Jamey Carroll (Transcript)
Robby Incmikoski: All right—game 163 in 2007, hero Jamey Carroll. Jamey, you played a dozen years in the big leagues. How much of a, I don’t want to say privilege, but just in general, when you look back on your big-league career, what kind of a privilege was it to play the game at the highest level for over a decade for you? What’s it like now looking back on your playing career?
Jamey Carroll: That’s where it becomes more and more special, I should say, as I get further away from the game, and the more I watch it. You kind of forget, “Wow. I got to do that. And I got to do that for a long time.” And you understand that it is a special situation, and it was a special job, and it was a special opportunity. And you start to really appreciate it more and more as you get away from it because you know that it’s something that’s unique. And now, having my own kids and a son who is dying to be a baseball player, and understanding too as you’re going through these steps with them and dealing with some other friends that have kids, that you realize it was hard and it was special. And I’m extremely grateful for it. But the more the years go by, the more that I appreciate even more so what I got to do. And a lot of times, I wish I would be able to go back and just enjoy it a little bit more and appreciate it a little bit more while I was doing it. But at the same time, I would do it all over again.
Robby Incmikoski: I’ve asked players all the time about big moments or big seasons or big accomplishments while their career is happening. And the main thing guys say is, “You know what? I think it’s really cool, and I think it’s really special, but I’m in the grind. Maybe one day when my career’s over, I’ll look back on this and reflect on it.” When you look back to game 163, how much does that stick out in a life full of moments in the game?
Jamey Carroll: Well, I mean, it’s right up there with all the opportunities that I got to be a part of, especially looking and know that that was the only opportunity that I had to be in the playoffs in twelve years of play. But even too, what a unique run we went on, and to put ourselves in that position, and then to have a “play-in” game, which doesn’t occur a lot in itself. So it was already special as we were just going into it. And then for the way that it turned out, and to be part of it—it’s right there. A memory that we talk about. I was just home with my brothers, and we were talking about it with my dad. I would like to say, give some context to that as far as being an athlete and playing, the year before, I had the best year of my career, in 2006, as a Rockie, or even as a big leaguer.
Robby Incmikoski: Okay.
Jamey Carroll: I had the opportunity to hit .300 and play every day and have over 500 at-bats. And then coming into 2007, I think at that point in time, it was the worst year I career-number-wise. Yet I would take that and having my worst year personally to be able to do experience what we got to in 2007 with a group of guys then and having personal success the year before. Because really, I remember memories of 2007 more than I remember that I hit .300 over in the big leagues over a course of a whole season. And that’s strictly due to doing something with a group of guys that is bigger than yourself. And when people say that, I agree because I lived that.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: And so I had to get some context because that just show you, for me personally, it wasn’t a great year. Not a lot of confidence. But then to be put in that position. There was people that had more confidence in me than I had in myself. And it was a great thing.
Robby Incmikoski: And that leads me to something. And that’s a very interesting point that you bring up. So you’re in the thirteenth inning. And this is really why I ask people like you to come on that are part of big moments like this. So you’re down two runs going into that inning. You got Matt Holliday, whose one of the best players on the planet at that time, batting in front of you, right? Holliday batted [inaudible], so Helton batted in front of you. How about this? So that bottom of the thirteenth inning, [inaudible], Matsui, Tulo, Holliday, Helton, and you. Right there, you’re talking about three of the greatest players in the history of the franchise.
Jamey Carroll: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: That bat ahead of you in that situation. Now obviously, in that situation, you’re not thinking about [inaudible]. You’re just trying to win the game.
Jamey Carroll: For sure.
Robby Incmikoski: I totally understand that. But can you tell me, How does the inning play it out in your head? You’re down eight, six. They tie it. You got a man on third. What do you remember about that inning from the time you came into the field into the dugout, and then think, “Okay, I might have a chance to make a little history here?
Jamey Carroll: All right, well, this is good. And this is real, this is true, this is about as honest as I can be speaking in that context of having my worst year. At the end, you know, September we had the forty-man callups. And so my job became that last month to go in for “defensive replacement.” Garrett Atkins was our third baseman. And at any point in time, in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning when he up, if he got a base hit, I pinch-ran for him.
Robby Incmikoski: Okay.
Jamey Carroll: He was out and we were winning, I went in to do a defensive moment, double switch. So any point in that time that we either lost the lead or the team tied it, and the game kept going, and my turn came back up to hit again, I would then get pinch-hit for.
Robby Incmikoski: Okay.
Jamey Carroll: So became my job. I just defense. I probably didn’t have many at-bats at all in the month of September. If I would go back, I would bet I didn’t have a lot. So now we get to this game, and we’re still in the regular season, so it’s a playing game, so there’s still the forty-man roster. I go into the game defensively, and we lose the lead. And so now they take the lead. So to be 100 percent honest with you, as we were going through that, I didn’t think I was gonna hit because I hadn’t.
Robby Incmikoski: [Inaudible.]
Jamey Carroll: Right. And so now it’s coming up, and I’m like, “All right.” Went and got my helmet, my batting gloves on. So much so that I’m in the batter’s box, and Holliday hits the ball that he hits, and now I’m walking to home plate waiting for Hurdle to yell my name to come back. So much so that I continue to walk, and I stop, and I turn around to look, to make for sure. Because it was loud. I didn’t know. I wanted to see. And Brad Hawpe was walking up on deck, and he just goes, “Go up there and win it.”
And so, “Oh my gosh. I’m really gonna hit there, right?” So now I look, and we got Trevor Hoffman on the mound, and I’ve got Michael Barrett catching. Michael Barrett was my roommate through the minor leagues and a teammate of mine in the big leagues. This guy knows for sure I take the first pitch. Like I take the first pitch, I think I swung at the first pitch in my career maybe 3 to 4 percent of the time. I always thought my job was to get on base and to work the count. And so I never wanted to get out on the first pitch. I just thought that was not my style of playing. Now I mean, I don’t know how to play in today’s game ’cause that’s not the philosophy. Anyhow, so [inaudible] Trevor Hoffman, and he wasn’t the Trevor Hoffman of before, but his changeup was still good enough. And so I was just like, “He’s gonna try to get ahead,” and first pitch, fastball away. And you know, I swung,
And when I first hit it, I had joy as I was running, and then I saw how close Giles was playing, and I said, “Uh-oh.” And then I saw him throw it, with the trajectory kind of high. Got joy again. “And then it probably was the longest few seconds ever to feel if he called him safe or not. And then it was pure joy, like you’re seven years old, celebrating and just letting it lose. So, many discussions I’ve had with Michael Barrett about if he’s safe or if he’s out and all that. But also, “Why did you swing at the first pitch?” And so was almost like everything came around, and I was just like, I had nothing to lose, man. And I just looked at the situation, and hoped to God that’s what I was gonna get, and looking for it. And so really that’s how it all went down in my mind. Now there may be some things that are wrong. In my mind and my heart, from that point of getting in the game, and then all of a sudden getting that at-bat, was super grateful that Hurdle believed in me.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: Or I don’t know if the situation was going so fast, he didn’t even realize it until it was too late. Who knows? But [inaudible] fortunate to be in that.
Robby Incmikoski: So, all right, there’s so much to break down here in this. Let me ask you this, Jame. Baseball—here’s another learning lesson I’ve learned to embrace over the years. I remember Josh Willingham one night. We were in Chicago, playing the White Sox. He went 0 for 5 one night. And then he went 4 for 5 the next night and had like a monster game. And I remember interviewing him after the game. I said, “Hey, man. Last night obviously didn’t go your way, but tonight, four hits. What changed?” And then that, in a sense, taught me a lot because then I started to learn about the process. Cause you know what he did? And I’ll never forget this. He pulled me aside in the clubhouse the next day. He goes, “Hey, man.” And he’s like, “Look, I really like you a lot.” He’s like, “But I just want to give you a heads-up on something.” He’s like, “With us, nothing changes.” He’s like, “I could hit five rockets at somebody, and they land in the glove. Somebody makes a great catch. Or like something f***ing happens, and I make five outs in a night. I might make six, seven outs in a night, right? That could happen. Next time I get four doubles—three doubles—and a grand slam, you know?” And that’s what really taught me about the process. He’s like, “Nothing changed from last night to tonight. Nothing. My results changed. Nothing else.” And then he focused on the process the whole time. So you have a process in place. I say that to say, “Okay, you have a process. Obviously, I looked at numbers. You had a 70-point [inaudible], 75-five point—you batted 300. The year before, you bat 225 in ’07, right?
