Daric Barton and Dan Meyer Visit AN

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 9:24 AM PDT in News Comment 28 comments

What nickname did Frank Thomas give Daric Barton this spring? How has his jump to Triple-A been? Two outs and game on the line, who does Barton want at-bat?

Does Dan Meyer regret hiding his shoulder injury? How close is he to feeling 100 percent? What does Meyer feel are the differences between the A's and Braves organization?

All these questions and more are addressed when I sat down to talk with two of the A's intriguing prospects at Sacramento. Barton makes a return appearance and this is the first time Meyer has visited with AN.

I also have a couple more of these interviews coming on Thursday, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, enjoy the interviews:

Click here to hear the Daric Barton interview.

Click here to hear the Dan Meyer interview.

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yay, something to look forward to hearing!

...in about 6 hours.

Stupid 'work'...

"Oysters were not considered as potential predators to use on the plane." ~~ Rubin Sierra

by Poppy on May 23, 2006 9:36 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

awesome

Thanks Blez, interviews such as these are why AN is like Daniel Larusso (the best around).

I miss Bill King :(

by gojohn10 on May 23, 2006 9:43 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Blez...

can we have a written copy? Work does not allow us to listen.

Is there a link to visit with script?

$1000 worth of liquor for Cupcakes and Swish and 'friends'. Hope it worked...

by jrwolf on May 23, 2006 9:47 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Yea!

Has anyone mentioned recently how awesome you are Blez?

First Swish, now Barton. Thomas is beginning to acquire quite a few followers!

ducks to avoid flying chair

by JLeverenz on May 23, 2006 9:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Meyer interview was great.

I was impressed by the grace with which he handled all of the injury-related questions. I need to go back and get a refresher on what the injury was, exactly. It seems it must have been quite a bad one for him to still be off on velocity a year later.

It sounds like he's a long way from the bigs...but he'll put in all the work it takes to get there.

"The first night, we were right there," Bradley said. "All we needed was a couple of touchdowns, and we would have had them."

by jeepers on May 23, 2006 10:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Liked the Barton interview, too.

Glad to see you got him to give our hometown some love, too :-).

One thought for future interviews--is there a way to somehow do them in an area with less background noise? It sounded like Romper Room, and it was a little hard to hear at times.

In any case, nice work!

"The first night, we were right there," Bradley said. "All we needed was a couple of touchdowns, and we would have had them."

by jeepers on May 23, 2006 11:22 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Believe it or not

we moved to a place that was much more quiet than where we originally were. Apparently ballparks are just noisy places even when you don't want them to be ;-)

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 12:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Impossible

Barton was taking 99 MPH BP while being interviewed. Every shot cleared the fence.

by Alon on May 23, 2006 8:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

great interviews

by oak1 on May 23, 2006 12:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

That is one of the main reasons I like this site

You get more then just fan opinions. You get it all here. Great interviews, I always look forward to them. Lets you see the person, not just the ball player. Keep them coming!

by ChickenStanley on May 23, 2006 12:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Another great job, Blez!

You do a great interview - you ask good questions, you actually let them talk, and you respond to what they say. You can think on the fly instead of just sticking to a script like what some reporters do. I hate it when a player says something really interesting but then the interviewer ignores it and just goes to the next item on their list. You don't do that!

I kind of like the "background noise." It makes it seem more authentic to hear batting practice and national anthem warmups in the background. Foss does on the field interviews like that all the time! It's obviously because you've gotta do the interview where ever it's convenient for the player, right?

Keep up the great work!

wherever the A's go, I will follow!

by stomperfan on May 23, 2006 1:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It's funny

Some players are really easy to do the follow up questions with, some are a little more difficult. Some don't want to expand on what they say more than what they said the first time. I think you'll find that with one of the interviews I'll be running on Thursday.

As for where this interview took place, it was just outside the River Cats clubhouse and if you listen closely during the interview with Barton you can hear a ball miss us by about 10 feet while the Iowa Cubs were taking batting practice. Scary.

But thanks for the kind words.

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks!

That was great to listen to!

Are these in Podcast form too?

I really appreciate you taking the time to do these. Thanks!

"Now, I'm not the guy who's in trouble, it's the guy on the mound who's in trouble.'' Swisher Pics

by BobbyCrosbysGirl on May 23, 2006 2:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure how to do that.

I have software that helps me shrink the files and make them into mp3's, but none to make them into podcasts.

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

<scratches head>

then how did I get the Duke and Bobby interviews off the AN podcast?

"Now, I'm not the guy who's in trouble, it's the guy on the mound who's in trouble.'' Swisher Pics

by BobbyCrosbysGirl on May 23, 2006 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blez didnt

convert those to a podcast, another ANer did.

President of the Brent Gates Fan Club

by SoCal As Fan on May 23, 2006 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

AN interviews on a podcast feed...

I sent Blez an email yesterday and offered to set up a podcast feed for these.

He was kind enough to give me permission.

So for anyone interested in having these delivered straight to your iTunes (or whatever podcatcher you may be using) you may now use the following feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/athleticsnationpodcast

Enjoy!

-Daaah

------ 84.6% of all statistics are made up.
podsportsdaily.com/rss/mlboak

by gallopingael on May 24, 2006 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

These are great!

Really enjoyed listening to the interviews. :D

"Huston actually bakes real cookies. Which is why Swisher bakes better cookies than Huston." ~ Sharon

by AsGirl on May 23, 2006 3:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Jinx?

According to this story (http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2006/5/23/174012/113), Barton just got hurt in a game against Iowa. Hopefully Blez didn't put some kind of voodoo hex on him. But great interviews regardless.

by Doug on May 23, 2006 3:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

<Sharon dies>

by Jennifer on May 23, 2006 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jeez, I hope

that it isn't serious. He seems like a really nice kid. No pretentiousness to him. Hopefully he stays that way.

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 4:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does this mean you've arrived?

You have a jinx just like the SI covers?

I hope he's OK, too.

"The first night, we were right there," Bradley said. "All we needed was a couple of touchdowns, and we would have had them."

by jeepers on May 23, 2006 4:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I guess we'll find out if the other

three Cats I interviewed got hurt too.

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 4:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sneak preview!

I'm no math major, but I only counted two today :-).

I might have to call their travel office and make sure I don't hop the same train/plane...

"The first night, we were right there," Bradley said. "All we needed was a couple of touchdowns, and we would have had them."

by jeepers on May 23, 2006 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

there's mf'in Rivercats on the mf'in plane!

"Oysters were not considered as potential predators to use on the plane." ~~ Rubin Sierra

by Poppy on May 23, 2006 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

there's mf'in Rivercats on the mf'in DL!

the bears were hungry and the monkey looked a lot like lunch @('.')@

by monkeyball on May 23, 2006 4:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

there's mf'n funny posters on the

mf'n blog!

by Tyler Bleszinski on May 23, 2006 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey Blez, I just got around to listening to these

interviews. Awesome stuff! Echoing the sentiments of the other posters, this is yet another reason why AN is the most awesome site. I dug the superhero question, that's the kind of offbeat stuff I like. Maybe you could make that a signature question. Keep up the great work.

New advertising campaign...A's Brand Baseball: Blink, and You'll Miss It. - Kyli

by McFood on May 25, 2006 8:16 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs