Hey, everyone. This week is a really cool episode. Got Scott Radinsky on the pod from Scared Straight, 10-Foot Pole, and Pulley. And yeah, cool interview. We go into his music career. I also address his career in professional baseball. So it's kind of cool interweaving the two. And yeah, Scott was really gracious with his time, and I appreciate him coming on the pod. And I hope you enjoy. To support this podcast, please like, rate, and review wherever you listen to podcasts.
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285 miles south, a hardcore punk rock podcast.
Today on the pod we have Scott Radinsky from Scared Straight and 10-foot Paul and Paulie. And, uh, Scott, how did you meet the scared straight guys? And did you get into punk at the same time?
Um, when we were, uh, uh, in school together, you know, junior high, high school together, kind of grew up in the same, uh, neighborhood really. And, um, I don't know, I think it was somewhere around eighth, ninth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, started playing some instruments. And my ninth grade, um, I can't remember what vacation it was, either like Christmas break or Easter break or something, but it was Easter. We started jamming in the garage and trying to play some songs.
And, you know, rather than just play by ourselves in our rooms,
we
just started jamming together.
And did you start playing drums or did you start off singing?
I was originally, I played drums. I played drums for probably about two, three years before I started singing. At least that's what it felt like.
So the first time that Scared Straight put something out is 84, but when does the band actually start?
Oh God, the band probably started somewhere in late 81, early 82. We probably played... I don't know, solid year probably before we ever did anything live. And then we did this battle of the bands at a roller skating rink locally here in town. Actually killed it and won. And then I played our junior high school. We were in ninth grade. Like at lunchtime, you know, on the quad. And then just started playing some gigs like, you know, down in Hollywood at the cafe.
The Grands started playing some shows down there. And that's when... Actually, when Tony and Willie Pute was putting together the Nardcore record, and I was still playing drums at the time when we got asked to do that, and I actually played drums on that record, and then that's when we made the transition to sing.
We recorded the music, and then a week later, we had to go sing, and our singer was out of town, so they were telling us we had to get it done, and I volunteered, and that's kind of how it happened.
That's a wrap for him. Yeah, yeah. That's hilarious. Did you record at Mystic for that? We did, yeah. What was that experience like?
You know what? It was a long time, but from what I can remember, we just drove down there. We set our equipment up. They put some mics on it, and that was pretty much it. It was really quick. It was weird. We had recorded some demos in our living rooms and stuff before, all live, but we This was kind of like we were recording without the vocals, so it was weird. We were playing music, and we didn't do any overdubs or anything.
It was all live, like, you know, guitar, bass, drums, all at the same time. But, yeah, it was cool. It was our first time in, like, a real studio. So it was kind of a cool experience, and we were young. And so for us, it was awesome. It was like, yeah, this is cool, you know. We're going and recording. We got to hear it back on these huge speakers and thought, wow, man, this is...
Yeah, we rip. We rip. Yeah, we rip, exactly. Yeah. So do you record the song for Party Animal in that same session, or do you go back to Mystic to just do one song?
Oh, yeah. We went back to Mystic and did one song on multiple compilations after that. We did the Nardcore songs, and then somewhere between the record coming out And recording it, they had called and said, hey, man, we really dig these tracks. You guys want to come down and do a 7-inch? They kind of started doing a lot of stuff at that time, especially the Nardcore area. I think there was Rat Pack, RKL, a lot of reputed, recorded What Happens Next, Dr. No.
So they were starting to do a lot of stuff.
and we were just one of those early hardcore bands that they offered to do a 7-inch, and of course we jumped right on that, we went down there and blasted out those songs, and then after that, you know, we kind of had a relationship with them, and it was like, hey, we're doing a cover compilation, or hey, we're doing a, you know, whatever, punk rock, you know, animal, whatever the hell those compilations were, and we just went down, we'd go do one song, you know, we'd just go down there and
spend a couple hours, knock the song out, record it, do the vocals, and be done, and leave, and And then you'd wait, like, six months to hear what it sounded like.
Yeah, and your introduction to meeting all the NARC crew guys was meeting Tony in L.A.?
Yeah, pretty much. There was a pretty cool connection for a while here in Simi. We were doing some parties, and, like, Stalag was coming out and playing, and Dr. No would come out and play in Repute. But my first real, like... first met Tony the first time was at the cafe. They were playing a gig down there. I couldn't even tell you when it was. And, um, I, I don't think we really knew each other or talked about anything at that time.
Um, you know, as far as like recording or anything, or even being in the band, I was just like kind of an arm watching like a band that I really liked because the Atlanta toilet record was out already. So I was kind of into that. And then, uh, And then it was kind of more like the parties that we were having out here in Simi when it started kind of meshing together and we'd start going out to a lot of parties out there, you know, a lot of bands.
And I couldn't tell you how many times I saw Stalag play somewhere out there at a party or some other band and just started meeting a lot of people and just, I think, you know, being around our faces, we'd see each other and it just kind of became a, wow, we're part of this scene now, you know?
Yeah, so cool.
Yeah, it was really cool. I can't even tell you how cool it was.
Yeah, and how did it feel when the actual 7-inch came out?
Like,
was that really rewarding? Like,
it's your whole record. Are you kidding me? They gave us a box of 50. That was like the, I don't want to say reward, but that was like the compensation we received. And, you know, here we are standing at school. I think I was in 10th grade. And we're like at school, and we got this box of 7-inch. It's like, yeah, our band did a record. It was cool shit. And at that time, you know, there wasn't a lot of, I mean, it was completely unlike anything you'd see nowadays.
You didn't have access to music. There was no internet. And nobody had a record out. So regardless of what label it was or how it got put out, the fact that we actually had one, we started doing gigs. And you could tell, like, people knew who you were.
You know, the compilation... that we were on with an hardcore compilation was big and we were able to go play and people kind of knew the name and we put out a 7 inch and it kind of made you feel like yeah like totally rewarding like we're a band with a record and not that it was something crazy but we had music on vinyl and it was pretty fucking cool
yeah and it's a good record
I mean it's a legitimately
good like old hardcore record
Yeah, I mean, for a bunch of kids who really didn't know what they were doing or singing about, it was good for the times, man, and I'm not embarrassed by it by any means.
Yeah, and so that's 1985, and when your 7-inch comes out, and that would be the— Scott, one second, I'm just going to shut a window. Some guy blowing leaves outside. One second. One second.
I thought that came out in 84.
