From Local Diamonds to Major League Dreams: The Inspiring Journey of Carmen Cali

Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Spotlight on Good People, where we shine a light on the humans who are making the world more connected and compassionate and kind. Today I'm sitting with a man who embodies what it means to chase a dream and then find a way back to give to the community that shaped him.

Carmen Colley didn't just make history when he became the first Naples High High School graduate to reach Major League Baseball. He carved a path that showed every kid in southwest Florida that dreams born on local diamonds can reach the biggest stages in sports. From those humid summer days at Juan Romero baseball camp as a young boy to stepping under the mound at Push Stadium, where St.

Louis car wearing a St. Louis Cardinal's uniform, Carmen's journey is one of the one of determination, resilience, and an unshakeable connection to home. But what makes Carmen truly special isn't just that what he accomplished in baseball, it's how he's chosen to honor that journey by staying rooted in the community that believed in him.

First. This is a story about making it big and choosing to make it meaningful. So Carmen, welcome. Thanks for coming over. Thank you for having me. Yeah, your, paan colleague, cowork and, boss said you had to come here and, be a part of this. He was, couldn't wait to get you over here to have a chat with us.

So, and where it all began, with mom and dad was up in Cleveland. You were born in Cleveland? Yes, in Streetsboro. And then my parents are from Euclid, Ohio, which is just outside of Cleveland, but, still a Browns fan, unfortunately. Yeah. Well, this could be the year though, right? Right. Every year could be the year.

I think we've had 120 quarterbacks in the past 10 years. We're still in the search. Hey. They gave, they gave the Eagles a rough time in preseason. Yeah. Made the Eagles good. We're always good in preseason.

It's that damn season that'll get you

Well, are you happy about the fact that they kept Shado? Yeah. Yeah. I think he'll be all right if he, keeps his head on straight, he'll be good., he's got the, he's got it. He's just, once they give him the opportunity, I think he'll take advantage of it. He wants to be there. So you could see the difference between him and a Johnny Manzel where he didn't really care.

Yeah. And Shado cares. Yeah. What about the other guy? Ga. Gabriel? Gabriel? yeah. Daniels. Is it Daniel Gabriel or Gabriel Daniels the Oregon guy. I don't know. Yeah. No, I think he's good. I like him too, but I think Shado will end up taking him over. Mm. Yeah. That'll be exciting. It's fun to watch. I, many people are going crazy about that.

They'll give Daniels the first opportunity, or Gabriel, I think it's one or the other. Yeah. But they'll give him the first chance and then they'll give it to sdo. This is what I see. Yeah. Well, you've been through some tough years with that team. Crazy. Tough to watch sometimes. Yeah. So, and then all of a sudden they'll beat the Ravens.

Like, what? Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. Ohio State too. Is that your, your Ohio tickets? I'm more of a FAU guy now that I went there and they have a football team. But I do like Ohio State. I like, I'm a sports guy. I like all the teams that are, I like all the Florida schools now that they're relevant again.

Yeah. How about that one weekend Florida State looked good, man. Yeah. Miami had a game Surprising. Yeah. Miami looked good back in the day when the team, I'm not a fan of their quarterback though, the kid from Georgia. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, I don't think he's that great, but he beat Notre Dame, so, yeah. How long has FAU had a team?

Did they have a team where you were there? Yeah, they, they just, they were starting it while we were there. Okay. While I was there. Like their, their, they just built the practice field and all that stuff while I was there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I think their first season might have been my last year, if not the year after I left.

Did Schnellenberger cross the pipes there? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He started it. Oh, okay. Yeah. That was a big deal. Yeah, it was. Yeah. We, he was in the cafeteria standing up talking to everybody during Yeah. Yeah. Trying to hype it all up. Yeah. Yeah. But he got it going. He did. Yeah. Now they got a nice stadium.

It's fun. We go, when we go back for alumni, every year, we always go to the game. It's fun. So, Cleveland to Naples, who started this journey? So my grandpa on my dad's side, my grandfather, Joe Callie, he, him and my dad came down here and started doing construction and I wanna say 82, somewhere early eighties.

And they started building out in Golden Gate. And you were four? I was five, yeah. Well, I think we came down in 80, maybe. It might, might have been 'cause I was two. Okay. And I was born in 78. So I, we've been down here since 80. So they've been building down here in Golden Gate since 80. And he had a big, they had a big, drywall company up in Ohio.

And I don't know what happened with the union or whatever, but yeah, they decided to come down here and start building down here. Ob obviously more money to be made down here. At the time it was booming. And look at it now, it's crazy now. Yeah. It's never stopped. No. Yeah. Full blown. Yeah. So, so he was, so your grandfather came first.

Was there anybody else here that they knew or he just came here? No, they, they vacationed here. Okay. And him and my grandmother liked it down here, so they brought the hole. My, I think my dad started coming a little without us At the beginning and make sure it was gonna work out. And then we packed the U-Haul and came down.

Yeah. I remember we had the dog, I just remember, I don't remember much, but I remember the dog in the U-Haul with us. Yeah. And it was crazy. Yeah. Like a lot of the, I mean, that was almost like Pioneer Days out. Exactly. Because there wasn't much here. I mean, no, there was one, like I said, there was one Publix Yeah.

At the end of Golden Gate Parkway. And that was it. Yeah. I remember too, like if you wanted to buy jeans, you had to go to Fort Myers. Yeah. Yeah. There was not much here. No. And anything north of Pine Ridge Road was like another world. Exactly. Yeah. So the Italian family Sal Salvato is your middle name.

Right? That's right. Doesn't get any more Italian than that. Right. That's, that's my, I have a, my mom's brother's name is Salvato and Okay. He's a great man. Still back there. Yeah. Still in Ohio. Yes. They didn't come down here. That's on defense. No. Yeah. My mom's side all stayed. Yeah. My dad's side all came down.

So what was the neighborhood up there? 'cause you would go back, is was that all Italian neighborhood that they were from there? there was a lot, but it wasn't like, they didn't live in like Little Italy or anything. Okay. But there was. They had their group. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because there were a lot of Italians from Cleveland in that area.

Yes. Like Philly too. There were a lot migrated there and Yeah. Yeah. There they, I, we had, I don't know if it was my dad's aunt or cousins or whatever, but they lived in Little Italy. Okay. So we got to see what it's like living in there. It's pretty wild. They're growing grapes and stuff in the backyard.

Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. On a concrete street they had the grapes. Yeah. tomatoes. Grapes, yeah. Basil. Yeah. So what were the traditions in your family? The Italian traditions that, well, we always had, Sunday spaghetti with everybody coming over and that probably didn't stop until golly. I mean, every time we go back up north, it's still Sunday get togethers.

Yeah. They still do it more. A lot more than we did. Right. Do down here. Yeah. Feast. Yeah. Yeah. It was always come over. They put on a show with the food they brought out. Yeah. And I wonder why I'm chunky.

It's inevitable, right? That's right. It's a show. That's a good way to put that. It is a show, the food because it just keeps coming. Yeah. And it's, and they love to see you eat., when you're little, they're like, ah, he loves it. He loves the meatballs. Look at 'em. Go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so true. They would light up like it was, it was, it was an expression of your love for them if you enjoyed their food.

Yeah, that's so true. I, one summer I went and stayed the summer with my grandma and I probably put on 40 pounds.

I went up a singles hitter and I came home, home run hitter because it's all about food. Yeah. Everything is around food. It's all about food. It's a, yeah. It's the whole thing. Anybody's over. I even, I remember going to my, you'd be playing football outside and stop at a friend's house the minute you walked in.

It was Joe Sci. His mother was making you sit down Exactly. A chicken parm sandwich or, so that's something they're always cooking for you. Yeah. How about Christmas? Christmas is great. they do Christmas Eve or Christmas, yeah. We ha my grant, my up in Ohio, they always had a, a big, big Christmas eve party and they could get rowdy.

My uncles were pretty rowdy back then. I remember my uncle Sal, with the. The beer box taped to his head and stuff like that. It looked like a, wasn't Paps Blue Room? I think it was Bud Life, if I remember right. But no, we had, we all, we had a big family, a lot of cousins, a lot of aunts, uncles, and yeah, they had always had a big get together Christmas Eve and my grandpa, he was the mayor back then, so he had literally the mayor.

He was the mayor, literally the mayor of Euclid. So he had people everywhere all the time. He was well-known, well-respected, great man. Mayor Genta, that was the gent. Okay. Yep. Who stayed up there? Yeah. Who's the mayor. Okay. Your mom's side of the family. That's right. Was it a big deal when you guys moved down here?

Your mom leaving the family? Was that big for them? I think for, I would imagine for her., I was so young, I didn't really realize what we were doing, but yeah, my brother was probably six or seven at the time, so he was really young too, so we kind of didn't really feel it, but I'm sure they did.

Yeah. Leaving everybody behind, coming down here. I'm sure it was a big, big transition for them. Yeah. And so you're, so you got the older brother? Five or six years older than, yeah, he's four and a half, basically. Four and half years old. Yeah. So did, did that play into like who you were as a little kid?

Like always competing with your little brother? 'cause always trying to Yeah. Absolutely. Catch up to him always. Absolutely. Well, he made me better., he, me trying to keep up with him probably pushed my limits and, him helping me along the way, showing me his, when he would make a mistake, I knew not to make that same mistake.

So, in a way his, he just guided me not even knowing he was guiding me, me just watching him do what he did. Yeah. Made me better at probably everything. Just watching him struggle through and be the first one to do it. Yeah.,? And then me knowing, oh, hey, I need to do this to not have this happen.

Yeah. So you got a similar dynamic between your boys now? Yes, exactly. My, they're so close though. It's a little different because at times they didn't, they both think they're leading the way, they're, they're like twins almost. Which we didn't plan it that way, but we're kind of happy it happened that way.

Yeah. Just 'cause they're so close, they're like best friends. Hmm. So where me and my brother were, we had a little gap. Where I still was chasing after him, but he was a little older and was, all right, Carm, I gotta go hang out with the real friends now., I can't just sit here and play with you.

So, but as we, once we got older and age didn't really matter at that point. Once I was, in high school we hung out all the time and we're still really close. Yeah. So what, what are some of your early memories of being in Naples Back in the day when it was really, wow, man, I just remember the pier being so like non, like everything seemed so small back then.

Yeah. And now everything is just blown up. Yeah. Like driving and there being nothing on the sides of the roads. Yeah. And yeah, it's just crazy now that there's not a vacant piece of property anywhere.,? And even if you don't go down a road for a couple months Yeah. And then you go down, you're like those tomato fields still.

Yeah, exactly. Orange blossom trip. Orange blossom or whatever the road is. I just remember it being like nobody was here and then all of a sudden, 20 years later, it's like it tripled in population. Yeah. And keeps continuing. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Which I'm okay with. As long as it stays the way it's been.

Yeah. It's still paradise. Yeah. I mean, I've always wanted to raise my kids here just 'cause of how well kept everything is and, our, I just think it's a great community. Yeah. I mean, even people come down and they're so blown away by our medias alone. The landscaping on our media. Exactly. This is like spectacular.

Yeah. Amount of money that's put into that. It's beautiful. It's pleasant. Hell for sure. Yes. It's anything you miss about those old times that Naples, the way it was? well I'm not, when I'm not a big crowd guy, so, I'm, I enjoyed the slower Naples, like Yeah. But at the same time, you don't wanna be stuck in the eighties either.

But I'm a, I don't, I like the smallness of it, so I don't want it to be crazy, crazy like the other coast or, big city life is not for me. Yeah. So I like to keep it small and local. How about fishing then and now? We weren't nearly the fishermen we are now back then, but, okay. Not saying we're great now, but we were definitely not great back then.

My dad is a diehard fisherman. Okay. We call him the old man of the sea, so he. Started with the Snook up at New Pass Bridge. And snuck fishing. That's the, that's, yes. And it was, that's a talent. It was big, big snook back then. Mm. I mean like fishing the lights. Yeah. No, he was fishing new pass bridge.

He would literally like bridge sometimes they would go down the long ladders and fish, the catwalks that are going through that big channel there really like that are connected to the, or they would they pass this up dock their on Bonita beach road up. Pun to be true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they would go, we would, we went at times, but they would go up, get bait at like four in the morning or something on the sandbars.

