Interview with Mike Zagurski

by James Quinn on Jan 7, 2008 5:42 PM EST Comment 8 comments

I am a blogger covering the University of Kansas baseball team. Today I posted an interview with Philadelphia LHP Mike Zagurski . Zagurski pitched at KU from 2004 to 2005. He was drafted by the Phillies and rocketed up the ladder, making his major league debut last May. I thought Phillie fans might be interested in this interview. Zagurski answered a few questions in a surprising manner and the interview conveys some insight into the life of a college and minor league prospect.

The interview covers a lot of ground. The differences between the college and pro game; how competitive college baseball is compared to minor league baseball; the use of aluminum bats in college and how this affects players moving to wood in the pros; and life in Batavia and Lakewood.

Hope you enjoy.

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Re: Interview with Mike Zagurski

Thanks for the interesting interview!

by Homer on Jan 8, 2008 11:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Hi Homer,

I am glad you like it. It really did turn out to be even more interesting than I was expecting. Mike is a good guy. He spent about 45 minutes with me on the phone and talked openly about any subject that I brought up.

by James Quinn on Jan 8, 2008 12:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Here are the parts of the interview

of most interest to Phillies fans:

What are some of the adjustments you had to make after becoming a professional player?
I was lucky and my coaches liked most of what I was doing and didn't make a lot of adjustments. In professional ball I attack the strike zone a bit more. I was always encouraged to do this but it works a bit better in professional ball because of the wooden bats. I try to throw strike one right away and challenge the batters. Getting a guy out in three or four pitches works a bit better in professional baseball.

How was life during your first two years of minor league ball, in Batavia and Lakewood?
Different. In Batavia, most of the players didn't even have cars and we were living with host families. I was used to my friends and transportation while I was at KU and suddenly I am riding my bike back and forth to the park every day. Lakewood was great. Every night there would be seven thousand fans in the stands. It was one of my better experiences. And my host family was great.

2007 was an amazing year for you. You went all the way from High-A ball to the majors in less than three months. How did this happen?
In spring training my hope was to make the AA team. The Phillies were good about giving me opportunities to pitch for the AA team in spring. At the end there was a lot of trickle down. More experienced guys who didn't make the major league team pushed me down to high-A ball. But the coaches told me if I threw the ball well I'd get to AA soon. After I was promoted to AA I started to see pitching in the majors as a more realistic goal. I knew the Phillies were in need of some left handed relief pitching. I never expected to make the club in spring, but by the time I was pitching in AA I knew I had a chance.

Your season ended early due to an injury. What is your status now?
I am feeling okay. Not 100% yet. I hope to be 95% by spring training and ready by April 1st. The surgery went well and right now it is just a waiting game.

by James Quinn on Jan 8, 2008 1:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Re: Here are the parts of the interview

Host families? I had no idea that's how it was done in the low minors.

by David S. Cohen on Jan 9, 2008 8:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Here are the parts of the interview

I was surprised also. But I probably shouldn't have been. Given that most minor league players come in with small signing bonuses ($5,000 or less) and they only early about $10,000 a year, they are not living large.

by James Quinn on Jan 9, 2008 9:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Here are the parts of the interview

Agreed - I knew they weren't living large either. But, I didn't know about this part of it. Is there a system of host families in these towns that regularly rotate through hosting minor leaguers? What an odd but probably very interesting part of the baseball infrastructure.

by David S. Cohen on Jan 9, 2008 3:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Here are the parts of the interview

I do not know if the minor leagues work the same way, but I know a bit about the whole host family situation in summer wood bat leagues from reading the book, "The Last Best League." This book follows a Cape Code League baseball team for a season. The Cape Code League is considered the best summer amateur league and attracts the top college prospects.

Anyway, families host the players in this league who are there on "scholarship." These scholarships basically mean they have a small allowance for food and the league finds them a free place to live. The host families devote a good amount of money and effort to help out the players. Most of the families host a player or two every year. I got the sense they just liked doing it because the players were on the cusp of fame, and generally pretty good kids focused on doing well in front of the scouts. The host families did not receive any money. It was just a civic service.

One player in the book, Thomas Pauly, comes off pretty poorly. He signed a pro-contract the day before he was scheduled to start a game, so he left the team scrambling to find a replacement. That bothered a lot of people on the team. What bothered me the most was that he got drunk the day after signing his contract and then left his host family the next morning without even saying goodbye. Apparently he left his room in very bad shape also.

Little things like that tell you a lot about people. I was not unhappy to read earlier this month that Pauly had been released by the Reds. He never got out of A ball.

by James Quinn on Jan 9, 2008 4:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Here are the parts of the interview

Fascinating. Thanks for that info. I'd love to hear about players who made the big leagues and paid back the kindness of the host families in some way. What an interesting part of baseball that I honestly never knew a thing about. Thanks JQ.

by David S. Cohen on Jan 9, 2008 4:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs