MLB’s Tim Anderson Style & Swag in Baseball, Path to Being Great, Growth & Accountability

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find Living with the good, the bad and the ugly in front of the world while still finding a way to be great living and playing through the good, the bad and the ugly. Being a public figure or star athlete comes with a lot of highs but it also comes with a lot of eyes when living your life for all to see. Today we are sitting with MLB All-Star Chicago White Sox Short Stop Tim Anderson who has earned the respect on the field as one of the top players in the game and also become a well known face in Chicago for his efforts in the community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Flowing ad budget on metrics that look great till the CFO sees them? That's bull spend and marketers are calling it out in dashboard confessions.

• 0:09Speaker 01

  I remember telling my boss, it'll be good for the brand when leads were slow. Yeah, it it wasn't.

• 0:17Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. LinkedIn lets you target by company, job title and more. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 0:30Ryan Clark?

  What up fam? It's great. It's up, man. Good to meet you, brother.

• 0:32Speaker 03

  Good to see you.

• 0:33Ryan Clark?

  It's up.

• 0:34Channing Crowder?

  What's up, boss? What up, man? It's good with you.

• 0:35Ryan Clark?

  You know, normally I don't really. Normally I don't really fool with cats who spent a lot of time in Tuscaloosa, but you know.

• 0:44Ryan Clark?

  But the thing is too, man, like eventually your sport will pick you. Oh, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like if you play them all, you'll realize the ones that ain't the one. Like that's the other thing too, like to grow up in the south and be a basketball, baseball guy. And be a brother. Yep. Like that's that's different.

• 1:01Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, that's different in the south. Yeah, that's true. That's real different. Told y'all, that dude, the baseball coach in my high school came up to me. Now I'm already playing ball, got scholarships. He was like, here's listen, I just teach you how to make contact. You can run, you get on base, you'd be good. I looked him straight in the eye and said, man, black dudes don't play baseball. Go away. They don't? Yeah. I regret it. I don't have many regrets in life. I regret that.

• 1:21Ryan Clark?

  My football coach, so I played baseball up until high school. And so my football coach was the reason I went to my high school. And I remember saying, coach, hey, I'm a, I'm gonna play football, I'm a hoop. I'm gonna play baseball too. And I remember he said, he's like, you're gonna be a division one football player. And you want to spend your springs running around punk ass bases. And I was like, I guess not, coach. He put it, like he put it, if you put it that way.

• 1:49Channing Crowder?

  Put that shit on you.

• 1:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, he put it on me.

• 1:51Channing Crowder?

  That's what they try to do to the champs.

• 1:53Fred Taylor?

  It was track season. It was track season for me. That's why I ain't play baseball.

• 1:57Channing Crowder?

  Freddie, you ran a 4-2.

• 1:58Fred Taylor?

  It was track.

• 1:59Channing Crowder?

  They wanted my big ass on the track team. They had me throwing the, they had me throwing the discus with the Polynesians. He's tracking basketball.

• 2:33Ryan Clark?

  Hey man, welcome to The Pivot, Tim. We appreciate your time. We know right now it's during the season for you. So we expected you to be in the clubhouse already. I know you'll be there later. This is Channing, Freddie T, I'm RC. Shout out to our partners over at Happy Dad, sponsors at DraftKings, everybody that subscribes. We appreciate your support. Without you guys supporting and watching and viewing and liking and commenting, we don't have a show. Some people call you Mr. Southside, you know, two-time All-Star, Silver Slugger, batting champion in 2019. But you're different for the sport, right? There's a different flair, a different flash.

• 3:15Ryan Clark?

  I hate the word, to use the word swag because now it's become so common, right? And normal, but just the way you carry yourself is unfamiliar to the baseball traditionalist. But what's undeniable is the skill. And so many times where we are in life, narratives begin to be pushed and people like to cast aspersions and develop perceptions of people without knowing their story. That's what The Pivot is about. So I really want to take it all the way back to the beginning. Tim Anderson Jr. can't do that without talking about Senior.

• 3:54Ryan Clark?

  Can't do that without telling the story of growing up with your Aunt Lucille and not your mother. The first time your father ever laying eyes on you, it was from behind a glass window in prison. Tell us a little bit about what that upbringing was like and how being raised by Aunt, Uncle, not having your father around, taking the trips with Granddad, you know, to see him, kind of started to shape you.

• 4:22Speaker 03

  Definitely different.

• 4:25Speaker 03

  You know, you're growing up with, you know, not your brothers and sisters. So I visited my mom on the weekend.

• 4:32Speaker 03

  And just being in a different household, it's not really the same, you know, not having your real dad. I was raised by my aunt and uncle. And the baseball really came from their side because their kids played it. And I kind of picked up on it just from, you know, being there. They took me in when I was some months. I was the youngest of five. Just, you know, mom's situation was different. And, you know, dad was in prison. But I understood that. So all my pictures with my dad is, you know, growing up is with him in prison. So, you know, I always wanted to, you know, be different from him. So I kind of learned from his mistakes just by doing the opposite of what he did. And that kind of led me here.

• 5:10Ryan Clark?

  How difficult is it for, I guess, for your father, and now that you've gotten older, and you guys do have a good relationship, and it seems that your family always wanted you to have that. He kept the scrapbook, the pictures that you guys would get an opportunity to take when you would visit him, understanding that it was a pocket full of drugs and a first-time offender who now, in the crusade against crack, spends 15 years, almost 16 years put away because of that. Did that ever weigh into the compassion you have for your father and understanding it wasn't what he wanted to do to be away from you, but

• 5:52Ryan Clark?

  you said you made that promise to your kids that you would always be around based on the way you had to be brought up?

• 5:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, I understood what he had to go through, you know, just to survive. You know, I mean, he had to take care, you know, of his mom and his brothers and sisters. So I really never really knocked at him. I kind of understood his process, understood his journey. And, you know, I kind of just bought in. That's just what it is. You know, everybody got a story. And I think that's what makes the story so, you know, so dope and so cool and interesting, you know, continue to be so successful and, you know, keep going after, you know, all the things that I've been through.

• 6:28Channing Crowder?

  Crazy. My dad got locked up for drugs way, you know, before I was born and all that stuff. And as a grown man, I had to talk to him because the show Cocaine Cowboy, that movie, the first one, my dad's in it. He wanted to offer players that got caught getting the dope off the plane. And as a grown man, I went on holiday, I'm like, you know, now I'm grown, tell me what happened. Chan? I wasn't selling no goddamn drug, I was taking it.

• 6:51Channing Crowder?

  That was my personal use, you know, but it's just interesting being a grown up and now talking to your dad about it, you know.

• 6:57Speaker 03

  Cause you could have those real conversations.

• 6:58Channing Crowder?

  How was that like when you could really talk to him as a man?

• 7:01Speaker 03

  It was eye opening. It was pieces that I was trying to put together, but I really didn't know. And just to hear from him, you know, definitely, you know, confirmed it. It made me feel better. And that's why I said I understood, you know, what he went through and I can't, you know, I can't judge him or knock him. All we can do is just go from here and build our relationship the best way we know how and the best way we can.

• 7:21Fred Taylor?

  And with those experiences with your pops, how does it, you being a father to Peyton and Paxton, how does it affect you guys' relationship? Like what examples do you take from your dad's relationship? And insert those with Peyton?

• 7:36Speaker 03

  Oh, I just, you know, I always wanted to be with my dad 24/7. And so now that, you know, I maybe I got my own, you know, they're with me 24/7. You know, I try to be, you know, be hands on, try not to miss anything. And really just build it off of love. I think love is the, you know, the right way to go. You know, cause they know how to love, you know, give me a hug, give me a kissy. So I think, you know, just really building off of love, it makes it a whole lot better.

• 8:08Channing Crowder?

  Knowing as a kid that that's not your house you living in, like, cause I felt some of this where my mom was a single mother of three. So like, you know, I'm at my friend's house a lot, you know, people are trying to help her out, you know, raising these three kids. And I would always try to, I guess, excel because I don't say I'm not supposed to be there, but I know I'm a burden on you somehow.

• 8:27Speaker 03

  You're different, you're different.

• 8:29Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, you know, say you around your cousins, but that's not your brother and sister. Do you think that has something to do with your, with your success and what you've done?

• 8:35Speaker 03

  I could say, yeah, you know, that story is crazy, you know, just growing up in a house that really not your real brothers and sisters. That's, I mean, it's your blood, but it's not your, your real blood. So it definitely made it different. And all, all my, my aunt kids was older, you know, I was always the youngest. So it was definitely different. And there's a lot more story, you know, a lot, a lot more pain that came from that, that, you know, shaped me into who I am.

• 8:57Ryan Clark?

  We were talking earlier, you're from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, right? You are from football country. It's about that dang Paul Bear Bryant, now Nick Saban. I hate him, but I do respect him. You know, I'm an LSU guy. I played for Nick at LSU, but. You grow up there and you become a basketball player and a baseball player. Like, let's be real, the basketball I get, right?

• 9:24Speaker 03

  Yeah, so.

• 9:25Ryan Clark?

  A young brother, you wanna hoop, like, that's what we do. But to not play football and gravitate toward baseball, like you said, that was part of growing up with your aunt and your uncle, but your homeboy Terrence too.

• 9:36Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 9:37Ryan Clark?

  Right? You were really tight with him and you go through two years of high school, you're a hooper. I don't know if people were shaking you or what was going on. You kept breaking legs.

• 9:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 9:46Ryan Clark?

  You know what I mean? You break your legs, you know, back to back years. And he was basically like, "Hey, Tim, man, just come out, what'd you change to? Hillcrest, I think it was."

• 9:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, I went to Hillcrest.

• 9:54Ryan Clark?

  Right, and they're like, "Hey, come try out for the baseball team." You missed the tryout.

• 9:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, I didn't wanna play baseball, cause like, who play baseball? You know what I mean? Like, all my homies was hoopers and all my homies played football. And I just wanted to hoop. But, I mean, I knew I could play baseball. I always played against Terrence, like, growing up in Lilly when I was going to Hill County. And I transferred to Hillcrest, cause I knew it would be a better opportunity, bigger school, you know, more talent to play against. I just didn't wanna play, you know, cause I kinda fell in love with basketball. But even though I had got injured to it, I still wanted to do it. But baseball, it was just something to do.

• 10:29Ryan Clark?

  So you missed the tryout.

• 10:31Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 10:31Ryan Clark?

  He has to go to the coaches and tell them.

• 10:34Speaker 03

  Convince them, yeah.

• 10:35Ryan Clark?

  So you missed it on purpose?

• 10:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, cause I didn't wanna play. Like, I didn't, I didn't wanna play.

• 10:39Ryan Clark?

  What the hell was you doing?

• 10:41Speaker 03

  I just wanted to hoop. You know, I just wanted to hoop. I wanted to be a hooper.

• 10:44Ryan Clark?

  So you missed the tryout, you get the tryout again for the coaches, but then the seniors

• 10:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:50Ryan Clark?

  had to vote to put you on the team. And you start in the outfield, the first game, they don't even let you hit.

• 10:58Speaker 03

  Right.

• 10:59Ryan Clark?

  They let Shohei Ohtani hit for you.

• 11:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 11:01Ryan Clark?

  You know, they're letting the pitcher, the pitcher is hitting for you. When did you start to realize, though, that baseball could be something that could carry you, whether it was community, college, college, to the major leagues?

• 11:15Speaker 03

  When I went to junior college, you know, my first year, I was just something to do. You know what I mean? Away from home, out the streets, away from, you know, all the bad things that was happening. I think I went to Kansas after my freshman year, and I had a good, I had a good, I had a good summer out there in the Woodback League. And I went back and I knew that I had a chance to, you know, turn it into a profession.

• 11:36Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, cuz you batted dang near 500.

• 11:39Speaker 03

  I learned how to hit.

• 11:40Channing Crowder?

  10 homers.

• 11:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, I learned how to hit, for sure. I learned how to hit.

• 11:43Fred Taylor?

  But being drafted 18th, right, in the first round?

• 11:46Speaker 03

  Seventeen.

• 11:46Fred Taylor?

  Seventeen, 2013?

• 11:48Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 11:49Fred Taylor?

  Which is like 19 years old.

• 11:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 11:51Fred Taylor?

  $2 million signing bonus. A guy who did not wanna, who missed the trial on purpose. What do you do with $2 million at 19 years old?

• 12:00Speaker 03

  At that point, I didn't know. You know, I just wanted to play when I got the money. And the first thing I bought was like iPad and some shoes.

• 12:07Fred Taylor?

  iPad.

• 12:08Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, I'm from Tuscaloosa, you don't, you don't, you don't see none, you don't see stuff like that, you know, happening. I didn't really know what a million dollars was at the time, you know what I mean? I was coming from, you know, nothing for real. So just to go from nothing to having $2 million, like...

• 12:25Fred Taylor?

  So it was no nice cars on the street around Tuscaloosa or?

• 12:31Speaker 03

  Yeah, we had...

• 12:31Fred Taylor?

  A watch, like something?

• 12:32Channing Crowder?

  Well, you know Alabama had NIL running before NIL. There was some nice cars on the street at Tuscaloosa.

• 12:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, but I was, I was different. I really wasn't. You know, I really wasn't into all that. I mean, I bought a car.

• 12:44Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 12:45Speaker 03

  You know, I had a car. My dad gave me a car. So I had like three cars. I wasn't really into, you know, all the crazy stuff that I'm into now.

• 12:53Fred Taylor?

  So what type of crazy stuff are you into right now?

• 12:55Speaker 03

  Like just shopping and clothes and, you know, you grow, you're growing now.

• 12:59Fred Taylor?

  You got a line too, right? T- T87. Is that more of a sports apparel or fashion?