So the 7-inch comes out in 1985. I think it was 84, but I'm not sure. Discogs is wrong a lot. That's what I'm pulling it off of. Okay. Even though I have like four copies. Okay. There's lots of variations. Either way. There's like the cardstock cover. There's like the photocopy cover. There's one on blue.
okay that's a bunch of stuff but uh okay okay so in 85 you go on tour with orapute yeah and not only do you is your band going on tour with them but you actually play drums yeah insane um how much notice do
you get you're gonna play well um we were getting ready to do this tour and we were playing a gig somewhere out in pomona it was like this label called one two x
u uh
And they were, they were doing a toxic shock records. I don't know if they used to have like a little mail order record thing. Right. I remember playing a gig out there where they were, and I had this little blue pickup truck and we were sitting in it, me and John. And he's like, yeah, this would be cool to go on tour. And, you know, they were talking about something. And if they took Carl's truck on tour, they were going to put a shell on it and they could have AC and, and all this shit.
And, uh, you know, so we were totally talking about going on tour together. And, And this was, I don't know, this was probably like springtime, or we're talking about for the summer. So somewhere between then and the summertime, I can't remember exactly what happened, but something went on with Carl and the band, and I can remember telling Tony, well, I'll play drums, and they came out to my house, they set up, we jammed, and I think it was like, okay.
By then they're like, all right, well, cool. He can pull it. And so we did a gig in Bakersfield. We did a show in the Valley, this place called Sun Valley Sportsman's Hall that was doing a lot of shows back then. And, and then we actually went out and did the tour. So I had, I had some notice.
I played a couple of gigs, which was, uh, you know, I mean, not to sound, you know, nostalgic or whatever, but they were kind of like a, I was kind of in awe at first because every song I knew by heart and I didn't need to rehearse anything. The only thing they told me to do was slow down. We're not playing as fast as the record. So that was like the only adjustment I had to make. I mean, I knew everything. And yeah, that was insane to be able to play a set with our band and sing.
And then, like, the whole time we'd be playing, all I knew is, like, as I was looking at the songs as we're going down the set list, the closer we'd get to the end, the more excited I'd get because I knew, like, wow, I still get to play another set and play drums with Ill Repute. And so that was pretty killer.
That is so cool. That was cool. I think it would be so wild, though, filling in drums in that era of Ill Repute just because by the time What Happens Next comes out, Carl is playing, like, this really wild style of drumming that's really untraditional. And for you to come in and replicate it is pretty wild.
It was totally a different style. And like I said, it was super fast. And so we were jamming in my house. I just remember Jim kind of going, hey, slow down. He's like, it's more adolescent feel. And I remember there's no way that a repeat song is going to sound like, you know, kids in the black hole.
And,
and, and, and, and so, you know, it wasn't like slow by any means, but it was more together. So it didn't sound as wild and crazy. And I didn't do all the, you know, all the crazy feels. It was, it was pretty tight actually.
And, and, you know, there was about four or five new songs that we were playing that, that hadn't even been heard yet that were going on to, uh, think the record was called Positive Charged or something the next record that came out like Stop and Think and there were some other songs that like there was like an intro song that we were playing that nobody had even heard yet so so I don't I don't think I was the first one to play those because I heard some examples of Carl doing those but they
hadn't recorded them or played them live yet so you know there was like a decent little chunk of the set that was you know new stuff so kind of had my own freedom to It was good. It wasn't, it wasn't too crazy. It was, it was like, it was pretty well together. Like I said, it wasn't, it wasn't all over the place. Like, uh, like what you'd think of what happens next, but, or, uh, or, or even like some of the songs on like the first seven inch.
But I mean, you know, I think when you saw it live, you distinctively knew it was, you know, you could, you could tell the, or they were all repeat songs. They're easy to follow along. Yeah, of course. Cause they're catchy.
Yeah. They're just one of those bands that can pull off being that fast and still be catchy.
Yeah.
So
it was good at that time, man. I mean, those guys were, I think they were like kind of at a peak at that point too. You know, they had been, they were, they were playing a lot in LA. So as far as playing wise, those guys were, they were on it and I stepped in and it was like, you know, definitely a challenge, but I'd say that was definitely a high point for, for all of us at that time.
You know, as far as like those particular bands at that moment, it was, the scene was just, And even in just in America in general, it was, it was just kind of scratching the surface and it was so much fun.
Yeah. And are you, you're already getting scouted in high school for baseball though,
right? Um, no, I was just going to school and I was playing. I didn't really know a whole lot about what was going on there. I get a couple of things in the mail from my college or something, which I didn't have any chance of participating in college. You know, I wasn't college bound. Um, And then, you know, the professional thing kind of happened. I caught wind of, like, oh, there might be a chance, you know, you might be going, get a chance to get signed out of high school.
And when I heard that, I just kind of thought, well, that's the route I'm going, and hopefully it happens. And, you know, I'd see scouts at the games. There was definitely, you know, on the days that I was pitching,
you
could tell there was, like, 15, 20 more guys behind the stands with radar guns
that
weren't there on the days that I wasn't pitching.
Yeah.
So, yeah, they're always at high school games.
I just wonder how that mixes with punk in that wild time. Are you cautious if you go in the pit to protect your arm or make sure you don't get into fights and so forth because you're considering that your arm could be your livelihood?
It wasn't even a thought. I mean, I was driving out three, four days a week to this ramp out in Ventura built by this guy named Rob. somewhere in the sticks, like off the freeway. It was kind of more by the college. It was a huge, huge half pipe. This guy skated for, I think it was Barfoot, Barefoot, Barfoot, however you pronounce it. It was a company out of Santa Barbara, and it was like the total hangout. Guys were up there.
Aggression would play, you know, bring generators and play on the ramp. I never even thought about the... There was no protection at all. Going to the gig, I didn't think twice about anything. I guess you feel pretty indestructible when you're that age. You don't really think about shit like that. I know the older I got, as I started playing, I'd be riding my skateboard around with my dog or something. People would ask me about skating. I'd say, I'm the best skater who doesn't fall.
You know, because I just made a point of not falling. But at that time, no, it didn't even cross my mind.
Yeah, I mean, a skating pipe would definitely be way more dangerous probably on the arm than going to a show. Yeah. So let's go to that tour. So in 85, you head out. And do you remember the routing at all? Like, do you remember what the first show was?
First show was in Tucson, Arizona. We left at... Late afternoon, Tony wanted to drive all night. We had two cars. We had this station wagon pull in the trailer, and we had my little mini truck. Because we had the Ill Repute guys, our band, and then we had this guy who came out from Australia who just knocked on my mom's door and said, Hey, mate. He's like, I love your band. He heard us on the Narco record. He goes, I'm in the States, and can I crash at your house?
And, uh, so next thing I know, this guy's hanging out for a few months and we said, well, you want to go on tour? And he said, yeah. So we took him. And, um, so it was the, I guess it was, you know, eight or so of us couldn't fit in my truck. And so we had this, this guy's car pulling a trailer. It was my truck. We took off late afternoon. Like I said, we were, we were on our way to Tucson and, and I remember Tony wanting to do like these night drives. So it wasn't so hot.
