A Crock of Gunt: Steve McDonald

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Borealis
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A Crock of Gunt: Steve McDonald

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A Crock of Gunt: Steve McDonald
KOA Radio 850

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June 18, 2015: Yuma, Arizona – Radio personalities George Crocker and Mark Gunter sit down with Aurora 2B Steve McDonald to discuss the season, his career with Aurora and his childhood before today’s game with the Yuma Bulldozers.

Gunt: Welcome to Borealis baseball, folks. This is Mark Gunter, and along with me is my partner, George Crocker.

Crock: Vrrr-rooooom, vrrr-roooooom! Aurora’s back on the highways and bi-ways and running down the road trying to loosen their load, everyone. The road has been a pretty friendly place for Aurora this season. The Borealis are sporting a 20-12 road mark in 2015.

Gunt: Not as friendly as home has been, that’s for sure. Their 25-5 mark their sure is special. Here with us today is one player who hasn’t found the road a struggle, so let’s hear about the 2015 season straight from the horse’s mouth…

Crock: Mustang’s mouth, Mark-O… the Mustang’s mouth!

Gunt: (shakes his head) Whatever you say, George. Let’s hear what he has to say. Ladies and gentlemen, Steve McDonald.

McDonald: Hey guys! Thanks for having me.

Crock: Dude, I got to ask – do you have a farm?

McD: (wagging his finger at Crocker) George, that’s been way overused… though my grandfather did. He had orchards, with cherries and apples.

Gunt: So tell us, Steve, what’s up with you guys on the road? Last year you struggled away from home, but not this year! You illustrate the team’s success. You’re hitting .382 at home and a not-so-shabby .326 on the road. We should all be so lucky to hit like that on the road.

McD: Well, in most places, I feel as if I see the ball real well. Northern Lights is such a great place to hit. I suppose you could use the old Rockies Theory, that with the altitude you get more offense.

Crock: Are you guys going to go for a tune-up with the All-Star Game on the horizon? I suppose your engines will need a tune-up? Change those “points and plugs”? Oil change? What will it take for you to continue along this path of success?

McD: Well, I hope I’m playing! For me… I’m not sure. I don’t think that’s an easy one to answer. I have always been a streaky hitter. I seem to always have a number of long streaks, like the 23-game streak I had to start the year. Three days later, I start an 11-gamer; then I’m off for four games before I start a 13-gamer. I don’t know why I’m so streaky. Different hitters respond to different environments. Some places just are harder for certain guys to see the ball, especially day games. Crystal Lake, for instance, has a lot of glare off the luxury boxes that I find irritating. Then there’s Tempe, especially with Markus gone! I just love hitting there. As you guys know, just little differences in height, stance, cloud cover… all affect your success at a park. At some level, luck plays into one’s success at the plate.

Gunt: I know just what you mean.

Crock: Man, I remember when I was with Bogotá. We went to Montevideo and they had this weird park that was backwards, and the setting sun was brutal in the early innings of a night game. I just struggled there. You know Mark, I haven’t heard from a single PEBA club about signing with them! You’d think after the job I did in the World League that year…

Gunt: George, please…

McD: George, you weren’t that good. I remember watching some of those games on ESPN International when the family was in London that year. It was like watching a Surf and Snow game.

Crock: Oh, come on, Stevie Subaru. I wasn’t that bad. I stole bases. I hit homers. I made fabulous catches. If the league hadn’t been afraid of Bogotá winning and set me up at the airport in Cabo…

Gunt: George. We agreed not to do that…

Crock: I know, I know… I just needed to set Sunbeam Steve-O straight. So what’s surprising you so far this year, Malibu Steve?

McD: (rolls his eyes) I’d have to say José Rivera.

Crock: Sweet… José Riviera… awesome…

McD: He’s really come into his own now that he’s getting a chance to play every day. Last year, he may not be have been the flashy MVP candidate, but he may very well have been ours – Cory’s Royal Raker notwithstanding. He’s hitting .320 again. He has 16 2B and 5 HR already this year, and he hit 30-somethin' doubles and 9 HR last year. Plus, he’s playing great defense at short.