• 13:06Speaker 03

  It's street fashion. It's, it's sports. I mean, it's really whatever you wanna call it, it's just more so just being me, authentic. Uh, and if you support me, then you support the brand.

• 13:16Channing Crowder?

  I gotta go back, Tim. People try to mold they children into Tim Andersons. You messed around and went top 20.

• 13:23Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:24Channing Crowder?

  There's the animosity cuz them dudes in there grinding in the ballroom, and you already look different.

• 13:29Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 13:29Channing Crowder?

  And you already got the street swag, I guess you wanna say.

• 13:32Ryan Clark?

  And you in there going top 20, getting these millions, and these people working their whole life to get there. Any animosity, any jealousy, really?

• 13:39Speaker 03

  I don't, you know, I don't really pay attention to nobody. You know what anybody really have to say. I know my goals and I know where I want to be and where I need to be. And, you know, a learner's journey, I learned, you know, my purpose throughout all of this. And so I'm just committed, like, I'm committed to just continue to keep working. And, you know, staying locked in. I can't really, can't bind to, you know, anything else.

• 14:01Ryan Clark?

  Channing's talking about being a little different.

• 14:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:04Ryan Clark?

  Right? And we keep saying being a little different. Just the pivot. You black.

• 14:09Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:09Ryan Clark?

  And like, you really black. Like, I'm sure there are opportunities at times that, you know, you were hopping in or walking into the clubhouse, and Dominican was probably trying to speak to you in Spanish, and then they had to realize, nah, he's just a brother. Right? And so, like, that's who you are, and you carry yourself in that way. And not only carry yourself in that way, you're actually proud of it.

• 14:28Speaker 03

  You know, I gotta stay, you know, true to, you know, how I was grown up. If I switch it, then it's fake. You know what I mean? So I kind of like to keep it authentic and, you know, be the best version of myself, regardless of where I'm at, where I'm going.

• 14:41Ryan Clark?

  Sports Illustrated, 2019, you said you kind of feel like Jackie Robinson. In any arena, when you invoke a name like that, people read more into it, instead of having some sort of logic and rationale into understanding that there was a period of time where African-American baseball players were very prominent. There were the Ken Griffey Juniors, there were the Barry Bonds, there were the Bobby Bonillas, and all of these players. That time has been ushered out

• 15:13Speaker 03

  Right.

• 15:14Ryan Clark?

  of Major League Baseball. So I understood what you said, but there was such a reaction to it that, what is, it's what, 2021, I believe? And it's, you know, this is post George Floyd. This is post Philando Castile, and... You're playing against the Yankees and someone calls you Jackie, Josh Donaldson. As a matter of fact, let's say his name. And then there's an altercation in the middle of the field. You're eventually suspended. You don't even appeal the suspension. And you said, "There's no people that look like me that understand where I come from, who get to make the decision on what I'm going through."

• 15:48Speaker 03

  Right.

• 15:48Ryan Clark?

  So why appeal it? When you're going through something like that, is there ever a feeling of being an outsider, of being an outcast?

• 15:56Speaker 03

  It's always, it's always that, you know, just by being black in that sport. And, and like you said, I'm really black. You know what I mean? I'm really black. I listen to what I listen to, how I move. Uh, and it ain't really, it ain't really that in that sport. So it definitely makes you feel lonely. Like when I first got called up, I felt, you know, lonely because I couldn't relate to anybody. Like all my homies played like basketball or like football. And, uh, so yeah, just, just really just being different in that sport makes it a whole lot tougher on how to move and just even just being around. Or even when you go to different cities, like who you gonna eat? Who you gonna, who you gonna spend your time with? So a lot of times really spent with myself, you know, on, on the road. Uh, I'll go eat alone, I'll cheer alone.

• 16:40Speaker 03

  Uh, and I was just really with my teammates during the game.

• 16:43Channing Crowder?

  How does that mold you as a teammate when like, it ain't supposed to be that way? Like we team, we did.

• 16:48Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:48Channing Crowder?

  You really just working together.

• 16:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 16:50Channing Crowder?

  You know what I'm saying?

• 16:51Speaker 03

  That's what it was. That's just what it was.

• 16:53Channing Crowder?

  But how does that, how do you navigate that now that you called up? You probably one of the youngest dudes in the, in the whole ball.

• 16:59Speaker 03

  Clubhouse.

• 16:59Channing Crowder?

  The whole clubhouse. And now you have to figure out a way to, to fit in? Were you trying to fit in or you just said, "Hell with it"?

• 17:06Speaker 03

  I always knew my, my goals and what I was here for. You know, I knew if I played good and I could provide for my family. So I didn't really, you know, I just did my job the best way I know how. And I enjoyed the moment with them while we on the field. But outside the field, it was, it was more so silence. Uh, it was a lot of time spent with myself, learning about myself, uh, learning about the sport and what I can and can't do, uh, in the sport. It is, it is different, for sure.

• 17:33Channing Crowder?

  What did, what did you learn about yourself in that time?

• 17:35Speaker 03

  I could just be the best version of myself, how I can be the best version of myself. And also the way that I'm playing also allowed me to build, you know, the confidence. So now it's, shit, I don't care. You know, when I walk in, the table gonna shift towards me anyway. You know what I mean? So, uh, I set the vibes. So, uh, just, just being able to do that because, uh, you know, I continued to kept working. I haven't mastered it yet, but I'm still working to master it.

• 17:59Channing Crowder?

  Well, like, only player to hit over 300 in four straight years. You, you figure something out, goddamn you.

• 18:05Fred Taylor?

  Crazy, right? But you, uh, you gonna be a free agent at the end of the year? If the Sox don't pick up the option. Do you prefer to stay in Chicago? Or do you, you hope they don't pick up the option so you can become a free agent, test the market? Because, what is it, a 14 million?

• 18:21Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:21Fred Taylor?

  Uh, bo, uh, option?

• 18:22Speaker 03

  Hmm.

• 18:23Fred Taylor?

  Most shortstops are getting around, what, 27 to 30, 33? How do you feel about, do you, would you prefer to stay in Chicago or?

• 18:31Speaker 03

  It's just one of those things. I, I understand the business, you know? If they wanna keep me, then cool. And if they don't, then cool. Either way, you know, yeah, yeah, the numbers are different when it comes to the shortstop. And, uh, I think everybody know, you know, they know, you know, my time's coming. I'm gonna be patient. I'm just continue to keep working and, uh, whatever's for me gonna come to me anyway.

• 18:49Fred Taylor?

  You prefer shortstop over second base?

• 18:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 18:53Speaker 00

  Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard? But not the pipeline? That's bull spend. And marketers are calling it out in Dashboard Confessions.

• 19:02Speaker 01

  My boss asked for results? So I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had: impressions.

• 19:09Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad networks. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 19:23Speaker 03

  Yeah, you only play second base in the WBC, yeah. But I gotta get, I gotta get my check for where I've been at right now. And I've been at short, you know what I mean? But we could talk after, you know, you pay me as a shortstop or handle me as a shortstop. Then maybe we could talk after. If, if that's the fact of, you know, second base being an option. Uh, but for the most part, you know, I'm a shortstop.

• 19:43Channing Crowder?

  I actually wanna bring that up because you mentioned kind of...

• 19:47Ryan Clark?

  Having to be a loner, be away from teammates when you are away from the ballpark, or when you are away from the clubhouse, and then coming in and setting the vibe, right? You know, like, there could be a reputation, a reputation gained from that, where people are like, "Man, Tim, all he care about is just ball. Tim ain't really a great teammate." You know, it's always that, "Who's a great teammate? Is he a clubhouse guy?"

• 20:10Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:10Ryan Clark?

  You hear those things. This summer, you went and told the team, "I'll play second base," so you could have, it was yourself, who was playing short?

• 20:20Speaker 03

  That was BC, Trey Turner.

• 20:22Ryan Clark?

  Trey Turner, so they could have both of you guys out there at the same time. That way, both of you are in the lineup. That's an unselfish act.

• 20:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure.

• 20:30Ryan Clark?

  Right? In a situation to where someone as good as you are, as accomplished as you are, could be like, "I don't care who the other shortstop is, that's what I'm gonna do."

• 20:39Speaker 03

  You gotta understand the situation. You know, we in the WBC. We got the whole world watching. And for me to, you know, be able to crack that lineup and play second, like, I get a chance to show the world my talent, and also show how unique I am to be able to slide over to second and not play there at all, and go out and have a good time, and basically be the everyday second baseman for the BC.

• 21:02Speaker 03

  But at the same time, it helps me too. You know, it boosts my value up, because it's like, "Oh, he can play second too." But I'm an athlete, so I could really play anywhere. It's just up on, do I want to do it or not? But, you know, sliding over to second, definitely. Just show, you know, was able to showcase my talent to, you know, to the world.

• 21:19Ryan Clark?

  The executive vice president of the White Sox, when you were coming out, he said he reserves a certain evaluation or analysis that he doesn't give most hitters. And he actually said you had athleticism at the plate, which you are a hooper, and, you know, those type of skills translate directly over. But I also want to talk a little bit about... Like, the reason a lot of us don't play baseball is because it just seems boring. Like, when you're in the ballpark, it's an exciting thing. When you're watching it on TV, you watch a dude pitch a ball, and sometimes it get hit. And if you get hit, sometimes people catch it. But you have, you know, the bat flips, the celebration, and you take a little heat for that. And I think we all know and understand why.

• 22:01Ryan Clark?

  But one of the coolest moments I've seen from you is the walk off at the Field of Dreams.

• 22:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 22:07Ryan Clark?

  Right, and you're running around the bases and you're hitting them with as you're coming around. You're fired up. Talk a little bit about that experience, man, and what that felt like. Because that had to be one of those moments that you were like, you know what? I'm supposed to be here.

• 22:19Speaker 03

  It was definitely different. Uh, the whole day was, was different, but, uh, you know, the vibes was, was so cool just being able to, you know, this is the first game in the Field of Dreams, and you got everybody watching. So it's like, you want to do something dope that, you know, that make people, you know, pay attention. But, you know, definitely, you know, walking off against the Yankees was, was definitely one of those, was one of those vibes.

• 22:43Ryan Clark?

  No, baseball don't want you to do nothing dope.

• 22:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 22:49Speaker 03

  You're right, but that was a good moment for baseball. I think it opened, it opened up a lot of people's eyes, uh, that it can be fun. Uh, you can do bat flips, you can celebrate. Now you see it, you know, they promoting it. Uh, they got celebration for home runs in the dugout. You know, the next year, they, uh, they had Tatis on the front of the, the cover flipping the bat. So, uh, and that came after the 2019 incident. And I got suspended for that incident, but the next year, we promoted that incident.

• 23:16Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 23:16Speaker 03

  And, and now that's, that's growing the game, and we still promoting it. So it definitely was, uh, you know, one of those moments that was different for me because, uh, you know, they tried to dim my light, but I continue to keep going and, uh, you know, continue to, uh, have fun with it.

• 23:29Ryan Clark?

  They're changing real rules in baseball. They got the pitch clock, they got the bases, they done made the bases big as hell. They, they saucers now. Can they, can, I don't know how to change unwritten rules because they unwritten, but how does that happen when they can now embrace, you bring up Tatis, you bring up, you know, excitement, you bring up, they trying to honestly monetarily bring a younger crowd into this game?

• 23:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:50Ryan Clark?

  Because if you get all 67, 80 years watching the game, they gonna die soon.

• 23:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:57Ryan Clark?

  Hall of fans can't die, Chad.

• 23:59Speaker 03

  Motherfuckers die.

• 24:01Ryan Clark?

  Every day you close the dime, brother. But like, are those, are there the players? Like, can the pitchers not be so sensitive? If I show you out, damn it, I hit the ball, like.

• 24:12Speaker 03

  I mean, but you got, you got, you got best of both worlds. You got some guys that don't like it, some guys that do. But I think it's about, like, you gotta think about, like, how hard the sport is, man. And you, and you get to the point to where you, where you hit a homerun in, in the big league stadium, like, what's the chances of that happen? You know how many people trying to get to the league? You know how many people trying to get a, just one at bat in, in the big league stadium? So to hit a homerun, I think it's only right to, like, enjoy it. Like, that don't happen every day.

• 24:43Fred Taylor?

  And with that, Tim, you a two-time All-Star. Earlier in the season, you had some, some early adversity with some injuries. Uh, and I, I was reading some stuff they mentioned about being in a slump. But you made a quote, I just wanna read it real quick. "It's okay to suck for three to four weeks to be great for the rest of your life. It's about changing, making adjustments and growing. Growth and accountability." Could you take us a little bit further into that? And how does that affect your, your personal life and your personal self?

• 25:14Speaker 03

  I think, like, you gonna always go through things. Uh, to be great, you just gotta understand, you know what the task is. If you're always great, then you, you can't learn anything. So I think it's just a learning process, uh, of making adjustments, you know, through our life, making adjustments throughout the sport, and just always being a student to the game. And, and I'm always open to learning, and I'm always open to growing, and I'm always open to, you know, to better myself.

• 25:41Ryan Clark?

  Those statements are a unique segue into where life has been for you this year and in this season of your life. You mentioned growth, you mentioned learning, you mentioned bettering yourself. Sometimes there are gonna be some setbacks and mistakes made and bad decisions that affect people that are close to you. During those times, I mean, me and you been back and forth trying to get this done. And initially for me, it was that my son loves you. And my son doesn't even rock with baseball like that. But even he, you know, like, that's why I started following you. He reposted you on his story one day and I was like, oh, let me go check him out though. You know, and so now getting to this point and, you know, even something your father said is like, yeah, I know Tim had some dark times.

• 26:25Ryan Clark?

  I know Tim has dealt with certain things. When you look at where you are from a mental standpoint and emotionally now, how has some of the adversities and things you've gone through helped you get to this point? And do you feel you are still growing?

• 26:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, we talking about pain all the way back to, you know, to being a kid. You know, even from, you know, from my dad being in prison, just being absent. That's a lot, you know, to even have to, you know, deal with. Cause you need, you need that as a, as a young kid. But you know, as I think back on, you know, really all the things from losing a close friend.

• 27:03Ryan Clark?

  Brandon.

• 27:04Speaker 03

  Yeah, you know, just losing my grandma this, you know, a couple of months ago. So it's always, you know, it's always something that you wrestling with inside. That brings a lot of pain, you know, you be at the lowest points in life to, you know, try to continue to better yourself in it. It just, it makes it harder. The task is continue to get harder and you just continue to keep fighting. And I just, you know, try to continue to keep pushing to, to better myself as a whole, to better myself around people, but always, you know, do it with love. Just try to continue to, you know, stay in that love phase. And I ain't perfect, you know what I mean? But I try to be as perfect as I can.

• 27:42Speaker 03

  And nobody really know what you really wrestling with, you know, behind the scenes. But I think the ultimate goal is just to try to keep going and keep pushing.

• 27:51Ryan Clark?

  You know, all of us are, or were, I'm definitely can't say it anymore, were athletes. And we also understand outside of being athletes, we're humans. We deal with pain, you deal with loss, you deal with. Making decisions that not only affect you, but affect those around you. You're married to your wife, Bria. You both, you guys started the League of Leaders because of your friend, Brandon Moss, who was shot and killed, you know, to speak out against gun violence. But you have one of those families, whether it's because you were both very attractive people or you're both successful people. Your wife was an English teacher. It's the community latches on to you, right? The culture latches on to you.

• 28:36Ryan Clark?

  Like, you're a handsome dude, right? She's a beautiful woman, no thing happen. You have beautiful girls, right? Two beautiful daughters. But lately, it hasn't been about the home runs. It hasn't been about how talented Tim is. It's been about what type of husband is Tim. It's been about the messiness or the pettiness that can become part of the marketing of gossip sites. And in dealing with that, like, I know, it's one thing to deal with things in your house personally and privately. It's another thing to have to deal with them publicly. It's another thing for you to be reminded, and also your wife be reminded, of what you guys are going through. As you said, sometimes you never know what people are going through. We actually know what you're going through.

• 29:21Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 29:21Ryan Clark?

  When you look at that situation, how difficult has that been for you?

• 29:25Speaker 03

  You know, it's been going on for a minute now. You know, and just trying to get to a place because the days continue to keep coming and I continue to have to keep playing, you know what I mean, through this. But, you know, you try to make it right, you know, the best way you can, you know, behind the scenes. And that's something that I, that I did. But, you know, people gonna always have their thoughts on how they see things. And so for me, I just really, you know, try to ignore a lot of things that go on or what a lot of people say because I know, you know, my truth and I know, you know, I know what's real and what's not. So I just try to continue to handle it the best way I know how and not really get distracted because at the end of the day, I'm on a mission.

• 30:03Fred Taylor?

  Tim, let me say this, man. This ain't a gossip site.

• 30:06Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, for sure.

• 30:06Fred Taylor?

  Me personally, I was hesitant to even bring up that stuff, but it's part of life. You know, it's part of your truth, and you can speak to that. But what I'm more proud of is that in February, you stepped up to the plate. You know, you were accountable. You know, you made a decision. You say, "Look, the world, this is my truth." You know, but I don't know your truth. I want you to speak to that. You know, gossip sites are just that. They're gossip sites. They don't have everything.

• 30:37Ryan Clark?

  I think what Freddie's trying to say too, we want to be very respectful because the news that we do have comes from that, or comes from social media or something.

• 30:46Fred Taylor?

  Let me say this too, because when I mentioned Peyton and Paxton.

• 30:49Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 30:50Fred Taylor?

  I only saw, from doing research, you mentioned your son as 007. I didn't know his name, so I didn't want to just blurt anything out. But I want to give you that moment to, you know, speak and let the world know, "This is my son." This is just something I'm proud of.

• 31:04Speaker 03

  You know, I never once denied it. You know, I always, you know, I'm always gonna, I'm gonna step up to the plate with mine because that goes back to, you know, when I was a kid and my dad. You know, I know what it feel like not having your dad around, so 1,000%. You know, I never, you know, I was there, been there, gonna always be there. And gonna always do what's right, you know, for my kids, because that's mine. Regardless of what anybody says, or however he came, you know what I mean? But that's just, that's mine, for sure.

• 31:41Ryan Clark?

  You and Bria have Paxton and Peyton. Now, you have Seven. It becomes more of fodder when those things are happening so publicly.

• 31:53Speaker 03

  And we go, I'm gonna make it, it's open to where we all can be comfortable.

• 31:56Ryan Clark?

  No, and 100%, and we want to be comfortable, but more than anything, we want to be respectful.

• 32:01Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 32:01Ryan Clark?

  We're all married men. You're a married man who publicly had a baby. Right outside of his marriage.

• 32:06Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 32:07Ryan Clark?

  Right away, the people from the outside are gonna perceive that as sinful, as the devil, as he can't be a good man, he can't be the husband or the father that he said he was. And then you add on to that, it just keeps coming, right? It's, "We're gonna post this picture, we're gonna have this conversation publicly, we're gonna do those things." How has that been for you to handle at your house with Bria? Because it's... Okay, you say, "Okay, I handled the situation. This is who I am. That's my son. I'm gonna take care of him." But you also have three people in your house that you're taking care of. You have Bria's name stitched on your glove. She's out supporting you and clapping for you. And when she's doing that, bro, you already know she's gonna get why you there.

• 32:50Speaker 03

  Right.

• 32:50Ryan Clark?

  So how has it been dealing with what is going on privately? And having seven while outside your marriage? And having to deal with that with Bria? And make those things right with her?

• 33:02Speaker 03

  You know, we went to therapy. Just really digging into, you know, what was it? What caused me to, you know, go into, you know, these spaces? Or even that space to even create that? It's a tough conversation. It's a tough situation. You know, I feel like we did a lot of work as far as, you know, understanding it and showing my love to, you know, to my wife and to my kids. But, you know, it's something that I'm still going through, trying to, you know, trying to master it to get to the point to where I'm okay with walking in and then stepping in it a thousand percent, for sure.

• 33:35Ryan Clark?

  I'm just gonna be honest with you. There is no mastery of it. As someone who has dealt with ego, as someone who has dealt with selfishness, and I understand how difficult it is to earn trust. And in earning trust, how hard it is to build it back. Like, if you take the finest piece of china, the finest piece of jewelry, if you take a vase, like if you nick it, if it gets scratched, it's worth less, right? And it's, but if you crack it, if you break it, and now you're trying to piece it together with super glue, bro, every wind that blows, it's shaking.

• 34:13Speaker 03

  Right.

• 34:13Ryan Clark?

  Every time you bump into the table, it's sitting on, it's shaking. And you could have a million days where you take care of it perfectly. And the one day that you don't... It remembers that it was broken. It remembers that it was nicked. It remembers that it was cracked. And that trust, man, takes, it takes a lifetime to continue to build. That trust takes a lifetime to continue to show the correct level of remorse to where it's ever satisfied. And it's about our priorities. It's about understanding how to sacrifice. And all those things are hard, dog. Like, they really are. When we grow up the way we do

• 34:56Ryan Clark?

  and saying, "We gotta take care of self and be individual in our focus," it's easy when it comes to our kids. It's been more difficult when it's come to my wife. And understanding how each and every decision I make that I believe honors me doesn't necessarily honor her. In truth, what decisions can I make to honor myself through her? And I'm still working through that, bro. And that's still difficult for me. So I'm not here to give you excuses. I'm not here to talk about the darkness. I'm here to say, man, that it's a continual fight and a journey. And I am proud that you can be honest enough to say, "I'm working through it and trying to master it."

• 35:37Fred Taylor?

  And I do like the fact that Bria, she stepped up and said, "Look, this is about my family. I don't have time for internet games." For all of you guys, being young adults, younger, much younger than me, you know, the responsibility is to the children. You know, to your son Seven. And stepping up to the plate and making sure that he is the only priority in all of this because it's gonna affect his upbringing.

• 36:00Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, for sure.

• 36:01Fred Taylor?

  You know, he can, like you say, you had dark times. Kids go through these mental phases. When they can look around and see how things are, how the adults are acting, that affects them. So within all of this, the outside noise can continue to stay strong in your house on what you believe in, but lead that young man. Please lead that young man, because we need these strong, strong-minded individuals.

• 36:25Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, most definitely. I never really wanted to, you know, play the internet game. And I never, I never did. You know, I always wanted to, I wanted to stay into like the real life, you know, the real life phase of, of.

• 36:39Speaker 03

  Of what I've created and just try to, you know, try to handle it the best way I can and uh, kind of more so keeping people out of the business. Because nobody really never understood, you know, what I was going through when, when uh, when I was making those decisions or, or where my heart was or what was on my mind or how hurt I was or, you know, how lonely I felt. But ultimately, like, you know, the goal was never to really, you know, kind of play with anybody's feelings. It was more so, you know, I just trying to, you know, find who I am, continue to keep going and identify myself. I made a couple of decisions that probably shouldn't have been made along the way, but I'm open to, you know, dealing with them and growing with them because, I mean, this is what it is and I'm,

• 37:23Speaker 03

  I'm willing to take whatever smoke that comes with it. And I just really want to be honest and really the most honest as I can be with the world, you know, with the people around me, with the people that I love and just continue to keep, you know, stepping by faith and having faith in everything I do. And just knowing that all is gonna get better at the end of the day. It's all working out for the good.

• 37:46Channing Crowder?

  And tough times are real, real ones to me.

• 37:48Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 37:49Channing Crowder?

  When everything going good, when I'm balling, playing well and all. Yeah, everybody gonna be around patting you on the back. Then you have tough times. And the real ones, Bria, shout her out first and foremost. But who else was there for you because, like you said, there's a lot of people in your life, but at different levels, but going through something like this, you gonna see the real ones, Steph.

• 38:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, it really wasn't really, I couldn't really say it was too deep. You know what I mean? Like, obviously my homies, you know, Bria and my therapist. You know, uh, you know, it was a lot of work behind the scenes as what I did to get, obviously to build, to build this up for even me to come talk to you guys. Like, we've been trying to make this happen for so long and I've been, you know, telling like, man, I'm, I'm working on myself. You know what I mean? Like, because I don't, you know, I didn't really feel comfortable with, you know, speaking out or talking about this situation because I just didn't know what to say. And it's still, it's still like that. I mean, I know how to maneuver around it and handle it, but as far as like speaking about it, like. That's still tough on me, but you know, we growing. We growing and we getting better every day.

• 38:53Speaker 03

  Uh, all I can do is continue to have faith and uh, you know, keep believing the path that I'm on. And uh, that is all working out for the good for sure.

• 39:01Ryan Clark?

  What were some of those things, if you're comfortable?

• 39:03Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:04Ryan Clark?

  What were some of those things that you were dealing with or some of those things you needed someone to understand? Because this is outside looking in, right? This is devil's advocate.

• 39:14Speaker 03

  Right, right, right.

• 39:14Ryan Clark?

  He's handsome.

• 39:15Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:15Ryan Clark?

  He's rich now, right? He got, he has homeboys who has passed. He understands how blessed he is to be where he is, right? He's uber talented, he's popular, he's famous, like has a beautiful family. From the outside looking in, it's like, man, everything should be right with who Tim Anderson Jr. is. What were some of those things that you felt were weighing on you during those times?

• 39:38Speaker 03

  It was, it was, it was a lot, but it's more so like, it's just one of those things that um, you know, I would, I would rather, you know, not, not talk about, you know, some of the things that I was going through. Um, cause it's, it's always about building people up and not tearing them down. So I, I, I always want to build, you know, build people up and, and, and uh, you know, try to always make it better. But as I was going through those though, it was tough, but you know, to be where I am today, like, and that was just what, like a year ago, like it's crazy just, you know, the path and uh, you know, just the belief that I have, um, even just to be right here to even talk to y'all, like it's crazy.

• 40:20Speaker 03

  Cause I remember when I was first going through it, like I didn't want to be seen. Uh, I didn't want to be talked to, like, but I still had to go out and play. So that even made it a whole lot tougher on me for sure.

• 40:32Ryan Clark?

  You are now at a place where you're at least attempting to, to speak on it. What is that growth process? Been like for you because anytime you are in one of those places, the growth process is hard.

• 40:48Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure.

• 40:48Ryan Clark?

  Having the honest conversations, not just about what happens with other people, but about who I am, where I am, what I'm dealing with. That gets to be very difficult and sometimes that could send you spiraling as well because you're like, man, I didn't even think about that. I didn't even think about this thing I dealt with growing up. I didn't even think about how this affected me or how seeing certain things done this way has made me who I am. Right? Like I deal with those things now as well. Like, oh, yeah, that situation was something I saw with my mother, my father. Here's now me dealing with it at 40. For you, as you've been going through this process and now it seems are starting to feel a little better, how has it been just trying to deal with some of those things?

• 41:32Ryan Clark?

  And as you said, too, perform at this high level that's expected of you on the field every day?

• 41:37Speaker 03

  I think when I get to the ballpark, it's just, you know, this is my place of peace and, you know, happiness to kind of get away from everything and everybody. So I kind of, I just really lock in and just try to, you know, focus on.

• 41:50Speaker 00

  Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard? But not the pipeline? That's bull spend and marketers are calling it out in. Dashboard Confessions.

• 41:59Speaker 01

  My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had. Impressions.