They would catch lady fish and trout. Oh, lady fish. Yeah, yeah, yeah. About foot. Long foot and a half long. Yeah. And they had these cane poles with 220 pound iron cable, like iron steel cable coated with weights. And they would have like 20 feet of it and drop this big fish down on a cane pole kitchen sn on one cane pole get, and they would lift the cane pole straight up in the air and bring the fish to the surface.

Wow. And they were like 30 pound snuck. I mean, these things were monsters and they were in the pilings. They would pull 'em out of the pilings. Geez. Yeah. I wonder if they, they're probably still there. But when we stopped doing it, I don't know when, but that is one of the toughest, it was always a nemesis for my family.

Oh man. It was toughest fish to catch was So They're smart. Yeah. They, they, they know. Yeah. They weren't easy to catch. But now we got a boat and we go offshore and we do all that. My dad just got his new technology. Thank God my mom let 'em get it. So now he can catch fish off shore. 'cause before we would just go out there and sit there for a couple hours and catch nothing, go anywhere.

But now, now he's got this sonar like, I guess somebody plotted the ground in the ocean and he got the, he got the chip to that. He can see the bottom of the ocean now. Thank God. So we actually caught stuff our last time out this weekend. Yeah. This past weekend. We, he, he's like, if we don't catch anything, mom's gonna kill me.

'cause I just spent $800 on this new thing. It's gotta pay for itself. Yeah, exactly. It's funny if you guys, you guys didn't just go a little bit off shore, you were out. No, we went 75 miles, 80 miles. 75 miles. That's a hike. Yeah it is. How long did take And our boat don't go that fast either, so we're doing 30 miles an hour.

Mm. So it's a two and a half hour trip there and two and a half hour back. It's a, it's a day. Yeah. It's a lot of work taking the boat out like that. Yeah. 'cause you get back here also, especially at his age, he's 70 something years old. He is worked construction his whole life. So he is. He's put his time in.

It's not an easy deal, but he's an animal so he keeps it going. Yeah. Well especially you coming back in, you start start hitting some swells, you backed around. Oh yeah. Yeah. Well, if it's rough, we ain't going. Yeah. If it's supposed to kick up at all, we ain't going. But you don't know, like sometimes you're, unless we on jr's boat, if we're on JR boat, we just forget about it.

Do 55 miles an hour there. Anything Right back. Doesn't matter how big it is. I can't wait to see that boat. I can't wait to get out on that boat. I heard about it. So, you also gotta do some dodging on the way back in though. Storm Yeah. Storms. Yeah. This time of year. Yeah. Yeah. Which is always an interesting

Thing to do. I remember doing that. He, he's been caught in some, I've never experienced what he has, but he said he is been pretty scared, like put life jackets on. Scared. Yeah. Yeah. Because it can come up in a minute. He can't out run it. He was like, yeah, you, he couldn't see it was coming down. The waves were rocking, the wind was hollering and it was just, oh no.

Yeah. I guess keep going straight. Yeah. And it wasn't the technology that needed. No. Yeah. They're going off of the compass. Yeah., they had nothing. Right. They're heading at a two 40 out and then opposite on the way back in and hope you hit the same spot. Yeah. Right, right. And usually, well, back in the day, my father had a single engine.

It wasn't this double fourplex engine situation. Yeah, yeah. We didn't get two engines till maybe 10 years ago. So he's, he's, yeah. Imagine how crazy that was. Yeah. Going out all that way with one engine. I know, I know. Took some balls. I know, I know. That's the Italian pioneer. That's right. so who was a big influence on you growing up?

Who was who, had you be who you are? I would have to say my parents and my brother. And, I had so many different guys Help me out as far as baseball wise, George Heminger, my little league coach at Gulf Coast. At Gulf Coast. Little League League? Yeah. The little Phillies. Our little Phillies.

Oh, you guys were the Phillies, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. We were, we were good. But I had, I, I had so many good coaches and I had Jimmy and Jr helping me out. I had, so many baseball guys in this town that nobody really knew about. Hmm. That helped us all, all us young kids. I mean, Jimmy was, Jimmy was one of my assistant, one of the assistant coaches when I was in high school at Naples High.

Hmm. But, I played with him and JR. And saw the way they played the game and just learned so much watching my brother and all his buddies and, Jimmy Pepper was a stud, was my, one of my brother's best friends. Just watching all those guys, the way they played the game was. It's the, you can't even explain how much impact it had on me.

Mm. Just wanting to be as good as them, if not better. Rick Sisi, I mean, all these guys in town that were Oh, Rick, yeah. Yeah. Rick's the guy whose, whose father was, yeah. Hit by a Him in the batting cage. No. His son. Oh, no, I didn't realize that. I knew he got hit. I Oh my gosh. Yeah.

That's tough. Yeah. For anybody who doesn't know. I mean, 'cause he's a legend. Rick was a good ball player here, and his dad was very involved in Yes. Throwing, bp, right. That was it. Got hit in the head And killed him. Wow. Yeah. That was tough. Because you, were you around then?

Were you, were you complain with him? Yeah, I was, I was young. I was a little younger than him, but Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That was, it was a, that was a tough, tough story to hear. Yeah. Well, when was it for you that you knew like that, you really love, like you just live lived for baseball, like it was something that was, I would say I always loved it in little league, going all the way through.

But my 16-year-old All-Star team with Babe Ruth, when we were 16, we had guys from a bunch of guys from Baron Collier. A bunch of guys from Naples, a couple guys from Mul, but we were all on the same Allstar team. Oh, that's cool. And we were damn good. That's cool. And I was like, you know what, we, we can, we can go somewhere.

And I didn't know they put a team together like that with the ice cream like that. Yeah. That's cool. So, so they would take, it was Babe Ruth is what we all played back then. Yeah. So there was a Babe Ruth Allstock team. Big field. Yeah. Yeah. And we were good. We had Andy Johnson, we had, Bobby Spano and Oh, Spano.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We had, Dan Mauer. Oh, the Maers. We had, all these guys on this team, Tommy McAndrew, Dan Graham, Zach Dryer, we were really good. And when you start beating teams out of your city, you start to realize, Hey, we got, we're pretty damn good. So, yeah. That's when I was like, and I think I can go play college.

And my brother was just getting into college at that time, so it was like, that's probably when I started going, thinking I was gonna do something with baseball. Were, were you always pitching? Always pitching, but I hit two. I mean, I played first base most of the time. When I wasn't pitching.

I could do both at that age. Yeah. I hit my first year in college, but. I needed to concentrate on throwing strikes. Yeah. So they wanted me to be down in the bullpen more often than hitting in the cage. So I stopped hitting after my freshman year of college. Yeah. And you would 'cause around that time because Baron, I think, did they want State Bar won the state team?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. They were good. Yeah. They had a, they had a squad coach. Smith. Smith, yep. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So, so you had a pitch you were pitching against those guys? Yeah, I had to, I was trying to beat them and they ended up beating us three to four to one or something, and then our district and then they went on to win the whole thing.

Yeah. Which, happy for them. They were, they were very good. But that was cool 'cause you got to play with those guys the other thing too. Yeah. In the, in the summer. Yeah, exactly. That's great. So we were, I'm still friends with all them too. Yeah. They were legends that was Seeing what Squeeze built over there at St.

John Newman is amazing. Oh yeah. Him moving over, right? Yeah. Yeah. They got, got ousted him over a pair and that was such a raw deal, man. Oh my God. That's crazy. Talk about it over, over the lawn thing or something. It's ridiculous. He's making it feel better or something. Exactly. It was ridiculous. It was the Calusa bushes, they tried to get 'em on.

I think it was something else. Had to be. Had to be. Yeah. You come on place better. Everybody in Les has those bushes at their house. Yeah. Yeah. That was a Rob. Well, anyway, it's, it's the gain of Yeah, exactly. Newman. Now look at Newman. Yeah. They're amazing. That's cool. Yeah. He's got a good following on him.

That family's been good to baseball. Yes, they have. So you, so you knew but you were all dual sport though. You were playing football too? I was playing football, but I knew I was 5 8, 5 9. Yeah. I could run. What position did you play in football? I was a fullback. Right. Linebacker, which is fits for that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I knew I wasn't going anywhere in football. I enjoyed it until we started. But you had some speed too, huh? Yeah. You were fast. Yeah. Yeah. I ran the ball my freshman and junior, or freshman and sophomore year, and then I said, I'm not gonna, I'm just gonna play baseball. Yeah.

And wouldn't you know that next summer I was playing two hand touch with my buddies and tore my ACL playing touch. Oh, I said, scarring you. Exactly. I'm like, oh my God. I went home. I'm like, you're never gonna believe. I was telling my parents, it was like, I wanna say it was two weeks after I signed to go play at FAU.

Oh. I'm like, I tore on my knee. Oh. I'm like, oh my God. So he, the, it ended up being fine. I healed good and never had a problem since. But knock on wood. But you had some rehab work to do. Yeah. Yeah. I was just like, are they gonna take, I didn't know. Are they gonna take my scholarship? What are they gonna do?

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't, it was like, but the coach was like, nah, you'll be fine. You got a whole year to get back. Okay. I ended up coming back almost at the end of the baseball season and, but that was my, I missed a lot of my senior year 'cause of that, so. Oh, that was senior year? Yeah, it was going into my senior year.

Okay. I didn't end up coming back until the very end of the season. I like, think I pitched in the districts against, against Baron. Is that right? Yeah

That was wild. Yeah. The, you see Freshmens, 'cause Naples was always known as a football school. I mean, they were just the school. They still are the dominant Well, when I was there we were garbage. Oh, is that right? Yeah, they had a Was Kramer there then? No. Wasn't Kramer? No, it was, pew Or who was it? No, it was Bob.

Oh my gosh. I'll never forget. 'cause we went on this football camp, the Space Coast on the other coast, and we had these. Two a day, three a day practices, and we were all living in this dorm. It was awful. Oh my God. Was it awful? But, he, his like thing was, we gotta believe, we gotta believe. And we were getting beat like 49 to nothing every weekend.

I'm like, oh my God, we gotta believe what? Oh, we had some funny characters on that team. Yeah. I didn't know they had a spell like that. 'cause they just owned I was a bar guy. Yeah. We had just owned us. We had, we, yeah, we had a, a stent of about, I would say five to 10 years that we were bad. And then once I left, probably three or four years later, they turned it around and then Kramer came in and just took off.

Yeah. And then they were unstoppable and they're still holding their own. I saw they beat bearing the other night. Yeah. Pretty bad. Yeah. Yeah. They beat up good. Yeah. That's, that's same old, same old. Not my changes with that, but, but Baron was beating us when I was in high school. Really? Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. It doesn't stand out to me. It's too much. 'cause it just always seemed like they had Clifton Robinson remember him. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. He was a stud. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, well, Naples always said, you know how many guys they put in the NFL? Yeah, I know. Yeah. Naples is just a lot. Yeah. So you're in. 16 playing with that group.

You know, this is, I, this is, I could do something with this. Yeah. I, and it wasn't as easy to get noticed 'cause you didn't have a highlight reel online all the time, so you had to, to get a scholarship. What was that process like then? So that was another, another good thing about having an older brother in the game.

You know him even mentioning, Hey, my brother's throwing, well he, to his coach or, that's how I got to FAU. He went to FAU Okay. And they were like, Hey brother's throwing, well, and then next thing, they're coming to see me pitch and they're like, wow, we want your brother too. And then I get to meet them and it's like going on a, a recruiting trip, just going to watch my brother pitch,?

Yeah. Yeah. And then I get to see how much fun he's having, and of course I'm gonna want to go and follow his footsteps. So that's how I ended up at FAU. But his journey to FAU was so tough for him. I mean, he was throwing bullpens to my dad in front of Wow., junior college coaches really wearing my dad's shins out.

And the guy's got no gear on. I'm like, your dad's catching him. Oh man. Yeah. Get outta here. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Wild. Your dad is a beast. He is. Oh my gosh. So he signs over there to these little, junior colleges. Then he goes to, Broward, and then Coach Mack, who's at FAU, is calling my brother's condo or whatever.