Gunt: Rivera’s a good call. Not only did he have a breakout year in 2014, he played all over the diamond. He’s played first, he’s played short, he’s been at third. Another guy I want to ask you about is just finishing his first full season’s worth of games. What are your thoughts about Orlando López?

McD: Well, ah… mixed, I suppose. He’s started well enough and is very talented. It’s hard for me because he’s the first wave of guys who could replace me! (defensively) I’ve been here all along, since day one, and I really would like to finish my career here. But I hear you guys, you media guys, talking about López, Foster and Cole as if it’s a foregone conclusion that I’m outta here! In case anyone’s noticed, I’m only 28! I’m eligible for free agency after this season and I think we can see a pattern here – let the old guy go and replace him with the cheaper, younger guy. (angrily) That’s just not right!

Crock: Like they say, Stevie Woodie… fun, fun, fun ‘til her Daddy took the T-bird away.

McD: Huh? (shaking his head) Whatever.

Gunt: I can sense you’re a little angry about this. Do you want to discuss your future? What do you see happening?

McD: Guys, I’m not blind. They let Sal, Chris and Aaron go because they had younger guy’s – Pierce, En-guo and Cain – to take their place. Good… cheaper options. Don’t get me wrong; those guys are good, but I see the same beginning to happen on the infield. They let Augusto go, and Pexego, and now we have López and Watson. Wilson is gone. It seems as if my turn is next. Frankly, have you seen this kid Foster? He’s a monster. If I had his power, we’d be separated at birth.

Crock: Are you calling yourself a monster? Monster what? Monster truck? Man, I drove in this monster truck event one summer, and dude! I tell ya, I got sa-lammed. I don’t even remember the rest of the race. I think I won, racing in and around all those cars and trucks. I think it was a Gran Torino’s wheels I was spinnin’. Do you remember that one, Marky-Mark?

Gunt: No, not really… So Steve, you’re saying the writing is on the wall here? Do you view this as a salary drive year, as if you have to prove yourself? Trying to set a high bar for free agent negotiations? Where would you like to go?

McD: I do. My agent’s telling me I should earn a $20M per year, and I don’t think they’ll go for that here, as much as I’d like to stay. I think Cory will be the first to break that number here. I’m not sure where I’d go… Manchester maybe…

Gunt: Please, spare yourself that mess. Bruto and Cooley? Ugh!

McD: Ha! Yeah, I gettcha. Maybe Arlington. I definitely don’t plan on going to Florida or Tempe; too freaking hot. Yuma has an agenda that doesn’t jive with me. Maybe Charleston. I mean, I get it. They’ve built an expensive team here. If they are going to keep it together for the long haul, they have to be very careful with their funds.

Crock: So you’re looking for a team with solid underpinnings, one that will get you great mileage, not just a flashy exterior.

McD: Well, they have to be able to afford the contract, and I don’t want to start all over. I’d like to win a Rodriguez Cup again.

Gunt: If it doesn’t happen again this year! So what about this year? The team is off to a great start. You’re up on the Bears by three games. What is the difference-maker this year?

McD: Well, I think if you asked most of the guys, the easiest answer is Sawmill. To a man, we all knew we needed pitching, and when they made the deal to bring Martín in, it was, like, “Wow.” Bruce wasn’t going to make an impact here, and Francisco was an established arm, but man… has he been lights out or what? No one on this team thought he’d be that good, and he’s making everyone else better on the staff despite what the numbers may say.

Crock: Kind of like buying a Toyota and finding out you got a Lexus! That’s pretty hot! What about the rest of the team? Pitching has been carrying you guys for a good portion. Edwards’s numbers are down; Cain, López a bit, too. That shiny new vehicle that Topham drove off the lot in Rod Johnson ain’t performing like his owner’s manual suggests…

McD: Eh, I think it’ll come together. As I said earlier, it’s all about consistency. Johnson will figure it out. He has a great swing. Same for Bobby Watson. Cain was cruising before getting hurt, and he’s been historically slow in responding afterwards. Al’s a pro. Give him a chance. We’d have to have an injury list like Florida or Charleston before we really need to be concerned. It’s all about the post-season. Get there and then let’s talk. Just like last year!

Gunt: You guy’s lost Kojima for the year to Tommy John. That has to have been a tough loss.

McD: Absolutely. Where would be we if we’d had a healthy Kojima? Further in front, I bet. Here is a guy who has been the consummate pro. Quiet, comes to work each day and does his job. He doesn’t want to be the center of attention, nor does he want to be the leader, but he was. We all looked up to him. He’s a free agent after this year, as well. Too bad. There’s certain to be a lot of speculation about his future. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be back now. I’m just thinking how tough our rotation would be if we still had Kojima along with Sawmill and a healthy Slappy.

Crock: Sssssss-lappy! Love that name… love it! What’s your assessment of Ssssss-lappy?

McD: He’s coming around. He doesn’t have the smoothest of motions, and I think that’s part of the problem for him; too much torque on the arm…

Crock: That’s why you go for the rack-and-pinion steering, Old McDonald!

McD: (speechless)

Gunt: (after a moment) I hear what you’re saying, Steve. I understand that part of his rehab was rebuilding his motion in a manner to remove that stress on the arm. What do you think?

McD: So far, so good, I think. He’s looking a lot smoother on the mound and he says the shoulder feels great. They have him up to 95 pitches and he’s gone 7 and 8 innings in his last two starts. He hasn’t pitched badly. He gave up the HR late against Omaha that skewed the box score, but 5 H, 9 K and a walk for 8 innings is always good in my book.

Crock: Indeed. Tell me, Steve McCadillac; I hear you are the cherry pit champion of the world! What’s that all about?

McD: Well, like I said, my grandfather had a cherry orchard in Marshall, where I grew up – just west of Ann Arbor and Detroit. We’d eat those cherries like nobody’s business. Then we’d keep the pits and have batting practice. You know, soft toss… great for the eyes. I got very good with the eye-hand coordination. You really have to focus. I definitely think it helped a lot!

Gunt: That reminds me of Chris Weaver’s story of playing “one pitch” with discarded apples.

Crock: I remember that! Boom! Applesauce. What did you guys get? Cherry cider?

McD: Your guess is good as mine, George. Really good at hitting cherry pits?

Gunt: Well, for one thing, I know Steve McDonald is really good at hitting baseballs. What are your thoughts about the upcoming Yuma series?

McD: Man, I don’t know… I’m just glad to not be playing one of those Great Lakes teams. They’re wearing us out! And Canton… (shakes his head) what’s up with that? They seem to own us this year. Yuma’s tougher than they look. The past two years, they have not been an easy victory for us, especially in the desert.

Crock: Come on, Steve McD McQueen-O. Ain’t you gonna hop in a car and speed down the streets of Yuma as if they were the streets of San Francisco?

McD: Or not…
Michael Topham, President Golden Entertainment & President-CEO of the Aurora Borealis
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Bill
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Re: A Crock of Gunt: Steve McDonald

#2 Post by Bill »

Great stuff as usual from Crock and Gunt. I don't know who's idea it was to link the apple thread, but that was priceless!

McDonald looks like one of the top prizes in the FA class this season if he is not retained. I'm interested to see what happens to him. While he isn't exactly what our offense needs, he might look good in green and white...
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Re: A Crock of Gunt: Steve McDonald

#3 Post by John »

Warriors wrote:Great stuff as usual from Crock and Gunt. I don't know who's idea it was to link the apple thread, but that was priceless!
No one ever accused me of failing to seize a promotional opportunity. :oops:
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