• 42:07Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad networks. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 42:20Speaker 03

  What I'm doing at the moment to have fun because on the field, like I have fun. I don't think about nothing. I ain't worried about nothing. It's just, you know, when you leave the field, that's when everything really, you know, starts to, you know, pick up again. And that could be the hard part, but for the most part, like I stay away from the phone and I just try to live in the real life space. You know, at the beginning of the month, all the bills due. The real, the real life space.

• 42:44Ryan Clark?

  That's real.

• 42:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 42:46Ryan Clark?

  That's real.

• 42:46Speaker 03

  I just try to stay in the real life space and. And just and and and and feed my kids the right way and and and guide them the right way and and and be open with them, you know, because that's gonna be a day that's gonna come that I'm gonna have to explain that and I'm gonna be open as I can because I think they need to understand, you know, what I was going through at that time and and just also they need to understand how the world works as well.

• 43:11Channing Crowder?

  Does the organization reach out to you? Do the teams try to help you knowing because football is so big, bro. It's fifty something dudes, these guys coming in and out every day. Like, I don't think they have time to really worry about it.

• 43:22Speaker 03

  But you gotta think about like what sport I'm in too. It's not really a black man's sport. I don't think they really know how know how to handle it or what to do. So I think they they see it, obviously, but nobody really say anything, you know, nobody really. You know, as long as I'm as long as I'm I'm I'm coming to the field, I'm playing shortstop, I'm leading off and I'm and doing pretty good, then they they cool with it. But it has been a little conversation, but not much. A lot been, you know, taken on within myself and my team to, you know, try to better myself and and and better the situation on how to handle things. And I just really like be real low key and understand the situation and and and move in in the best way I know how to to continue to keep growing and, you

• 44:06Speaker 03

  know, continue to keep, you know, receiving blessings.

• 44:09Fred Taylor?

  Timo, I want to go back real quick. The transition from Tuscaloosa and then...

• 44:14Channing Crowder?

  See Fred, that's not how you say that. Fred, that's not how you say that damn word.

• 44:18Fred Taylor?

  Tuscaloosa. Relax, brother. I had a little...

• 44:21Channing Crowder?

  You said it three times, Fred. I had to get you.

• 44:23Fred Taylor?

  All right, from Bama.

• 44:24Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure.

• 44:25Fred Taylor?

  To to Chi- Chicago as a young man. Like, what was that transition like?

• 44:29Speaker 03

  It was kind of the same, you know, just a bigger city. You know, I was definitely open for it because I knew at that time I was networking. Like you said, I was building a brand, you know, so I was coming across a lot of people and and and shaking a lot of hands and and and meeting a lot of people. So that was my goal of of moving there. And then I also had signed my contract, you know, to be there. So I was committed, you know, been brought into Chicago. I mean, it kind of been like home, you know, being on the south side, you know, they embraced me. A lot of kids, I mean, I look like them. Same story. The same music, just like them.

• 45:02Speaker 03

  So I felt the avenue was was easy for me to step into to to continue to keep motivating and inspiring in my own way. And, you know, just be real, make sure everything match across the board, the way I talk, the way I walk, my actions and everything, just making sure everything match.

• 45:17Fred Taylor?

  Mentioning TA7, your apparel line, your clothing line. I see the perfect thing in my head. I see truth, authenticity.

• 45:26Speaker 03

  It don't match.

• 45:27Fred Taylor?

  Trust and accountability, seven days a week.

• 45:30Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 45:30Fred Taylor?

  Don't steal my shit.

• 45:31Speaker 03

  Perfect completion.

• 45:32Fred Taylor?

  Don't steal my shit.

• 45:33Speaker 03

  Perfect completion.

• 45:34Fred Taylor?

  Perfect completion, for sure.

• 45:35Speaker 03

  Steal it.

• 45:36Fred Taylor?

  Steal it.

• 45:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, steal it, steal it.

• 45:37Ryan Clark?

  It was already mine.

• 45:40Ryan Clark?

  Still, you, you know, you mentioned the kids, though. South side of Chicago and being able to relate to them. You've also spoken publicly about how expensive this sport is. Chan talks about it all the time and like that sometimes young African Americans or young kids from certain communities, they get priced out of being able to do it. You've reached back into the community of Chicago. You, especially in a place that does have the level of gun violence that it that it has. And you've been true to trying to get back in the community. Why has that been so important for you, especially as you continue to ascend as a player?

• 46:20Speaker 03

  I think like, why not? Like, like the kids, they're our future. Because there's so much information that's that's really not right and they take in a lot. So I think it's right to give them the truth and I'm open. So I'm living with the good, the bad and the ugly in front of the world. And so, but I also get a chance to show, show the world that I can continue to be great through the good, the bad and the ugly. So, and I think that's good for the kids as well because, I mean, they only see the good stuff. So if you seeing everything and seeing everything that I'm overcoming. Then they gonna be bought in easily. So I think that's the right thing to do. And I mean, it's easy, man.

• 46:55Channing Crowder?

  Do we get to, do we get to come to the sneaker joint the next time?

• 46:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure. Heck yeah, I definitely want y'all there.

• 47:01Channing Crowder?

  He can't come, that's the best shoes he got, Tim.

• 47:03Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 47:04Channing Crowder?

  I'm letting you know.

• 47:05Speaker 03

  Well, I mean, he got time. He got time.

• 47:07Channing Crowder?

  I ain't spending money, boy got on Louis shoes. Louis Vuitton to walk on the dirt, it don't make sense to me, bro. Not really, I just, I just can't. You know what? Because you know, does my son need a $350 bat? He can't hit the same with an $80 bat.

• 47:23Speaker 03

  I mean, it may not go as far.

• 47:25Channing Crowder?

  I want his Mariucha or something like that, Mariucha.

• 47:28Speaker 03

  Marucci?

• 47:28Channing Crowder?

  Yeah. So you know where he was the head trainer for, for decades? Where? LSU. He, well, they robbing, they robbing people.

• 47:36Speaker 03

  That's what, that's what.

• 47:37Channing Crowder?

  Well, guess what? He ain't the trainer no more. Because he ain't gotta be. I'm paying, I'm paying a salary with my damn bats out by every year.

• 47:44Speaker 03

  It's worth it though, but you got, you got to think about like, in, in, in, in the baseball sport like this. They take care of you though, once you make it. You know what I mean? They take care of you, like, contract's different. Uh, you just got to prove it. You just got to prove that you, you one of them. And, uh, it's gonna be out there for you.

• 48:00Channing Crowder?

  Being priced out?

• 48:01Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 48:01Channing Crowder?

  How, what's the answer to getting more African-American men? Young men that don't have the resources? I have the resources.

• 48:07Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 48:08Channing Crowder?

  But they don't have the resources into this game?

