Rob: Today on the Pro Talk Podcast, we're joined by a former professional baseball player and recent Hall of Fame inductee until the Wheeler High School baseball Hall of Fame. I want to welcome Joey Mo Monahan to the Pro Talk Podcast. How are ya? Joey Monahan: I'm doing well and and thank you for reminding me of that. Rob: You're signing autographs every day here in Marietta, aren't you? Joey Monahan: I'll I mean gosh, you you walk through anywhere in East Cobb and everybody knows exactly who I am from nineteen Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: ninety whenever that was. Yeah. Yeah. Rob: Yeah, it's okay. It's legacy, man. Yeah. Well, a little bit about your background. You were Georgia All State honors. You were first team all Cobb County. If anybody doesn't know about baseball in Georgia, it's pretty high level, and especially Cobb County where we live. from age ten on up. It's it might be a little bit much, but there's some serious baseball played here and and you dominated, man. How about that? Joey Monahan: I don't know if I dominated. It certainly was certainly was different then. I'm t I'm talking and gosh my brother Shane Monaghan who who was three time All American at Clemson, first round draft pick with Seattle Mariners, you know, back in the late eighties to I graduated in ninety nine, but East Cobb at the time was made up of basically your Wheeler, Walton, Lasseter, Pope, Sprayberry, Alsburn, Camp I mean really Cobb County. And and it they would just pick a hand I mean there was two or three teams. And then we would go play other teams out of state and whatnot. and yet you would typically find that you were the biggest competition was right inside of East Cobb. and now I think to your point there's eight year old, nine year old, ten year old going all the way up, so it's just it's a different beast. It is a totally different beast now and I don't I don't know if I don't know if I would have been a good player nowadays. Rob: Well. Well the Kareem rises to the top, right? So there you Joey Monahan: That's right. Yep. Rob: go. So well y also you also were a two time all conference player at Liberty University. were you drafted after your second year or when were you drafted? In which round? Joey Monahan: Yeah, I was fortunate so my senior year at Wheeler, I got drafted in a thirty sixth round by the twins and knew all along that, you know, obviously being that that late of a pick, I wasn't gonna go anywhere. One, there's no there wasn't any I just wasn't ready, at the end of the day and I knew that and and I I it's interesting. Liberty I had never heard of I don't think anybody had really ever heard of Liberty University. Now it's it's gotten to be a well-known name. but they were that it seemed at the time, I'm doing really well, Rob, up through high school and on the East Cobb teams and felt overlooked, I guess. And that might have come from the pressure of having an older brother and everybody thinking I'm gonna go to Clemson, but long story short, you didn't ask that. Well, I do remember the hitting coach or outfield coach or or one of the main recruiting coaches at Liberty. he took my mother and I and and dad out to dinner at Frankie's, right here in that Frankie's an old staple Italian Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: joint that we used to always go to. And he looked my parents flat in the face and said, Your son will be an all-American at Liberty University. And I'm like, yeah, right, you know, my brothers did clumps in. So, but I was so I'm so grateful that Liberty did give me the opportunity to play there. yes, had some good had some good times, had some good numbers. all conference, all American and I you know, this day and age they tell you what round they think you're gonna go in and it's like a crystal ball, right? You you you you you're you're told from all the scouts and cross checkers and agents and whatever that you'll be X round pick. And you know, I'd heard a few times, fourth, fifth round, something like that, and ended up going it's not like it is today where it's on TV and it was just basically I think I think it was on the internet maybe. and by the time we got to the fifth round, I just decided I'm gonna go cut the grass or something. And and then we got a call seventh round by the Chicago Cubs. Rob: Nice. So is that overwhelming, scary, or let's go? Joey Monahan: It was as much as I appreciated Liberty, I it was it was a different school. I'm grateful for that school. obviously it's it's a one of the largest Christian schools and I'd considered myself a Christian at the time. you know, during the recruiting process whatnot, what I was not prepared for was the shirt and tie. the structure, the small class size, which was great for me. And it did eventually lead me to Christ, which is which was the greatest thing that why you know, of going to that school. But I was ready to get out of there. in fact I I remember one of my teammates, a leader on the team, Trey Miller, he was a two way athlete, played receiver for the football team and he was an outfielder for our team and I just remember our first home opener my freshman year, he just put his arm around me and he's like, Man, take a look around. You know, you only get four home openers in your career. And I remember looking at him, I said, Well, I'm doing it in three. I'm leaving my junior year Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: I I w I wanna go to the next level. So, it it was overwhelming. It w it was very exciting. I've got a deep pedigree, you may or may not know this, Rob. My great grandfather, my grandfather, they're both in the hockey hall of fame, in the NHL. Dad played ten years as a journeyman, uncle played seven years. obviously my brother was a big leaguer. So it was just kind of it was time. I was like, you know, I wanted to see that what I could do at the next level and boy. It it was tough. Rob: So you set according to your stats, you set the stolen base record at liberty, still stands to this day, correct? Eighty five stolen bases. Was that in two years or three years? Okay. Joey Monahan: Yeah. That was three years. that was three years and I remember playing against there or playing one of my teammates f I want to say he was on the Daytona Cubbies, was a high eighteen for the Cubs. He said, You that you did eighty five in three years? He goes, I did eighty five in one year So I Rob: Holy cow. Joey Monahan: was like holy cow but Dwayne Bacon was his name. But yeah, it was i the the coach that really heavily recruited me, We had a great bond. He knew I could run. And basically and he knew I had a pretty good IQ of when to take you know, when it was time to run, but there was a green light for me, unlike most other well, I don't think anybody else on the team. one other guy, Keith Butler, also a an East Cobb product, we both had the green lights and we both, you know, I'd have twenty five one year, he'd have or thirty five one here, he'd have thirty four, it'd be thirty five and you know, so we would compete Rob: Nice. Joey Monahan: on stalled basis. Rob: Yeah. How great would that be today with today's rules? Two engagements. Joey Monahan: my gosh. yeah, it it yeah, it it it would be great, certainly from how many more bases you could still and you know, being able to help a team out, create manufacture runs. so yeah, I think it certainly would be easier knowing that you're only gonna pick over. And is that in in college? I'm not sure if that's the same rules. Rob: I I don't think so. I don't think so. I have to ask my brother. He's a college coach in division two. But Joey Monahan: Okay. Rob: the thing to me that it's not talked about, they made the bases four inches bigger. So I c I'm eight inches closer to a stolen base. You know, a half a foot, you know. So that makes a Joey Monahan: Yeah. Yeah. Right. Rob: difference between the guy's glove and and my hand getting in there, so Joey Monahan: Yeah, a and they and they got the oven mitts that are, you know, twenty five you know like the the highly baskets, so an extra couple inches there. Rob: Well, that's true. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Well, I will get to some major league rules later, but what age did you start playing baseball? Was that like following in your brother's footsteps? How much older is he than you? Joey Monahan: God, he is six or seven years older than I am, so it's significant, you know, he he was he was gone a good bit with with travel ball and and I was always, you know, totered around all the and I've got a middle my sister's a middle child, so we were we slept around, you know, going to watch my brother and and but I I started I started probably at five, five years old. I don't remember. I started at I remember Perry Parm Park, by the Cobb Civic Center. Don't really remember it quite well, but I would say where I remember truly starting was East Marietta Little League and that would have been seven, eight years old. so that's where it that's where it all began. Rob: Yeah. Well and for those watching this today, probably right now, three o'clock, the Little League World Series is being played and the nineteen eighty three was that East Mary at a little league, we won it all. I say we, I w Yeah. Joey Monahan: Yep. One at all. Yeah, I it that was yeah, that was that was a big deal. You know, Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: that was a you know, I was obviously well after that, but you know, that was a it's not as big like the televised and how amazing it is and and it'd been televised for a little while now, but that w it certainly was a big tradition. And if you made if you made an all star team, you really wanted to push it to be the next eighty three team. so th that organization, I don't know much about it now, but it was a it was a staple in this in this area of some really good talent, really good baseball. I haven't haven't been up there much as of late, but it w it was awesome Rob: What Joey Monahan: to have that. Rob: yeah. Our son's twenty one, but he played out of there and there's a big concrete monument, you know, the c class of eighty three that took it all. I still remember that there's one kid who had really shaggy blonde hair that that I don't know if he hit a home run or he was a pitcher, but I remember that when I was in high school up in Rome, Georgia, watching the boys from Marietta take it all. Joey