He was living in at the time, looking for his roommate to talk to him. He's like, Hey, why don't you, what he, why did you recruit me about me? So he's like, oh, I didn't know you wanted to go, like, I didn't know you were available. And he's like, yeah. So then my brother goes to FAU and he like, leads the country and saves in D one.

Is that right? Then Braden Looper. No kidding. Yeah. Wow. Looper. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And then they had a really good team, my brother at FAU, they were really good. So I went and watched a bunch of their games every weekend and made me want to go there. Yeah. I mean, I had offers to other schools, but, when Miami's calling you're one of one 120 guys that are gonna be at their tryout and Oh yeah.

Good luck. Yeah. You have a bad day, you're screwed. Literally. Yeah. A bad the one bad day. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I knew I was gonna be taken care of by Coach Cooney and Coach Mack. Now, how about your grades and things like that? Were, were you I never had a problem with grades. I was always BB plus guy.

Yeah. I wasn't a brainiac, but I wasn't hurting. Yeah. Yeah. So. I don't know how much I've tried to be a brainiac, but I tried to, I knew I could get by now. Did they, did they also have a draft out of high school? were you Yeah. You mean do I have gotten drafted? Yeah. So sometimes they'll draft Yeah. Even know when they're going to college, they'll still draft with my knee injury and stuff like that.

Oh, right. You I knew, knew I wasn't gonna get drafted year. Okay. I didn't, I mean, I was probably high eighties, so I wasn't blowing anybody's doors off. Yeah. High school. I didn't, I threw probably 91, 92 in college when I was, when I got drafted. But that's a lot different being a lefty, throwing that though, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, now it's like you throw 90, you're throwing slow. You gotta be throwing 95, a hundred miles an hour to get drafted now. Is that right? Yeah, it's wild. Look at Johnny King. He's, he's doing really well now, but he was throwing 96 miles an hour when he was in high school here with Naples.

Wow. Yeah. Wow. That's insane. Yeah. So you get to, you get to, campus as a, as a fresh Now, do they red shirt in baseball or do they have that? They do. They do. Yeah, you can. So what was your path? I went right in and. I started probably five games my freshman year. I got start against Florida State, a couple big games, but I was more bullpen, just a long relief bullpen guy.

Yeah. And then my sophomore year, I started it every weekend. We, it was me, MOS, Todd Moser and Dan Jackson were the, our three guys. But we ended up going 54 and nine. Wow. Sophomore year we played that many games in college. Yeah. Really? Yeah. That's a lot of games in going school. We won, we tied the national, we tied the NCA Division one record for wins in a row at 34 wins in a row.

No kidding. Wow. That had to be, we tied Texas. Really? Yeah. It's still to this day we're tied and the game, we could've knocked them off. We lost two to one to Jacksonville, Jacksonville University. Oof. We still now, all my college buddies, we're all still really close. All our teammates, we're all really close.

We have a big text group and we still talk crap to the guys that are, the one guy that pitched the one guy that, supposedly could have caught a fly ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, to this day, we're still giving each other crap. One, the guy that actually threw the game. Now lives in Naples.

'cause he came and lived with me after college. Dan Jackson. He's a fireman. Oh, is that right here in town. Really? How cool is that? Yeah. But he, he gets, he gets heckled about his, that game giving up. 'cause he gave up a triple to a freshman, so he's never gonna live that down. No. And he is like, well if Roper would've caught the ball, we, but that's a streak.

And it was a double header. It was a 2, 2 7 inning. And then I pitched the third game. The next game. We drummed them seven to one. 'cause they, they knew what we were trying to do. Yeah. So they were trying to knock us off. So it was Yeah. Everybody heated. Yeah, exactly. It was heated and they were talking crap.

So we, after we lost the game, we were so mad our guys were hitting bombs the next game I was like, oh man, this is great for me to be pitching. We ended up beating him like eight to nothing. Seven to nothing or something. But, but to go through that with that group of guys Oh man was, that's so much more That's such a comradery building event team.

Yes. It was so awesome way. Nobody just built their own stats. Exactly. Just playing for the team. Just Dylan, take Yes. That's probably it. It, it is probably the best team I've ever played on as far as that goes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The spirit of that Yeah. Group. Like so eager to be out there every day. Yeah.

And all cheering for each other and. It was no selfishness that year at all. Yeah. For that many games. Games too. It was, yeah. That's a lot of games, huh? We ended up losing to Miami and the regional, 'cause we always had to go to Miami's regional and play at their house. We ended up losing to them. They ended up going on winning the World Series that year.

Oh wow. Yeah. No kidding. Yeah. Yeah. You don't lose that. Anything. We lost I think three to one. I think I threw that game too. Oof. We had a, a arid throw to first on a bunt and we still give the guy that took three strikes on that and didn't, we had bases loaded. Oh. Late in the game. They bring in their closer.

Michael knew at the time and he blows away our 3, 4, 5 hitters. Oh. With, with base loads. With base loaders. Oh. And we didn't bond. And so, 'cause he got those guys out. So it's like, to this day still, the guy that took three fastballs down the middle Oh. Nick Cell. He gets worn out. Oh. But we, we love each other.

It's a great group of guys and it's so fun at the, it's, that's all we talk about still to this day. Yeah. Because I, you hear about sometimes like some guys, they wanna enhance their own. I mean, if they lose, it's okay. But as long as I did okay. As long as I got my thing. Okay. I got my stats, I'm okay.

Unfortunately, that's how a lot of it is in the minor leagues and stuff like that. Yeah. It's not about the team. No, it's not. I mean, as much as you, once I can't say it's not all the time, because we had some teams with, with the Cardinals, and we ended up winning. Like my AA team, we won in aa won the whole league.

And we were, we were close. You have that. We won it in Hi with Chris Duncan. And Yadi or Molina and those guys. Oh, is that right? Is that Jupiter? Where, where? Where'd you play it? Hi. No, we, hi. A was in Peoria. Peoria, okay. it wasn't hia, it was regular A Okay. HIA was in Jupiter. Okay. But we were not good in high.

Same group of guys, but really we were just not good. Yeah. Okay. We got our butts whipped. but in, in regular a, in Peoria, Illinois, we won it all. at, at that time it was high A was Potomac, wa Virginia, Potomac, Virginia. And then they went to Hi of Jupiter. Okay. But I was actually in Hi in Potomac, and then they sent me down.

'cause the guys in Peoria were doing so well. Oh, okay. And they sent me down and we ended up winning the whole league., they, they kind of load their teams up if they're doing well at the end. Yeah. Oh really? They do. They will do that. Okay. Yeah. Like if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

Yeah. Struggling a little bit or whatever. I can help them out, they'll send guys like that down, back down. Oh, okay. I didn't realize that. Yeah, I thought they would just stick with their, yeah. So we had, we had that going. We had, who else was on that team? There was some studs on that team. Tim Lemon was Che Lemons like nephew or, but, and we ended up winning that league and that was fun.

But when you were, I don't know if winning bread comradery or what, but when you were struggling, it was like, I need to get my numbers just so I'm good,? Yeah, yeah. But when the team was winning, it was like, all right, let's go. We can, but nothing like college, college is let's, let's win as a team and play as a team and everybody do good.

So were you always a starter in college? Except for that freshman year? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. You, yeah. So take me back to draft day. Draft day was, and that journey was 2000 li I was living with my brother at the time. He was still in Boca, but not obviously at FAU. And we were living together in an apartment, had a couple people over.

We listened to the draft and. I had a feeling I was gonna get drafted. I didn't know when or when by who or whatever. How, how do you prepare for that? You don't. You just hope so. Sure enough, 10th round comes around and they say 10th round with the whatever pick of the draft, the St. Louis Cardinals Select Cameron, Cali out of Florida Atlantic University.

And I'm like, that's gotta be me.,? So we're high fiving and stuff. And so you hear it like announced on on, on broadcasting? Yeah. On the, on the computer. On the computer, yeah. Streamed down. Wow. Yeah. That's Cameron. Yes. Cameron. So that's me. I'll take it. What, what was that moment like for you? Oh, it was awesome.

It was awesome., I didn't, I had no idea what was coming for me afterward, but to hear your name like that, it was like you dream of that,? Yeah. Getting drafted. So, so you, he had a phone call after that? Yeah. Yeah. And then I got a call from, it was actually Turco from, from Myers. Oh really?

Yeah. He was with that, he, he was my scout. Oh, Steve Turco. Yeah. And his brother was the coach over here. At what school was it? Was it golf coach? Was it sterile? Oh, he, no, it was high school then. Yeah. He was a sterile, I think. Yeah, it was sterile coach. Yeah. His brother is the one that drafted me, and we had, we had, Miami.

He came and watched me throw against Miami when I beat him during the regular season. And we drummed him and I threw really well, and that's probably what got me drafted, to be honest. Hmm. So he calls you? Yeah, he called me and said, Hey, I'm gonna come to your house in the next week or so, but, so we can go over everything and do everything, but I just want to congratulate you and Oh, cool.

Yeah. Which ended up being, which my claim to fame is that OLS was in the same draft and he didn't go through the 13th round. No way. Is that right? Yeah. Oh man. Oh my gosh. Oh my God. I got drafted ahead of him. Both Teenth too, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yacht year was our third or fourth rounder that year.

Molina was ahead. Poho was our 13th rounder. Wow. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So he, a week later, he comes over, he comes, yeah, we do the deal. He gives me whatever, and, and you're just like, yeah, whatever. I thought a lot was at the time, but it comes to find out it wasn't, it was what it was back then, but yeah.

I lost it all in the stock market anyway, so it doesn't matter. They give you a bonus. Yeah, they give you a bonus. Tell you they'll pay for your rest of your college. 'cause I left my junior year. Oh, okay. So I still had a year left in college, but I tried to, after I was done playing, I tried to go back and Oh man, is that hard?

Trying to work a regular job. I was working for Pepsi at the time. Mm. Holy moly. Is that a hard job you were delivering for Pepsi? That I was like, they called it a salesman. Right. But I was literally taking all the stuff off of the semis in Walmart and stuff like that. And stocking the shelves. Shelves, yeah.

Stocking their shelves. Oh my God. Bet you're a salesman. My hands were just bleeding every day. I'm working from 4:00 AM till six in the afternoon. Oh my God. Oh my god. Building these, the football,. Yeah. During the Super Bowl you got these displays of all these 12 packs. Worst job ever paid.

Good. But it was the worst job ever. That was off season or that was after? That was after I was done playing. Oh, okay. Oh, that had to be tough. Yeah, it was bad. So you get, he's, you get signed you to do the paperwork. You don't have any representation or anything, right? You or did you? No, no. You just, you just do whatever he tells you to do.

Sign wherever he tells you to sign. Yeah. He came to my parents' house. We, I signed everything and off to where did I go? I went to New Jersey. That was, awa. Where the heck is Malawa? Was that what it's, no, it was, where was it? It was, oh my God. Was that like a rookie league or no? Yeah, it was a rookie league.

Okay. Yeah, it was only half the se Oh, okay. It was like, as soon as you get drafted, you had a, like a month, and then you go to this like basically a little mini season. Okay. And then if they wanted you to stay and extended, you would, you would go back to like where they spring, train and do another month or whatever.

So we went and I went, it was the New Jersey Cardinals is where it was. I forget the name of the town now, but I lived above a bakery, a Holland. The Holland Bakery. Right. With a bunch of, a couple other guys, and it was crazy. So you're all, you're all recent draftees then, right? Yeah. Yeah. As soon as I walk in, I see this kid who got drafted out of the, Florida and he is probably six five, just jacked.

And I'm like, five, eight little guy. I'm like, holy moly. These what all the pros look like. I'm like, this is gonna be crazy. So I ended up holding my own and slowly moved up. They put you, with the other, they just pick your roommate and here you go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is, this is, you're living over the baker.

You basically have host families. Oh, is that right? Yeah. Really at that level. Yeah. You're drafted, you're staying with the host family. Wow. Yeah, we were making nothing. I think we were making 700 bucks a month. Wow. Yeah. And the host family's hosting you. Yeah. You don't have to pay them, right? No. You just live in this other family's house that's right above the bakery.