• 48:10Speaker 03

  It's always tough. Uh, because it, because it, you know, a, a, as being black, you can get hit with the ball one time and won't go back to it. So it's just, I mean, you can't really say what it is. I mean, all you can do is just try to find somebody to inspire them to play it. Um, and, and that's why I was doing the highlight videos at the time and, and, and doing certain things on social media to make the sport look cool. It's not really cool. Like in basketball, you see different commercials, you see them wearing doper shoes. And football too, you see all the different colors, you see, uh, different kind of cleats of what they doing in the, in the jury and just really a whole lot. And, but in baseball, you don't, you don't see that. It's just, it's plain Jane. That's kind of why I try to do things the way I do.

• 48:54Speaker 03

  Uh, more so on the, on the basketball, on the football, football side and not just be labeled as a baseball player. Like, uh, you know, trying to make the sport look cool and have fun with it.

• 49:03Channing Crowder?

  Talk about getting hit with the ball.

• 49:05Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:06Channing Crowder?

  When you know you bout to get hit, you done show somebody, you know that man bout to throw that ball at you real hard.

• 49:12Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:12Channing Crowder?

  How did, like, you walking up to the box, what you thinking, like,

• 49:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:16Channing Crowder?

  I'm bout to hit.

• 49:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, you gon', you gon', you gon' be pissed, for sure.

• 49:20Channing Crowder?

  Do you?

• 49:22Speaker 03

  Man, you just try to tighten up the best way you can. You just let it bounce off of you, for sure.

• 49:28Fred Taylor?

  Channing mentioned the price of the bat, which prompted investment, you know, and sacrifice in my mind. Because I know you sacrifice and you get what you want, right? On your business acumen. How, how are you invested, how are you involved in business?

• 49:42Speaker 03

  As, as far as like...

• 49:43Fred Taylor?

  Like endeavors?

• 49:44Speaker 03

  See, that's something that I'm tapping into now as I'm, as I'm growing, you know, I'm trying to, you know, I'm learning the business side of things as I continue to keep playing. You know, yeah, I got, I got my first contract, but that ain't really where I need to be. You know, I need, I need to continue to keep going and try to get one more. That way I could really tap into things that I really want to do for the community. And what I really want to do on the business side to continue to keep growing. Uh, you know, my goal is to, you know, really have an agency as well. Um, to, to get these, you know, these young athletes the game on, on how to move and, and how to handle the situation and how to continue to keep bettering yourself. And having the right resources and having the right people in your corner and not just there for the money.

• 50:27Fred Taylor?

  I, I can say there's two guys who look like you. One is a legend, obviously, Ken Griffey. We had him on the show. Uh, business acumen, he's an amazing person. And another guy, Tory Hunter, didn't even talk to you on the side.

• 50:41Speaker 03

  Yeah, I done pinged that both of those guys.

• 50:43Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, so that's what I'm saying, those would be great resources. Uh, so your biggest pivot in life, where has that been?

• 50:51Speaker 03

  Man, getting drafted, for real, just really having an opportunity. Even having a scholarship to college, I had one, I had one scholarship and I was able to turn it into this. So just really having that chance to have that opportunity is really like the biggest moment for me because I took advantage of it and I continue to keep learning how to get better, using the right resources to get better and still doing it. Uh, every offseason to continue to chase greatness. Being successful, it comes with a lot, you know. Uh, but I'm definitely in for the ride to... To continue to try to, you know, I want to be the biggest. You know, I want to be the greatest that ever played the sport. I just continue to keep working and keep trying to find the right resources that I need to, to make me a better infielder, a better hitter, even a better teammate.

• 51:35Speaker 03

  Uh, so it's just really just all around the boards, all angles.

• 51:38Ryan Clark?

  First off, thank you.

• 51:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure.

• 51:40Ryan Clark?

  I just think that, one, what you did was really difficult. I, I do believe that. I do believe not only the journey in what you're dealing with privately, but to be enough of a man to say, I wasn't ready at one point, and now I am. So I want to say from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you.

• 52:00Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 52:00Ryan Clark?

  Secondly, as we're rapping, just being human in general is hard to do.

• 52:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, for sure.

• 52:06Ryan Clark?

  Being a man, being a father, being a husband, it's all very difficult. You add to that, working to be an elite athlete every single day of your life, and then now I want to give the game back. Now I want to be in the community. And sometimes as we are building these lives, not purposely on our faults, and not because we are attempting to do a certain thing, there's this bubble that gets created of our perfection.

• 52:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 52:34Ryan Clark?

  And a lot of times when that bubble's burst, that bubble's burst in our homes.

• 52:38Speaker 03

  Mm-hmm.

• 52:39Ryan Clark?

  Right? And that's the time we have to look in the mirror. Those are the conversations that we have. It's very, very, very difficult when it's burst publicly.

• 52:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 52:47Ryan Clark?

  And so you, man, like, we've all been through things. I want to support you. If you ever need me, if you ever need Fred, Chan, whatever, man, you can reach out to me at any time. Like, just keep being you, bruh. Like, keep being authentic. And at the end of the day, try to behave in a way where you can respect yourself.

• 53:08Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 53:09Ryan Clark?

  Cause if we can't do that, bruh, like, we can't.

• 53:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's why you never really see me, you know, uh, do anything internet-wise or, or go crazy, cause it's, you know, I know my truth and I know, you know, I know what I have to do to, to make it better. And, and to go back to even trying to be greatness, like, you got guys like LeBron and, and Michael Jordan, these guys giving you the blueprint as long as you're paying attention. You just gotta know how to put the pieces together. And, and I watch a lot of y'all podcasts and, and there's a lot of good shit on there. So it's like, I learned, you know, I learned through that. So I, I wa- I watched a lot of motivational, uh, things to, you know, continue to keep me going and, and make sure I'm aligned in the right way that I need to be.

• 53:49Ryan Clark?

  Well, you know, man, I know MJ was a player you idolized. You know, growing up, you were born a day after they celebrated their championship over the Phoenix Suns in 1993.

• 54:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, you know that.

• 54:02Ryan Clark?

  Let's get it, fucker right here, boy.

• 54:04Speaker 03

  He do it homework, man.

• 54:06Ryan Clark?

  Uh, my man, you know, and that's the type of greatness that I think we should all chase in all facets of our life, man. Just as a, as a OG and an uncle, as I guess I am now with all this gray hair, man, uh, I'm proud of you, bro, and I'm rooting for you.

• 54:20Channing Crowder?

  You wanna share shoe collections?

• 54:22Speaker 03

  Huh?

• 54:22Channing Crowder?

  Wanna share shoe collections?

• 54:23Speaker 03

  We probably can.

• 54:26Ryan Clark?

  Hey, yo, hey. You wanna get through his collection real quick, Tim? That's gonna happen real fast.

• 54:30Speaker 03

  I appreciate it.

• 54:31Ryan Clark?

  Oh, yeah, Tim, I feel like high school out of guys. You won the state championship, right?

• 54:34Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 54:34Ryan Clark?

  Me too. Yeah, me too.

• 54:36Speaker 03

  Everybody got their opinions, you know?

• 54:38Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 54:39Speaker 03

  Y'all been broke.