So we would drive all night and then we, you know, we would like find some place to like, which I think we woke up in a park and then, uh, he would call the promoter, uh, you know, 10 o'clock in the morning. Hey, we're in your city. And we'd go to this guy's house, you know, the whole group of us. And, and then, uh, you know, play a gig. And then the next night do the same thing. And so it was like, it was, uh, it was like Tucson, Albuquerque.
Then we shot up to Denver, uh, And they had some friends up there. And then we started working our way across Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a gripping show. We started heading that direction east. And I just remember playing a really great gig in Pittsburgh one night at this place called the Electric Banana. And we stayed in the Total Hood. And when we woke up, our drummer, the guy who drew the hardcore cover, the original one, He says, can I have the keys to the car?
And he walks out there and he comes back and goes, hey, where's the car? And everything was gone, man. They stole the trailer, the car with all the equipment, everything. So, you know, we were like, fuck, what do we do? We were in Pittsburgh. We're stuck in Pittsburgh. My truck was still there, but we didn't have any gear. We didn't have anything. And, you know, it's not like there were cell phones or anything to, like, call ahead, or we didn't have resources to do shit.
And we go to the police station, and it was, like, totally like a movie. This cop with a cigar in his mouth sitting, you know, up higher, like this old precinct station somewhere in Pittsburgh. It's like, well, what are you guys doing in this neighborhood anyway? And so we go back to the promoter's house, and we're just kind of sitting there all day, really not knowing what we're going to do.
And I'm pretty sure Tony was handling a lot of the business stuff and making the phone call ahead to what was going on. And I think the next show was in Baltimore or something. And he had it arranged to where we decided we were going to go on with the tour. The cops called us later that day and said, hey, we found your car and your trailer. So we all sprinted down to the police station. And when we showed up, of course, the car was completely emptied out. The trailer was emptied out.
But they found the car and the trailer. So we had no gear or anything, and I'm pretty sure we canceled a show, but then Tony said, hey, tomorrow night or whatever is in Baltimore, these guys are going to load us all their gear, and we went for it. So we went to Baltimore, and I remember it just kind of like the morale being shot when everything was gone. Everybody's clothes, everything was just stolen.
And the show in Baltimore, I think there was a pretty good amount of people there, but Just playing on shit gear. It wasn't their guitars. It wasn't anything of ours. I think the morale was just kind of dropped. Somewhere along the lines there, everybody... I don't remember who or what, but it was like, we're just going to put our tail between our legs and just turn around and go home. That was it. That was the decision that was made by the... from what I can remember, the higher up.
And, you know, I was just kind of going along for the ride. So that's kind of what we decided to do.
Yeah. And at that point, would, would that be about the halfway mark of the tour? You think you got two thirds done? I
think it was probably about the halfway point. Cause we had made it all the way to the East coast. And then, you know, we were coming down through after that, we were going to be coming down through like Raleigh and working our way through probably Florida, back across Texas and home.
Yeah.
Oh yeah. We, we, We played a lot of gigs. I mean, we were in Kansas, Chicago. We did a lot of stuff, getting our Detroit, working our way out that way. It was just, you know, unfortunately, we got to Pittsburgh and everything got stalled.
Yeah. You referred
to... Go ahead. I'm sorry. Please. No, I was going to say, surprisingly, it was a really good tour up to that point. You know, for the times, it was really good. And things were well, and it was... Two bears that were getting along well, and it was a good vibe, you know?
Yeah, Pittsburgh fucked it all up. That's terrible. It fucked it all up, man. I know, because that is, like, everyone talks pretty positively about the tour until that happens. Yeah. So you referred to Brian Walsby, and I wanted to clear up, did he play on everything, like, up to this point? On all the recordings? Or did you play on some of the stuff as well?
I played on the Nardcore stuff, and then when I went to go sing the vocals, like I was telling you, I recorded the drums on the Nardcore record, and then about two weeks later they called and said, hey, you guys need to get down here and do the vocals. Our singer was out of town, so I asked the guys at the band, I said, I'll go do it. They said, okay. And Brian was my friend from home, and he would hang out with us. So I said, come down to the studio with me.
So as I was recording the vocals, he was sitting in the lobby, and he was with the owner of the record label, Doug Moody, And he's like, you know, what's the cover going to be? And Brian starts drawing up these sketches. And the guy goes, would you like to do the cover? And Brian says, yeah, sure. So he drew up an encore record right there on the spot. And then I sang the vocals. And then we both got in the car and went home.
And then I think around that time, it was like, well, hey, Brian, do you want to play drums? Because now I'm going to be singing. And that's kind of how it happened.
And he played on
the 7-inch. He did a couple other compilations. And then when we did our full length record, because on that tour, Brian was getting super tight with the Corrosion of Conformity guys. And when we got, we decided we were going to bail out in Baltimore. He said, well, Corrosion's coming up to New York in two days to play with the Bad Brains. So I'm just going to hang out here and hop in the band with them. I mean, it's going on 30 some odd years. He's never been home. He hasn't been home yet.
That is... I'm so envious of that lackadaisical lifestyle of just being able to do that, right? Yeah. I'm just going to go chill with these guys and see what happens.
And 35 years later, he's still living out there with them.
Yeah, that's so cool. Crazy. So you get back from a tour, and this is 85, and you don't do an LP until 1988. Are you just focused on baseball? Because you start playing in the minor leagues in 86.
Well, I'm now at this point, like, you know, I'm getting ready to go into my senior year of high school. So I'm still focusing on the band and, you know, trying to find a drummer. And we found a drummer to fill in for Brian. You know, we started writing songs. We were playing a lot of gigs. And I didn't know where I stood with O.E.P. at that time. O.E.P. kind of went on a little bit of a hiatus for a while there. They weren't doing anything once we got back home. And...
And so we found a drummer, and we just kept hammering away. We started playing some really good gigs around L.A., found this really cool drummer. We were writing music. You know, things were kind of on the—we went on another tour. I believe it was during the Christmas vacation of my senior year, which would have been 85, 86. We went on a tour, believe it or not. No Effects opened. There was a band called Entropy and a band called The Grimm.
And, uh, it was like the four of us traveling out through Texas and Arizona and New Mexico. And we did that over the two week Christmas break. And then, uh, yeah, once baseball season started, I guess in March, I was kind of doing that, but still playing in the band, you know, we're still doing killer shows up in San Francisco's, you know, San Jose, Santa Cruz band blast and a bunch of other cool bands.
Like the adolescents turned into this band called the ads for a while playing all the adolescent songs and, We were still doing great shows, Uniform Choice. We were playing a lot of gigs in L.A. with them. Just a lot of cool stuff. And then, you know, I was playing baseball at the same time. And then in June, they have the baseball draft, and I got picked. And, you know, I just left to go to baseball when that happened. And it's like, oh, I'm going to go away for two months, guys.
I'll see you when I come back. That's kind of what happened. That's pretty much what... has been happening for the last 30 some odd years.
That's so crazy. So, and is that the Gulf Coast White Sox in Sarasota?
That's what it was. Yeah, I went out there, you know, somewhere around June and I think that season lasted until August and then, you know, I came home and, you know, now at this point, the other guys in the band are, you know, going to college and, you know, they went on to do other stuff and so, you know, kind of like, you know, I was doing baseball and they're going to school so, we're just trying to time things up. And, you know, the gigs probably went from like 50 a year down to like 10.
And, um, it was what it was, but, uh, it seems like a nice balance
though. Like it seems like a nice balance. Like you guys might actually enjoy it more instead of burning yourselves out. Right. Like here's punk season. Here's college and baseball season.
We definitely figured it out. I mean, you know, I can only think of maybe one or two bands that continue to do it full time that survive. Um, I mean, to, to think that, like, I started playing music when I was in seventh, eighth grade, whatever year that was. And, and, and now here I am, you know, 50 something year old man, and I'm still doing it. It's like, there's a reason why it's because it never was a full-time commitment.
And the balance is what, what's, what's made it like realistically possible to continue and, and for us to still enjoy it and, and, and, music's really really hard i mean i don't i don't know how what the odds are the percentages are to get into professional baseball but you know to make it as a musician it's got to be somewhere around the same you know and and we we definitely were were understanding of that and you know everybody kind of had their priorities what they had to do and we never
put the stress on and the band kind of it probably sounds uh hypocritical but like or whatever but The band came first, but it really didn't, if that makes sense. You know, there was other priorities that, like, kind of took precedence. But the band was still very important.
Yeah,
of course. But we understood that it was important when we could make it happen. And we always found time to make it happen. So I think that's why it continued to survive.
Yeah. How did you enjoy living in Sarasota? It's a huge change, right?
Oh, it was Florida's. full like hillbilly, you know, like redneck. Yeah. Yeah. It was totally different. I mean, I didn't really live there. I mean, I guess I did for two months, but, um, you know, I, I've worked there. I was doing my thing for most of the day and I'd go home, you know, after being in the sun all day, you're pretty beat laying around, watching TV and go to sleep, wake up, do it again the next day. It was, that was a pretty, pretty big adjustment.
I, you know, it was kind of like still going to school in a sense where, um, I had this obligation I had to go do, but instead they were paying us a little bit of money.
Right. So you do that 86, 87, and then in 87, you go to the Peninsula White Sox, Hampton, Virginia. Uh-huh. And then the following year is the Scared Straight LP, 88. Yeah.
Well, the thing is, is it was recorded like two years before that.
So it was recorded in like 86, you think?
I'll bet you it was recorded probably in 87.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, but I remember it was like, it was like, it was a solid year before it came out. Mystic move. Right. They, they packed up all the stuff in Hollywood somewhere around 86 and they moved down to San Diego and they had all these storage warehouses. And so things were just kind of sitting in storage for a long time. And then I think they finally found a, a studio or something down there. And then they probably start opening up all the, uh, all the trunks and all the archives.
I'm like, Hey, let's put this out. Let's put that out. Yeah. So you're a victim of the mystic move. They're probably still sitting on stuff that had never got put out. Cause I know we recorded at least four or five songs for some compilations that I've never heard. I've never heard since the day we did them and they're somewhere.
I think that there was, I
think
that there was a fire somewhere. No, I don't know. Yeah, anyway. But yeah, or Doug's just sitting on them all. I'm trying to get him.
Yeah, he's got it all somewhere in storage, man. Yeah, he's the white whale. That shit didn't burn down.
Yeah.
But whatever.
How do you feel about the LP compared to the 7-inch?
You know, I thought the songs were better. The times were a little different. We recorded it a little different. We had a different drummer.
How did you record different? Did you actually, you recorded all the instruments separately this time?
Well, I think we recorded the instruments live. We just, we had more time. It was like a different studio. It wasn't Mystic. It was a different studio somewhere down in San Diego.
And
so it was a little different. The one thing that was kind of a bummer about that is is, like I said, the record sat for at least a year and a half, and we didn't know nothing about it. But all of a sudden, a buddy of mine comes to my house with a cassette tape and goes, hey, look at this. I'm like, no way. We didn't know what the record cover was going to be like. We didn't know anything. And they just, like I said, they just discovered the tape, said, oh, hey, we've got to put this out.
They slapped together a cover for us, and they put all the shit out, and that was that. They never even told us. so I found out by a friend who went to a local record store and came to my house with cassette tapes on hey you guys records out like what and of course we went down and tried to buy all of them and yeah that was that
was
crazy a little different you know in the sense that like we knew the 7 inch was coming out we were totally a part of it and we were proud and then all of a sudden this it was like what We were, we didn't really, we weren't really a part of it. It just kind of happened.
Was Doug easy to get on the phone? Could you just call him up and be like, well, what happened?
Um, Doug would always be easy to get ahold of on the phone if he'd answer,
you
know, and he'd always give you the time to talk.
Yeah.
I actually had a pretty good relationship with him. I was one of two people that helped them move the entire studio down to San Diego. And I think he was always, you know, grateful for that. And, and, and I can remember Doug, uh, coming up to my house, to my mom's house, eating dinner with him and this guy, Phil, who was his right-hand man.
And, you know, so I definitely had a good relationship with him, but they were still, I don't want to use the word shady, but they were just, like, unreliable when it came to, like, the communication side of things. He was down there taking care of a sick mom that was, like, in her 90s or something. So, I mean, I guess I get it.
And once he left the Hollywood rat race and the whole lifestyle he had with, you know, tons of years leading up to the whole punk rock thing, you know, I guess he just kind of like took off and got away from it all. And, you know, here I was just, you know, smacking those kids still, you know, in my teens. And, you know, I mean, it was cool that he'd even give us time of day, but there wasn't like consistent communication, though.
Yeah, did you ever see that he put out a Fernando Valenzuela picture 7-inch in, like, 81? I'm
sure he did. I actually saw him do a reissue of a CD called It Came From Slimy Valley. And on the backside, it's a scared straight record featuring Scott Radinsky. But whatever, man. I mean, those are things that are kind of out of our control, you know? Yeah. Like I said, he just started slapping stuff together and putting it out, just to put it out.
Yeah, do you see, like, an increase in popularity or anything when you put out an LP, though? Well... Because now you have more songs out for people to sink their teeth
into. Well, yeah, but then at that time, at the same time, it's kind of like the whole punk thing was kind of going in a different direction, and it seemed like everybody was getting, like, bead metal and all this other kind of like thrash metal kind of stuff. Yeah. He's a rough year for punk. The late eighties, it was definitely, it was not, you know, it wasn't what it was, what I was accustomed to.
Like there was a really healthy, and of course it was super violent, but there was like this really thriving scene in LA, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, you know, just, it was kind of a valley. I mean, I saw minor threat in Chatsworth. It was good. And then the late 80s, there was really only one place. I remember the country club in the valley was kind of going on. And it wasn't really until some point in the late 80s when I think bad religion started playing.
And then there was a little bit of a swing in a different direction. But For a couple of years, a lot of the bands just stopped playing, whether there was no place to play. I don't want to say the scene died, because it didn't die. So when you ask about the increase in popularity, no, not that noticeable, because things were kind of going in a different direction. We still had the same consistent bass we had from before, but it definitely didn't grow.
Yeah, yeah, battle religion gets back together and they do suffer in 88. So 86 to 88 was probably pretty rough, I would assume.
Yeah, so, like, I remember, like, probably around 89 and, you know, the early 90s, it was still kind of, like, feeling its way through. And then at some point, like, 92, 93, it just went back to being that same, like, healthy, thriving, but, like, a different style, you know?
Yeah, yeah, broke.
Yeah.
So you do 88 in Sarasota again, then you go to South Bend for the South Bend White Sox in 89, and then you break through and go pro in 1990 with the Chicago White Sox. It seems like such a long time to be in the minors and then break through. That had to be the craziest feeling in the world.
Well, I mean, when you come out of high school, I think the average – the average to get to the big leagues four years is pretty good. When you're a high school player, four years is phenomenal.
Yeah, we're cutting out college. So basically your minor league time is your college time.
Exactly. Now, imagine a guy who comes out of college at 22 and it still takes him a few years to get there. Now he's 26. I think the average age to get to the big leagues is
like
26. Yeah, it seemed like a long time, but But, you know, at the same time, really, it wasn't. It kind of flew by. My age, I was always younger. I mean, when I first went to, you know, in 86, more than three-quarters of the team were all guys from Arizona State, all these big-time college guys. I was way out of my league. I was like the little pup. And, you know, it just kind of took a while for... And then once it happened, I just shot past all of them. And it happened really quick.
And timing's everything. It was the right place at the right time. I had the right manager who didn't care and was like, I don't care how old this kid is. I don't care where he played last year. What I'm seeing, he deserves to be on this team. And he took a chance on me. And for both of us, it paid off.
Did you always feel like you were on that trajectory? Like you knew you were going to make
it to the big
leagues?
Right.
I didn't know for a while. I got injured and went through the whole, you know, had surgery, went through the rehab process, and then, you know, the Caltrans job started looking pretty entertaining. I didn't really know what was going on. And then as I was going through this rehab process and I started, like, actually training for the first time, somebody actually used to go to this therapy place, this physical therapist, and it was a woman.
and she was actually putting me through this training when I was like I started noticing significant differences in like strength and what I could do and that's when I really started to believe in myself so when I got back on the field after my injury which was 87 I had to rehab through 88 when 89 came around I was the most confident person you know I mean I never went to the gym or did stuff like that but But, you know, you could see how those guys probably feel confident about themselves when
they're staring in the mirror and they see their biceps and their chest. I didn't bulk up, but I just got physically strong because of, you know, being a pitcher, you have to kind of keep your elasticity and, you know, you don't want to get muscle bound. But this lady ran me through some shit that, like, it just... I got so much confidence after going through all of it and it just made...
The 89 season is so easy and I just absolutely dominated and felt like I did in high school again, both physically and mentally.
And
then that year, yeah, I absolutely 100% thought I can totally fit in here and I belong here. And that's the biggest challenge you have to overcome in that profession is there's a lot of guys that have the talent. There's not a lot of guys that believe they belong there. And once you believe you belong there, well, then natural ability just takes over. And I don't want to say it becomes easy, but it certainly becomes easier. And that's what happened to me was I was physically strong.
I prepared myself the best I could. And then mentally, I started having the success to where I was like, fuck, I belong here. And I'm way better than these guys. You start looking at your left and your right and you start sizing yourself up and you start thinking, there's nobody on this team better than me. And that's kind of how you have to feel about it. Obviously not outwardly cocky, but just inside that confidence.
And, and, uh, so that year in 89, that's when that, that feeling started and that I knew like, yeah, I definitely, the trajectory was gonna, I was on that path.
Right. And then in, in 1990, you start Chicago White Sox. Exactly. You do 90, 91, 92, 93. And then you, So it's been a long time since Scared Straight does recordings. Do you slow down a little bit in that time just because you're in the majors?
Well, that's kind of when we made that transition of, you know, well, I'm going to baseball now for eight months, but during that four-month period, no, I mean, we still did whatever we could do. We wrote, we did shows, you know, whatever was going on at the time. And like I said, there was a couple of years where things were a little, I don't want to say dead, but they were just slower just because... You know, it's like, like I said, the 50 gigs a year would turn into 10.
You know, we'd play with RKO at the Oxnard Community Center and then we'd go do a show up in San Francisco with Sam I.M. And then, you know, maybe it wouldn't be a gig for another two months and we'd play somewhere down at Long Beach. And maybe we ended up playing a handful of shows that particular year and then I'd have to go to baseball. Come back home the next year, play a gig at the Country Club with, you know, with B.I. or something. And it was, they were just more Yeah, the
reason why I ask is just because Swill and Rev, they come out in back-to-back years. Did Swill get recorded earlier and take a while to come out, or were you just so prolific for those two years?
What years are we talking about now?
Okay, so it looks like Swill comes out in 1993, right? Okay. And it's, I think that on, maybe on the cassette, you're called Scared Straight, and on the CD, you're called Ten
Foot Pole. It was Scared Straight. It was recorded as Scared Straight. Okay. Now, remember what you said about what year it was, and like we were talking, like, you know, from 88, from 86 to 88, 89, it's kind of dead. 90, it's kind of slow. Well, we probably started writing this song somewhere around 92, recording them, and, you know, we recorded them, and then the, the, the, we recorded in the scared straight, uh, the, we actually printed the copies of scared straight.
Now all of a sudden the scene starting to kind of change,
right.
You know, and, and that's why there, there's those back to back years. And then things after that just kind of came in succession, you know, for years and years and years to come. But it's because of the era and because of the, the demand, not demand, but just, you know, it was like, it was the time, the times. And, uh, So we recorded the Scared Straight record and we were supposed to put it out on Fat Records.
And, you know, we were talking with Mike and he's like, you know, I really think maybe a name change, you know, a different style of music. Maybe it's a fresh start. You wouldn't have to correlate yourself to the past. And so we started thinking about all this stuff. And at that point, we'd already printed like, you know, a thousand copies or two thousand copies.
So we basically took a sticker and Once we decided to change the name to 10-Foot Pole, we took a sticker and opened up every single package of everything that was packaged under Scared Straight. We put the sticker right over the CD rather than reprint them and just called it 10-Foot Pole.
