field do for baseball in Minneapolis?

Glen: It made it feel like we had a big league baseball team. When you would go anywhere else, and all these new stadiums got built between 1993—I think is when Camden Yards got built—to 2010, a ton of new stadiums, right? And so you're going all these places, and it's like, "Man, this is amazing. This place is nice. All these nice teams." And then you come back home and you're like, "We don't have—we can't plug in our cell phone or get cell phone service in the clubhouse." And the clubhouse was small. The food was bad. There was no kitchen. You're 408 steps from the field, all these things that were just trashy about the dome, and we moved into the nicest, most modern, well thought out, well planned stadium with incredible views.

And anybody that didn't grow up in Minnesota had no idea what Minnesota summers were like. There was nothing more depressing than having a day like it is today in Minnesota. It's 70 degrees out, there's not a cloud in the sky, and it's one o'clock, and I'm driving in knowing I'm going to go in this damn warehouse for the next 10 hours, and when I come out, it's going to be dark out, and the entire day is going to be absolutely incredible. And nobody that didn't grow up here knew that. They didn't know what it was like outside. I said, "Look, you're gonna have some shitty weather in April. You're gonna have some shitty weather in May, maybe a little bit at the end of the season, in September, but June, July, August, the first three weeks of September, there is not better weather. There's not better weather than Minnesota in the summer." And so it's worth it. You deal with the crap in April, you deal with it in May, you're going to get some snow, you're going to get some rain, there's gonna be some cold days. But I tell you what, the three months in the middle of the season, there is no better place to play baseball, and that's what it turned out to be. Fans loved it. I have never heard from a visiting guy that didn't like going to Target Field.

It was such a drastic change in every way and it was positive. I think they had a blueprint at the Metrodome of exactly what not to do, and so you could make a list of all of these things that suck about the dome, and just flip it on the other side, and you have something great, and that's what Target Field was. The people that built that place, that planned it couldn't have done a better job, and to be able to get outside and see that there was a different level of enthusiasm among fans. And even now, the crowds aren't as good as they were the first couple years, but the fans that go there—I do events, and I go talk to season ticket holders, and I ask them, "How many games do you come to? How great is this place?" Everybody loves Target Field, everybody, and that's from players to staff to fans. Everybody loves that place. And it's crazy that it's 15 years old, because you go there and it still feels brand new. It really does.

Robby: That's what I've tried to explain to people. I've tried to explain to people what it was like, what this was like for people to see this. You know, I almost couldn't put it into words, what it was like looking at fans. We got on the air at 8 AM for a 3 o'clock start on opening day 2010 at Target Field. So I remember it. I remember like it was yesterday. So with that said, Morneau was telling us about, I don't know how to mute these fucking—I love this guy, but he's like one of these guys that sends like six texts in a row, which are like height alerts. There we go.

All right. So Morneau was telling us, I want to get into the baseball aspect of it. Morneau was telling us about what it was like adjusting to a new batter's eye, that kind of thing. Trees, what have you, right? He talked about what that was like and making adjustments with the batter's eye, having a dark background. Gabby Sanchez told me the same thing about Miami. They played a game against University of Miami just for the players to get a feel, and they're like, "Oh, this batter's eye has to change immediately." And it was a week later, it was switched. So what was it like for a pitcher? What were the adjustments like pitching from the dome—an indoor stadium—versus an outdoor stadium, or what was it like adjusting to playing at a new ballpark for you?

Glen: Okay, so the one thing that I liked about the dome, that I don't like about Target Field is the mound. I'm trying to think—I played in, I guess technically, you would call Toronto an indoor stadium, because it's turf. Tampa's indoors until right now it's got an open roof—

Robby: They played there again, by the way, just so you know. But I'd be shocked if the Rays played there again, but go ahead. It's gonna be tough.

