|
Volume 17 August/September
2004 - Scoreboard Theme -
Email:
TheHighlander
Mike Shepard
Exclusive interview by
Harold
Friend Website:
Suite101
Editor's Note: This month
we talk to Mr. Mike Shepard, former
bullpen catcher for the Colorado
Rockies.
Never heard of him? Well now you have and
his name is worth remembering.
The Colorado Rockies
joined the National League in 1993 and
finished in sixth place in the National
League's Western Division, six games ahead
of the last place San Diego Padres, which
was not bad for a first year expansion
team. The Rockies had some excellent
players, including Andres Galarraga,
Vinnie Castilla, Eric Young, Dante
Bichette, Joe Girardi, Andy Ashby, Armando
Reynoso, and Bruce Ruffin. Don Baylor was
the manager and the bullpen catcher was
Mike Shepard. Little is written about the
bullpen catcher, but he is a unique team
member. The bullpen catcher is an integral
part of the team, may be younger than some
of the players, but knows that he will
never get into a game. He travels with the
team, stays at the best hotels, and gets
the same meal money as the players. On
most teams, the players consider the
bullpen catcher one of their own. It is,
in many respects, the next best thing to
being an active player. Mike Shepard was
the Rockies' bullpen catcher. He recently
got in touch with The Highlander and
provided us with some rare insights about
a baseball player's everyday life. The
following are the highlights of our
interview.
Mike, please give us a little background
information about yourself, such as where
you were raised, where you went to school,
and what you had as career goals.
Until I went to the
University of Denver (DU) in 1987 I always
lived in California. We lived in Corona
Del Mar in Orange County, California and
when I was ten we moved to Los Altos,
where I completed baseball and education
through high school. My parents still live
in the house they moved into in 1979. I
went to Los Altos High and graduated in
1987.
Growing up I always wanted
to be in athletics. I played ice hockey,
soccer, basketball, golf and of course,
baseball. My two true favorites were
always hockey and baseball. My junior year
in High school I put all of my efforts
into baseball and at that point never
really considered any other sport or
career outside of baseball. One way or
another I would have a baseball career.
Fortunately, in order to stay eligible I
had to pass classes and I took a liking to
business.
Mike, how did you get
involved with the Colorado Rockies?
My senior year at the
University of Denver (DU), 1992, was the
original draft year of the Rockies. Their
general manager Bob Gebhard and his staff
scouted a lot of the local college games.
I met "Geb" a few times. He saw me the
Sunday night before the draft and
explained he did not think I was going to
be drafted by any of the major league
clubs and did not want to use a selection
on me since in 1992 the teams were limited
to fifty rounds for the first time. He
needed four catchers for their two A level
teams and he knew they were going to draft
four catchers but thought only three would
sign. He said if that happened they would
sign me as a free agent and I would be the
fourth catcher. "I'll call you Thursday
either way," he said.
Well on Thursday I got the
call and Geb told me the bad news. All
four catchers were drafted and all four
signed. No room for Shep. However he
offered me $50 to bullpen catch at an open
tryout they were having at DU that
Saturday. I turned down his offer since
graduation was that day and my folks had
come out from California to see me walk.
Later that day I decided I would go to the
tryout camp and miss graduation but not to
bullpen catch but to tryout. Geb was
impressed, not enough to sign me, but
enough to offer me the Major League
Bullpen Catcher job the next fall right
after Don Baylor was hired.
What qualified you as a
bullpen catcher?
Geb had told me he spoke
to a lot of people who knew me through my
college career in Denver and I had spent
time in 1990 as the bullpen catcher for
the then Denver Zephyrs, which was the
Brewers AAA team.
What was your role as the
bullpen catcher?
I believe I was the only
bullpen catcher in the Major Leagues to be
a full time employee of the club. I had an
annual contract both years from Feb 1-Jan
31. The year would start out in early
February when I would go to spring
training early with the clubhouse manager,
help him set up camp, and work out the
players who would arrive early. I would
catch the pitchers, throw BP to the
fielders, and so on. I would then take my
spot as a Major League staff member from
the day the pitchers and catchers arrive
officially to camp all the way through the
end of the regular season.