We
blocked out anything that said Scared Straight with a Sharpie. That's what we did on those first however many thousands of copies there were. Then after that, we started printing the 10-Foot Pole versions. And then, you know, this, whatever that was, 93, we sent a copy to Epitaph. Brett said, hey, this is cool. I want to put out a record. Well, we were already writing songs and like, okay, cool.
We started, we put a record out on Epitaph and then, you know, 90, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, all those years were just, you know, we just put out records because, you know, under one band or another, whatever the name was, because of, the opportunity. And it was, it was, like I said, the times were, were different, but for that low period, there wasn't anything going on because there was no record label. There was no, there was no, well, there was a scene, but there wasn't, you know what I mean?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, just something clicked because I think swill is a good record, but Rev, Rev is an amazing record. I think it's one of the greatest albums ever. Um, and, and so it's, it's wild, um, that just something clicked. I don't know who the main songwriter was for Rev, but the music really changed, but not in a weird, regressive way. It got unique. That record sounds like nothing else. I mean, nothing else really ever sounded like it again after.
I mean, it's hard, because the Ten Foot Pole records after, obviously, you don't sing on them, so it's hard to compare them, because the guitarist's voice is... He kind of sounds like Weird Al. It pulls me out
of it. Yeah, I haven't heard it, but I've heard those comments. The school record was written definitely different than anything we had done previously, Spirit Straightwise. It was written with a more conscious effort of a different type of style. Like I said, the Bad Religion record came out. There was different thoughts. We heard Green Day. So there was, you know, there was, it was like, wow, this is kind of like, not poppy, but a little more melodic.
And then it just kind of kept transitioning into the Rev record. We were all the same writers, but the style changed. I mean, I'd like to think that, like, we went from not so much screaming, but kind of like that youth anger to like, well, we actually really did start singing. And we were making more conscious, a conscious effort of writing, I guess, happier notes. rather than the typical hardcore, just anger, sour notes.
And so that's kind of the direction it went, and it just kind of continued on that path, as did 90% of the bands that were writing music at that time. Yeah,
but the Rev record just sounds more urgent and serious and just... better than most of the stuff like of, of 94, I think. So maybe swill is you guys, it's kind of like a demo era for that next. It totally was a demo era. Yeah, totally. And then rev just something hits. And I mean, it's just one of the things where everything lines up perfectly. And
well, we had an idea of where we were headed. Right. You know, like once, once we got past swill, it was like, okay, this is direction we're going. Yeah. And you know, like if you listen to swill, there's some weird songs on there that probably didn't fit, but, you know, they weren't all, but then when we decided to go rev, we had a direction. So not that all the songs sounded the same, but there was definitely a more clear direction in where we were headed when we were songwriting.
So it just, it was definitely easier to go once we had a style we wanted to try to accomplish. You know what
I mean? Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. And then, um, you have a major life event here. Um, and so you're, you do four years in the majors and then you put out, um, swill, and then you put out the best record of your career up to this point, 94, and then you get sick.
The reason the Rev record got so dialed in was I got sick in February, and we hadn't recorded the record yet. We recorded the record during that summer. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, and then you don't play baseball in 94. 94, yeah, I don't play baseball. And how does that feel for you? Like this is like the first year you haven't played baseball probably in your life since going back to like five years old, right?
Yeah, since Little League. Yeah, it was weird, but, you know, like I said, I had something totally different on my mind. I was, I mean, I had to go to the doctor once every two weeks, get, you know, these treatments, and then once that was over for six months, then I had to go through these radiation treatments. So, Baseball was kind of like the farthest thing on my mind.
And thank God for the musical outlet because, you know, it did allow me to kind of keep myself a little occupied with something. You know, I was going to my high school and like hanging around there, helping out the baseball team and trying to do as much as I could actively. And thank God for, you know, no internet at that time for me because I didn't have any ability to research what I had or no, I just, The doctor said, this is what you got to do.
And I just kind of put my head down and thought, okay, well, I got to get through this. It's going to take me about eight months, and I'm not going to look up until I get there. And that's kind of what I did. And once you're going through that, yeah, the rest of the shit going on around the world is kind of secondary.
Yeah, but you powered through it. Totally
powered through it. How else can you get through it?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but you bounce back, and in 95, you go back into the minors, South Bend, Indiana, the South Bend Silverhawks.
I played in Chicago all year. Okay. I got put on the DL about halfway through the year for about two weeks.
Oh,
okay. Yeah,
yeah. Because
I just wasn't performing. And understandably, I missed the whole year, but not to mention missing missing the whole year. My body physically went through some hell and I probably, I probably shouldn't even have started the year in 95, but you know, their loyalty and my determination was, you know, I'm going to make it. And I, and I, and I showed spurts here and there, but it just wasn't consistent. So I went down to South Bend.
What really, what, what I did was they gave me a two week break is what it was. And I pitched in a couple, a couple of games in South Bend, just they're called like rehab assignments. Um, And then they just gave me a break to get my body at rest. And yeah, something happened in that two weeks, you know, that two, three week period where, you know, I got a little recharge and I was getting further away removed from, you know, going through all those treatments that beat me up.
And, you know, it just takes time. And when I came back that second half, that last quarter of 95, I was I was pretty good, man. It was, you know, my body was physically, I was showing life again of, you know, I could, I could come into a game and not be huffing and puffing by the time I got there.
Right.
So, uh, I could physically start telling, I, you know, I could see, I could see that I was able to do more. So, um, it was, it was kind of more of a mutual, like they'd sat me down one day in New York and it was like, Hey man, you know, we don't want to see you out there struggling. And, you know, what do you think about this? And they proposed the idea.
And I said, well, yeah, I mean, if that's what you want me to do, I mean, uh, uh, I guess I had to come with reality and accept that my body probably needed that.
Yeah. Well, I mean, that's amazing. And then you get some confidence back.
Oh, totally. And from that point on, I mean, it was pretty good. I just needed to get through the physical repairing of what my body, you know, the shit that I had to go through. Right.
And at this time, though, you have another kind of major life event is that you separate from 10-foot pole.
Yeah, I'm asked to leave, you know, due to the success of the Rev record and the new label. And now, all of a sudden, everybody who, you know, was going to college was out. And they had jobs and they were in the working world and kind of realized, like, this sucks. And, and, and there, here was this opportunity. And I think, you know, they, they lost that mindset of why the band had stayed successful for years up to that point.
Um, and why we had all remained friends and, and been the same band members, which a lot of bands interchange.
Yeah. You're on a 10 year run. You're
a 10 year run. Well, yeah. And it was never, was never, this is what we do. Well, you know, after the rev record came out and I had to take off and leave for baseball, I think, the opportunities that were coming in and, you know, the constant, well, shit, we can't play. We don't have a singer. And, um, you know, I just think that they kind of thought, well, we have a chance to do this. We want to be the next Pennywise. And, um, you know, that was the decision they made. They asked me to leave.
And I just thought to myself, well, why don't you guys start a new band for eight months? And why don't we keep this thing that we have, you know, for four months a year that, uh, that, that we've made successful over the years. And, and, and, found a way to be successful and they just, uh, they just decided that was the route they were going to go. And I think that that was already a predetermined decision when they called me and, and, um, you know, what was I going to do?
Yeah. Started a new band.
Yeah. And it doesn't take you long to put together a pulley.
It took me 24 hours, 24 hours.
And, and, and you know what, I gotta be honest at that point, you know, everybody has their issues and you know it's tough getting along everybody especially once you start to see everything was cool until we did the Rev record and got on Epitaph and then I don't want to I won't name names or anything but just people's egos start to swell a little bit and like I said kind of lost sight of what the band really was the whole the way it started out and and I think that kind of took over the
mentality which ultimately ended up ruining the name um but it was uh it was an opportunity to pick up the phone and like call these people that i had never been in a band with that were friends of mine and it's like hey you want to start a band you want to have some fun um we're gonna we're gonna record a record and we're gonna get to be on epitaph because that was my whole thing in the beginning was i right away called epitaph said how how am i getting kicked out of my own band and uh And
Brett just said, hey, you know what? These guys want to do this thing. Just go ahead and put a band together and show me the songs, and I'm sure we'll do something. So I thought, okay, well, cool. I'm just determined. And like I said, it was fresh for me to be able to reach out to these friends that played and said, hey, you want to start a band and have fun? And within six months, we started a band, recorded the songs, wrote the songs, and put out a record. And it was awesome.
And it's been awesome for the last 25 years.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's a great debut album. A steam-driven engine, 1996. Yeah. And Brad must have been pretty sympathetic also, because that's right around the time that he's leaving Bad Religion and stuff.
Well, he said the same thing to me. He goes, well, dude, I got kicked out of my own band. You know, I got a record label, and my band wants to record a major label.
He went through the same exact process similar situation and he was all about it I mean he was all about like put together some songs and of course and we way outlasted Tempo Pole on that label you know and I think we wrote a lot better records am I disappointed that Tempo Pole had to disband the way it did I mean personally yeah because I think that if we would have continued to build off Rev I think it would have been pretty good But we never had that opportunity because they wanted, I don't
want to say a fame and a fortune, but they wanted to take advantage of the popularity at the time. And like I said, kind of lost sight of what the band really was and what it was supposed to be. And, you know, let's be real. When we all start in a band, where do we start? We start in a garage, a bunch of buddies jamming, having fun. And it's not supposed to be taken that seriously.
And once it does, that's when all the, all the, uh, that's when the shit just hits and everybody starts the arguments and the, you know, just everybody, the different directions and everybody wants to, you know, uh, throw in their opinion at that point. And it just, it just, the fun's gone. And, um, so definitely made a conscious effort, uh, somewhere around 95. When we started pulling, it was like, this is the way it's going to be.
And I had to be upfront and honest because of the experience I just had with the guys that were joining and they were totally on board and Brett was totally on board and he knew we weren't a touring band. He knew about my baseball thing and he totally supported that. And he said, just put out good music. And that's all he ever said. And I'm assuming the fact that he put out, you know, five records over however many years, he must have thought, okay, it was good music.
Yeah, of course.
So, so then that's what we did.
Yeah.
But yeah, yeah. To answer your question initially. Yes. He was sympathetic. I'm sure. Cause like he was going through the same experience.
Yeah. Did you ever reconcile with the, the 10 foot pole guys?
Uh, well, uh, the drummer, Tony, everybody in 10 foot pole eventually quit except for the singer guitar player. Uh, the first one to leave was the bass player. He left, couldn't take it anymore. And, he's still a guy that I would communicate with. The drummer, Tony, left 10-foot pole and immediately joined pulley. The other guitar player, Steve, I think he was the last to leave. I'm not exactly sure what he's doing now. If I saw him, I'm sure we'd be, hello, how you doing?
I have not spoke to Dennis at all in however long it's been, 26, 27 years, haven't spoke to him. I haven't reached out. So, yeah, no, really, there's been no reconciling, no.
Yeah.
Okay. Is there bitterness? There's no bitterness. There's just, I mean, they made a decision back then, and the way I look at it is you wanted me out, and okay, I left and went and did something else. I have no reason to go back and revisit that. Yeah.
Well, also in 1996, you get every Southern California kid's dream, and you get to go play for the Dodgers. Were you a Dodgers fan growing up?
Oh, fuck yeah. Are you kidding me? I was a Dodgers fan my whole life, and the day that the White Sox said they didn't want to bring me back, the first thing I did was say, well, what do I got to do to play for the Dodgers? The Dodgers already had some left-handed pitchers. I actually turned down guaranteed major league offers with a couple of clubs to sign a minor league deal with Dodgers just to take a chance.
And I remember Tommy Lasorda called me on a Sunday and said, we'll give you every opportunity to make this ball club. And I remember sitting in my house just kind of laughing going, well, Tommy, if you just get me there. I said, I'm not concerned about that. I'll make the team. I'm not worried about it. Just give me the opportunity to be a Dodger. And that was great. how I felt, you know, physically. And I busted my ass.
And this
is, I had something, I had something to prove, man. Yeah. And I showed up spring training in 96 and I had to be the best years of my life. You know, 96, 97, 98 on 30 miles from the ballpark.
Yeah.
Living at home. And like you said, I went to Dodger stadium every day for three years and it was awesome.
So awesome. Awesome. Yeah. That's cool. Do you, do you have any, uh, standout stories from your time with the Dodgers? Any what? Any, like, standout stories of your time? Anything
that's
memorable?
That's all the, I mean, all the polo stuff was going on at that time, so there was a lot of good times. I mean, I recorded three records. You know, we recorded Steam. We recorded a Steam-driven engine.
On my way to the stadium, I'd stop at the studio, sing a song, go to the field, come back home, come back to the studio after the game, record another song and record the vocals and I did that for like a week straight and I recorded the first two records that way and then the third record we actually recorded after the season so I was actually able to be a part of that on an everyday basis but standout stories of being a Dodger I mean fuck I mean all the people that I've watched my whole life
I'm sitting on a team and Mike Socher's a coach. Reggie Smith's a coach. Bill Russell's a coach. Tommy Lasorda's the manager. That's enough right there for me.
Yeah, totally. I just don't know how everyone associates. Do you get to go to dinner with Tommy Lasorda and stuff? No.
Baseball's kind of one of those things where 25 guys go their own way after the game, really. When we were at the field, there was a lot of... I definitely say the first couple of weeks I was just walking around. Wow. Look at this. This is awesome. You know, it was a little surreal for a while. Um, probably my best memory one day. I don't remember what year they held the all-star game in Cleveland, but they have the rock and roll hall of fame there.