Glen: There were three indoor mounds. They were the best mounds because they don't get baked by the sun. So it was Toronto, it was the dome and Tampa, and those were the best three mounds. I felt like the Metrodome, because it was retractable, I felt like was a little bigger and a little taller than the rest of the mounds in the league, and that was my favorite mound that I've ever pitched on. So that was the only thing that I missed about that. That was probably the biggest adjustment going to Target Field for a pitcher, was the mound, and I think it's gotten better over the years. But early on at Target Field, especially later in the season, it would dry out and get really hard, and it didn't have the same slope as the Metrodome did. And then little things dealing with the wind, external factors, atmosphere, things like that. Those things took time. In certain games early in the season, late in the season, when you play in the afternoon, the sun would be in the pitcher's eyes. So I struggled with that. I would have to wear my hat funny.

But again, those are all things you deal with to be able to just play baseball where it's supposed to be played. It's not supposed to be played in the warehouse, on turf. You're supposed to be out on grass, dealing with all of these things that I'm talking about.

I can imagine where as a hitter, it would be difficult to make that adjustment from the lighting that you're used to, everything being the same every day, to the sun is on the batter's eye right now, now the batter's eye's in the shade. Now there's shadows on the field because of the way the background of Target Field is. Some weird shadows. I think adjusting as a hitter would have been a lot more difficult than it was as a pitcher. And remember, early at Target Field, that place was an awesome pitcher's park. The ball went nowhere the first couple years at that place. It wasn't until like 2014 or 2015—Jose Bautista hit a ball out to right field that was the first opposite field home run by a righty at that field. It was like three or four or five years into the stadium. So the ball just went nowhere, and so it was a great pitcher's park. Great spot to be a pitcher. So there was nothing other than just not liking the mound as much there. There were no adjustments that pitchers had to make.

Robby: Perk, you made three All-Star teams. One of them was in Minnesota, 2014. Where were you when you found out you were making the All-Star team that year? Do you remember that moment?

Glen: Yep, I was sitting in Hot Rod's office with Phil Hughes after a game. We had a day game, and I was sitting there, we were just hanging out, and somebody came in. I don't remember if it was Dustin Morse or who it was, but somebody came into the office. Phil was sitting at Gardy's desk. I was sitting in one of the chairs, and said, "Gardenhire needs to see you."

And it hit me right there, like, "Holy shit. I made the All-Star Game" because I didn't have as good of a first half as I had the year before when I made the All-Star team. But I had a feeling that they were gonna have some Twins there, like Gardy was on the staff, they were gonna have some Twins, because it's a Twins ballpark, and I had a good enough first half. I think I was probably like 27 for 28 in saves, or something like that. I had like a 3.00 ERA. So I had a good feeling about making the All-Star team. I'm gonna be honest with you, that was Mauer's first year at first base. He missed the end of the 2013 season with the concussion, so he moved and he wasn't having as good of an offensive season. To be honest, because he definitely should have been there, no doubt. But I had a pretty good feeling that I was going to be the rep for the team and hoping that we would have more guys. We ended up getting Suzuki in there as well.

But I was sitting there, he called me in and, you know, I think being in the one the year before, getting told didn't mean as much, like you want to make one and then that one, I wanted to be in it because it was there. But I think my reaction in 2013 was probably a little more visceral, because it was the first time it was like, "Holy crap." My career was a roller coaster up until that point, bullpen, starting, filing a grievance against the team, being back as a starter, being back in the bullpen, climbing the bullpen ladder. I had went through a lot to get the opportunity to pitch and to be on the 2013 team. So I don't want to say I took it for granted, but I knew what to expect coming into that one and it ended up being way bigger and way crazier, because the fans and the parade and all of those things were just nuts being a Minnesota kid. But it was probably a sense of relief, because I had a lot of pressure on me from the organization and people around the team to be that guy, to make that game. It was like, "Joe hasn't had a good first half. He's playing at first base. A lot of things changed in his career at that moment." So it was kind of like, "Dude, we need you to make this team, to be our rep at this hometown All-Star Game." And so I think I dealt with some of that stuff throughout the first half of that season. And so there was definitely a sense of relief, like, "Okay, I made it."

Robby: When you—so you had the experience at Citi Field the previous year, the All-Star Game. Then you have this, you have an idea what to expect. You're going to see the greatest players in the world in the same clubhouse at every turn. You know what I mean? How special is that bond that you have? What do they bring to the game day atmosphere?

Glen: I think they bring love and passion. And I think, listen, these sports don't exist without that. And I just think that baseball is a little different than every other sport in the sense that it's every day, and I always equate it to a reality television show. You know the characters. These are your characters who you form an affinity for. Obviously, as Seinfeld once famously said, you're rooting for the laundry, of course, that's part of this. But the other part is, you're rooting for these people that are in the laundry. And I think that's what makes baseball so unique. And when we're doing our thing and we're out there on the field, and I think the fun thing is, you're trying to bring that experience to people at home, watching, maybe who've never been to a game, just to show them what is it like to be with this group of fans, to sit here? What are they doing? How are they affecting the team? And the players know it. They hear it. I think that's the thing. They make a legitimate difference in a home field advantage and support. And I think that part is really, really cool. And I think for all the other sports out there, and obviously, you know, you and I have worked a bunch of them, and there's passionate fans everywhere. But I think that is the unique thing about baseball.

Robby: Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And let me ask you this, 2013 was Mariano's last All-Star Game and then 2014 was Jeter's last All-Star Game. How was that, by the way?

Glen: So Mo gave a good speech. Really good speech. Jim Leyland was the manager for that one, and he got in there. He's like, "I'm supposed to give a speech. But God damn it, this is Mariano Rivera's last All-Star Game. I think he needs to talk instead of me. Nobody wants to hear from me."

Robby: Who said that?

Glen: Leyland said he was supposed to give a speech.

Robby: Oh, Leyland said that. Yeah, yeah.

Glen: Leyland was like, "I'm supposed to be the one that talks here, but this isn't my place. Let's have Mo speak." So Mo gave a great pregame speech.

And then being down in the bullpen with him. What am I doing there? I'm a freaking idiot kid from Minnesota, 30 years old, in my first All-Star Game, sitting next to Mariano Rivera in his last All-Star Game. This guy's going into the Hall of Fame with 100% of the vote. This is nuts. It's crazy, and the 2014 one was the same. Those guys were larger than life. And even when you're on the same playing field with them, they're peers of yours, it doesn't feel like that, man. Those guys are different, and they have an aura about them that feels different.

I had to go up to Derek Jeter. You'll love this. So Idina Menzel, who sang the "Frozen" track, right? She was huge at that time, so she was singing the national anthem. My kids were—this is in Minnesota. That's what I thought. Yep, she's singing the national anthem. And my daughters at the time, so they were, that was the summer of 2014, so they were six and eight. Almost six and almost eight, so five and seven at the time, obsessed with "Frozen." And Alicia texts me, is like, "Hey, can they meet Idina Menzel?" And I'm like, "Yeah, I'll get whoever. We'll figure it out." And she ends up saying, "Yeah, I'll meet them, but I need a ball signed by Derek Jeter."

So I gotta walk up to Jeter. I was in my locker in the corner, right inside the clubhouse to the left. Derek took Joe's locker on the other corner locker on the other end of the clubhouse. I had to walk down there with my tail between my legs and ask him to sign a ball for Idina Menzel so my kids could meet her. Did you tell Jeter that? Yes, I walked up to him and said, "I am not an autograph guy. This is terrifying for me, but my daughters want to meet Idina Menzel, and she said, I need you to sign a baseball." And he's like, "Oh man, bro, I got you, no problem." And so I actually told him that story again this year, this summer in Cooperstown. I hadn't seen him since then. And so when I said hi to him on Sunday night in Cooperstown, I said, "Do you remember when I asked you for that ball? I tell that story more than anything else." So that was the most embarrassing moment of my career, having to walk up to you and ask for a signed ball.

Robby: Had you met Jeter previously?

Glen: All-Star Game the year before? He wasn't there in 2013, no. Had you met him before? Nope, just faced him. Yeah. I just pitched against him a bunch. And then, you know, we had met probably the day before, at the Home Run Derby. But I had met him at that All-Star Game and then I had to go back up to him and be like, "Hey, man, I'm nobody, and Idina Menzel wants your signature. Can I get you to sign a ball?" And he was great. He was great about it, man. I was terrified. I was embarrassed. I'm not kidding you, dude, that was the most embarrassing moment of my career.

Robby: Not having to ask a teammate for a ball because I wasn't good enough to have Idina Menzel meet my kids. I had to have Derek Jeter sign a baseball. That's amazing, but he was great about it. He was great about it. That's all I've heard about him. How awesome and good of a dude he is. That is unbelievable. All right, so let's talk about this. I'm not going to go on and on about it, but I do want to get your thoughts. What memories do you have from that game? What do you remember? Just the pregame, there's so much pageantry with it, Home Run Derby, then you got the game and all that. Just what can you share with me that we can put in this book that fans are going to go, "You know what? That's fucking cool." You know what I'm saying? Just what memories do you have from whether your family's enjoying it, whether you're enjoying it, just sitting at Target Field on the All-Star Game, it's got to be different than sitting there Target Field the other 81 days a year you're there.

Glen: So I'll get to me first, but I'll forget if I don't tell you this first. So I kind of felt like a host, in a way, in a weird way, of this All-Star Game, just because I was the hometown guy. I was the Twin. This is my clubhouse. This is my stadium.

And so we had a ton of people. We had a suite. We had a ton of people. So we had a little shindig before the game for everybody that was going to come to the game. So they all met, I don't remember where they met, somewhere for dinner, and then went to the game. And they all had to sit in the suite together. And somehow my wife with our babysitter, nanny and our two daughters, ended up—they were going to walk from wherever they were having dinner to Target Field, and the girls, five and seven years old, didn't want to walk anymore, so they jumped in a rickshaw, which is one of those pedal cabs. So they got four of them, and they show up at the gate at Target Field to the All-Star Game, at the parking lot, right where the security is, and security calls Mike Herman. I'm in the clubhouse with Mike. When he gets a call, he's like, "Oh, it's security." So he answers it quick, and he looks at me and he goes, "You will never believe what they just said. Alicia Perkins is at the gate in a rickshaw trying to get in."

So they showed up to the All-Star Game in a rickshaw.

Robby: Your wife and daughters?

Glen: Yes, drove, had the guy bike them all the way into the parking lot and came in and went up to the suite. That was how they got to the gate, not in a limo, not in a car. They showed up in a rickshaw. That is amazing. It's such a great story. It's so great.

Okay, so then for the game, I had done the 2013 one. I warmed up. I pitched the eighth and closed it. Mariano pitched the eighth because they wanted to make sure they got him in. Nathan closed it and he got into some trouble. I warmed up for that game, so I had done everything but pitch, so I was better prepared for the 2014 All-Star Game. But so then John Farrell was the manager. The Red Sox had won the World Series in 2013. So John Farrell was the manager. I forget the pitching coach's name. If I heard it, I would know. But anyways, I'm out in right field, standing out there with Greg Holland during batting practice for the Home Run Derby, and he comes out and says, "Hey, Perk, if we have a lead, you're going to throw the ninth, because we're going to play the top of the ninth whether we're winning or losing. So you got the top of the ninth. Hopefully we get you a lead and you get a save. We want you to close the All-Star Game." So this is Holland telling you that?

Robby: All the other relievers had decided, is that right?

Glen: No, no, no, no, no. It was the pitching coach. Juan Nieves comes out and says, "Perk, you're gonna close the game." And I knew that was gonna happen, obviously. I'm a Twin, hometown, blah, blah, whatever. I'm gonna close the All-Star Game. I knew that was going to happen from the second they told me I made it.

So he tells me, my stomach dropped, dude. I was so nervous from that moment. And so this was Monday afternoon, he tells me. From that moment all the way until I went on the field. I was nervous. So, you know, baseball routine, everybody has their thing. So at that point, I was pregame doing whatever, first inning I'm going hot tub, cold tub, contrast, going out to the dugout, hanging out for an inning, and then walking out to the bullpen in the third.

So I did all that stuff as normal, and then I'm like, "What am I supposed to do for the next six innings?" I can't—I'm running 120, 130 beats a minute in the third inning of this game. Normal game, normal regular season. The fifth inning I'm playing catch. The sixth inning, I'm going to the bathroom, having a Red Bull, stretching, getting ready, and then playing catch in the eighth. I'm mainlining Red Bulls from the third inning on and having to pee every five minutes. I see none of the game because I'm just pacing. I never sat down. I probably, I remember Fernando Rodney was down there, and he was like, "Hey, we got any more Red Bulls?" We ran out of Red Bull. And I think I drank five or six in the first three innings I was down there. So it's like the fifth inning, like, "I'll call. We'll get more, we'll get more down." So Hot Rod brings more Red Bulls down to the bullpen. I drank seven or eight Red Bulls.

Robby: So you were on seven or eight Red Bulls when you pitched?

Glen: I didn't know what to do with myself. I did not know what to do with myself. I was so amped up, it would take me—so I would throw a normal warm-up, I would throw two fastballs, glove side, two fastballs, arm side, two fastballs, middle-away, I would throw three sliders, and then get off. So that's nine pitches, and then I would do it again at full intensity. I think I threw four or five pitches and was just ready. I could have thrown them through a cinder block wall. I had so much adrenaline, caffeine flowing through me. I didn't need to warm up. I was just like the phone rang. "Bring me in right now. Who cares? I didn't even warm up." And then when I ran through the gates onto that field, it hit me, like everybody in this stadium is cheering for me. And I think baseball is unique in that the All-Star Game isn't overly corporate. It's a ton of local fans. The Super Bowl is like 10,000 fans of this team, 10,000 fans of that team, and the other 100,000 are just who can pay the most money. So they're not even cheering for this team or that. The baseball All-Star Game, 90% of those fans are cheering for—they're waiting for their guy to come out.

And so I ran out on that field and looked around a little bit and was like, "They are all cheering for me. They've been waiting all day because Kurt didn't start that game. He came in when I came in." Suzuki behind the plate, and so there wasn't a Twin on that field the whole day. And so it was this anticipation building for like, "When is Glen going to be out on the field?" I come out there and I'm jogging out and I'm like, "This is the coolest moment of my life." We were terrible at the time. We were a 100-loss team. I had it in the back of my mind that this was going to be the highlight of my career, because I didn't think we were going to make a World Series. That was the only thing that was going to top it. And I kind of realized, we ain't there as a team.

And so I knew that. And so I get out to the mound, and we had the same routine. Every time Kurt would come out, and he would say, "One, three, wiggle," so that was fastball, slider, sinker, and then he would say, "Second sign shake first." That was, if there was a guy on second base, we would do second, you know, he would give me multiple signs. It was the second sign. If I shook, he would give me multiple signs. It would be the first one, whatever. So that was our routine that we did every time that I pitched, "One, three, wiggle, second sign, shake first." I get out to the mound, and I look at him before he says, I said, "Suzuki, can you fucking believe this shit?" And he looked at me deadpan, and he goes, "One, three, wiggle, second sign, shake first." And I'm like, "Come on, dude. Look around, man. We're on the mound at Target Field during the All-Star Game. There are millions of eyes on us." And you're just gonna do that, like, this is just ho-hum any old game.

So I throw my warm-up pitches. Adrian Beltre is playing third base, and I know that he does the thing where he taps his toe on third base, and he throws the ball at the pitcher as hard as he can, and he's got a cannon. And so I stayed on the rubber, because I would always throw my pitch and walk around and get the ball from Plouffe, and he would just flip it to me. I stayed on the rubber because I'm like, "This dude's going to fire an absolute rocket at me." And he almost—I almost dropped it. It would have been embarrassing. That would have topped me asking Jeter for an autograph, but I caught it and I was ready for it, and it was like, boom, caught it. And then, honestly, we talked about this before we started recording, but I don't remember what order I faced the guys in, but I got a ground out, a fly out and a strikeout.

I don't remember. Miguel Montero, Josh Harrison, Charlie Blackmon. Did he fly out to left? Montero flew to center, to center. Then I struck out Josh Harrison on a slider. And then a ground out to second base. And then I threw a bad slider to Charlie Blackmon and he rolled over it. That's all I remember from pitching. I remember everything else so clearly and being so present up until that moment. I think that's when just your athleticism and your routine—I've done this, I'm just gonna throw my pitches. You almost go out of body when you're pitching in a game. I think it's much easier to remember everything that surrounds the competition, because once you're in there, the fans go away, the cheering goes away. You are so zeroed in on throwing this pitch, that you forget about what happens. The only reason I remember Adrian on third base is because he threw me the ball. I don't remember who was playing anywhere else. I remember Kurt was behind the plate. I was on the mound. Beltre was at third. That's it. I don't remember anything else from being on the mound.

Robby: That is—so do you have the baseball? What did you keep from that?

Glen: I got the baseball. I got the save ball. Yeah, I kept every—that was different. I'm not a signature guy. I'm not a memorabilia guy. Joe Nathan, when he would get a save, would keep the ball and he would put them in a tube sock until he had enough that he would bring them home. I did that because Joe did it. So I have every save ball but two. I gave Gardy the save ball from Cleveland for his 1,000th win. I signed that one and gave it to him. And then when I passed Eddie Guardado on the saves list, I signed that one for Eddie and gave it to him. Wow, that's cool, but I have the other however many 100-and-some baseballs. Those were the only thing I kept were the baseballs.

Robby: Speaking of that, I remember the Gardy 1,000th win when we were—I remember Gardy's 1,000th win in Cleveland, when you guys did that. What was—how cool was that to be part of a visiting moment in that stadium in Cleveland?

Glen: I tell you what, Gardy was a legend, man, and he had a unique way of motivating guys to play for him that you didn't appreciate, that I truly didn't appreciate, until he was gone. I did not appreciate Gardy for who he was and how he went about his business until he wasn't my manager anymore.

But to—I remember being on the mound in that moment, and that was not about, "I want to get this save. I want to get this win." It was like, "Let's do this for Gardenhire. Let's get Gardy his milestone." And I remember, if I remember, in the clubhouse, you guys had shirts, if I remember correctly, didn't you have shirts of something with ejections? Or was it when you set the ejection record? What was it that you—I don't remember that for some reason. Did you guys douse him with beer or something? Yeah, so you would come into the clubhouse across the steps, and then there was that hallway, the clubhouse was straight ahead. The training room was on the right. I remember that. Right when you came into the clubhouse, everybody was there and covered him as soon as he walked in. And how cool—to have it in a visiting, I mean, you didn't win a playoff series, or clinch a playoffs, or anything like that, but to have a moment at that point in time happen in a visiting ballpark, I mean, what was that like? Just kind of a unique celebration, you know what I mean?

We really didn't have—we weren't a good team, so we didn't have a ton to celebrate. And so to be able to do something like that, it was shorter and smaller than a postseason celebration, like clinching a spot, but it was something that we achieved as a group, for somebody that we all respected and loved and cared for a great deal. It was an accomplishment for all of us. And, you know, moments on teams that struggled the way that we did—it was when guys got their first hit or first home run, or a pitcher got their first win. We did a lot of that stuff, because we were a young team of guys trying to figure out, are you a major leaguer or not? So we had a whole bunch of firsts. The things that we celebrated in those years were accomplishments by individuals, more than by a team. And that one was really cool. I mean, you got to be a damn good manager and be around a long time to win 1,000 games. That's not an easy accomplishment, and we all knew that. So it was really cool. And you always want to celebrate somewhere else. You always want to trash somebody else's clubhouse instead of your own.