Jamey Carroll: Right.
Robby Incmikoski: But you have a process that got you to the big leagues and made you successful, made you a 300 hitter. You know how many people hit 300 for playing every day?
Jamey Carroll: Right.
Robby Incmikoski: [inaudible] percent. Nobody does. Not nobody. It’s very hard to do.
Jamey Carroll: Right.
Robby Incmikoski: How much do you rely on your process versus “Oh, sh*t. Here I am in a sold-out place, national TV, trying to win this game?”
Jamey Carroll: Right. I mean, I think, yeah, you do. That’s how you survive because of the because of the fact that if you get caught up in the noise and the externals, it can drown you out. And to be honest with you, I believe, in looking back, that being five nine, playing at 175, and getting to play for so long, I was good at the process. I was good at the mental side of it. And so that helped me. And to be honest with you, understanding who I am and what kind of player I was, I took a lot of price in learning to play as many positions as possible to be able to carry an extra pitcher, carry an extra whatever, you know, hitter on the bench. And so, my process became my game every day. And understanding who I was and how I went about BP, how I went about my ground balls in BP, and then the days that I played, you know. So I formed a system, and when I wasn’t playing, then this is how I went about things. And then when I was playing, this is how I went about things. And because if you look at my career and you add up the amount of games I did not get into were a total of three seasons.
Robby Incmikoski: That’s amazing.
Jamey Carroll: And so I tease people that I went into arbitration by sitting on the bench. But that was a lot of watching and preparing, and to be honest with you, especially in the National League before the designated hitter and everything, the games that I started, there was less stress than the games that I didn’t. Because I’m trying to play along with the managers. Where am I double switching? Where am I getting in? Then we had a roster change that brought in a different hitter, so now my pinch-hitting went from the double switch in the fifth to now maybe in the ninth. And so without having that conversation with the coaches I’m trying to figures out where it is. In the [inaudible] days, I sat there in the final game and I finally went, “Whew.” But the days I started, I knew I was playing, and then all of a sudden, I knew what was in front of me. So there was definitely a process to it all. And to be honest with you, I’m going everything I can to teach that to my sixteen-year-old and to a couple other of his teammates of you know, we say, “Control. Control. Both control what you can do.” And it’s like Willingham. It’s a different pitcher. It’s a different day. It’s a different time of day. You feel different. You may have slept different. Results happen that the pitcher—he may not have had his good stuff that allowed you to get a hit, but those I can’t control, what he’s gonna throw. All I can control is how I prepare and get myself in the best position to be ready to play the game that night. And for me, if I wasn’t playing, if I didn’t take any ground balls at third base, I would assume, “That’s probably where I’m going in tonight.” So I took the third, second, and short, right? Like I developed this in time to keep myself ready, so that is a big part of then allowing yourself to go out and compete against the best.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: And so it has to be a process, and I don’t think that you get that far to be able to play in the big leagues if you don’t have the ability to prepare yourself and then to be able to stay. Because not only is there a physical component; there’s a whole mental component to it.
Robby Incmikoski: For sure.
Jamey Carroll: And so, if anything, to me that’s bigger than the physical component. [Inaudible] survival, so. I know that’s a little off topic, but I mean—
Robby Incmikoski: No. I’ve explained—
Jamey Carroll: [Inaudible] part of this game.
Robby Incmikoski: Jamey, I explain to fans all the time that from what I’ve learned from osmosis, just being in the clubhouse every day for fifteen years, you know, you get to see the mentality and talk to guys and develop relationships. Let me ask you this. Back to the—so you hit the sac slide, Rockies win the game. What do you remember—like what was the vibe like? What was it like, like what was it like jumping up and down? The fans had never experienced anything like that before. You know, then Manny Corpas goes in and goes bonkers. I remember he just dominated the Phillies. That dude came in, it was game over that year. I remember watching. I was a Phillies fan. I remember watching it, going, “Oh s*t.” Like this dude comes in, it’s over. I knew how good he was. And I knew this Rockies team was on fire, and I’m like, they won I think it was twenty-one out of twenty-two to even get to game 163.
Jamey Carroll: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: So what was the vibe like, just knowing that, hey, we just won twenty-one to twenty-two. I just won the game, and this place is going nuts. What memories to you have from the rest of that night?