Monahan: Okay. Rob: Yeah. So when did when did you decide to get serious about baseball? Or is it just what you did and you were good at it? Joey Monahan: Yeah, So at that time, if you were nine years old, so they had majors, national and I don't know what they have now, Triple A, and I I I I don't it's so confusing, quite honestly, but but in my day, call it my day, the the major league was n if you were good enough as a nine year old, you could play. So it'd be nine through twelve. So you had nine year olds facing twelve year olds, which was terrifying. and then then they had national league and then southern league. was the younger and then I think Dixie or something, so seven. But I played for coach coach Richard Hilton who was the the coach that won the Little League World Series. Rob: wow. Joey Monahan: And he wa he coached my brother as well. And he was he was he was East Marietta Little League. And there were six coaches I I can still name or five coaches that I can name off the top of my head that, you know, they they work during the day and their whole life is this little league baseball program. And it spread out, you know, the the the parents were all in, good group of parents all the time. But yeah, I got in at nine and I mean Coach Hilton, he was all about character. And And it's small things. Yes, sir, no sir, yes, ma'am, no ma'am. If you don't say it, what we practice at Powers Ferry Elementary School and at the time it seemed like the field that we practice on was seven miles long and there was this huge oak tree at the very end of it. And if you didn't say yes, sir, no, sir, when he called your name, or if he heard you talking to a parent and didn't say yes sir, no, sir, you were running to that tree. And or if you were goofing off in practice because You know, you only get an hour, hour and a half to really work at at you know, becoming a team. And so he took it very serious. but it was really mainly on you know character. But I kind of went around your long winded question of when did I get serious? I think probably sixteen years old is when is when the light bulb went off. Rob: Right. Joey Monahan: I went through some tough years. East Marietta Little League tried a tried to compete against the East Cobb World by keeping some of the kids at East Cobb at East Marietta. And I wanna say it was either my first year of being thirteen, so I helped start, I guess what you call start the program, and it was I mean I hate to say it was just it was not good. and then the next year we decided to go and that was my dad. He was like, hey, look, we need we you know if you're here, maybe other kids will join and we can build this into something pretty decent. it wasn't and so went over to the East Cobb program at 14 and They had a regular season of like eight teams. and then if you were good enough you made the three or four of the what they call now travel or summer ball teams. and so at fourteen it was probably my toughest year because I didn't play at all. And i it to this day it it's probably helped me. I was I was behind I won't say any names, but I was behind a there was a father coaching his son was younger than the rest of the team but played. And I mean I sat at the bench almost the whole summer and other than pitch and I remember going to my dad just saying how much I hated this and had a bad attitude, but I think rightfully so, I wanted to play. And he said, Well if you want to play, go talk to the coach. Be a man about it and go, you know, go talk to the coach and figure out what you need to do to play. And you wanna talk about like I mean, a pit in the stomach, Rob: Mm-hmm. Joey Monahan: throat, you know, wanted to cry talking to the coach and and finally I I did. And And he just I mean he w point blank after I after I asked him, I you know, I I feel like I should be playing more and and he said, Well, the the coaches and I happen to disagree and we don't think that you're as good as what we have out there. but at least I knew where I stood. the problem is I did it when there was only like two weeks left of the season. But Rob: Mm. Joey Monahan: that was a long summer and it was a summer where I was I was I was on the verge of quitting baseball. Rob: Wow. Joey Monahan: But yeah, but And then fifteen came around and kind of the same team, different coaches. and then those coaches unfortunately had to quit, due to family and a business situation and it looked like those the coaches I had at fourteen year old were coming back and I was like, Here we go again and sure enough it it they didn't. And then interesting enough, my sixteen year old and this is where I got to where it got serious, sixteen, I did not make Gary Baldwin is the guy who pretty much s started East Cobb baseball and he always had the number one sixteen year old teams and I didn't make that. I made a different team and I was having just an unreal, unreal start of the summer. And my parents were at good old Frankie's Italian restaurant and ran into an assistant coach. And it turns out that the second baseman on Gary's sixteen year old team, the East Cobb Bachelor's, got hurt. And they had heard that I was doing well and And again, another teachable moment, my dad was like, Well, if you're gonna move teams, you gotta call the coach. And you gotta tell that you're bailing on your team that you're playing for now and why you wanna go 'cause I had a lot of friends on the sixteen year old team and I felt like I belonged anyhow. and I did that and it was a it was a tough it was a tough conversation. the coach that I played for was a Navy pilot. Right, let your yeses be yes. He was very regimented and you know, it's like it was a it was a very tough conversation, but once I got on the East Cobb Astros, and I was a leadoff hitter, it just everything opened up and I don't know, light bulb just just went off and just started playing and started realizing that I wasn't that bad at this game. Rob: So that conversation, did the navy pilot understand that you were taking a step up or did he give you a tough time about it? Joey Monahan: He had a lot of grace, but he was you know, it was not it was just a one time phone call. It w didn't keep on you know, going on and if we'd played against him he was very, you know, respectful and kind. But I I think he also knew that, you know, that was the level of where I wanted to be. not saying that the third team or second team, whatever it may have been, wasn't good. There were some unreal players. A lot of them went off to play college ball, but I knew that the guys that I'd been playing with for the past couple years and where my talent was, I I had thought I should have been on there from the beginning. But but he he was he was he understood. He understood. He knew that that that's where I wanted to be. And so gave me an opportunity and gave another guy who was on the bench an opportunity to play for him who turned out to be a pretty good ball player as well. Rob: Did did you play any other sports growing up in between baseball? Joey Monahan: I did. I loved basketball. loved, love basketball. and that was a that was another I I think I was getting tutored down the street and was shooting hoops at the ladies' house and the dad pulled up and he was like, Why you ever played? and I said no and so he got me on a church league with with them and then William Fox, who is in charge of like an East Cobb baseball program, East Marietta basketball, you know, I told him I wanted and he coached the junior cats. That's it was like seventh grade, eighth grade. And I told him I wanted to play. And so as a sixth grader, I tried out and I didn't make the team. And I've never forget being so angry and so upset that here's this guy who lives three houses down from me. He knows I can play the game and I didn't make his team. Well There happened to be a couple of all Americans, future all Americans that were already playing, and he told my mom at the time, he's like, Look, Joey's gonna sit the bench the whole time. And that's not who he is, so I ended up playing like rec league again. But I love basketball. I I think I love it because it was easier to play and practice by yourself. I I had a blast and I played up until my sophomore year at Wheeler and and it just had had the chance to play four Wheeler with Coach Lipscomb and you know, my dad and Coach Dave McDonald, the Wheeler baseball coach, and I had a conversation. It's like, you know, chances of you going with the basketball team and whether you sit the bench or you play a lot, you know, we're gonna pro they're probably gonna go to state or make a deep run and that's gonna go halfway through the baseball season. So, and we need you on the baseball team. So it was a It was a decision of you're not gonna go play at the next level in basketball, but you do have a chance to play the next level in baseball, so chose baseball. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. For those that don't know, let's see, we can start naming them. Jalen Brown, Sharif Abdul Raheem. There's a handful Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: of guys that played in the NBA that played for Wheeler High School. So you're Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: just to be on the team, you're pretty good. Joey Monahan: Yeah, yeah. It was it was fun. It and it was I liked I liked the crowds yelling at me, calling me a dork, you know, calling me whatever Rob: Ha ha. Joey Monahan: because I was typically the small little white dude on the team that Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: you know everybody would make fun of and but I thrived. I I loved it. It just made me play harder. Right. Exactly. Right, yeah. Yeah. Rob: No, someone's gotta throw the alley oop, right? You might not catch it, but you'll you'll you'll th throw the assist, so you know, part of what I enjoy talking to people about is how they learn from their defeats. You've gotten some life lessons up to this point about fairness and nepotism and earning your spot. I love what your dad did because that makes me uptight and my dad was the same type man to make me do stuff like that and take responsibility. But Can you tell me what was the worst defeat on the field that you had dealing with baseball in el in high school or hi elementary school? Joey Monahan: Yeah, woof. I mean riddled with defeats. Rob: Okay. Joey Monahan: I think I think my life, whether it's personal, on the ball fields or work, there are certainly more defeats than there are wins. but that's the the win is what's addicting and wants you to do better. But I can't think of anything in particular. I there was a tough there was a tough think Lasseter High School at the time, this must have been ninety nine and we were they they were number one in the entire country and and we we had them I wouldn't necessarily say we were We had them on the ropes. I wanna say it might have been four to three. They had bases loaded and I can't remember who was playing in the outfield but there was a pop fly, three two count, so all the runners are running and it it hit the heel of the glove of our outfielder and it just the wheels came off and that was a tough pill to swallow. Coming to mind though, I I I would say on the field my freshman year at Liberty University, this is the first year we won the Big South conference, and we got to go play in the school's first regional for for all sports. And here we are, little Liberty University, and gosh, this year they played against Georgia and and did well. But here we are, no name Liberty, and we're playing against South Carolina, the number one team in the country. And I had the same number as my brother. We love the number eleven. And so going into that stadium and having the last name that I had and the hatred that the Gamecock fans had towards Clemson and in particular my brother, boy, they don't forget. And what's that? Rob: Yeah. Your name's on the back Your name was on the back of the jersey so they knew who you were. Joey Monahan: No, not not on the back of the jersey, but you know, they've got the line ups and the the names Rob: Okay. Joey Monahan: on the scoreboard and I I remember being on deck and just them saying all kinds of things about me and but and we're we were facing Kip Bootknight who I think was a first round draft pick and so where the defeat came in is we were again, we were playing really well against South Carolina. I I wanna say the score also was something four to three. a ball from our right fielder, he threw it, hit off the hit off the runner trying to tag, getting in the second, went off, split my lip, you know, blood coming out, and I just told the trainer, I'm like, you know, tape it up because I've there were a lot of derogatories coming my way. but we ended up our our number one catcher broke his elbow and the guy pitching, Danny Valentin, Six six Puerto Rican guy had the nastiest split finger I had ever seen, and he struck out sixteen people. And like i he ended up having like one of the only standing ovations in that stadium when it was all said and done. But we had a new catcher in there and there were two pass balls from the split finger and the you know runners advanced and scored and and so that that right there, you know, what if type deal, what if we had our catcher behind the dish who knew how Rob: Sure. Yeah. Joey Monahan: to catch Danny and so that that kinda we still talk about that. Yeah. Rob: Okay. Could have, huh? So and that's when Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: s South Carolina was one in the country. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: Wow, that's tough. So can you tell us a little bit about your journey through the minor leagues? I know it's it's it's made you who you are today and most people think, you get drafted, you s get a five million dollar signing bonus and you're set for life, but it's really not like that. Joey Monahan: No. No. I I certainly certainly think I mean gosh, you see it now. I mean my nephews are in college ball right now and they're getting NIL money and gosh, I I mean I am totally for athletes getting a little bit of money, you know, beer money or food money or whatever it may be. but they're getting some significant contracts. Heck, it's it's it's probably better to stay in college longer than than going to take a pro career right away. But There were certainly guys on my team that were first early draft picks that had a couple million dollar signing bonuses. And my mine was a decent one. I'm not afraid it was I think it was a hundred and ten or a hundred and six. I can't remember off the top of my head. but it was enough to say, all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna chase this. I I didn't wanna st I knew our coaches were leaving at Liberty and I was like you know, I was ready to go. But what I was not prepared for, Rob, was I did not have a process. I did not I did not take care of myself of, you know, w y you're on your own. So you get drafted, great, you sign the contract, they send you to I was in Mesa, Arizona, you go into a locker room and you're with all the rookies from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and not a word of English is going on and you're just kinda like, W I mean, what locker do I even choose? Right Rob: Yeah. Right. Joey Monahan: So, you know, we we get there, but y y what the the toughest part was, you know, you you did get a stipend you got like twenty bucks a day for meals and and then you know you some had zero signing bonus so really it I mean they had to really figure it out. But you know, before games, making sure you ate really well, because there was no food. You had to get to the ball field at two o'clock in the afternoon, do all your workouts and then seven o'clock was game time, you end at ten thirty, nothing's open. You know, so you're eating pizza all the time. And it's not like you've got a great place to stay. You're you're living with four or five guys and in and in a in an instant three of those guys could be cut or moved to the next level. And for me, I kept moving up during the year and they set you up, like for instance, you know, from Lansing, Michigan, then I moved to Daytona, Florida. There's like, all right, here's three days of staying in a hotel, then you gotta find a place to stay. And so now you're trying to make immediate friends with who you can connect with on the team. You don't know anybody and fortunate for me I I always found the rich guys. one one of one of was a first round draft pick and he had a penthouse right on the beach, so I came quick friends with him. Rob: I bet. I'll I'll carry your bag. Joey Monahan: Pretty pretty much. Pretty much. but just the grind and I think the the playing sixty some odd games in college, then going into A small spring training to get you ready for y you know, regular A-ball. I Rob, I think I probably played just that year. And then and then if you're good enough, you get invited to what's called instructional league, and that's your the top prospects. So I did all that. I I I'm telling you, I think I played probably two hundred games within X amount of months, and I was No weight, and I didn't understand. I didn't understand the what what these kids have today is like, you know, the lifting and nutrition and all that stuff. But the grind of the travel, 18 hour bus trips, the food, the the pitching you're facing, the how hard how hard the game was. I was not ready for that. Because you're coming from college and you're pretty good. Well now you got all these guys who are really good. but it was a I was not ready for it. And even having an older brother who's talking me through it, i when you're in it, you're in it and I it it sucked. Rob: Really. So I can't imagine trying to I mean 'cause you go for three, you're thinking I might get that pink slip in my locker or whatever it was. Or you're out there just trying to find out where you're gonna be staying. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: Forget about trying to read the seams of the pitch. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Yeah. It so yeah, the the mental and that's life, right? everything's between the ears. And however strong you are between the ears, you gotta you gotta figure out a way to consistently stay positive. not take everything so serious and I took every single at bat like it was, you know, every scout was watching me or every, Rob: Sure. Joey Monahan: you know, cross or you know, Team Scout, wh whatever it may be, this is the end of it. And yeah, to to your point, it's like you're trying to figure out how to live. and and you're and you're competing because everybody's gunning for your spot. So you there's a there's a lot of younger kids underneath you that are trying to get that spot and there's veterans above you that, you know, they're good. Rob: Mm-hmm. Joey Monahan: And I I I find I have found, like tennis, I mean, if it's not here, if it if you're not mentally strong to get through it, it's gonna be a tough, tough road. And I wasn't mentally strong. Rob: So and you were a shortstop, is that correct? Okay, so you're sitting there thinking, I can't make an error and I've got to make based hits because they're gonna always dwell on the negative. So you've got self inflicted pressure. You're in a room where you can't s you don't understand the language and you don't know who's really your friend 'cause everybody's trying to take each other's spots. Sounds a lot of fun. Joey Monahan: Yep, pretty much. No. It was now w well at the beginning, that's what that room was like, but yeah, as you got to the different levels. you had more guys that had played college ball or been there a year or two and kind of knew the ropes. So like Ryan Terrier, who played ten years in the big leagues, won a World Series, maybe two, he was a shortstop. You know, he was a third round draft pick. the Cubs had money invested in him. And he was a heck of a he was a heck of a ball player. And I'm trying to compete with him and we're also getting a relationship together. And then it's like I is he really being nice to me or is he just buttering me up so like, you know, so he could, you know I I don't know, like, hey you don't need to work that hard, but meanwhile he's behind the scenes, you know, working every day. but yeah, it was and and that and that's a tough environment because I'm very much an energy person. I've gotta be around good people. I love being around just I I don't know, just I need to be around people that I know. even though I I there's do well in environments that I don't know a lot of people, but it's it's different than in college. You know, you in college you have this nucleus of guys you're gonna be with hopefully up until Rob: yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: now, y you got a crew. There y you might have one, two friends and call a friend, maybe. Rob: Yeah. It's a business. Joey Monahan: It's a it's a total business. Rob: Yeah. How how tough was the transition from aluminum bats to wood bats? And a lot of people don't appreciate that or even know that. They just see the guys on TV with wood bats. Joey Monahan: Very tough. I think it's gotten easier now because gosh, we had a I think we had a wood bat tournament one time, at sixteen years old or maybe eighteen years old. and then I I was fortunate enough to play in the Cape Cod League. in in the summer of college, so that was all wood. So I mean you were you were learning how to use it, but it was a massive transition. In fact, talk about being mental I think it was my second spring training. I was having an amazing spring. And I had my bat. I had that bat that I was just comfortable. I was hitting the I mean, I was just smoking the ball. All fields. And I'm like, yeah, this is gonna get me to double A, right? And that that's where you wanna once you get to double A, there is a close chance of getting that next level. of course, you there's triple A, but and this crafty lefty threw an 83 mile an hour fastball, jammed me, broke the bat, and And Rob, I went 0 for 16 with 16 strikeouts the next four games. Rob: 'Cause you 'cause you weren't using a bat, right? Joey Monahan: I it c yeah, I d I might as well have gone up there with a tic tac. Rob: Right. my. Joey Monahan: it it was so and b and because, Rob, I told myself, Well, if I can't turn on an eighty three mile hour fastball here, like th I there's no way I'm gonna make it. And that's just when it went straight downhill. It was crazy. I mean the ball looked like a like a Tylenol. It's tough. Yep. Rob: That's crazy. Now my wife's aunt and uncle have a place up in Bourne and every year that we go visit, I'm looking at the Cape Cod League standing. So Joey Monahan: yeah. Rob: where did you play up there? Joey Monahan: I played Yarmouth Dennis. Yarmouth Dennis Rob: Okay. Joey Monahan: was my freshman year. and then my sophomore year I got the chance to play again for Wareham. And unfortunately I I had some hamstring issues, so I only got to play, I don't know, three quarters of the season and then I went home. But and that's a that's a whole that's a whole nother world. interesting that you brought that up is is You know, you're living with a host family. I was living with a host family, my freshmere had a divorced mom, three daughters, age eighteen, fifteen, twelve. it was it was a lot. It was just, It was overwhelming. family issues going on and then, you know, you're trying to get ready to go play. I've got a twelve year old little girl grabbing my uniform, true story, climbing up a tree, hanging it from a tree as a joke, and I'm, you know, ten minutes till I gotta drive to the ball f I mean, it was just it was a lot. Rob: It's a whole nother podcast, huh? Holy cow. Huh. Joey Monahan: dude, I've got like yeah, there's not enough time for me to go through the the crap that I've been through. Rob: that's funny. I just gotta get my uniform and go to the game. That's funny. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: man. But the food up there is not too bad though. Joey Monahan: yeah. Food food is unreal. the people are unreal. they love baseball out there. Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: it's a big deal. And you've seen it. I mean it's a it it brings a town together and they they rally. They rally be b behind their athletes. Rob: Well, and in the scouts are all hanging out there too. Joey Monahan: not to mention there's thirty six, you know, forty scouts with radar guns and of course that's Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: a whole nother like you know, but but that that was that was one thing my dad always instilled in me was, you know, hey, if you're playing on a team with a superstar, that's awesome. Because sometimes that superstar is not gonna play and if you show up and you ball out, dude, there's your name and they're gonna say, All right, I need to follow that kid, you know? So Rob: Right. Sure. Joey Monahan: And that I mean it it was it was the Cape Cod League was was amazing. Rob: How many I guess the people that you play with in the minor leagues. Who are some of the big names that you played with that we would know? Joey Monahan: Gash. can't I c I couldn't even tell ya. a lot of made it for just a little little bit of time. Now there was you know, obviously there's Sammy Sosa and all those guys that that you would see on the field or whatnot, but that I played with I mentioned Ryan Terrier, and maybe he's a name you know not. I mean ten years. there was Jay Cook Roo, he was a that's a whole nother story. He was He was a Korean pitcher, h had to have an interpreter, you know. So I became friends with the interpreter, so then I got to go to all these Korean restaurants that no one would go to Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: and but you know, from the Cubs perspective, I I can't think Rob, I can't think of anybody off the I'm sure I'm sure I'm missing some folks, but I I can't think off the top of head. Rob: Yeah. Yeah, okay. And so you're did you ever get to go to the big league spring training out in Arizona? Joey Monahan: I got I got called up one game. I was so excited. and basically you show up you show up to the field eight o'clock in the morning in a tiny little or in a van with packed out with too many people, you're sitting on laps and get to the field and and the whatever the manager of your A ball or and it's like, Hey Monaghan, suit up, you're going you know, you're going down the street is what they'd say and And that's it. You're like, well what what do you It's like, well grab your stuff and you gotta be just get a ride down there. So you know, I don't have a car, so you gotta get a taxi. So a taxi down there and when I walked in, thank goodness I had a brother that had made it for a little bit because there was I walk in, I wanna say Carlos Zambrano was the first guy I saw and I put my stuff next to his locker. Well he's like, Hey, like, nah. Like this is he had like three or four And then I move and gosh, I can't remember the guy's name, but it was a guy my brother had played played minor league ball with. He was like, you know, Little Mo is what they call me. Hey, Lil Mo, come over here, here's bat, whatever, put your stuff next to me. So it was nice. I got one chance, so I got I was hoping I was gonna get to play. I didn't. Dusty Baker called me in to pinch run and And I was so giddy and I had the you know, stolen bass record, right? I'm just gonna Rob: Right. Yeah. Joey Monahan: I got picked off in two seconds and Rob: no. Joey Monahan: you know, it was like, Well, that was that and Dusty's like, Th spr how are you getting picked off in spring training? I'm like, I I'm a gamer, man, I was ready to go Rob: At least could have gotten into a rundown and made it interesting, huh? Who picked you off? Joey Monahan: S I mean so it wa it wasn't even close. It wasn't even close. it was a l it was a crafty lefty act. I couldn't even tell ya. Yep. Rob: Okay. So you just basically just crowd back into the dugout. Joey Monahan: it was yeah, booed 'cause like nobody likes a pick off, right? And and w even if it's spring training, right? You got a rally going, I totally killed it. It's Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: terrible. Rob: Well, maybe one of those unwritten rules where the guy shouldn't really try to pick you off. He should just throw over. What's he doing? Come on. Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: Right. Right. I mean try well I'll tell you what, he's trying to make a spot. So, you know. Rob: So w would you have taken off if you weren't picked off? You were playing to steal? Joey Monahan: I probab yeah, one hundred percent. because I was trying Rob: a boy. Joey Monahan: to show them that like I'm I'm ready to play the next league, which I had no business even being on that field. But Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: I I I wanted to get a stolen base and 'cause I knew I'd had one one shot at at being at the big league level for for that day and you know, you get right back to the best part about it was the per DM you got, you got like a hundred and fifty bucks and it was like, right, you know, I'm I'm in the money, now I can go get a steak for dinner. Rob: Right. Well, 'cause half your per diem at the twenty bucks was spent on the cab to get there. So Joey Monahan: Right, ex exactly. Rob: yeah. You know, I wanna find out your mental side because I talked to a high school buddy of mine, Calvin Colberson, who spent four years in the minor leagues. He got up to double A and changed positions through it all, so it wasn't the same position, but that mental battle, I remember Derek Jeter being interviewed sixty minutes in his mindset, he said going up to the plate was he expected to get a hit every time. Well that that's some confidence, knowing that only if you make three out of ten you're going to the Hall of Fame, which is your a seventy percent failure rate. You're going 0 for sixteen. How in how in the world do you s I'm gonna get a hit now, or please dear God, help me get a hit, or what's your mental state? Joey Monahan: It was it was a mixture of both. I remember after the last the last strikeout, the manager 'cause you know in the minor leagues you've got four fields all together and he's like, go over to that other field, get a T, find a fungo, not a normal bat, and figure out how to just make contact with the ball. Like you just gotta like make contact. And at that point too I'm like, this game is like I don't know. And I was just I was just hoping for it was towards the end of the spring training, so I knew that like once I got once that was done, it's just kind of a clean slate. Like no one's gonna remember that. And that that's the other thing too. It's like no one really remembers that. I betcha if you were to call whoever the coach was, Steve McFarlane, I think, he wouldn't remember that. But I certainly did. And as an athlete and I think talking to your audience of athletes or parents of athletes, like we're athletes are our hardest critics. Right, we're already hard on ourselves as it is. I mean, you know this in tennis. It it's you know, you get into a bad rut, you just want the you want the s the slate to be swiped. And