Answers with Bryan Anderson

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Michael
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Answers with Bryan Anderson

Post by Michael »

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From the Swing of the Quad Cities website:
Height: 6-1
Weight: 190
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
DOB: 12/16/1986
Born: Thousand Oaks, CA
Acquired: 4th round in the 2005 draft.


2006 Stats (as of Aug-29-06):

AVG - .306
G - 105
AB - 369
R - 50
H - 113
2B - 29
3B - 3
HR - 3
RBI - 51
TB - 157
BB - 42
SO - 65
OBP - .381
SLG - .425
OPS - .807



Thank you to Bryan for taking the time to interact with us on such an up close and personal level. I would also like to thank all of you for making GRB such a great place to discuss Cardinals baseball!


About the The Swing of the Quad Cities:
The Swing of the Quad Cities - Midwest League affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals - play in the newly renovated John O'Donnell Stadium, one of the most scenic ballparks in the country that sits on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. Such major league stars as Johan Santana, Joe Mauer, Billy Wagner, and hall-of-famer Jim Bunning claim "JOD" as their old stomping grounds, adding to a rich tradition of professional baseball in the area that dates back to the late 19th century. After setting five new franchise records offensively during the 2005 season en-route to a playoff berth, the Swing expect only bigger and better things in 2006 as they continue their relationship with the St. Louis Cardinals. If you are a fan of great Midwestern baseball and good old fashioned family fun, then come on down to John O'Donnell Stadium - you will fit right in! And feel free to check out the Swing of the Quad Cities at http://www.swingbaseball.com.
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-Michael

Michael
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Post by Michael »

I had the great pleasure of interviewing Bryan Anderson on July 27th. A very special thank you to Bryan Anderson for taking the time out of his schedule to answer some questions. Bryan is a great young man, both off and on the field. He is someone that is very easy to cheer for, both for his play on the field and the way he conducts himself off the field. Best wishes to Bryan for the remainder of the 2006 season!

Thank you to GRB members for their help in providing questions and to G. Keenan for transcribing the session. I would also like to thank Ben Chiswick of The Swing of the Quad Cities for organizing the interview.

As always, thank you to all of you for making GatewayRedbirds.com such a wonderful posting community!




GRB: Coming into the season with the Quad Cities, what were some of your biggest goals?

Bryan Anderson: Pretty much just to get better behind the plate, try to learn to work with the pitching staff better, and improve my catching skills defensively. Those were my main goals.

GRB: So what aspects of catching do you think you needed to work most on then?

Anderson: Probably just playing every day, at a high level, and in spite of getting tired being able to get out there every day and block and throw.

GRB: Is there one player in MLB that you aspire to be, or who represents your style of play?

Anderson: Probably a guy like Mike Matheny, you know. He's a great catcher. It would be pretty nice to be able to play defense like him. Or maybe a guy like Pudge Rodriguez, who can catch and hit, you know, do both things pretty well. Those guys are the two that I kind of look up to.

GRB: We got into this a little bit earlier, but what do you think is the toughest part about being a catcher? Is it just playing such a demanding position every day?

Anderson: Yeah, I would say that it's playing every day, because the position really takes a toll on you. You just have to make sure that you're getting enough rest and eating right, all that stuff, so that you can come out every day and play well. So, yes, I'd say playing every day is the hardest thing, especially now that we're getting into August. It's a real grind by this point.

GRB: Well your bat hasn't really tapered off much.

Anderson: Yeah, well I'm trying. I'm working hard and trying to keep hitting well. It's tough though.

GRB: What part of your game do you feel like you're most satisfied with or proud of?

Anderson: Probably my hitting, I would have to say. I'm pretty happy with the way that I'm hitting right now. I wish I had a little bit better power numbers but that will come. I'm pretty happy with just being able to get on base, draw my walks, get my hits. That's what I'm most happy with right now.

GRB: That's something that we've noticed, you really control the strike zone well. You take pitches and it seems like a walk is just as good as a hit as long as you're getting on base.

Anderson: Yeah, well one of my goals coming into the season was to have my walk to strikeout ratio about even. I think I have a few more strikeouts at the moment, but it's better than last year. Last year I was about 3 to 1, I think, so I'm trying to get a better control of the strike zone this year.

GRB: Who is one guy that you've caught so far that's made you say to yourself, "wow, this guy has really electric stuff." Is there one pitcher that stands out?

Anderson: Mark McCormick. Here in Quad Cities, when McCormick is on, he’s pretty much unhittable.

GRB: He can dial it up too, can't he?

Anderson: Yeah, he throws a mid nineties fastball with a good curveball and a good hammer. When he's on it's fun to catch.

GRB: What was Jaime Garcia like? I know he got moved up, but what was he like while he was there?

Anderson: He's a great pitcher too. He was fun to catch. He's got a good curveball and a good fastball from the left side. Jaime is going to be a tough pitcher to hit.

GRB: So then who's one of the toughest pitchers that you've had to face as hitter?

Anderson: Nick Adenhart. He was on the Kernels but he got moved up. He throws a 92-93 mph fastball with a good changeup, spots the ball very well, and can throw all of his pitches for strikes. Playing against him was a good challenge.

GRB: Was it a hard decision for you to turn pro instead of going to college?

Anderson: No, not for me. I always wanted to play professional baseball so it was a pretty easy decision for me.

GRB: If most people had your talent and could choose between school and playing baseball everyday I think they would chose baseball too.

Anderson: I know; you can't beat that. In school I was always a pretty good student, but there's nothing like playing baseball every day. You don't have to worry about doing homework, taking tests, studying, or any of that. It's nice.

GRB: Sounds like it. What was the transition from aluminum to a wooden bat like for you? Was that a tough transition?

Anderson: It wasn't a tough transition for me because I used a wooden bat a lot when I was growing up and in high school, so it wasn't a big difference for me.

GRB: Why did you use wooden bats so much before you had to?

Anderson: It just makes you a better hitter. It makes you hit on the sweet spot. You have to look for a good pitch to hit because you're not going to get a lot of hits getting jammed or off the end of the bat. With an aluminum bat in high school you can hit a ball off the end of the bat and it still has a chance to be a homerun or a double. Here, with a wooden bat, those are just routine pop ups. I used a wooden bat as much as I could to get used to hitting the ball with the sweet spot.

GRB: What's been one of your favorite moments since becoming a pro? Has it been a diving catch or gunning someone down? Any one thing that you've done that you're especially proud of?

Anderson: When I was in Johnson City last year the first game that my mom saw me play professional baseball in she arrived to a bit late. She was making her way through the crowd as I was on deck, and in that at bat I hit a grand slam. That was the first professional at bat she ever saw me take and I hit a grand slam. It was pretty cool, a great experience.

GRB: Do you ever call your own pitches or does pitch selection come from the dugout?

Anderson: The pitcher and I call the game, we call every pitch. When we go into the dugout our pitching coach will give us some tips, like if he sees something with a hitter he'll let us know. But I call every game.

GRB: You were in spring training with the Cardinals. What was that like?

Anderson: It was an awesome experience, being there was great, and I learned a lot just from watching them.

GRB: Did you get to meet Albert?

Anderson: Yeah, I met Albert. I never really got to sit down and chat with him, but I met him.

GRB: Did you get to talk with Yadi much?

Anderson: Yes, Yadi would actually pick me and another guy up at the hotel every morning and drive us to the ballpark. He's a really good guy, very nice; it was great being able to work with him for a few weeks.

GRB: It sounds like he's pretty generous with his time.

Anderson: Yeah, he's awesome, just a great guy.

GRB: What's your pop-to-pop time to second base? Do you know?

Anderson: I think I average anywhere from like a 1.9.

GRB: Do you have any superstitions at all?

Anderson: Oh, superstitions. Not really. If I have a good game I’ll try to eat the same thing before the game. That's about it. I don't really have any big ones.

GRB: Besides the Cardinals, who is your favorite MLB team?

Anderson: The Dodgers, definitely.

GRB: That was a tough series for them with the Cardinals recently.

Anderson: I know, but I don't really get to watch them play because I'm out here and I don't get to see too many games now. When I was a kid I used to go to 10 or 15 Dodger games a year.

GRB: I'm in Chicago and I'm going to go see a Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley today.

Anderson: That'll be sweet. I want to do that soon. We've got two days off in August and I want to try to get up to Chicago and see a game. I think it would be awesome.

GRB: It's a cool scene because Wrigley is in the middle of a neighborhood. I'm actually going to be sitting in the bleachers, so if you see a guy on ESPN who catches a Cubs-homerun ball but throws it back out on the field, you’ll know who that is.

Anderson: (Laughing) Nice.

GRB: Actually I'd probably get murdered in there by all the bleacher bums for doing that.

Anderson: Ha ha, yeah.

GRB: Are there any guys on the team you hang out with a lot? I know you guys are always getting moved around and shuffled, so it might be hard.

Anderson: Yeah, you know I was with Colbyand Randy Roth and those guys hanging out a lot, but now they're gone so I've been hanging out with my roommate a lot, Jon Jay. I hang with Jon Mikrut, Jason Cairns, and those guys.

GRB: What do you guys do with your time off, you know, that I can actually put on the site?

Anderson: We actually go bowling a lot.

GRB: Do you really?

Anderson: Yeah, when we have early games usually we'll go bowling after the game, or if we have an off day we'll go bowling. It's fun, something to do.

GRB: You guys are going to throw your arms out! Just kidding.

Anderson: (Laughs) Yeah, I know, right.

GRB: Okay, here's the last question and we asked Colby this question too but I won't tell you what he said. Who do you think is better looking, or hotter, Jessica Simpson or Jessica Alba?

Anderson: I'm going to go with Jessica Alba.

GRB: So you're an Alba man, why?

Anderson: Definitely. I'm more of a tanned skin, dark hair kind of guy than the blondes. But that's just me; Jessica Simpson is pretty hot too.

GRB: You know Alba is actually throwing a shutout now because Colby took Alba too.

Anderson: (Laughs) Oh he did? Nice.

GRB: I was kind of expecting an Alabama kid to kind of….

Anderson: Yeah, to go for the blondes?

GRB: Exactly! You know, kind of a whole southern belle thing but he went with Alba because he thinks Simpson is too stupid.

Anderson: Ha ha ha!

GRB: All right, man, that's it. We appreciate your time and thanks for doing the interview.

Anderson: Thank you.
Last edited by Michael on September 1 06, 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Dillagii
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Post by Dillagii »

Good to see nice things about Yadi. Thanks for posting interview, Michael and GK. It was great.

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Jocephus
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Post by Jocephus »

thanks to everyone involved

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Numbers
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Post by Numbers »

one of the best parts of this site Michael, good job

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mikechamp
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Post by mikechamp »

The long lost interview is here!! Hoooray!!!

Good read. (You can tell he's young, though.)

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Post by ThreeAces »

Thanks for the interview, I can't wait til he makes it up here.

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fulldeck
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Post by fulldeck »

Great interview. Thanks everyone!

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StatmanCrothers
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Post by StatmanCrothers »

Way cool.

We forgot to ask him what was his favorite Swing band. :wink:

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