Jamey Carroll: Well, it’s a good question because it was—there’s a [inaudible], right? You’re just so grateful to be able to contribute, and I felt like I hadn’t been contributing year but did in a different way. So you know, it’s like, it’s even better when it’s something you don’t expect. And to be a part of that and to live it, and then we always tease Holliday that he hits his chin, and he knocks himself silly, that he’d stole the thunder from everything. And of course, it had to be back on Holliday. But we can only say that because he’s a tremendous human, and he’s opposite of that.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: I can say there’s nothing better than ice-cold alcoholic beverages burning your eyes. It is an uncomfortable situation. You don’t ever want it to have happen if you’re just out in the backyard and somebody—but in that moment, it is what you’re playing for. You’re playing to celebrate and let loose, and to feel this work that paid off, you know? I think it’s like even to that playoff run, and even remembering the scoreboard only has one score on it, and you’re like, “This is all worth it. This is all worth the misery of being grumpy and uncomfortable in July, not hitting well, and putting in the work, and traveling. It’s all worth it. And so you can use that as a way to keep driving you forward because it’s what you play for. You play for that [inaudible]. You play for that celebration of just being silly and goofy, and that’s what we were. And we still were looking at it, like through that whole process, we had nothing to lose. We’re like, “Man, if we won thirteen in a row here,” and then all of a sudden, we win a couple, we win a couple, and I think that’s dangerous, when you have teams that don’t have anything to lose that are playing, whereas other people are playing with a different kind of feel and mentality compared to the ones that are just going out and playing, and playing lose, and being able to be athletic, and not overthinking things. Like that’s a dangerous mix. And we were allowed to ride that all the way up until the World Series, where really, Bob’s doing so good, but we were penalized by our success. Having eight days is tough. And we didn’t really start kicking it in until game three, game four that we started to really compete. We went to Boston and got hammered, and then they had their own high, where they came back from Cleveland three, one. And rolled right into us.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: It was like our train was coming to a stop, and theirs all of a sudden picked up and started to go. But at the same time, the best group of dudes that you could ever imagine.
Robby Incmikoski: You guys were sixty-nine and sixty-six at one point in the season. It was September 1. How did that even happen?
Jamey Carroll: There was a game—if I was to say, there was a game at home against the Dodgers that Todd Helton had a walk-off. And that to me in my memory, was our little starting point. He hit a walk-off, and I think that was the most I saw Todd Helton let loose and celebrate. I can still vividly remember him coming in and jumping into home plate without his helmet, his hair just flowing in the wind, right? Recently, Helton had his ceremony in Colorado, and they shared replays, and there it was. And every time I see that, I will say that that was the turning point for us to—right then and there we just started to win. Then we went on the road. And we’re like, “Well, if we win this game.” Ryan Spilborghs was a big part of “Well, if we win another one, and we win another one.” And even when we got close—we got beat on a Friday or Saturday by Brandon Webb, which was the one loss. But—
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: You know, we needed help where Tony Gwynn Jr. got a big hit from Milwaukee against San Diego that put us right there in a tie, even though we lost. We needed just to go out and win. At the same time, it was such a—“If we do, awesome, and if we don’t, we’ve had a lot of fun.” Obviously when you win, it is a lot of fun. But there was something to be learned from that in how you play and how you play with a—we put our work in and just go play. I think that unloaded a lot, and then we had some guys having some unbelievable years.
Robby Incmikoski: Do you have anything, like do you have your bat, your gloves. Did you have any memorabilia from that game, or is there any in the Hall of Fame? Did anything go anywhere?
Jamey Carroll: I don’t think anything went anywhere.
Robby Incmikoski: Is Matt Holliday’s chin in the Hall of Fame by chance?
Jamey Carroll: Right. I mean, I’ve got pictures. During the playoff run, they put the like banners on the streetlights.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: And somehow my wife got the one where I am unleashing—so we got that upstairs on our long wall. It’s just me. A big picture of me, which for me it’s weird to have my own stuff of me.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: But at the same time, it’s like that’s what you play for, that [inaudible], that kind of just joy. And that’s why you put the work in. And so we have that up as a reminder to work hard, and good things do happen. I got play-off run bats and stuff like that, but I know I’ve got the glove that I used that year. But who knows where the ball is? Michael Barrett may still have the ball after he picked it up. [Inaudible.]