My in season duties were
multiple. The first and foremost was to
catch the pitchers not only during the
game but I handled all the off day
workouts and early work. I also took a
keen interest in hitting and spent hours
with hitting coaches Amos Otis (see
interview in Vol. 14, April Highlander) in
1993 and Dwight Evans in 1994 in the
cages. Throwing batting practice, sorting
baseballs for BP and bullpen bags,
handling game videos on the road, and
everything else that came up on a daily
basis were all part of the job.
After the season was over
I took a spot in the Rockies Office as a
member of the community relations team. I
spent both the 1993 and 1994 off seasons
speaking to students though out Colorado
about making good life choices. I also
operated my own company, Rocky Mountain
Baseball Academy, where I conducted
baseball clinics with current and former
Professional Baseball Players. The time I
spent both years speaking to students and
teaching young players was the best part
of being a "Rockie."
Who were some of the
pitchers with whom you worked?
Some of my favorite would
include Bruce Ruffin, Willie Blair, Jeff
Parrett, Greg Harris, and Armando Reynoso.
However my favorite person with whom I
worked was our pitching coach Larry
Bearnarth. Bear treated me as a son,
friend, and teammate. We spoke and talked
for time to time between 1994 and 1999
when he passed away. There is not a week,
maybe a day, which goes by when I don't
spend time thinking about him.
Who was the most difficult
to catch?
In 1990 while Bullpen
Catching the Zephyrs it was Tony Fossas.
Not because he had nasty stuff but because
he was so pissed off he got sent down he
liked to cross me up. Fastball may be a
fastball but it may be a curve.
With the Rockies it was
anyone throwing during the game in
Montreal. They had the bullpens turned
around so the pitcher and the ball were
coming out of the stands. I always dreaded
going to Montreal. One time we were
playing in front of 50,000 people, ...yes
in Montreal, and ESPN and their Canadian
Counterpart carried the game live.
It was Labor Day 1993 and
Montreal's own Dennis Boucher started for
the Expos. Late in a tight game Steve Reed
threw a ball that got by me and I was
fishing it out of the left field corner
when Roberto Mejia hit a double down the
line. I thought it was foul so I was all
ready to grab it when, I think it was
Jayhawk Owens, started screaming IT'S
LIVE! IT'S LIVE!
Well I just got out of the
way and thank goodness. When I got back to
the dugout I told Willie Blair what
happened and he said that third base coach
Don Zimmer looked like he was going to
have a seizure during the play and nobody
on the bench could figure out
why.
Who were some of the
people that influenced your career?
There are too many to
mention. Looking at it from the point of
time I choose baseball as a focus, I would
say Mark O'Brien who is now the Head
Baseball Coach at Santa Clara University.
Roc Murray, who is now the Head Baseball
Coach at Rocklin High in Rocklin,
California was the JV coach my junior and
senior years at Los Altos High. While I
never played for Roc I spent more time
with him working on my game and especially
hitting than the varsity coach. He really
taught me how to hit and without his
encouragement and direction I would not
have gone on to college baseball.
David Dematteis, my
teammate at DU convinced Head Coach Jack
Rose to start me against New Mexico State
early in my freshman year. I doubled off
the wall my first time up and hit a three
run home run my next time up. I started
all but three games the rest of that year
and I started every game the next three
seasons. Who knows what would have
happened if Dave did not get me that
start?
Finally, my friend "OB,"
who was a school year behind me at another
local high school and I used to spend
hours together working out, going to the
local college (Stanford, San Jose State)
and Giants games, and spending hours
watching WGN and ESPN.
1993 was the Rockies first
year of existence. What was the attitude
of the players?
There were so many players
in different points of there career. So
many of the players took the opportunity
to springboard their careers. It's amazing
to look back and see the money and careers
some of the first year players have had.
Steve Reed, Eric Young, Willie Blair,
Vinny Castilla, Dante Bichette, Andres
Galarraga, Joe Girardi, Andy Ashby, Bruce
Ruffin. For a couple of these guys it may
have been there last chance to make
something happen and they all did. The
highest paid guy on that team was Charlie
Hayes at around $1 million. I think the
whole pay role was less than $12million.
The players were also so
taken back by the Denver fan base. We
played in Mile High Stadium in front of
80,000 plus on opening day. Most of the
players on the team had come through
Denver and played in front of the AAA
Zephyr and Bear crowds of 5,000. A few
years later 50,000 is a small
attendance.
How did the Rockies'
manager, Don Baylor, approach the season?
He was set on not being
the 1962 Mets. We are not going to be
lovable losers and we are not going to
lose 100 games. He achieved his goals. Don
Baylor was an awesome person to watch work
every day.
Who are some of the
greatest players you have seen or worked
with?
I was very lucky that
growing up my dad was a huge sports fan.
We went to Baseball, Basketball, Football,
and Hockey games regularly. Therefore,
from the late 70's until 1995 I saw a lot
of great players and athletes. I felt very
lucky to work with Don Baylor. I was 10
years old growing up 20 minutes from
Anaheim when he was AL MVP. I spent 6
weeks throwing Batting Practice to and
Playing Catch with childhood hero Dale
Murphy. It turned out to be his last 6
weeks in the Majors. The coaching staff in
Colorado was full of people I grew up
watching Don Zimmer, Ron Hassey, Amos
Otis, Jerry Royster, and Dwight
Evans.
You told me that you
worked in England for an organization
called Major League Baseball
International. What is the organization
and what are its goals?
Steve Baker who is now the
President and CEO of NAIA was the pitching
coach my freshman year at DU and later
went on to the position of VP of Game
Development for MLBI. MLBI is the
International side of MLB.
The first goal of Game
Development in England was to support the
current Clubs and National Team. Second it
was to develop a fan base of MLB in order
to grow the TV and Merchandise market. In
1992 I went as an Envoy and played in
England and Belgium with 15 other college
seniors. While not playing I spent time
with the local club and the schools in
Witham, Essex. In 1995 I went over and
worked on the Pitch, Hit, and Run program,
which had been a success in Australia. I
rewrote the program to a level of
understanding for English School children
and I believe the program has turned out
to be a success. I also helped coach the
National Team.
How do the English view
baseball and what were some of your
experiences there?
In the school system there
is a crude form of baseball called
rounders. It's a real kid's game. The
field set up is similar that's what most
kids and adults think baseball is. They
also think Baseball is the American
rip-off off of cricket. The problem with
that is the majority of English folks
think cricket is twice as boring as some
Americans think Baseball is.
It was very challenging
but also rewarding. The baseball people
there really appreciated our time and
efforts. The majority of school kids liked
something different and new. My absolute
favorite moment was when a 8 year old girl
who had been learning and playing for a
few weeks yelled out during a play, "I get
it I finally get it...This is a great
game...Thank you Sir for teaching all of
us!" It sounded like something out of
Charlie Brown.
That is a great story. You
have led quite an interesting life. Now,
back to American baseball. What happened
after you left the Rockies?
In 1995 I started a career
in sales working for Gallo Winery's
distributor in San Francisco. I have since
move into Surgical Sales and sell a
surgical product to GYN Surgeons. I meet
my wife Debbie while at Gallo and we now
have three wonderful children. Daughter
Taylor (4), and Sons Logan (3), and Hayden
(7) months. The only trace of baseball is
the one game a year I play as a Los Altos
High Alumni. I now prefer to hit golf
balls.
I find that fascinating. I
know that as a fan, I could never "leave"
baseball, although I did after the lockout
and work stoppage in 1994. I guess that
many players have a different perspective
from that of many fans. Anyway, this has
been great. One more question. How did
your experiences in professional baseball
affect your life?
I think my experiences as
a student athlete did more to develop who
I am today. It is really true for me that
the competition and desire to succeed on
the baseball field carried right into my
sales career. I also learned to deal with
and manage an insane schedule, overcome
stressful situations, and have a fear of
failure.
The pro experience was
huge as well. It allowed me to walk away
from baseball and never look back. I don't
think that would have been possible if I
had not been able to experience the game
at the highest level. From watching others
work and interact for those two years I
also realized the importance of good
communication, being up front with people,
and doing the right thing even if not
always the easiest.
Thanks Mike.
This site is not endorsed by the New York
Yankees. Copyright © 2002-2003-2004
Pinstripe Press
Pinstripe
Press -
The
Highlander -
The
Collector -
GoodNews
The opinions expressed
solely represent the contributor's and not
the Pinstripe Press. Questions or comments
in regards to a specific article should be
sent directly to that writer's email. All
questions, comments, advertising inquiries
etc. should be sent to the Pinstripe Press
at StlrsFan1@aol.com. Best when viewed
with latest Internet Explorer or Netscape
browsers in 1024x768.
| 