That's awesome. It was crazy to get a free, sh or anything. Yeah. They, they would making these huge donuts for us, for the, basically for the whole team. We'd bring in one donut and it was like giant. Right. So this is surreal. This is this guy on Naples living in this, with this host family and above the bakery, the Holland American Bakery in, in New Jersey.

I forget the town it was in, but it was nice people. Super nice people. And you're, 20. Yeah. What was I was my junior year, so I was Yeah, probably 21, maybe. Okay. 21, 22. And what did he bring with you to Jersey? Did he fly to Jersey? Drive to Jersey, yes. Flew, flew up there. With your backpack, with your license?

Yeah. He, he, the host that gave us one of his old cars he had laying around. Is that right? It was either that or we bought one for like 500 bucks. I can't remember. It was a little piece of crap car where all four of us, there were all these huge guys and me and we're, they were like, geez. Oh man.

Looking back at it now, like, what the heck? And what, what was the field like? What was the facility? The field was really nice. Yeah. The field was nice. Yeah, the facility was great. And who's working with you at this time? who was my coach? I say I know him by nickname. I had Buck was my, pitching coach.

He ended up being the, I wanna say he ended up being the bullpen coach for the Marlins at some point in his career. Mm. but I had, I had so many coaches. I can't even think of all of 'em now. Yeah. That was so long ago. But, so, so you're here for about a month then, or? Yeah, we had, well, I went nine and two, so figure maybe, oh, probably a couple months.

So you started, you felt good about yourself, you were going, you did, did well, yeah. Yeah, we were good. And then one, I didn't start, that was the only year I started. I had a couple more starts in my career, but that was my only, they moved me to the pen after that. What, what do you think makes that determination?

I think just size. Okay. Body wear and tear. Yeah. Okay. The bigger you are, the more. Supposedly the more you can handle as far as innings pitched. Yeah. And what was that like psychologically for you going, I didn't care. No difference. Didn't care. I didn't care. I just wanted to get there. Yeah. At that point you're just like, get me moving.

Yeah.,? 'cause you, I, it took me four years to get to aa, so it's not, it's way different now. Like they actually make a living now, but back then when I was there it was literally you're making nothing. Nothing. Right. Yeah. And it sucks. Yeah. 13 hour bus rides and you're living with five other guys in a house, probably less than $4 an hour when you came to, even if that yeah.

You're eating peanut butter and jelly and Yeah. It wasn't like they had you on some super nutritious meal. No, it was, it was rough. And now they actually get a paycheck and I guess there was this big lawsuit after I was done playing and they went back and got money for, 'cause we were making less than minimum wage.

Of course. Yeah. So they literally went back and paid players all the way back till I think a year or two before I was done. Really? Yeah. It was like hundreds of millions of dollars. Not like they didn't have it anyway. Yeah, exactly. Now it's different. Now they make you make a decent. Yearly salary. Yeah.

But, but at the time, what was that like? I mean, did you care? Did it even matter to you? No, I didn't know the difference. Yeah., you're just doing what you're doing trying to make it, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I didn't, I just knew I wasn't making a lot of money, so I wanted to get moving so I could make some money.

Yeah.,? 'cause you see everybody ahead of you. And you want what they got,? Okay. Yeah. Oh, oh man, I want to get on the 40 man roster. They're making a lot of money,? Yeah. So that's, when was the first time you got invited to camp? Training camp? Oh four was my first year I took off.

I went to, I wanna say did I started in aa, spent half the season in aa, and I had a, I started throwing a little hard. I was probably 91, 94, and they started using me more and put me in the closing role. And I started doing well, closing in aa, and then they sent me to AA and I did well there. And then they called me up in September.

Oh, you got a call all. So I went from AA to the big leagues in one year. Wow. Yeah. Wow. I was like, oh man, this is great.,? Yeah. What, what was the transition for, for, from double to, what was that like? AAA is basically, they call it foray. It's guys that are great. But they're just not consistent enough to be in the big leagues.

Mm. So it's older guys. You got a lot of older guys that are Right., they're right there. That can fill in a spot in the big leagues, no problem. Yeah. Any day of the week. Yeah. But can they do it for 500 at bats? Yeah, probably not. But you put 'em in there for a week and they're gonna, you would never know the difference that the guy's gone.

So AA is all studs. AA has got spectacular athletic ability. Mm. It's like all your studs, your young, talented guys. So I, to me, AA is like the wild, wild west. Like you're, you don't know what you're gonna get. You're gonna get a guy throwing a hundred that's all over the place, but he's throwing a hundred.

Where in aaa you're gonna have the guy that's throwing 90, but he is da. So that's how it was when I was playing. I don't know what it's like now. Now everything's different for rehab stints. Would they send 'em more to triple or aa? They'd send 'em to Triple. Triple, yeah. Memphis was, we had such a nice triple A place in Memphis.

Yeah. It was really nice. The whole facility. Everything about the trainers. Yeah. They would either go to Memphis or all the way down to Jupiter to the spring training. Okay. How about the. Where you stayed and the food and that between AA and aa, anything, AA was leaps and bounds over everything.

AA was, you felt like you were almost in the big leagues in aa. We had 15,000 a night in Memphis. Wow. Yeah. It was, Memphis was legit. So AA was a lot, you felt a lot closer to the big leagues in AA than you did in aa. AA was like basically high a just a step higher than high A still buses. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. You flew in Triple A, you fly aa. Okay. Yeah, we did. At least. Yeah. And then you're at aa, it's September. Is there always that sort of, like, it could happen now 'cause they can expand the roster then, right? Is that what you Yeah, and I, I ha I thought there was be no way. I was so shocked when he called me in the office.

Oh, you weren't even ready for it. Not even close. He didn't think it was happening. I was, I was roommates with Adam Wainwright at the time. Wow. And I'm thinking he's going. Yeah., and that night I throw, I pitch in the game and a guy hits the comebacker and I catch it with my bare hand. It st. It was like 107 mile an hour line drive.

Oh. I don't catch it, but I try to catch it. Yeah. Hits me in the hand. The guy, the shortstop gets it and throws the guy out. At first, I finished the inning. Now my hand's like throbbing. I'm like, that's your throwing hand. Yes. I'm like, oh my God, this really happening right now. But I had no idea that he was gonna call me in the office, but if I would've came out of the game, he would've never called me in his office that night.

Oof. Yeah. So I thank God I stayed in. It was like, oh, I'm fine. I'm fine. But I, it bruised my hand pretty bad, but it didn't break anything. Yeah. So I could still do it, but, oh my God, if I, it was that you taking backhand, barehanded ball off a back? Yeah. It was a missile. It was a missile. Wow. It's just instinct to try and grab it,?

And it hit me right perfectly. So it didn't break anything. Yeah, it just bruised my palm. Yeah. It didn't hit the ends of my fingers, so I could still hold the ball, but I just remember like going home that night, like, oh my God, I'm going to the big leagues and now I'm hurt.,? Yeah. Oh my God. Do I tell 'em?

Do I not say anything?,? Yeah. So many things going through your mind. Wait, so you finish the game. You finish the game, you and you, what happens then? Like, how's this, how's this happening? They, they call, he our coach at the time. Dan Schafer called me in there, his office, and he is like, Hey man, he's like.

How's your hand? You? Oh, it's good. It's good. It's fine., going like this. He is like, when he calls you in the office, is it always a little like, what, what could this, it's nerveracking. Yeah. Yes. Oh my God. Is it ever, you don't know what's going on up, down, left upright. You don't know where they're sending you.

You're done for your life. You're, it's, this is four years in now. It's just like the movie Major League where the pink slip in your locker. Yeah. That's how you feel. Yeah. Like every time you're walking on eggshells, everywhere you go. But he calls me in and, I'm just thinking, he is wondering about my hand.

So he asked me about my hand and he says, they're gonna make a move. And I'm like, oh my God, what is this?, I'm thinking, oh no, they're gonna send me back down to aa 'cause they were still winning. Mm. So I'm thinking, I'm going down there to play in the playoffs or something. Uhhuh, they're like, we're getting close to the end here.

And now that it's September, they're gonna, they're gonna bring you up to the big leagues. And I'm like, get outta here. I'm like, holy smokes. I don't even, it was so, I don't even know, I don't even know if I heard him speaking after that. Like, yeah. Like what? So the next day I drove from Memphis, got packed all my stuff, and drove to St.

Louis. Got to the game in like the eighth inning. They're like, go ahead, get dressed. I get dressed for the game by the time I get dressed. Matt Morris had thrown a complete game, shutout and comes into the, they're all coming in as I was about to go out. So I'm like standing there in this bright white brand new uniform.

Like good game, good game, good game. I'm like this little guy. They're all monsters.,? They had like an All-star team at that time. Yeah. They had Larry Walker, Jim Edmonds. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Legends. Oh my gosh. Sky, Roland Pools, all these guys. Wow. Reia Reia was on the team then. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Mike Metheny's the catcher, like it was, and they're all walking in.

Yes. And I'm like, never met any of 'em at all. Ever. Yeah. I'm like shaking to death. I'm like, this is crazy. And they're coming off a big win. Yeah. They just mowed through. I don't even know who it was. Yeah, Cincinnati maybe. Wow. Crazy. They even had you dressed. Yeah. Get dressed. Like just in case. Just throw your stuff on just in case.

I'm like, all right. Did did they tell you to drive there or, yeah. Yeah. Bring your stuff. Get over there as quick as you can, your stuff and get up there. That's your but first class organization, man, they took care of me. They, they, to this day, they still, like, I just went for my, our 25 year reunion for the oh four team.

Mm. 'cause they, we went to the World Series that year. Yeah, yeah. But I was only a September call up. I didn't even, but they still took me and my family out there. Really? Yeah. It was awesome to see all those guys again. LaRusso was there,. No kidding. Oh, legends man. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. And here you are drive, you drive through to get to the stadium.

And what do you show them? How do you get into the stadium? Yeah. I was like, are they gonna let me in? They don't know who I am., in my old Tahoe driving up to the gate. Oh yeah. I'm a player. Yeah. The game's going on, man.,. geez. So yeah, I go in, I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing.

Right. They don't have anybody there. You're not, you're just gotta find a way. No clue. I got my baseball bag and like, where do I go? I'm supposed to be in the locker room, it's crazy. Stadium full of people. Yes. And, I've never, this is my first feel of any of that. Wow. Yeah. Never had a camp, big league camp.

Never had anything before that. Yeah. It's crazy. You come in when they're on fire the season. Yeah. I was, I was one of the guys sitting in the stands watching their spring training games,? Yeah. Like, oh man, I hope this is me someday. Then that year I'm up in the big leagues playing with them. I so nervous.

And my legs, my first outing, my legs were shaking so bad. Is that right? Yeah. I thought they were gonna call Bach. I was shaking so bad.

So you're, so this is the first night, so you got a game the next day? And where you stay, like how do you I would, they put you up in the ho The team hotel. So I stayed across the street from the stadium in the hotel. Now the player, you're, this is a home game, so the players are all going home.

Yeah. But you're in the hotel. Yeah. Yeah. So my family fly, my parents and a couple of my buddies fly up. So I meet them in the lobby and I'm just like, oh my God. I can't believe it,? So the next day, my buddies, my buddies fly up, two of my buddies from college. This is a great story too, and they're, tipping 'em back all day.

They get to the game, they're up in the stands on the second level. Screaming down at me in the bullpen. Right. They ended up getting arrested in the stadium and they try to run from the cops, right? They get tackled in the breezeway and they're down in the cellar in the stadium jail. I'm like, this is Bel No, I don't know any of this is happening until the next day I hear the story.

But they hit the, my one buddy is a fireman and he's like, let, let 'em out. So they ended up letting them out, but they, they ended up come becoming such good friends with the cops that the cops came down later in the year and like, vacationed down with my buddies. That's how became friends. Yeah.

After they like basically arrested him in the stadium. But anyway, the way I find out is that night they're like, oh man, you don't know, understand what happened last, after we were waving to you, the people sitting there got mad and then we just, we tried to run. I'm like, oh my God, are you guys serious?

So he says, he goes, the one guy tackles me. We end up in the jail, then they let us out of the jail, but we gotta come back for our trial and all this stuff. And I'm like, what? So the next day in the bullpen. They tell me the story. I don't say a word 'cause I'm embarrassed, like, oh my God. So the cop in our bullpen, we have a cop every day in the bullpen.

He goes, man, these two kids yesterday, you guys are never gonna believe this story. He starts telling the story. It's about my friends. I'm like, they're not lying. Those are my friends. They're my, I'm like, not happy to say it, but they're not, he thought they were lying, like they knew something. Oh. Because they were saying, I know.

They were like, we know the guy in the bullpen we're just saying hello. And he tells the story and I'm like, they're not lying. They're really are. I'm like, I'm sorry man. I was like, you gotta meet 'em. They're really good dudes.,? And they end up meeting them and then becoming friends and come down here and stay with them in Sarasota.

It's crazy.

So the in the bullpen at, at home? Yeah. I ended up not pitching that series that they, my first series that I came up for. Like the first couple days I was there, we didn't, I didn't get to pitch in St. Louis. My first debut outing was in San Diego, so I didn't get to pitch in front of my parents for my first Oh, okay, okay.

Yeah. But we flew out to San Diego and I pitch in San Diego. So this is your first, first away game that was in the majors? Yeah. Was people taking care of your bags? You don't have to carry your own bag. He'd treat you like a king. Yeah, it was awesome. Did you have a roommate? And you travel? No, no, no, no. You have your own room.

Yeah. Your own room. Is that right? The big dogs have suites and Is that right? Big rooms? Yeah. Yeah. And then they, I take a bus to the game. Yeah. Yeah. There's two buses. There's one like an early bus and then a regular bus. Uhhuh. I was always on the early one. I still to this day have dreams of being late Uhhuh or like, I can't get out to the field.

It's crazy. Oh, I can't find my cleats. You know how many times I've been in a bullpen with the wrong cleats? Like in my dreams, I'm like, your dream. Yes. Like, oh my God, where's my shoes? I can't, they're calling to me to warm up and I don't have my cleats. It's the worst. I, to this day, have these dreams. So you're in San Diego now?

And, and this is the first, second game of the series, or It was the first game of the series? First game of the series. Yeah. Day game. Day game. And you're in the pen. Yeah. What's happening in the game when you, when you get, when the, I think it was, it was like five three or something like that.

I think we were losing, and they get me up. I'm like, oh boy, here we go. The call comes to the pen. Yeah. Uhhuh. Get CC Get Callie going. All right. Calm, good going. I start warming up. I don't. I feel good warming up everything. You feel a little more pressure, but nothing crazy. And then when I got out onto the field and they're like, all right, you're in.

I was like, oh, boy. I get out there and my knees are just trembling back and forth. I'm like, oh my God, don't blk, don't blk, whatever you do. My first two seamer in warmups, I'm throwing a metheny, right? And I'm like, two seam, which is supposed to sink and go away from a righty. It cuts like two feet and like thumbs him and he's like staring at me like, what are you doing?

Oh, great., I'm like, oh, I got this. Really? I'm sorry. Guy just came around the side of it and it cut. It's like, oh man. But I ended up, I got a strike out. I think I gave up a runner or two, I don't know, maybe even a hit or two. But you had to get that one outta the way. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It was, I never felt really comfortable there, just because of all the guys on my team were so, yeah.

Like guys that I watched growing up,? Yeah. They were like, I never felt comfortable like I belong there. When I went to the twins, I finally felt like, ah, I can do this.,? Yeah. I felt way better with the twins. They had a younger, comfort wise, they had a younger club, Uhhuh, but I, they still had a couple.

Veteran guys like Hunter and stuff like that. Oh yeah, yeah. Hunter was on that team, but Joe Mauer was, so calm and nice and young and yeah, Gardy was a great coach. I mean, I've had the best, I probably had the three or four best coaches in such legends. Yeah. Such legends. Ron Gardner and I are Tony Rusa, Joe Tory.

Tory, oh my gosh. Come on. I was blessed in this game. That was like the last era of the Yeah. Studs. Those guys were just the, in the Book of Legends. Yes. Yes. That's amazing. So in the bullpen were always hecklers on the away games. Were there always people giving you shit? I'll never forget the way they treated anal.

'cause anal was a call up with me. He was coming back from having the Ys. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's right. Oh my God. Oh, that he never could get it back. Yeah, well he did, he did get it back. He did get, the guy is the most phenomenal athlete I've ever seen, and he comes back to the big leagues with, with me that year.

So what, what happened to him? What was his story like? So when he was like basically 20 years old, he was pitching in the playoffs and it got away from him and then he just could never hone it back in. Yeah. So they shut him down for that season. I, the rest of that season, I guess, bring him back out the next spring training.

He still can't. So now they send him down to the minor leagues to try and get him back going again. He finally gets back going again. And then in oh four he gets called up with me. He's in aaa. He works at the bottom and just works his way back up. They just wanted to get him back in the game and feeling it,?

Yeah. And he did. Mm goes we go back to the big leagues and then the last game he we're in September, the last game we're there. He corks a guy and then he lost it again. Oh. I was like, oh. And then they turn him into a hitter, like guy hits 50 home runs a year. I mean, it was amazing. What, he's the only guy besides Babe Ruth to do that.

Is that right? To go from a pitcher to a hitter? Yeah. Yeah. In the big leagues. Yeah. Nobody, yeah. You don't hear that at at all., babe Ruth's the only other guy that's done it. Wow. They're having a, they're gonna, he's, when I saw him at the reunion, I saw Rick at the reunion for the oh 14. He said they're gonna do a movie on him.

Well, they would have to. Yeah. That's a crazy story. It is. It really is. What a great guy. What a great athlete. What a shame that happened to him. But at the same time it's a blessing and all at the same time. Yeah. So that made the bullpen really crazy. 'cause he's in the bullpen on their way. Yeah. So he was getting heckled like you would not believe.

Oh yeah. He took the all the attention off of anybody else. It kind of helped him. Poor guy. Yeah. They would wear him out. The Dodgers wore him out, man. The Dodger fans wore him out. I was like, Ugh, this is awful. I wanted to kill people in the stands. Like, how can you guys be saying all this stuff? And the bullpens in an area where it's designed, right?

Yeah. Yeah. They're right on your shoulder. Just there's people who make a living outta that. They literally just are there just to destroy your mental game. Right? Yes. And just saying the most ruthless stuff, like, you can't hit water if you fell out of a boat., like, oh my God. Just, just poor guy's trying to, I mean, the guy was like at the top and now all of a sudden can't throw a strike.

And it's just one click away from him not having it,? Yeah. So it's like everybody in our organization was always, don't mess it up,? Yeah. It was like that sensitive. So we all, we all pulled for him all the time and, but him coming back as a hitter and doing what he did as a hitter, that's amazing.

Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, what did you do for your mental game? 'cause the mental, there's such a mental, I wish I would've done more, honestly,? 'cause I'd never felt confident in the big leagues. And I think I should have done more. 'cause I think I could have. I think I could have pitched better in the big leagues.

I was just always so damn nervous. Yeah. So worried about getting sent down and, you, when you're not the number one pick and that you're constantly looking over your shoulder, it's not easy. Yeah. And if you don't, I like, I was never that cocky, arrogant guy,? Yeah, yeah. I didn't play like that.

I just didn't have that in me. I don't know why I was confident when I was pitching, like, I can do this, but not when I got to that, when I got to that high of a level, I was like, geez, oh man, am I really, I really got Jim Edmonds behind me in center field, like, should I really be out here? Oh my gosh.

But, well, to think of it, the, how many from Collier County have made it to the bigs? Is it three? I two? Two? I, well, I think it's just me and Chris restock. Chris Reap, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think so. To think of that number, how finite that now the NF L's a different story, football players are all, they're abundant from Collier County.

I, yeah. Well, how many? A lot more than two. Yeah, A lot more. Especially just Nick. I love, I know Freddy, I know Freddy McCreary. Yeah, Freddy. There's a, Hyman from Collier a few years ago, but there, there've been quite a few along the way. Edgar and Edwin James. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was at actually in high school when I was in high school.

Was he? Yeah. Talk about a beast. Oh yeah. Oh my God. He had his, he had his, he would tuck his shirt underneath his pads and have his abs hanging out. Oh, he was, was shredded. Right. He wore this arm guard that had like these metal braces, on his arm guard, Uhhuh. And he would just slice people up with him.

He, we had a, a defensive back named David Weeks, and David hit him and literally like sliced through his arm. I almost cut the guy's arm off, but he hit him good and made him fumble. I was like, dude, you're never gonna forget this the rest of your life. That's what I think. Now, I don't know at the time if we were thinking he was gonna be as good as he was, but he turned into an absolute animo.

Absolutely. Yeah. I didn't realize he played when you Yeah, yeah. But the, the statistical odds of getting to the majors from here, from anywhere. From anywhere, anywhere. It is, it's why it's, if you look at the, if they have the number, I think it's like 0.0 something. It's insane. That make it's insane.

Yeah. It's, it's unheard of. It's unre, it almost seems unrealistic. Like how could that ever happen? Yeah. And to think, you're one of two, 'cause others have played in minors, but, but not related to the show like that, that's really something that, takes a lot of things had to line up.

Yeah. And not just the athleticism. Right, because you didn't have the physique of the 6, 8, 2 6 1 guys. Right? So you had a lot more to overcome. Yes. That's that little brother thing. Yes, exactly. Exactly. I owed all the Joe

What, what? Now what was it? So you change clubs, you go from your wi with, what was it like being rua? Did you record? He's amazing. Yeah. The guy is the smartest human on earth. Sometimes it looked like if you were on his bad side, it was scary. Oh, well he's just, he is a very intimidating Yeah, man. But when you get to know him, he is just like you and I, like he used to one, one story.

I got one. We, it was, we were in San Diego and I come, I go out with Ray King after the game, right? And we go have a couple beers at a bar or whatever. We come back into the hotel and they're all in the hotel lobby bar like Larussa, Dave Duncan, all those, all these guys, right? He's like, what are you doing?

I'm like, oh boy, this is, I've never talked to the guy yet. Really?, he looks at me dead serious. He's like, what are you doing down? I was like, oh, Izzy and Ray made me go out with 'em. I'm just doing whatever they tell me to do.,? Like, I'm that guy. And, he's like, you can't be down here.

And he looks at Izzy, he is like, you let him be down here? And I'm like, I'm freaking out. I'm like, I'm gone. I'm gone. Pretend I wasn't even here. I'm outta here. And he's like, no, no, I'm just kidding. He gives me a beer. I'm like, I'm like, oh my God, why are you guys doing this to me? You have no idea how nervous I am as it is, like, let alone now.

But he's, he's so smart. And this guy's a lawyer. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, he's a legit lawyer. Wow. Yeah. I just seeing his facial expressions sometimes. Yeah. Looks scary. Like he could be just from tv from a distance, let alone a clubhouse. Yeah, yeah. Very intense. Yeah. But super good guy. Everybody respected the hell out of him.

And same with Joe Tory, same with Ron Gardner. I mean, what great coaches I had Gardy, funny guy. Super funny. But the transition from clubs. Yeah. What happened there? So going from the Cardinals to the twins. So basically I had a bad year in oh five that, I, if I would've taken that opportunity that I had, I should have been.

I should have been and could have been, whatever. But I didn't pitch good in oh five. So they had me, I started the season up and down in the big leagues and then finished the year in Triple A, do terrible. They end up having a good double A team. They send me down a double A to help the team out.

To help the team out. Yeah. We ended up going deep into the playoffs in aa, but at that time I was like, pissed. Now I'm pissed off. I'm going backwards. So they don't resign me. 'cause they, they would've had to, I was on the roster. They had to take me off and then I don't get picked up by any other teams.

They let me go. Jeff Smith is local and he's with the twins. Twins. He's like, Hey, check this guy out. Sure enough, they sign me. I go to camp with and big league camp with the twins and up here, up here Fort Myers. So now I get to live at home, go to spring training every day. Wow. Yeah. I'm like, this is great.