and so I did that and and I just kinda control alt delete, if you will. You know, went into the the the the season of all right, that was spring and I and what my brother was good at is like, remember the good at bats. Remember when you were on fire, remember when you were hitting line drives. Where were you hitting the line drives? But I certainly wasn't like like Jeter, who is the greatest, if not one of the greatest shortstops. I mean, his mindset, you know, w was getting hit and my mindset was like not that. You know, it was thinking about, you know, thinking about everything other than what I should be thinking about. because when you when when what I wish I would have learned is when the the highs are high it's like Matt Olson for the Braves, you know, they call him streaky. But I mean when that guy's on a streak, it is unreal. but it's being able to c contain that, you know, you still you still got it. You're just going through a rut. And I think it was Pete Rose who said, Look, stop changing your bat or how you're doing this. Like just just change the way you're change your feet in the box or move up or move back. Don't move don't change your swing, or it might have been Tony Gwynn. But y yeah, the mindset is key and I think that's in every sport and I think that's in any profession that you're doing, having a process and having the the the right mindset of what you're gonna do that day to win. Rob: Yeah. So I guess it's that that pitch was just too good. I gotta shake this off. What can I control? My preparation in between at bats on the T in the clubhouse or whatever, side field, and hope for the best, right? And just remember to forget, Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: as they say. Joey Monahan: Yeah, I mean it just just clear it. And pitchers are doing it. They throw a bad pitch. They're like, All right, whatever, I'm I'm gonna I saw him do this or I'm gonna get back to whatever it may be. I I heard the other day and I thought that I I used it. you interviewed Jason Groff a couple of days ago or whatnot and his g he's got some good boys, good baseball players and lives not too far from me and so I was in the cage with him. And they're talking about their swing and doing this and doing that. I said, sometimes when you I I said it it's not always about the swing that that causes you to miss the ball. Sometimes it's just the pitch selection. Right? Are you getting the right pitch to hit? Rob: Hmm. Joey Monahan: and, you know, for me it was I mean, the g the way these guys they call it having a Prepping, right? Prepping before an at have an approach is what they say. Have an approach to an abat. And it's look, if the guy, if you know the guy does has a certain routine, throws off speed at certain counts, you know, sit on the curveball, but don't try to hit the fastball because it's already passed you. Well mine was like, I just wanted to get the ball down the middle and try to hit it. I Rob: Right. Yeah. Joey Monahan: try to keep it as simple as possible. Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: they don't usually throw it down the middle anymore at that level. Rob: Well, I I always thought it was awesome when you hear somebody like Barry Bonds, who everybody thinks he's just looking to crank one, he'd be content to take one to left field because the ball was low and away, take it that way. And Tony Gwynn was the master at the five hole, they said. And how fun was that just to watch him hit anything. Joey Monahan: Anything. I I mean I I think I saw that his his strikeouts, which were very few, were pitches down the middle. Rob: Really? Joey Monahan: yeah. But if it was on the ground I I could be wrong, so don't f you know, hopefully nobody fact checks that, but it's to that tune. And my brother was the same way. You threw him crap all over the place, he was gonna hit you. You threw it down the middle. You know, chances Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: are you you got a you got a good shot at at getting him out. Rob: Yeah. I love like the Tony Gwynn, Chuck Norris stuff, like you know, like Chuck Norris jokes, but I think Willie Mays was a career three two hitter. Tony Gwynn was a career three two hitter with two strikes against him. Just crazy numbers. Joey Monahan: You know, it interesting you bring that up, and I talked to some of the the the kids that I'll help or I'll I'll I'll talk with or coach a little bit. I would say ninety percent of the home runs I hit from eighteen years old till whenever I was done was all two strikes. And that was because I'd spread my legs and I'd just say, you know, basically it's like be an athlete, you know, compete and try to win. And as opposed to thinking about, I gotta do this or are my hands in the right spot, it was like let's just battle it out and I almost keep it simple stupid. Now what's dumb, Rob, is like why didn't I take every at bat with a two strike approach? I don't know. You know? Rob: easier said than done though. Yeah. Joey Monahan: I don't know. Rob: Yeah. But you said something that's huge that my son played little league and his kids would verify this. There's nothing worse to me even as a fan to sit there and watch called third strike. You got a chance, at least swing. Don't trust the blind ump back there. And now they've got Joey Monahan: Yep. Rob: the system to to get you too. But so your approach on two strikes was put the ball on the bat or bat on the ball. Yeah. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Get yeah, make 'cause I knew I could run. So if I could create something, a dribbler, just putting it in play and try to beat it down first base, then you know, or create a I was a huge team guy. Love being part of a team. Never an I guy. never cared about stats. Could don't know any of my stats. but Yeah, I mean if you can c if you can cause a little bunt. I mean, bunt i i i it is such a lost art that creates chaos, especially nowadays because you don't see it that often and defenses, yeah, they practice it, but when you're in game speed and you drop a bunt on somebody, I mean Rob: Yeah. Right. Joey Monahan: that changes a whole I'm gonna go one for four to a two for four game. You know? Rob: Mm-hmm. Joey Monahan: and my brother was unreal at being able he was from the left side and he could fly and so if he had a if he was having a couple couple tough at bats, he just you know, a lot of people think it's, you Rob: Lay it down. Yeah. Joey Monahan: know, you're giving up an out, but man, you might you might get a you might get a knock out of it. Rob: Well, that third baseman's back. He got some wheels, so why not? Joey Monahan: yeah. Especially with the shift. If there was a shift I'd be bunning all day long. Rob: Well, that was a I asked K I went to the Pirates Fantasy Camp one year and asked Kevin Young during that shift because he was in to work with Pedro Alvarez. I said, Why doesn't he just lay it down, you know, check swing? He goes, Well, you would do it, I would do it, but his agent's Scott Boris and he gets paid to hit balls into the river. I'm like, What? You know, all we're trying to do Joey Monahan: Yep. Yep. Rob: is get a base hit and get the guy on. And so Joey Monahan: Yep. Rob: Wow. Let me ask you a couple baseball questions specifically. Do you remember the greatest comeback team win that you were ever part of? Joey Monahan: That's sad that I can't even think of I can't I that's how yeah, I I can't think of any comeback I I'm sure there was plenty, and then you'd ask me and of course I'd No, I I I'll have to I'll have to I'll have to come back to that one. Yep. Rob: That's all right. All right. Did you ever hit a walk off or a walk off home run? Joey Monahan: no, never hit a walk off and I don't think I've ever hit a grand slam. Yep. Rob: Okay. Well it's n that's not your fault. You hit home runs, there just weren't guys on first, second, and third for you. Joey Monahan: Yeah, I mean I I ha I've had walk off hits, but never walk off, you know, where you're flipping the bat, which drives me crazy. I don't care Rob: Sure. Joey Monahan: what level. but yeah, I I mean I I think I've had plenty of game winning hits or what I loved being a shortstop, man, I there was nothing better. If I was having a that was one thing I could say mentally, is if I was having a bad game of the plate I I needed to do something to help like I wanted to make some plays. And I had a lot of errors. I had a lot of errors, but it was because due to my speed and and qu footwork I could get to balls deep in the hole and maybe I overthrow the first baseman, but it there was a chance. But that was one thing that I I'd loved was was, you know, playing shortstop and hit just hit the ball to me. Let me make something happen. Yep. Rob: Yeah, that's awesome. I ask remember Corey Patterson, you might have been Joey Monahan: my gosh. Rob: were you with the Cubs at the same time? Joey Monahan: We just missed each other. funny story, Cor I was a sophomore at Wheeler, he was playing at Harrison, I think he was a senior, and there was a ball I was playing second base and there was a ball over my shoulder. Rob, I was barely in the outfield to catch it, and I could hear Coach Powers, who was the head coach at the time at Harrison saying, Tag up, tag up and I'm like, Pfft, you're not gonna tag Rob: What are you talking about? Yeah. Joey Monahan: up on me and by the time I threw it and it got halfway there, I think Corey was already in the dugout. Rob: Yeah, okay. He had some wheels. He Joey Monahan: He's so fast. Unreal. Unreal. Rob: I asked him at D Bat one time after he retired working with some kids. I said Who's the toughest pitcher you ever faced? And he said two, excuse me. He said Derek Lowe and John Smoltz. And I said, Well, why? He he mentioned what Derek Lowe did, and he said Smoltz with his split or his slider. And and he said, I just couldn't hit him. I said, So what's your mindset as a baseball player when you face one of those guys? He goes, Just grab your glove and go play some defense. Forget it, I'm not gonna hit him. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Joey Monahan: Pra yeah. Yeah. Yep. Maybe you'll squeeze one out. He should have bone it. I mean he was the fastest guy in in the major leagues probably. Rob: Yeah. he he played what, I don't know, how many years with with the Cubs? Three or four. Joey Monahan: I'm not sure. Yeah. Rob: I remember seeing him in center field starting one time, like, Here's that Harrison High School stud. So Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: But he batted like ridiculous, like five hundred something in high school. He had a bunch of dingers too. Joey Monahan: he was he was elite elite. Yeah. Rob: Yeah. That's what you can't coach that speed too. Joey Monahan: No, not at all. Or or, you know, what's what's in the heart? You know, I I think about what these kids go through nowadays, the exit velo and maybe it's the same way in tennis, I'm not sure. but you know, how the ball's coming off the bat and I'm like, whatever happened to just finding dudes that could play? Right? Like that's not in the stat, right? Like like find me some guys that got heart and you know, you're gonna lose, but like, God almighty, play the game hard. And and you know, Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: I I don't know if I don't watch enough younger kids now. my son's nine and I haven't gotten him involved in any any travel ball, but he he's talked about it, but you know, I I just it's just different now. It's Rob: Yeah. Well, Joey Monahan: different. Rob: speaking of different in today's game, and I think I know your answer based on what you said a few minutes ago. Guy gets a base hit, they look to the dugout, ooh, does this, does that. What is going on? Joey Monahan: I know that my dad would would l legitimately you gotta remember, ex NHL or could throw hands, he was tough, incredibly tough. there was no place for shop hot dogging is what he'd call it. Yeah, Rob: Right. Yep. Joey Monahan: or show boating. And You know, i i I I am all about you get a double to to tie a game or, you know, y you give like a you know, thump the chest but just doing all the dancing and whatnot and the kids are doing it, I mean I see it in rec league and it drives me nuts and I tell to stop and whatnot. But there's no I don't f I don't find that there's any place there there's no need you know, and I'm not s being soft of like, Hey, you showed up you you know you're not supposed to show up the pitcher. You you already showed up 'cause you beat And so like Rob: Right. That should be good enough, right. Joey Monahan: That that's it. I don't need I don't need to gloat because I'll tell you what. If I'm pitching, I'm I'm f this is gonna sound terrible, but if I'm pitching, I'm throwing it at him as hard as I can and I'm gonna try to break a rib and be like, You're not gonna do that again. And I know they do that now, but Rob: Yeah. Bob Gidson treatment. Yeah. Joey Monahan: buddy, don't dig in. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Well, it I've heard it classified as entertainment, but it's it's bad sportsmanship in my book. Joey Monahan: Yeah. I I I am not for it. I just I just think do your job, have fun, right? Winning is what's ultimately fun and you know, I just I just don't agree with needing to do all the dancing and and and Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: flipping up the bat and all that crap. It's just just play the game and Rob: Right. Joey Monahan: you know, and and beat and beat the other team. Rob: Yeah. Well and it seems like the networks are guilty of showing the celebration more than the action that created the celebration too. Yeah. So you're Joey Monahan: Yeah, yep, I would agree. Yep. Rob: a dad of three kids. Your daughter's sixteen and what's your middle one? How old's she? Joey Monahan: Yep. Well I have a sixteen year old, a twelve year old soon to be thirteen and a nine year old. So two girls, sixteen, twelve, and a nine year old son. Rob: Okay. How do they like having a former athlete as a dad? Joey Monahan: They could care less. every Rob: Ha ha. Joey Monahan: once in a while every once in a while I'll this is so bad, Rob. Every once in a while I'll be like specifically my oldest daughter who's in club volleyball and and she's very, very good and I think she has potential potential, to go to the to the next level if she if she really, you know, puts her heart into it. I'm not saying a D one, but, you know, maybe to the next level. And I try to give her my constructive criticism. I I'm never after a game I'm never you should have done this or you you know, th it's it's always, you know, y you you play good, what do you think about this particular, you know, do you remember this or whatnot? Teachable moments, you know, and I think about like, right now she's having to rehab her shoulder 'cause she's got biceps, you know, so do the exercise and all that stuff. But, you know, I sit there and I think I'm giving them good nuggets and it's like they look at me like I'm, you know, I I'm a librarie. No offense to any library. You know, I just I I I've never played a sport. I don't know anything. I don't know anything about competition and I'm like I Rob: Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: Let's not forget guys I've been there. I know what what it takes. I don't know what it maybe what it takes now, but down deep there's still gotta be some some of the same stuff of what it takes to get to the next level, other than Instagram pages. Rob: Right. Well, maybe you just at that age you just say the opposite of what you want them to do. So Joey Monahan: Right. Yep. Rob: can you tell us a story about what you told me the story about your son in soccer? Joey Monahan: this is great. Warms my heart too. Yates, he's nine. and he is he is an all around little athlete. I'm not gonna sit there and say he is an amazing baseball player, you know, he he does good on every team he's on, you know, middle of the pack kid, a lot like me, can play multiple different sports, can spin a football, you know, without practicing, just a good little athlete. And usually I won't like brag about my kids, but I will here for this one, but just to set the stage, but he he's really taken a liking to soccer, a sport that I have no idea about and which I love because it's something that I can't critique on everything. not that I would, but And I wanted him to try out for there was a there was a coach on his little league team who said wh you know, Yates with his speed, like has he ever played soccer? And I said, Yeah, he's played, you know, mount Mount Bell like church league soccer and of course, you know, everybody's a superstar. Basically kick the ball and outrun, you know, outrun everybody. And he's like he he should really do NASA top hat w an elite travel program. And so I kept asking Yates, I was like, Hey, let's go try out, let's go try out and he just said, you know, Dad, I I I really enjoy and love playing soccer. I'm not gonna be a professional soccer player. And so I just wanna play somewhere where I'm gonna have a good time and have fun. And y I'm sitting here thinking like, Hey, I want you to play against better competition Selfishly I think for me, so I could see like, hey, where where does he stack up so I can maybe start helping him? If he wants to play soccer, then maybe I can figure out, you know, who do we go to? Like where do where you know, what teams do we navigate to. But it was a very quick reminder, I mean, from a nine year old, like, hey, back up, dude. Like I just wanna enjoy the game. You Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: know, it's not all about and I'm glad you brought that up, Rob, because I I think I think parents nowadays, including me, need to take a d need to take a step back because you know the stats, or I I don't have them off the top my head. It is it is unreal to make it to the next level and the next level. And I I I I think the the enjoyment of the game has been taken away. And due part to like what stats are doing. Like every kid now at at fourte or twelve, nine years old, they know their stats across the country and who's the best nine year old and and I just think that the and and then the parents are so involved to you know, wanting them to get to the next level. And they've never the parents may have never played a sport in their life. Not saying a kid can't make it 'cause they don't come from an athletic family. It's just You know, sometimes taking a step back and letting the letting the kid play the game just for enjoyment. 'Cause that's what it's supposed to be. There's my s tha that's my that's my soapbox to all the parents out there. Rob: Right. Mhm. And if they enjoy it, yeah. I I don't think it's a soapbox, but I think it's great advice. But it's if they enjoy it maybe they'll practice it and do it more and then Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: become better. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Yep. And he's out I mean he's kicking soccer it's it's soccer season right now. We just had our first game, so he's out there I can hear him kicking balls and i he he's not he's not amazing. He's not, you know, Pele or whatever the Ronaldo or what he's just he's just playing the game. Have fun. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think we're guilty. I think it's great that we're down south. My brother, who's a college coach in Ohio, he marvels at w how many baseball games we've played before their guys see grass because the snow's on the ground. But just because we can doesn't mean we should the entire year long with just about every sport. But Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: yeah, I think it's a bit much sometimes and I think we it would be interesting. If we looked at the eighty-three boys that won the World Series and they were twelve, correct? Or okay. How ma Yeah. Joey Monahan: yes. Yep. eleven, twelve. Rob: Like okay, you watch it now and you go, Well, they're having a great summer. These kids had a great summer. There's no guarantee that they're playing even in high school, much less Joey Monahan: No. Rob: good enough to be in c college team. So Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: that might be some good research for me to check out, see who went on to play high school. Joey Monahan: No, very mean, I I heard I heard, and this is no not to not knock to Walton high school, you know, our huge rival at at Wheeler. But i and it also goes to show how much talent there still is around here, is I think there was two hundred kids try out for the baseball team. And Rob: That's crazy. Joey Monahan: you know, and and to your point of like eleven, twelve year old old superstar at East Marietta Little League doesn't mean I mean, then all of a sudden puberty hits, girls get involved, social life get involved, and that and this is every sport, right? It's like Rob: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Joey Monahan: you've got my dad said there was a guy and I I can't remember his name. It's my brother's year. He said he was the greatest Little League baseball player he has ever seen. Like this guy my dad said I would bet my mortgage that this guy would be a big leaguer. By the time he was thirteen, everybody outgrew him and was better than him. And he was he was done playing. Rob: Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. These da Joey Monahan: You know? It happens. Rob: yeah. These days we'll have three Tommy Johns before college, right? Joey Monahan: Right. Right. Rob: that's crazy. Is there a sport that you'd play if you didn't play baseball? I think you said basketball. Joey Monahan: Man, that is an interesting question. I I I think, you know, there is such a big I I guess there is. I hear more lacrosse. I Rob: Cool. Joey Monahan: think lacrosse has it it's got, you know, my the the hockey ish background, right, hitting people. although I tried playing football and I I I I'm too pretty to get hit, so I just did not I was I was not a football player at Rob: Huh. Joey Monahan: all. But I think the hand eye coordination, from baseball, being a middle infielder, you know, it's the same. I don't know much about it, but I I've I've met so many kids and I've seen some kids play and I got a friend of mine here that our k our our boys play baseball together and he's he's heads up I think the Walton lacrosse print he goes, Man, i in our day i i it would have been a great sport for baseball players to play just because of the hand dye and the speed. Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: so I think that would that would probably be a sport that I would have tried to try to at least like to try play. Rob: Yeah. And it's got the elements of a basketball fast break too. Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: Totally. Yep. Yep. Rob: Do you enjoy watching O B right now? Joey Monahan: I I've gone through some phases. I think with the Braves moving three and a half, four miles down the road, I thought I would go I would have gone to a lot more games. I I hadn't just because of life and schedules and I I do find after being released from the Cubs, it was a it was a bad baseball was a bad pill to Rob: Mm-hmm. Joey Monahan: swallow. I I just felt like, man And and the game didn't owe me anything, but I just was like, God, it just chewed me up and spit me out and I just Rob: Sure. Joey Monahan: I'm so done. Like I I remember going with work, people would let's go to a happy hour Braves game, this and that and I was like, I don't I don't even want to look at a field. Yeah. Rob: See baseball. Yeah. Joey Monahan: but I would say the pass my son at nine years old he'll sit and watch nine innings and Rob: Wow. Joey Monahan: or go to a game and sit and watch it and and so I think that's kind of encouraged me to watch watch some only the Braves. I don't watch any other team. So I'll I'll watch Rob: Okay. Joey Monahan: the Braves. Rob: Yeah. What do you think of the extra innings protocol, having a guy start on second base? Joey Monahan: I like it. I like it. I I like anything that's gonna speed the game up, quite honestly. I I I think baseball can get it can drag. even as a player, there are times I mean I've got terrible ADHD, I'd be at shortstop and my mind would you know be out in the crowd Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: and you smell hot dogs and you're all over the place. But Rob: Ha ha. Joey Monahan: I I I think I think it's a good thing for the fans, right? I think Rob: Sure. Joey Monahan: going to a game, you're not there for three and a half, maybe four hours. Now it's I think they've I don't know what do you know what the the time what what's shaved. I think its average game is under three hours now. Rob: Little yeah, I think it on the low end of twos, actually with the yeah, Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: and everybody hated the pitch clock until they saw it. And now it's like, okay. Joey Monahan: Yeah, yeah. No, I I enjoy it because i and maybe it's my older age. maybe if I was playing it I'd be pissed because if you put a runner Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: on and he you know he scores and we lose the game and I'd I'd hate it, but Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: I don't mind it. Rob: I got a couple of baseball buddies and we've talked over the last couple of years that I none of us have figured out what the stats are, d who gets the advantage. But one of my buddies really doesn't like it at all. And he said, Why don't we go one inning regular, the next inning start with a guy only on first and then after that you could then have a guy on second. I'm like, Well, there's a compromise, but yeah. So Yeah. Joey Monahan: Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean they they did it and I mean the the first thing I'm thinking is like b bun over right away. Rob: Exactly. Get to third, right. Now we're bunting. Yeah. 'Cause you 'cause you're not seeing pitchers butt anymore. Yeah. All Joey Monahan: Right. Yeah. Rob: right. Who's your all time favorite athlete any sport? Joey Monahan: Ooh. I I think I I I think I would say obviously old school basketball, I I would have gone with I mean it's it's you know the typical Michael Jordan, right? just the dominance, the learning later on how much he put into the game, how what a competitor he was. But I mean he he just he he changed the game, in my opinion. And there's a Rob: Mm-hmm. Joey Monahan: lot magic and bird and all those guys, but and Shaq, But you know, I d I don't know of any other suburban kid out there that, you know, back in those days it was sticking the tongue out and lower Rob: Mm. Joey Monahan: the goal to seven feet so you can dunk on it as a ten year old or whatever. Right, yeah, and and doing all the shots. Rob: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: But I'd say him and then I I loved from a baseball I loved watching Ozzie Smith. Rob: Nice. Joey Monahan: and Ozzie Smith just the shortstop and that's what made me want to play middle infield and I got to play in a golf tournament with him and just the nicest one of the nicest guys I've ever ever talked to and y just just watching him play the game was un I mean, you know, it's it's he was something. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Did you ever go out and do a backflip like him? That was nuts. It's like he was on a trampoline. Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: No, I am I am not that athletic. Right. He made it look very easy. Rob: Well, growing up in Pittsburgh, they were Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: Saint Louis. They all had those those dome or outdoor round stadiums. My brother and I thought it was the Astroturf that he could just ping and Yeah. Joey Monahan: Yeah. No, anywhere. Rob: So, who's your all time favorite team in any sport? Joey Monahan: I think I would go with eighty five Chicago Bears. Rob: No kidding. Joey Monahan: Yeah. I I just remember watching Walter Payton and my dad my dad, you know, we'd we'd watch the NFL, football games and any time the Bears were on and we had no ties to Chicago or anything. He just Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: he was just like, Man, this is a this is a guy who you want to emulate in any sport, like the way the guy ran, the way the guy played. so I you know, I I credit that to my dad because he he liked the he liked the Bears and mainly Walter Payton. Unreal. Yeah. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. That was a entertaining team to say the least. Yeah. Who's the greatest athlete you've ever been around? Joey Monahan: Bo Jackson. Rob: Really? Joey Monahan: Bo Jackson. w now when you say been around like someone I've hung out with, I mean I i we we Rob: Or in proximity to, I guess. Joey Monahan: Yeah, I mean Bo Jackson was like one I we don't We could go through it all. he he threw out a first pitch. Liberty, when I was playing, we were we were playing against Auburn and he threw out the first pitch and he was on deck. he was on the on deck batter circle and I was a leadoff hitter, so right, I'm just sitting there and just spitballing with him and just such a super nice guy. And then to kind of just see what all he had I mean to think what he could have you hate to say what he could have been, right? 'Cause he did everything. But Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: Bo Jackson, in my opinion, is the greatest athlete. Rob: Could he was headed to two Hall of Fames potentially. That's Joey Monahan: Yes. Rob: nuts, yeah. Wow. If you you played second, so I'm not gonna let you say that. Okay, you're a short stop, you play a little second. If you couldn't play short or second, where would you choose to play? Joey Monahan: Between the two, what would I what would I pick? Rob: No, y no, you cannot play short and you could not play Joey Monahan: Okay. Rob: second. But where else would you play if you could play baseball? Joey Monahan: Ugh. I don't know. That's a that's a tough question. I g I guess I would say center field because the shortstop is well you got the the k the catcher is the ultimate captain. He he sees the field. I'd say the n the next man in line is the shortstop, which kinda runs the infield and somewhat of the outfield and then center I I would probably say center field. Yep. Rob: Okay. That's cool. All right. Do you have favorite music that you listen to when you're playing to get you fired up? Joey Monahan: No, but right now I am in a I g going back to yep, I'm forty five years old and it's taking me this long. I'm just learning what a actual process is, meaning getting up at at you know, four forty five or five AM. I promise I'll get to the answer here. Rob: Ha ha. Joey Monahan: Yeah, go going on a walk, doing a Bible study, and then getting into a coal plunge and I cold Rob: atta boy. Joey Monahan: plunge every morning. And so what I I put Eye of the Tiger from Rocky Balboa 'cause I know it's four minutes and three seconds and for some reason when I hear that song it just it triggers something and I'm like, I can do anything. Rob: Right. Four minutes and three seconds. That's better than most people in a cold tub. That's awesome. Joey Monahan: Yeah, right. I yeah, I well it's it's so weird how the brain works because I see that that darks like cold, frigid water and I'm staring at it and then I hit play and then the moment I hear like the very beginning Rob: Done. Joey Monahan: it's like just get your yep, just get your feet in and and and d Rob: Dun dun dun. Joey Monahan: dump the body in there. But yeah, I I I I would probably say pumped up was was some of that and but playing was probably like Metallica. but I I listened to I listened to all I listened to rap, R and B, country, so but playing was probably more hard rock. Rob: So a very personal question. When you get out of that cold tub, do you David Goggins You don't know me, son? Ready to take on the day? Let the neighborhood hear it. Joey Monahan: I I yeah, yeah, I I beat on the ch so I was talking to my mother in law the other day and she's like, Well, I mean like what? And I'm like, I can go through all the health benefits of wise, but I was like, really what it is is it's a mental win. Right? you're starting your day off one. I I again, Rob, I've talked to everybody out there, I mean, get a process and and learn it, whatever it may be. There's no right or wrong, but when you get into a system And it just get it gets my day going. And and I remember reading something about Beat the Sun. I'm very competitive. and so Beat the Sun. If you be you're that's a win, right? Do these small things to get small wins every day and like you know, checking checking stuff off of a list on a piece of I I I I've got books of lists that I just check off, but but yeah, like David Cock, I mean when I get out of that coal plunge, I I won. And at that point it's you know, six fifteen in the morning and now I've gotta go win at making sandwiches and breakfast for the kids. Rob: Right. Now I I'm guessing you have a a tally. How many days in a row have you done this? Joey Monahan: of the coal plunge? I think I'm going into month three. and it's it's every day. Rob: That a boy. Joey Monahan: It it's every day, yeah. I I I Rob: Great. Joey Monahan: I I lose I lose most every like I gotta have small wins to make me feel good. So that's Rob: Sure. Joey Monahan: one that I know that I can control. Rob: Right. That's awesome. That's Joey Monahan: Yeah. Rob: so good. Do you have a favorite book? Joey Monahan: No, I don't. sadly I've you know, my father in law's a huge reader, my wife's a huge reader. I I I get into a book and and I read it and then I and then I like have to go back and reread it. Maybe I need to slow things down. I think that's what waking up in the morning, like w when I get into scripture or whatnot, I slow everything down and just try to take it for what it is and not try to rush through it like it's a a thing. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: the a book that I recently read, I'm in the employee benefits health insurance business and I wanna say it's the twelve day work week. wait, twelve no twelve da twelve week work year. And it's basically saying you can get more done in twelve weeks than what most people can get done in a year. And it's basically breaking the I'm gonna g I'm gonna totally foul this up, but the under my understanding is, you know, for me, like trying to write trying to r have an annual goal of let's just say a number of you know, writing three hundred thousand dollars worth of new business, you know, that goal is daunting. and it can paralyze you. So break it down like hey, like right I I started a ninety thousand dollars in ninety days, and I've told two other s sales guys with me in the organization, and that's all we're trying to focus on. So it's basically breaking it down in quarters, almost like a football game. Like win the quarter, right? Prep for the next quarter as well, but win that quarter and don't focus on the three hundred thousand dollar goal, focus on the hundred thousand that you can write in the first three months or whatever it may be. So that that's the book I'm reading. Long winded answer. Yeah. Rob: Okay. No, that's that's great. I like that. All right, last question for ya. What's your World Series prediction for this year? Joey Monahan: my gosh, dude. I sat there and said I watched I don't mean like who who's who are the teams? Who are g give me the give me the I'm assuming it's gotta be Braves, Dodgers, who are who who's in Rob: Well, Joey Monahan: the hunt? Rob: there's a sneaky team, the Milwaukee Brewers, and Pat Murphy was my brother's college coach. And my brother didn't play at Notre Dame. It was at Maryville, Tennessee. Joey Monahan: Okay. Rob: And so I got a rooting interest for Pat Murphy 'cause he's a awesome coach. But I mean the American league seems to be wide open. Tampa Bay, New York is in second and the Red Sox are on their tail. But I d I didn't know if you know, I thought you you might put it out there that the Braves are gonna do a repeat of twenty twenty one. Joey Monahan: Yeah, I don't sadly enough I don't I don't watch a ton a ton of ton of the game. but if there's a Braves game I'll I'll catch a little bit of it. But you know, I I'm a home I'm a hometown guy, so I'm gonna I'm gonna say the Braves are if they can stay healthy think there were two guys that just went down, two pitchers that went down I read the other day. But I mean th the Braves have so much talent that there's no reason for them not to be, you know, going late late into October. So I'm gonna go ahead and say the Braves are gonna do it this year. I feel Rob: There you go. There you go. Well it's Joey Monahan: good about it. Rob: it's crazy whenever there's a big win. I'll take my dogs out back to g before we go to bed and you hear the fireworks. Yeah, yeah, Joey Monahan: so you're close. Okay, yeah. Rob: yeah. We're not we're not too far from you guys. So it's like, okay. Whether you Joey Monahan: Like Yeah. Rob: whether you knew it or not, the Braze one. Yeah. Joey Monahan: Right. Yeah. Rob: Yeah. Well, there's one thing that I c I just loved. One of the biggest statements that that you said was everything's between the ears and that's life. I've heard that the Joey Monahan: Huh. Yep. Rob: The life's biggest battle is the six inch battle. Joey Monahan: Yep. The the mind is a battlefield and I tell you all the struggles been thinking about as we're talking about this, the the struggles and I've had professionally in in the insurance world of being overlooked, not getting, you know, becoming a partner or, you know, being overpromised and and and having the rug completely I mean, Rob, I've star in in my in as a employee benefit consultant, your whole goal is to build a book of business, maintain it and grow it and, you know, it's that's that's just what you want to do. And I've star I've started over, this is my fourth time of starting completely over. And and that's I even chat GPT that. That's I mean, I don't know much about AI. I like, i am I crazy for doing this and the opportunity was there to do this but but But it's say, well it's highly unlikely in in this type of role, but it you know, it goes to show that you you know, you build trust and you you know, whatever it may be. Rob: Yeah. Yeah. Joey Monahan: But it's taken me I I I can look back at all the stuff that I did from you know, having to confront a coach, you know, at fourteen years old or the the losses that I've taken, being overlooked to go to a bigger school, You know, all kinds of things have gotten me now to this level. It's funny we're having this conversation 'cause I I've recently I mean, for probably the past two years, I've been wanting to write down or or just keep some type of list of all the men that have impacted my men or women that that have Rob: Mm-hmm. Joey Monahan: impacted my life to the point where I am today. And, you know And as I look back, God had his hand in all of it. for me to go to Liberty University, which, you know, I would want I wanted to go to a big school party, you know, do Rob: Yeah. Joey Monahan: all the fun stuff that colleges do, but God had me go to Liberty for a reason. so, you know, it's it's it's been helpful. It certainly has not been easy, but I think what I'm s what I'm taking away from a lot of is just enjoy the ride. Just enjoy the time. Rob: That's great. That's yeah, right. Well Joey Monahan: We're not we we can't take anything with us, you know. We're gonna die. Rob: you there's a quote that you made me think of when you're talking about the daily process that, you know, w all the beat the sun and all that, that success doesn't happen in a day but it happens or it occurs daily. And how you keep just stacking Joey Monahan: Yeah. Yep. It Rob: those together. Joey Monahan: Yeah. It's for for me again going back to being a mental med, just getting small small victories. I think there's a there's a book written like, you know, make your bed or something like that. And early in the morning, that's a small it's cheesy, right? But you that's a that's a little win. and I Rob: Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Joey Monahan: have just I've just seen the past three months doing this process, it's like, wow, okay, I've I've got I it just gets my my day going. Rob: Yeah, that's great. That's awesome. Joey Monahan: Yep. Rob: Well, I appreciate your time and your insights. It's been very fun to talk to you. Joey Monahan: dude, I like what you're doing is is great. I I hope it's getting out to the masses. I I I just I hope I hope some parents can see that the the kids need to love the game and and enjoy it. and it y you're y you're not gonna get hits every time you're up to a bat or you're not gonna make a basket, or you're not gonna, you know, ace, you know, on a tennis court. It's just it's just not it's not supposed to be there. It's supposed to beat you down. Rob: Yeah, yeah. Joey Monahan: And and and whoever can get through the beating down is is who's gonna end up winning. Rob: Yeah. Strengthen that struggle, right? Yeah. Well it's Joey Monahan: Totally. We'll keep Rob: with you and Tyler Groff, man, this internet might blow up, so who knows? Joey Monahan: Yeah Rob: well, thank you again, Joey Monahan. And for you out there, if you like this episode, please send it to several friends that you think might benefit from Joey's wisdom. And as always, please push that subscription button notification bell. So till next time, make the most of your time. And always hang tough.