So the baseball guy for ESPN, Peter Gammons decides, you know, he's gonna, he's gonna, he knew me and he knew my whole musical thing. um, it started by him being in an airport and seeing a maximum, or being somewhere in a newsstand and seeing a maximum rock and roll with me on the cover throwing a baseball with a 10-foot pole across my chest. So out of curiosity, he picks it up and that's kind of how our relationship developed.
So anytime I'd ever see him around a baseball field and him being a big music guy, he would always bring it up to me. So one day on the field in Dodger Stadium, we're taking batting practice and as we're coming off the field, I see Peter kind of motioning it over to me and He's got Johnny Ramone and Eddie Vedder, and he's going to do this piece for the All-Star game that's going to be held in Cleveland, and it's tied into the Hall of Fame. It's like a musical-themed thing. So he shows it up.
Out of all 30 teams and out of all the baseball players out there, he comes to L.A. with these two guys.
to do an interview with me so that was pretty cool man it's like we're all standing around home play Peter's asking questions and I'm fucking standing there with Johnny Ramone and Eddie and they're huge baseball fans and it was that was pretty cool and the guys on the team couldn't they didn't know who the fuck Johnny Ramone was but Pearl Jam was huge at that time so all the guys on the team were just freaking out they couldn't believe you know Eddie better you know they couldn't believe it and
so And I think at that moment, there was a lot of guys in the team that probably realized, like, fuck, dude, what's this banjo in? You know, like, what's going on? And then a steam-driven engine came out, and of course, everybody wanted to copy it. It was kind of cool, man. It was a cool moment, definitely.
Yeah, and that's a palatable album that I think that even if you're not into punk rock, you can enjoy it.
Yeah.
It wasn't
too harsh. Yeah. Definitely. It wasn't like, uh, you know, the first seven inch we ever
put up. Um, yeah. Yeah. I wanted to talk a little bit just about like, um, transitioning out of baseball. Cause I, I always, I think it's so interesting with professional athletes that basically you do something your whole life and then it's kind of like over, but you're still, you're young in human terms, you know, but you're old in sporting terms. So, um, The last year you played professionally is 2001 or 2002? I think it was 2002.
Yeah. The Cleveland Indians, 01, and then Calgary Cannons, 2002? Yeah, it was with the Marlins, yeah. Okay.
I went to spring training with the Indians and didn't make the team, so then I came home for a couple weeks and then got picked up by the Marlins and went to their AAA team for a while.
You know, just... I don't know, was kind of losing the enjoyment, I guess, and finished it out, and then 2003, have some offers to go to spring training, and just wasn't feeling it, and started talking to some people about, was getting interested in the other side of it, you know, like front office or coaching, and so then 2004, I start with the Indians as like a special instructor or something, and transition to that side of it. It really was never over for me.
Right, because you started being a pitching coach for them in 2005.
Yeah. I spent the whole year in 2004 learning about the whole side of the game. Working with the front office people and how they evaluate. Just a different side of it. Really not a lot different than what you would do as a player. Evaluating a hitter. uh, how you want to get them out, but just more like, what does this guy bring to the table? What can we do to improve them? What's his strengths? What's his weakness?
Things like that, that I probably wouldn't have paid attention to on a, on a fellow player when I'm trying to diagnose, you know, dissect them. Um, and I didn't, I knew that, um, I wasn't going to be, you know, I wasn't going to go home and do nothing. I don't play golf. It's not going to be a, you know what I mean? It's like, I can only ride my mountain bike for so long during the day. And, It's like, what am I going to do? So I always wanted to stay in baseball.
So the transition really wasn't, there really wasn't a transition of not being in baseball. It was just more of like changing of a role.
Yeah, and you were really successful in doing that because you've done it ever since, correct?
I mean, I'd like to think successfully, yeah. I mean, I understand people. I think my background certainly, you know, different, you know, you know, adversities I've had to overcome. Uh, you know, there's, I'll tell you what, man, you know, when you're, you're living the life of a baseball player and you're staying at a Hyatt hotel and, you know, a Westin hotel, you know, and, and then, you know, a month later, you're sleeping on the floor in Germany.
I think that those worldly experiences kind of help you relate to people. And, and, um, you know, when I was a coach and transitioning to that role, you're now, you're responsible for, you know, these, these, these pictures on your team and, And I love being a player. There's nothing better than being a player.
But I'll tell you what, when you're a coach and you're living through those 12 different pitchers on a team and you're in every single pitch of every game and you're right there with them and you're there to pat them on the back, you're there to stick your foot up their ass, you're there to support and the whole thing, it's a super gratifying feeling to be that guy. And it's pretty fulfilling.
But I definitely think that my personal experiences that I've had to go through and along with the other things that I've been exposed to throughout the world, the different types of climates of the world, made it really easy for me to talk to a kid from Texas or California or some kid from the Dominican Republic. I relate to it all. And not every coach I ever had could do that.
So, you know, I did feel like that's like a special strength of mine is the ability to understand people because that's all it is. I mean, it's not about teaching a guy how to throw a slider. It's more about like keeping a guy on the tracks of this roller coaster that has these ups and downs over the course of an eight-month season because... the reality is you're not going to be good the whole time.
And there's going to be a lot of downtime, a lot of downtime where you're, when you're not good and you're not successful, it's a game of failure.
Yeah.
And, um, you just kind of keep them. I always think of it as like, like a bowling alley, you know, and I was, my job was just to kind of keep them out of the gutter all the way down until they hit the pin and the season was over. And that's the way I see it.
Yeah. That's so cool. Well, Scott, I really appreciate it. Um,
absolutely, man.
This has been awesome. I
hope I didn't get too long-winded.
No, no, no. That's kind of how I like to do the show, is to make it long-winded. Because I'm not trying to do an entertaining podcast. I'm trying to do an informative podcast. Cool. Hopefully
it was informative.
Yeah. Well, I do want to just put the... the exclamation point on it, that Pulley has still been going the whole time, and you guys never stopped putting out records. Ever. Yeah,
I mean, the 2000s... I've got eight of these songs on my phone right now that are getting ready to be put out at some point.
Yeah, I mean, you talked through the first three, and then in 01 you do another record, in 04 you do another record, in 05, 08, 2011, 2016, so... I mean, you just found, it's really admirable that you found a great life balance that you were able to figure out how to do music for basically your whole life. I think that's just...
Well, if you love something, it's not going to just go away. Right,
right.
And I've been very fortunate to be paired with people that have that same like-minded mentality towards it, and that's why we all enjoy still doing what we're doing. It's Being in a band is supposed to be having fun, and that's what we're doing.
Yeah. Cool. Well, thanks so
much. That's
what music is. Agreed. Yeah. I got to ask, do you feel like you've been well-represented on the podcast?
Absolutely. Okay. All good, man.
Great.
Appreciate the opportunity to talk.
Awesome. Thanks so much. We'll talk soon.
All right, man. Thanks.
All right. Bye-bye.
Yeah.