Feel way more comfortable. End up doing pretty good in spring training. They're loaded in aaa so I don't make the team out of, out of, I stay in extended with all the younger Dominican kids in Fort Myers. I'm living at home, still making crazy money, like at the time, crazy money a month. And I'm like, why are we 'cause Because you were signed.

Yeah. They signed me to a, basically a AAA deal. Okay. But I'm, they had too many guys at the time. Okay. Of course, after week one, somebody gets hurt in the big leagues, they bring a guy up from aaa and I go

We had, we had two great, I had great pitching coach, great coach in AAA with the twins, the, oh my God. Stu and Stan Kleinberg, and they're twin brothers pitching coaches. The one's a pitching coach, one's the manager. Oh, okay. So they're, they were awesome. We start playing, I start throwing, I'm throwing really good.

They call me up immediately. I was like, holy cow, this is great. They call me up for a couple weeks. I pitch like five or six times, maybe throw good. They send me back down when the guy comes off the whatever. Down in the minor leagues. Still doing good. Still doing good. And then like basically halfway through the season, they call me back up and I stay the rest of the year in the big leagues with.

The twins. And who's on that team now? You got Tory Hunter, Joe Mile. Tory Hunter, yeah. center fielder behind you? Yeah. Tory Hunter. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah. Nick Punto, Johann Santana. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Like, awesome. Joe Nathan's in the pen. Mac rear. we had so many guys pitching in the dome. Yeah.

Yeah. Awesome. So fun. But I felt, at one time I was in, we were in, in Baltimore and the mound was all messed up by the time I got out there, and my foot's getting stuck in the hole that they left. Right. So I'm like, and the, my outing before that in Anaheim, I pitched with the mound all messed up.

And I'm like, man, I should have said something. 'cause I'm struggling throwing strikes with the mound the way it was. And I come out of the game and then, Arod comes in to close, remember the closer for the angels? Oh yeah. Okay. Okay. He comes in and makes 'em fix the mound. I'm like, man, I should have, what am I doing?

I should have done this. So they fixed the mount for him. So then it happens to me again in Baltimore, and I'm like, I'm not doing it this time. So I'm like, Nope, come on out to the grounds crew or whatever. And Gardy comes out to the mound and he is like. Like looks at the umpire and he is like, Hey, what?

You guys gotta fix this mound? He goes, I can't see my midget reliever out here.

Like the hole so deep, I can't see him out here dying. Oh, oh my God. So, but he knew how to keep it light and make everybody comfortable. Yeah. I was way more comfortable with them. And the change from the National League to the American League? Any? no. I didn't feel it. No, because the DH was, they don't have DH now.

Right. They're all DH now, right? Yeah. They're all DHS now. But I didn't, I didn't, I wasn't in long enough to know any Yeah.,? Yeah. Get in for your reason. I would be an inning and be done, if not a hitter. Yes. As a specialist in the lefty, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Who was who? Who was somebody who you I faced Adam Dunn all the time.

I faced Jim Tomi all the time. Tony. Oh yeah, yeah. Griffey Griffey. Unreal. Who could say that? Business like that? Oh my gosh. Yeah. What was that like? Crazy. He rolled over to second base. Thank god Dun got me a couple times though. Done hit a couple home runs off me. I got Tony out I would think two or three times, but he got me too.

He hit won the dead center monster. I had him sign a ball, the 500 club, happy I could help him there.

So, Griffy. But yeah, I know. It is wild. I, 'cause I grew up watching all these guys. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. So the, so the twins welcome you with Open Arms are great organization. Yeah. Really good team. I mean, the Cardinals were great too, but the twins were great. Yeah. I mean the GM at the time picked me up at the airport, brought me to the GM picked you up?

Yeah. Is that right? Yeah, in Minneapolis? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A and then, your fir your first time in pitching in the Metrodome, right? Is that what it was? Metro? I wanna say it was against the White Sox, if I remember right. Pitch. Good. Got outta a jam. Red Sox had, or teasing or No. Who was, who was pitch?

They had, Prezinski and, who else did they have a, was it AJ pki? Yeah. Yeah, the catcher. He, they had told me at that time, I think told, okay. Yeah.

I, they, I dunno who they had, but what, what was your, Favorite place to pitch?

Probably there. Yeah. Probably at home in Minnesota. I mean, as far as comfortable pitching wise. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How about places you like to travel to, like the best stadiums and stuff? Colorado Stadium was so beautiful. I pitched it. I mean, I went to a lot of stadiums, but Colorado was so beautiful.

What was it about that mountain? just the mountains and stuff. Yeah. Awesome. Even though the ball sail crazy, you don't wanna pitch there, but to look to play in the stadium is nice. Any, f food favorite areas that you would go to that you like? You just, you like the other, the food? No, not really. Not that I remember.

I mean, the, yeah. The Dodger dogs were good. The hotdog Dodger Stadium. At the stadium. Yeah. Those were good. And what was that stadium like? Because that's an old stadium. Yeah. Yeah. I, Fenway was crazy old. Mm. I never had been, and to be able to see it the way I saw it Wow. For the first time. Wow.

I was like in the dugout, in the, this is like a little college, like a old school. Like you, your college facilities probably nicer than that. Yeah. It was like, this is like, it's almost like a civil war kind of deal. Yeah. Right. Like you looking at an ancient artifact. Yeah. How about, how about Chicago? Did you ever pitch in Chicago?

Either that, at the White Sox stadium at the White, so, okay. Yeah. Never Wrigley. Okay. Which is crazy. 'cause I, with the Cardinals, they're such big rivals. You would think I would've went there once at least. Yeah. Just, I never went to the Yankees stadium. I never went to Mets, I never went to New York, but I went pretty much everywhere else.

Yeah. And always, traveling with a big difference from AA to Yeah. When somebody's carrying your bag, it's a lot different. Yeah.

Yeah. So the, you get comfortable, you feel good. It's going well in Minnesota. Yeah. You feel like you, you were in the, you felt like Yeah, I finished the season out Good. I ended up getting hit again, trying to catch a comebacker up ground ball up the middle. Just can't help yourself. Can't, so I stick my hand up, I get hurt again, and now I can't feel the ends of my fingers.

Like, it's like pins and needles when I'm throwing. Yeah. So every day I'm still trying to get it to go away, so I'm still throwing. And I, Terry Terry Ryan was the GM at the time and he calls me into the office and he's like, he's like, what are you doing? I'm like, what do you mean, what am I doing? He's like.

You're out there throwing, but you say you can't throw. I'm like, I'm trying, I'm throwing without my fingers, without any fingers on the ball trying to do something. Yeah., to get it to go away. And he's like, you got this opportunity right now. And this is at the end of the year in oh six, I think when I got called up for that whole half a season, I'm like, you think I don't want to pitch?

I'm like, I'm dying to get back out there. That's why I'm throwing every day. I'm trying to make it go away. And he's like, oh, it doesn't, I don't, he didn't like it. So we come back to spring training that year. Ideal in spring training. They send me right down. I end up getting sick and losing like 20 pounds in spring training.

There's like a virus goes through the clubhouse, everybody gets sick. Even, Scott Baker didn't even start the season 'cause he was so sick. Wow. But this is sick here in Fort Myers. Sick. Yeah. I get sent down and basically didn't even get a chance when I'm thinking I'm gonna make the team out of spring training.

Yeah. I was like, oh my God. And then that was it with them. Pretty much. I kind of, I don't know if it was 'cause of that or he thought I was lying. Yeah. I don't know. But I never spent any time on the deal. Ever. Right. I was always ready to go. Yeah. No matter what, I didn't care. I'd throw with a broken arm if I could.

Yeah. So they, they, how'd they let you know that? What happens? They, I was in AAA and they ended up just letting me go. They call you in and say we're it's pack your stuff? Yeah. What's that like? Terrible. It was worse with the Dodgers 'cause I knew I was gonna be tough to get picked back up. I knew with the twins I'd get picked up by somebody.

But with the Dodgers, I knew it was gonna be tough. It was the middle of the year. Everybody was, doing their internal moves and stuff. Or the twins was at the end of the year and yeah. So, so they, so you get picked up by the Dodgers after that Picked Yeah, signed with the Dodgers.

I can't remember if I went and played. It was, I think I went and played in Venezuela with them or, or in between, between the twins and the Dodgers. Okay. I went and played in Venezuela and I ended up signing while I was down in Venezuela with the Dodgers.

Maybe it was, I don't know, maybe I was Dominican to play in Dominican. I played in Dominican Uhhuh, but that was, that was with the Cardinals. Okay. It might have, it might've been between the Cardinals and twins that I went to Venezuela, I can't remember either way. I ended up signing with the Dodgers and went to Big League Spring training with them.

Now where's their, that's, in Phoenix. Phoenix, Arizona. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. They're Scottsdale. Yeah. Beautiful. And you were some legends out there? Yeah. Crazy out there. But my wife is now with me at this time and that her, she's gotta travel with me everywhere and I felt so bad. So you got married when you got married?

In between, I didn't get married. She was just coming with me together. Okay. Yeah, Uhhuh. And she came to Venezuela with me. Oh, wow. Yeah, she came out to Scottsdale with me. Mm. And just had no friends anywhere. Yeah. Basically came with me. Yeah. What, wow, what a, that was amazing that she did what she did.

So that was tough on her. But, so spring training, you're in Scotts, Scottsdale. Yeah. With this, Scottsdale with them, with Joe Tory. I don't make the team outta camp. I go to aaa, end up, I want to say half the season there. And then they started making moves from down aa, moving guys up to the big leagues.

And then when they would. Send them down. They were sending 'em to aa, so they just kind of phased us out. Mm., I was 30 something at the time and they were bringing up 24-year-old guys. Yeah. Making half the money. Yeah. So they weeded us out, got rid of a couple guys during the middle of the season.

I went to Toronto's spring training to over here and tried out for them. They did a couple to Dunedin or is that Yeah. Dunedin. They tried a couple, they did a couple MRIs and stuff on my elbow and said that I was a, at a high risk for Tommy John. 'cause my, owner collateral nerve was calcified at the time.

Still is. I don't know. And I was like, I've never had an arm problem. So, yeah. But they would always, they were at the time were saying that I was at a high risk for Tommy John's, so they didn't wanna sign me and then oh, me get hurt and them just have to pay for all my rehab. Got it. So the team would look at that and say, oh yeah, yeah.

Here's what we got on the M mri. Yeah. So I didn't have any pretty, I didn't have any other, where any other places to go try out at. And then I, the mighty or the Ducks or whatever they were at the independent ball, they wanted me to go play for them. And I just like, if I go play independent ball, I'm basically saying I'm done.

With organized. So I didn't sign with them, which I probably should have, but I thought I was gonna get picked up and I just didn't. And time went by and that was it. So you didn't play independent ball at all? No. Never. You had a chance to, but you didn't do that. Yeah. 'cause that was like almost a kiss of death at the time.

Yeah. If you say, I felt like if I did it, I would've been, even wasting more time there, like, yeah, when am I gonna go play independent ball and if I don't dominate it from day one. Yeah. It was just all for nothing. Uhhuh. So I started working here and got my Pepsi job. That was Pepsi.

Right. That'd be tough, huh? Yeah. Oh, it was bad. Yeah. Were you still working out? Yeah. Yeah. I was still throwing and stuff. My brother was actually the coach at, CSN, so I was using their facilities and stuff.

And that was it. No more baseball for me. Yeah. Well at that level anyway. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Did you have any, rituals, that you stuck by with? Not really. I wasn't very, no. I mean, I did my daily shoe cleaning and stuff like that, but Nothing crazy. Any meals you needed to eat? Any food? Any? Not really.

And what about the clubhouse? 'cause you, the travel schedule's insane. I mean, you work your ass off. Yeah. You're, you're in the clubhouse more. I mean, you're with those guys more than you are with anybody else. Yeah. And then you'd eat and night game. Yeah. Eat at, at the end of that you'd eat they'd, yeah.

They would've food before and after the game in the clubhouse. Yep. Yep. And then you'd, you'd, Thursday or Thursdays getaway Thursday you'd play day game usually, or, Yeah. So what, what was, what was something that in that transition, for you, that psychologically you were dealing with? What, what transition from, from, from playing, from not being on a team to like then having to come back and work.