Robby Incmikoski: Final thing on ’07. Not only delivered in that moment, but it was off Trevor frickin’ Hoffman. Like when you look at the greatest closers in the history of the game, Mariano’s obviously going to be number one. Hoffman might be number two. I mean, Eckersley, Lee Smith. It’s not a very long list of great closers in the game. Is there any intimidation factor, knowing it’s Hoffman? Or is it, “It’s Hoffman, but we’re already scored twice against him here”?
Jamey Carroll: No, it’s Trevor Hoffman.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: One of the best, you know. He’s there, and we had faced him. I hadn’t faced him. But we had faced him there in a year. We knew he wasn’t throwing as hard as he used to, but his changeup was still like, just not normal. And the best way to hit his changeup is to hit his fastball. And so but yes, you look out there, and it’s Trevor Hoffman. It’s in this moment, but then you quickly realize that you got something to do. You gotta figure the situation out, and you gotta run through your plan, and fortunately for me, I was a little older. I was older anyways getting into the big leagues, so I was able to realize I needed to try to execute a plan here. But no, I mean, we got it down. Like, you face all those guys, you know who they are and what this is going to be. But I think, for me, what I tried to do is, again, I got nothing to lose. “These guys are the best, and they’re supposed to strike me out. They’re supposed to get me out.”
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: “Let’s see how good I am,” you know. And when I would face Maddux and Glavine and Roger Clemens, at first, it’s like, “Oh boy.” But then, it’s like, “You know what? Let’s see how good I am against the best of the best.” Like I’d do anything right now to go try to face Mariano Rivera again because that’s one of the best. And why not? And who gets to do that? So that’s how I would start to have to basically talk to myself at that point in time once I got passed the nerves, or to use that nervous energy and try to reverse it. And, you know, some times it’s better than others. But yeah, I mean, I really appreciated in the game when I’m playing third and Miguel Cabrera’s out, but it’s like, “Oh boy, here comes a bullet, but oh man, if he hits me a ground ball, hey, [inaudible] Cabrera out.” So I understood where I was.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: And what I was to do. But like I said earlier, I wish I would have had a little big more joy. It was a job. And I always felt like I was the twenty-fifth man on the roster.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: That’s how I worked.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: And my job was always on the line. So that’s how I went about all my work too. Even when I got some contracts, I still wanted to live in that world to keep pushing myself. My wife would say, “It’s like you’re the person that was overweight and lost a hundred pounds, but you still feel like you’re overweight.” And I’m like, “It’s working. I’m going to keep going. I’m no going to take it for granted that just because I signed a two-year deal, that I can [inaudible].
Robby Incmikoski: You can coast. Let me ask you another thing. And since you’ve been very honest, I’m going to ask—and you don’t have to answer this question—but I feel like we’ll get some honesty from you. One guy we interviewed is Mike Bassett. Do you remember Mike Bassett?
Jamey Carroll: Mike Bassett. Yeah. [Inaudible.] We shared the same agent, yeah. He came after I did.
Robby Incmikoski: He was my broadcast partner with the Rangers this year. Really good dude, man.
Jamey Carroll: He’s awesome.
Robby Incmikoski: This guy [inaudible] thirty years if he wants to, he’s that good. Like on TV. And we talked a lot about—you obviously know what he’s infamous for, right?
Jamey Carroll: Yeah, I am. Bonds. Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: So I interviewed him about that. We talked being on the other ends of the Bonds homer. And he gave us some incredible insight what it was like, how it affected his career. He said, “Honestly, I’m probably not a broadcaster if I don’t give up that home run.” And you know what he did? He embraced it, Jamey.
Robby Incmikoski: Jamey, you played seventeen years. Or excuse me, twelve years. You were a seventeen-WAR player, and you had a thousand hits and batted .272. That’s f***king hard to do. That is hard to put up those numbers. And you’re talking like a guy who was just trying to save his ass every day he played a game, right? To put up those numbers. A seventeen-WAR is f***king hard.
Jamey Carroll: I appreciate that.
Robby Incmikoski: That is hard to do. So here’s my question, and I really mean this. And you don’t have to answer this. But how hard is it to see your batting average drop seventy-five points from year to year and go into a big situation like that? How do you keep your confidence up in the hard—you’re playing the best players in the world. So how hard is that to look at like, “Oh shit. I had the best year of my career followed by one of my worst.” Like how hard is it to watch your numbers dip that much?
Jamey Carroll: It's terrible. It sucks. Like you do everything that you tell somebody not to do. You start to question everything. You start to think maybe you’re too old because at that point in time, I was getting into my thirties. But I will say, to start 2007, I really thought I had earned the right to be the everyday second baseman.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: But we had acquired Matsui, and so—I tell people this all the time. I wasted three to four months in the big leagues pouting. I thought I was screwed. I finally earned the right, I hit .300, and it became about me.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: And so our third-base coach, about halfway through.
Robby Incmikoski: Who was it?
Jamey Carroll: It was Mike Gallego. He pulls me into the tunnel. And I love this guy like it’s—[inaudible] imagine. I love Mike Gallego. And we had always talked. We’d always talk about being nervous before games. We’d talk about what we wanted to be known for. He was a utility player in the big leagues, but just an unbelievable person. And at one point in time, we had talked, like at the end of the day when we walk away from this game, we want to be known more as a good teammate than what we did on the field. And Andy Tracy and I played in the minor leagues together, and we’d talk about that all the time, so in conversation with Gags, I’d had that. And so he had pulled me aside, and he called me out on it because I wasn’t being a good teammate. I was sitting over in the corner, pouting, getting grumpy about when I was getting any games. So he basically called me out. He said, “I thought you wanted to be known as a good teammate. Right now, you’re not being one.”
Robby Incmikoski: Really?
Jamey Carroll: At this time, he was right. And I appreciated it. And to be honest with you, I talked to him a couple years ago. And that was so impactful for me that really that’s a lens at which I look at people when I coached and was in the Pirate organization. That lights me on fire. Because that’s something you can control, and I wasted three months at the major-league level behaving like that. And so when I look at that batting average, it’s not an example of who I am or who I was. I had to realize that I put myself in that position, and I’m grateful that a coach squared me up on it, and so from then on, I don’t think I would have enjoyed what we went through if it wasn’t for that conversation with him. So it’s humbling. And going into my last season and knowing that I struggled. “In my forties. I can’t do this anymore.” That was more real than the time before. It was all mental, and it was all selfishness. And so it drove me even more to work on that aspect after the fact, because that’s what I mean. Like, I would give up .300 to celebrate and have my eyes burn three straight times and hit .180 as long as somebody kept me.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: So yes, so like when I see that and I’m asked in this situation, it’s a good opportunity for me to share what happens when you’re not looking at it as a whole; you’re looking at it when you become a selfish player.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: So I try to bring the good out in that.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: Without a doubt. But it wasn’t a found time, and that’s the thing. You put in so much work, man, you want it to pay off and it’s hard, and so really, I can use that with my son now—
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: Who’s a junior in high school, and when he goes through his times, I’m like, “Look man. It happens. It happens to everybody.”
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: And if it doesn’t, then you’re not trying hard enough. So it’s real.
Robby Incmikoski: Yep. Let’s talk about Washington. You played for the Expos. There are not many of you [inaudible] with the Montreal Expos, but the first three years of your career with the Expos, and then you went to Washington.
Jamey Carroll: Yep.
Robby Incmikoski: Can you just tell us a little bit ’cause we want to talk about Nationals Park. Actually, you never played Nationals Park.
Jamey Carroll: I played there later in my career.
Robby Incmikoski: Right. So you played it—when you moved over—that’s kind of a little bit of an outlier ’cause [you] played for the Nats but never at Nats Park.
Jamey Carroll: Right.
Robby Incmikoski: Can you just tell us a little bit about what that transition was like? What was it like—now look, there’s important context here that I think gets lost. ’Cause I talked to a couple of [inaudible] people, and those players didn’t give two sh*ts about thinking about leaving. Now they cared about the fans. They cared about baseball in Oakland. But as far as where they played, it’s just their baseball city. And I think a lot of fans don’t realize this isn’t there home. This is just where they’re playing baseball for six months. And that’s it. Plus playoffs right? So you’re like, okay.
Jamey Carroll: Right.
Robby Incmikoski: So it’s important to have that context. With that said, your baseball city’s changing. You’re changing countries. What was that like, making that transition?
Jamey Carroll: Yeah. I think, you know, there’s so many different things within that. Like MLB took over becoming the ownership of the Expos. And so then there was always questions of like, “What’s going to happen, and who’s going to buy us? Are we going to move?” So we lived in that for a while. And playing some of our games down in Puerto Rico. Like the first year that we went and did it, it was really cool. And then they asked us again. We said no. They made us do it. And it wasn’t fun because one year, I think in the month of July, we spent three days—I paid for three days of apartment rent, and we were only there for that time, and we were traveling and going to Puerto Rico and then continuing on road trips. So it was tough. So really, it was mixed emotions, ’cause when they finally said we were moving to DC, it was like, “Oh. We’re finally going to have a home. We’re finally going to be owned by somebody. And we finally have a direction.”
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: But then you turn around and you look, and for me, Montreal, being my first place in the big leagues and really an opportunity to even play professional baseball, the organization, meant the world to me. And going there and being a part of it for two-and-a-half years, you saw what it meant to the people in Montreal. I truly believe if they’d built a stadium downtown, then the team would still be there.
Robby Incmikoski: Really?
Jamey Carroll: So being caught between this game was tough. And so as excited as we were, the last day, when they announced we were going to DC, it was our last home game, and we had Fan Appreciation Day, so now we had fans down that we’re trying to appreciate for everything they’ve done for us, but then also having a conversation that we’re leaving. And it was more heartfelt with the security guards that have been there that were protecting the dugouts, that you see every day, all day, for eighty-one games, and the people working underneath that you built relationships with that now they’re life is different. So that was really a tug in that direction, but yet we were excited to have a destination. And then going to DC and be in DC, was fun to be a part of that and the history of hit. One thing real quick.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Jamey Carroll: To start that first game in DC my parents went to.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: And President Bush was there, so there was all kinds of Secret Service, so it was chaos. And I’ll never forget, my dad and mom and brothers couldn’t make it into the game in time because it was jammed up, so they didn’t see the first pitch, but they saw the—they left town and they saw the flyover from outside the stadium. And they ended up getting up through the back food elevator to get into the game. So we have a whole nother story on that.
Robby Incmikoski: I love it.
Jamey Carroll: But it just ended up being really cool really knowing that you’re a part of somewhere where there’s new life and freshness, but also really appreciating where we came from [inaudible] for me. So it was definitely an odd, hard, interesting way to start my major-league career.
Robby Incmikoski: Tell me the elevator story real quick. So what happened with your parents? It was the first ever game in DC, right?
Jamey Carroll: Right.
Robby Incmikoski: [Inaudible.]
Jamey Carroll: He was going to throw out the first pitch. He was everywhere. Secret Service was everywhere. They were marching everybody to come in. I think he was a little bit overwhelmed with the stadium. They were having problems with the tickets, and so they were trying to get it all sorted out. So the family tickets were having some issues, so my parents and brother didn’t get into the game on the first pitch, but somehow my dad ended up actually doing a TV interview about that. My mom was like, “Oh God. Don’t have him talk.” But somehow they ended up getting in through the back elevator with the person carrying all the buns up to the food area. So that’s how they ended up getting into the game that day and watching it. We ended up winning it, which was great. I didn’t know any of this. I came out. I was like, “Wasn’t that awesome? We won the game.” And then I saw the look on their face, and I was like, “Oh. Something didn’t go right.” But now it just makes that story fun and good. [Inaudible] be part of that.
Robby Incmikoski: Hey, one other question about Hall of Fame. What was it like playing for Frank Robinson?
Jamey Carroll: It’s funny you say that, ’cause my son just asked me that yesterday.
Robby Incmikoski: Really?
Jamey Carroll: I learned what not to do. I’d sit on the bench and hear him get mad at everything we were doing wrong, and I learned what not to do.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: A lot of times because he’d let you know whenever you did something wrong. But with Frank, if you played hard, he loved you. And when I got traded to the Rockies, he called me and personally told me, “I didn’t ask for this,” whatever. But from then on, every stadium that he was in and I was in, when he started working for MLB, he would come and get me.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: And he would talk to me. And I loved him. And he was hard, he was grumpy, but he’s a legend, and he was super awesome to me. He gave me an opportunity. He believed in me. And so when somebody like that is in your corner, I’m going to be forever grateful. The day he passed away, I was coaching our Little League team, and I put on every piece of Expo gear I had and wore it in honor of him.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: So I could speak about him to the kids and about playing the game, playing the game hard, playing the game the right way. And he was great. He loved confrontation. And so you know all the trash-talking that’s going on all the time.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Jamey Carroll: Many times, I said some things and bolted out of the room. But I’m forever grateful for that man, and giving me the opportunity. One last great story with Frank.
Robby Incmikoski: I love it. I want to hear them all.
Jamey Carroll: We’re in spring training, and my brother’s in the minor leagues with the Expos, my younger brother.
Robby Incmikoski: What’s your brother’s name?
Jamey Carroll: Wes. Wes Carroll.
Robby Incmikoski: That’s right. I remember that, yeah.
Jamey Carroll: His Purple Aces made a run to super regional and got beat by Tennessee this year. That was a great run, but that’s for another day. He got called by the minor league guys. Spring training, minor league guys come up. He’s coming to play with us. So we get to the field. We’re traveling that day, and my brother’s not in the hitting group. So I go to our bench coach, and I’m like, “Hey, my brother needs to be in the hitting group.” And he goes, “Well, did you talk to Frank?” And so I was like, “Why do I need to talk to Frank?” So I go in, and I was like, “Hey, Skip. My brother’s here today, and he’s not in a hitting group.” And he goes, “You want your brother to hit?” And I was like, “I do.” And he goes, “I mean, he’s here today.” I’m like, “Yes, he is, Skip. I don’t know, Adam, our [inaudible] director at the time, Adam called, told him to be here. We’re missing another infielder for today.” And that’s when he hit like, “Oh, wait.” He honestly thought I was just bringing my brother in off the street and I was visiting him. He had no idea my brother was in our organization, which I don’t know how he would know. But my brother loves that story. We love that story. And that day, he played second. I played short. That’s the only time my brother and I have ever been on a field together, and we did it in a major-league spring training game and turned a double play together. So that’s one of my greatest baseball memories of my life.
Robby Incmikoski: That is incredible.
Jamey Carroll: Yeah. So Frank had no idea. It was great. I loved it.
Robby Incmikoski: Dude, that almost describes him almost perfectly. Right?
Jamey Carroll: Yeah. Yeah. One last one.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah, I can’t get enough of this. Just so you know.
Jamey Carroll: I played two-and-a-half weeks in the big leagues the year before, so I came to spring training not knowing if I’m going to make the team or not. So I go through all the spring training. It’s the day that we leave, and I still haven’t been told. We’re in Jupiter, and I go out and have my bags all there. I don’t know which bus to put them on. Ottawa or—I don’t know if I’m getting sent out, released, because I was a six-year minor-league free agent, and I was actually at home for a week when they called me up a year before. So I was about to be a minor-league free agent, but I got called up, so I was on the roster. So I’m sitting there, and the batboy comes out and goes “Hey, congratulations!” And I’m like, “I don’t know if I made the team.” It’s 12:40. I’m running my sprints for the one o’clock game. So the batboy comes running back out and goes, “Hey, Frank wants to talk to you.” So I sprint all the way back into the clubhouse. I go in. I’m like, “Yeah, Skip, [inaudible].” “I hear you want to know if you made the team or not.” I’m like, “Well, I got my stuff. I don’t know.” And he goes, “Well, are you playing today?” And I’m like, “I am.” And he goes, “Then you’ve made the team. So get out there and get a couple hits.” And I’m like, “All right. Thanks, Skip. I appreciate it.” I run back out. Next thing you know, I’m getting on the right plane. But it came to that, to where I’m like I didn’t have my sit-down, “Hey, congratulations, kid, you made the team.” He just assumed like, “Well, you’ve made it,” and I’m like twenty minutes from playing this game. I have no idea what the turnout’s going to be, which bus I’m getting on at the end of the game. So that’s my first full season. That’s how I found out I made the team. The batboy went and picked me up and became a team person.
Robby Incmikoski: You’re talking about that was when you were with the Expos when that happened, right?
Jamey Carroll: Yes. Yes.
Robby Incmikoski: That’s what I thought. And that’s your first [inaudible] ’03, ’04, something like that.
Jamey Carroll: That was ’03 the first full season, yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: That is incredible. What a story. Wow. You had debuted the previous year.
Jamey Carroll: Yeah. Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: In ’02. Okay. Wow. I gotta tell you, Jamey, this is just amazing, man.
Jamey Carroll: You come across anything else, obviously I’m willing to talk. I love this.