It was tough. Pepsi, it was tough., you don't, because your whole wor your whole life, everything about your was Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You're, you're going from one, it's a, it's a lifestyle really. Yeah. I mean, you're going from, it's almost like you're a performer. Like you perform every night and then you sleep, you're, you're on different schedules than everybody.

The normal Right. Working people. Yeah. So you're out there at night working and then you sleep late in the morning, go back into work. One, two o'clock we'd go back to the field after we woke up and had lunch or whatever. Yeah. And then you're practicing until the game that starts at seven o'clock. Yeah.

And then you're out on, at the game until 11 and you don't get home until 12, one o'clock every night. Wake up 10, 11 o'clock and start it all over again. But it's almost like you're in a band like Yeah. Something kinda like that. Yeah. Or like a, I don't wanna say a circus, but you, it's different.

Yeah. And then you go, you're done with that. And now I'm, moving furniture with my buddy over here, Tommy. It's still totally different. Yeah. And a reliever had a different routine than you started, right? Yeah. Well you had to be ready to go every night. Yeah. So it wasn't like you had a couple days off.

You do some long tos. Right, exactly. The starters they got the life. Yeah. They're, they're once a week guy, but if they have a bad one, that sucks. 'cause you don't have the get to go right back out there. You gotta wait a week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So it's good and bad. If you're rolling, it's good if you're, if you have a bad outing, it's a long week to wait to get the back out there.

Yeah. Like mentally. Because you're constantly thinking about it. Yeah. So much is mental. Yeah. So what would you say to these 10 year olds at Juan Romero camp right now about their, what I would say is you're gonna meet the best friends of your life playing in this game. Whether you make it or don't and have fun.

Yeah. That's what it's all about. But it's gonna take a, it takes hard work and depends. I mean, if you put your mind to it, you can make it. Yeah. If you want it bad enough, you'll, you'll get it. But at the same time, it's a great way to learn comradery and, leadership and you're going to meet great people and be led by great people and learn respect and learn the game and learn not only just the game of baseball, the game of life.

You learn so much in the, in playing sports period. Yeah. How have you brought that into the business world? I don't, maybe a little competitiveness as far as, getting jobs and stuff like that. Maybe. I'm. I know I'm always on time most of the time. so I'm never the guy calling off sick., it gives you that, that probably comes a lot from my dad too.

My dad's worked his ass off his whole life, so Watching him work hard and every day. And my mom too. She's still working. Mm. She's 71. Yeah. So being an Italian son, you didn't kind of have an option there anyway. You're always working. Exactly. We're work. We like to work. Yeah. So that probably helped me get there too.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and you had a lot to overcome., not having all those natural gifts, like so many of them get like the natural height. The natural ab the natural, yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, yeah. Yeah. It was always a struggle. How, how about, what, what music was your, your go-to music, to, to get, get you going?

I was an ac DC guy. Mm. My, in college, my come out song was Thunder. Oh yeah? Yeah. Oh yeah. So I watched Robin n in the World Series. With the Marlins Mm. Throw against Cleveland. And that was his song. And I was like, oh man, this is awesome. Mm. The walls were shaking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We literally, oh, and the Marlins were, we were, we were in the nosebleeds against the wall and the, literally the walls were shaking, is that right?

Yeah. You got to go to that, got, got go there in there at the, Joe Robbie or whatever they call it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With, yeah, that was a, that was a team, was it 97? 90, I dunno what year that was. A couple years. They had Years. They were the shit. Yeah. Yeah. Right in our backyard. Yeah. Who, who had the biggest, baseball influence on you?

Go on? I would have to say my brother. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As many as there were, there was, a lot of guys, but my brother for sure. How did the Naples community rally around you being the only one? What was that like? I don't think they knew I was the only one. Yeah., I don't know. I don't, I don't know how they felt about it, but I was happy to have them all around me.

Yeah., as I felt like as. My, all my teams growing up, I felt like everybody liked me as a teammate, having me as a teammate, and I enjoyed having all of 'em the same. Yeah. But I don't think they, I don't think they knew I had a shot.,? I don't, I don't know. I don't know how they saw me. Yeah.

But I don't know what they think now either. I don't, I'm sure a lot of 'em are proud to have played with me. Yeah.

Yeah. It's just a, it's just such a big deal and I don't think people, to me, it's, it's a really big deal. I mean, just to see that you made it to this elite level without all those natural gifts that so many guys you see and saw like, jeez, these, some of these guys are so blessed with these bodies. Yeah. I'm even, I'm even shocked by it, to be honest with you.

Now, how did you, how did the, your current career with JR How did, how did that, so I start, I was, I went from Pepsi and I went and worked for, executive electronics doing home alarms and home audio systems and stuff like that. And I enjoyed that. I like, I like music, so I enjoyed that. I, yeah.

I didn't like the, almost like a, kind of like a door to door kind of salesman kind of deal. Yeah. So I didn't really enjoy that whole part of, trying to force a sale on somebody. I wasn't never like that,? Yeah. So I kind of, I enjoyed the job and then my bosses were great. The owners were great.

But I just, I knew it wasn't gonna be for, for me forever. Yeah. So, being with JR a lot, a lot, at that time we were playing in Roy Hobbs together and, he had this successful body shop downtown, and at we, I was out on the boat with him one day, and he is like, yeah, my, one of my managers is quitting.

And I'm like, just thinking to myself, well, like I forget how it even came up, but I was like, what if I come over there and start working?,? And, I don't know how he thought about it or how he, but I don't know if he asked me or I planted the seed, but I was always interested, and

And then he said, you know what? Let's he come down to the shop and we'll talk about it. So I went down there and talked about it. He told me what it was and what it he thought it could be. And I said, I'm in, man, let's do it. And then once I say that, his main manager puts in his two weeks. Now, he's like, what am I gonna, both of his managers are gone at the same time.

So I was like, in my baseball competitive mind. I'm like, we got this. No problem., come to find out it's the like, crazy busy. We get hit by a hurricane at the, like two weeks later they got like 250 cars coming in. I'm like running up and down 10th, like a valet driver. I'm like, what am I doing?

Couldn't even keep all the cars. Yeah. I'm like, I, my legs are chafe to death. I'm like, bleeding. I'm like, this is crazy. I'm like, what did I get into? So, a couple months goes by, I finally get the hang of it to where I think he's appreciating me more. 'cause at the beginning I didn't own anything, so I was probably, like a hindering him,?

Or slowing him down,? Yeah. Like yeah. Of all times for me to start and not know anything. He's the busiest he's ever been. Yeah., like, he's probably like, what did, why did I hire this guy? I should have hired somebody that knew what the hell was going on. But now looking back, I'm sure he is.

I hope he's happy. Yeah, he definitely is. He's, he's a big champion for you. Absolutely. He is. Yeah. Yeah. As I am for him. I mean, he gave me, he gave me a career after baseball basically. He's proud to be a partner with you. Yeah, yeah. Definitely is. Yeah. That's clear. As I am him, he's, he's always been a very giving, he's always taking care of me.

Yeah. Ever since I can remember. Yeah. Me and my brother.

So, hurricane Ian was your kickoff? Yeah. Was that, was that, that was the one in 17, right? Oh, 17 was Irma. Irma. That's the one. That was the one, yeah. That was the first. Right. Holy Mo. Because our lives, we never had much. Yeah. Ian was just this, the recent one. Right, right, right. So it started with the Irma.

Yeah. Yeah. Holy moly. This is wild. Yeah. Yeah. 'cause we had Wilma, we had other ones that just weren't as like, nothing like that. Yeah. That was the one that really kicked it off. And then Ian. Yeah. Ian hit us even harder, but it was, Irma was the first one that kind of whacked us. Yeah. Really got us.

Yeah. Because even Charlie was north of here. Yeah. Didn't do as much. Yeah. So that was your, that was your grand. That was my welcoming. Welcome Supreme. Yeah. Yeah. And working at a family business. Yes. Yes. Great business. Great. Great people. Great. We have fun. It's awesome. Yeah. Sounds like it. It sounds like a good, good atmosphere.

Good, good group to work with. Yeah. He, he really said that we need a, we need a reality show to be honest with you. Yeah, it sounds like it. Easy character too. Well you got some, we got some, some good personalities over there. Some funny stories, some funny days. Even our customers can be great at sometimes Some funny moments.

Yeah. Well we got some Long time. People been going there. A long time. Right. Long time people. People work there and people, customers. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. How about his dad?, his dad? Yeah. Yeah, his dad's great. Dr. Johnny. Dr. Johnny's got his chair in the corner. Oh yeah. Yeah. To this day he's still there.

Yeah. Yeah. Alright, let's step into a little bit of a fun segment here. Lighter side. Okay. Do you have a hidden talent that has nothing to do with baseball? No, I don't think so. Not that I know of. I don't play any instruments. I don't do anything like that. And you got two boys? I do. And your wife who started out by sacrificing whatever it took with you, traveling with you?

Yes. Yes. Together. God bless her. Yeah. Been together. Two boys, 10 and 11. Carmen and Kayden. My wife Candace. we've been together for probably 20 years now, all together. That's awesome. Congratulations. Married in 2011, Uhhuh. my sons are. 10 and 11 now. middle school. Yeah. One my oldest Carmen, he's at, north Naples Middle School.

And Caden is at the Vineyards Elementary. He'll be at in sixth grade next year at, he'll be, 'cause he's, he's the icebreaker. So he, he'll take once, once he gets back with Carmen. Carmen was a little nervous going to middle school this year 'cause he didn't have him with him. Yeah. 'cause he is a little, he's tough.

He's his muscle, so. Yeah. He's got a sidekick. Yeah. Yeah. So a few weeks in now to school without each other's first. Yeah. Yeah, they're fine. The first couple days were tough with Carmen, but the other one's fine. Yeah. Yeah. Caden's fine. And both baseball players both play baseball. Caden probably likes it a little more at this age.

Carmen is very smart. He's a very, he's in all advanced classes, so I don't know how much sports he'll be into, but he, at this, we're, we're playing everything right now, so we'll see what happens. I'm not gonna force him into anything if they want to stop playing, although I just built a batting cage, so, yeah, they're gonna have to use it a little bit.

And the story is 'cause, 'cause my son, Got lessons from your, your brother. Okay. Yeah. At at your dad's house? Yeah. Yes. With the mound on the side of the house. Yes. Yes. Cali Bull pen alley. Yeah. Which I think we're moving over to my house now. Gonna move, make the big move. Yeah. Going from, Santa Barbara to Oaks.

Okay. Is the mound still there at your dad's too? Yes. Is that right? Yes, it is. It's got grass on it now, but it's there not being used. Yeah, that's right. So you got a new setup? Yeah, I got a new setup. Okay. I haven't put the electric in yet, but that's coming. So you getting do nighttime? Yep, yep, yep. I got the poles up, I got the net up.

We're able to hit, I got the machine, we got everything we need. We just, I gotta do the final touches, but I gotta gotta make a little more money first before I put the turf down. And yeah, I do have the lights ready to go. I just gotta get the electrician out there. Do you still, work at the Juan Romero camp?

Do you still go there for that? yeah. Well he's had me out there a couple times to talk to the kids,. Yeah. During, I haven't like physically worked it. Yeah. Just 'cause it's, it's a, a week or two long and I gotta work at Yeah, you work with jr. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, I've went there and done a couple speeches and while during their break or whatever at the end of their camp.

Just to tell 'em to keep their head up and keep going. Yeah. They're gonna have fun in this game if they stick with it. And you went to that camp when you went? I did. I did. I still remember it too. Yeah. Winning the long toss competition with my buddy down the street. Dan Graham. Yeah. Yeah. Did he have any players there that you got to meet or got signatures by that summer?

Because he always had connections, he seemed like. Yeah. I don't remember that. I don't know. I don't know if, I'm sure he had guys there. Yeah. I just don't remember who they were. I think he had, when my son was there, he had dust, dusty BI think him. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. You get to meet him. That was cool. Yeah.

That's awesome. Yeah. any books or podcasts that you, my wife loves podcasts. Does she? I don't know which ones she listens to, but that's all she's always got. That's all she does is, yeah. Yeah. So you hear them just by re on, so I hear 'em. Yeah. She's a big into the, the, I don't know if it's murders or whatever.

Oh, sure. Yeah. She loves Yeah, true crime stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. 48 hours, that kind of stuff. Uhhuh, yeah, that's, that's our Friday. But they, they have them on podcasts now, and they talk about, the cult, the guys that, that guy that stabbed those people and that college, those, the three girls and the guy Colburn or whatever.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. She watches all that stuff on podcasts and stuff. Yeah. So you hear it through her? Yeah. There's nothing against her. coffee drinker. Occasional, not every day. What's your coffee if you have coffee? French Vanilla. French Vanilla? Yeah. Okay. Vanilla guy. comfort food. Probably. Pizza.

Pizza. Pasta. Normal. Yeah. Any, what, what's your favorite in town? Favorite what? Favorite p Favorite pizza. Pasta in town. Minos down here, it's got unbelievable pasta, pizza. Oh, you order that when you're at work? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. Pizza wise. Joey D's or Napoli? Yeah, my normal go-to Uhhuh.

What's something most people don't know about you, but should?

That's a tough one.

I don't know. I'm, I'm, I'm probably a lot quieter than I, I think people get the wrong idea of me being quiet. Like, maybe that I'm not a nice guy or, like I could be an asshole or something, or a prick, but I'm not, not talking 'cause I don't like you. I just, yeah. I'm quiet. Yeah. So I would say that probably.

Okay. Like, don't take my silence as a, like, as a negative. Yeah. I guess how would you, or my quietness, how would your mother describe you?

I don't know.

Her baby. Her baby. Okay. She's awesome. How, how's the difference between you and your brother? I would say I'm, I'm probably closer to my parents than he is. I mean, he is there, he's a kind of a, I don't know. I probably rely on them more than he does as far as just life in general. And how about you?

He's a, he's a alpha, he's a, he does his own deal. Yeah. Where I'm like, I want advice and Yeah. Want their opinion on everything. Yeah. And he's gonna do it on his own? He'll yeah. Yeah. He'll, he'll, he'll go live in the woods if he has to. Yeah.

How about your wife? How would she describe you? Probably a pain in the ass. a loving pain in the ass. No, I can, I can be good and I can be bad. I'm sure.

That's a nice sense dog. He's not happy. No. Oh boy. It's still going. If you can't hear, there's a loud dog barking in the background in the salon right next door, which by the way, your wife has a day of pampering at the salon, so Oh my God. That's a, our gift, to you too. Oh, that's awesome. We're make sure she gets to come in.

That's awesome. She'll absolutely love that. Good, good, good. She hasn't had one of those in a long time. Alright, well she deserves that. Yeah. Yeah, she does. For those long days in hot Arizona Spring training. Exactly. The next Venezuela, eventually she, when she ordered a salad and they brought in, she started eating it and all of a sudden she's pulling out like octopus tentacles and she was like, what is going on?

She started, I would come home and she's crying and I'm like, oh man, I feel terrible. Like I can't even order a salad. Big sacrifices she made in those days. Yes. God bless her. Yes. Yes. Yeah. We'll take good care of it. Absolutely. She's got that coming for sure. That's awesome.

If, if your life was a movie. What would the opening soundtrack be? My Life was a movie. Like what would the opening song be? Yeah. When the Moon Hit your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie. That's a more Yes.

Classic Italian song That's great's, right. That's how it start at least. Okay, great.

And then Thunderstruck would probably be in there somewhere, right? Yeah, somewhere

A highway to the Danger Zone. Somewhere in there. Okay. Little Top Gun in there. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. This is great. I really appreciate you, sharing that side of your life. 'cause there's not many people that can have gone through what you've gone through and have had the grit and the grind to go through what you went through for, for, all for the passion.

You literally, you were just getting paid two or $3 an hour is probably, would've came out to be Yeah. People don't realize how hard, how, how many sacrifices you actually make. Not having, every, every year you're missing all the vacations 'cause you're playing in tournaments and you're, yeah.

You know what I mean? Your, your vacations are playing. Yeah. Like kids are on spring break. We didn't have spring break. Right. I never had spring break. Yeah. I was playing in a tournament. Yeah. Always. Always. Yeah. No matter what. Yeah. It's little stuff like that, which I probably didn't even realize I was making the sacrifice at the time 'cause that's what I wanted to do.

So yeah. It really wasn't a sacrifice for me. Yeah. It was a sacrifice for my parents. Sure. How much money they spent. I can't even imagine what, I'm seeing now with my kids, like how the hell do they afford all the equipment for me and my brother?,? Like, yeah. Yeah. It's crazy like buying bats and stuff.

I got, I got like three grand in bats for these little guys and they can't even hit the ball,? Like I was watching a comedian, he is like, why can't they all use the same bat? I'm like, yeah, exactly. Pass it to the next guy. Got, each guy's got a $500 bat and they can't even hit the ball. I was dying.

But it's true though. I mean like, and the equipment was just as much back then as it is now, comparative to what everybody's making and stuff like that with inflation. Yeah. So, I mean, golly, the sacrifices my parents made are unthinkable. Yeah. For both me and my brother. Getting us to all these camps and tryouts and lessons and just crazy.

I wish I could have signed a bigger deal. Pay 'em all back for everything, but never got the big three year deal. Yeah. But you, you've lived the way that no one else has. Yeah. I got the taste and man, was it a good taste? Yeah. And got to be with. Yeah. Your, some of my best memories with my son growing up are those years of, of traveling for travel ball or baseball or practice or bringing him to Yeah.

Your, your father's house. Yeah. Right. That's crazy. And I love to listen to your brother coach, because he was Yeah. He's, he, he should have, he missed his, he's over at Dodge now, but he should be somewhere coaching. Yeah. And he is a hell of a coach. Yeah. It was fascinating to me. He's, because he would get into the psychology of the Yes.

He's not just the mechanics of pitching, but he would talk about the mental game In a way that I never even knew existed. It was awesome to see him coach like that. He's very, very good at it. That's why it helped me so much. Just, yeah. He's very good. Talk about the setup of what a certain pitch did to a guy stand.

Yeah. What you come back with the next pitch. Yeah. He just, he just had Thisme game. Very smart student of the game and he is, yeah. That was, that was very cool. So it gave me some of the best memories I have with my, son. I remember on one of his road trips, we listened to the book, the 33 30 3-year-old rookie.

Which is a great book about the guy who spent his life in minor, a lot of years in minors and. It was, just fun for he and I to be together and the kids running all over the hotel In Miami where we were playing, getting her ass kicked and they still had the best time of their life.

Exactly. Yeah. And that I was president of North Naples Little League for a little while. And, the best, the, the most fulfilling part of it was seeing the five, six, and seven year olds out there before their parents got too involved with them. Yeah, exactly. And just letting the kids be kids and watching 'em play and just the, just that look on their face and watching the proud parents before the parents thought that their kid was gonna be their 401k.

Right. Yeah. It was great game to, for father and sons,? Yeah. It's just something that's special about it. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Last question for you. What do you love about your life? My family. My family. Mm. My ex family. Mm. I got great friends, great family. I mean, every, all my great friends are family to me.

Yeah. But that's all I care about. Yeah., my, I've, I've, I've dreamt of living on Oaks Boulevard and I'm, I live there. Yeah. It's not the biggest house and it is the smallest house, but I live on Oaks. On Oaks, which I've always wanted to do. Deal. Yeah. And I've made it my own and I have my. Two sons that I've always wanted, my beautiful wife that I've always wanted.

My little dog that I've always wanted. I have a little french bulldog named cash, and obviously my parents and my brother and his family, and, everybody, all my relatives and friends and family. That's, that's all I care about. Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. Yeah. Looking like a tro. Yeah, exactly.

It's all about family. Yeah. That's awesome. It really is. Yeah. I appreciate you, brother. Yeah. Thank you for having me. Yeah. No, no, that's awesome. This was great. I love it. I've, I've never done one of these, I've never, I don't think I've ever been interviewed like this or, or however, whatever you call this.

Yeah. Other than a podcast. Yeah. No, I'm, I'm glad that to have the opportunity, not only to capture it too, because I think it's, there's a si there's a, I, it always has fascinated me because I know there's huge sacrifices to be made and Yeah. And that, and the statistical odds of, you're going up against that and you gotta fight a lot harder.

Man, I'm a short Italian, I know what that's like. Exactly. When you walk into a room and everybody's at least six, two, if not 6, 5, 6, 6, you're like, holy shit, do I really belong here? Yeah. Am I gonna be able to do this? Yeah. So it's a constant, it's a constant battle mentally and physically. Yeah. I knew I had it physically just from numbers.

You know Yeah. Putting up numbers and how hard I'm throwing, I'm just as good as everybody else, but I don't look like that guy. Right. I don't look like the six five Adam Wayne. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. But at the end of the day, when you get there and meet 'em all, they're all normal guys.

Yeah. Just like we are. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is, which is just extraordinary. Yeah. Because you got to meet some of the most I know. And they were great. Oh man. Like Edmonds is like, Hey man, you're tipping your pitches. I'm like, you've never even seen me throw. He's like, I watched you from center field today.

Wow. And I'm like, dude, wow. Yeah. Wow. I'm like, that's how good this guy is. Yeah. Watch me throw what, 15, 20 pitches. And he already knows what I'm throwing. Oh my gosh. I'm like, dude from center field. Yes. He's like, you gotta, you're, you're, every time you throw a fastball, your gloves turned this much more up.

Oh. Like, oh my God. Like, this is how it is here. That's insane. So then I just would hold my gloves. The, that's why I was, Izzy would hold his glove and not move his glove. He would only have at the ball and go to the glove uhhuh and never move his glove. I started doing that. You, that little adjustment.

Yeah. I'm like, that's how intense it is up there. Yeah. Then come to find out the Astros are cheating. I'm like, come on man. You are ending people's careers like that. Yeah. That's game's hard enough. Yes. It's hard enough. A poor rookie guy goes out there and gives up 10 runs. Mm. He's done. Yeah. Because they're hitting a garbage can in the dugout.

Wow. That's not right. Yeah. You don't think of that? No. I mean that level of it, like ruin the guy's psyche, the whole, whole career. Everything. Yeah. Yeah. It happened. Yeah. Oh, man. True. But like the, the, the legends that you were in the same room with Yeah. Is just beyond I know. And beyond. Beyond. And I felt it too.

I felt like I was in the room with legends. Yeah, you knew it at the time. Yeah. And pool holes. 13 year 10. That's, that's my claim to fame. Yeah. People gotta know that, man. That's a big freaking deal. That's possible. He was three rounds after me. Ah

Carmen Cali's story isn't just about a kid from Naples who made it the big leagues, though that alone would be remarkable. It's about something deeper and more beautiful. The choice to come home. In a world where success often means leaving your roots behind. Carmen chose to plan himself right back in the soil that nurtured him.

He could have chased coaching jobs in major markets or leveraged his MLB credentials into bigger opportunities elsewhere. Instead, he chose Naples. He chose to be present in the community that believed in him first. Whether he is helping customers at Supreme Auto or simply living as an example of dreams realized and character maintained, Carmen represents the best of what it means to achieve something extraordinary and then use that achievement to lift others up.

He's proof that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do with your success is bring it back home and share with people who helped to make it possible. That's why Carmen Kelly deserves our spotlight, not just for making history as the first Naples High graduate to reach the major leagues, but for choosing to make his legacy about more than just baseball.

He's made it about community and family, about staying rooted and about showing the next generation that you can chase your biggest dreams and still come home to the people who love you most. God bless you, brother. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, this was great. Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it, man.

Absolutely. Thank you. Hey everybody, thank you so much for taking the time to watch the spotlight on Good people or listen to the spotlight on good people, whichever one you are. We appreciate you enjoying it, or if you're getting something out of it, could you show us a little love? And, do what everybody always asks.

Subscribe, like, share. Also, if, somebody who should be featured, they're one of those good people who we need to shine a light on, let us know. Love to have 'em on as a guest. Thanks.