Rocky Mountain Rise with Troy Johnston

What does it truly mean to persevere in our dreams while maintaining faith through the darkest valleys? This powerful conversation explores the intersection of athletic pursuit and spiritual endurance, reminding us that our journey is never just about reaching a destination—it's about who we become along the way. We hear a remarkable story of someone who nearly walked away from their calling, facing financial struggles, family pressures, and years of setbacks, yet discovered that one more year of faithfulness could change everything. The central message echoes Psalm 42:11: 'Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.' This isn't just about baseball or any single pursuit—it's about learning to shift our perspective from 'what if everything goes wrong?' to 'what if everything goes right?' When we anchor our hope in God rather than our circumstances, we discover that the struggle itself is shaping us into people of character, resilience, and faith. The reminder that someone is always watching us—whether we succeed or fail—calls us to be our best selves not for recognition, but because we represent something greater than ourselves.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:21

Welcome back to another episode of Baseball in the Bible. I'm Riker Dotson here with my father, Ryan Dotson. We're back with a returning guest, Jordan, and we are honored to be here with a Colorado Rockies MLB player, Troy Johnston. He plays first base and outfield.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Welcome to the show, Troy.

SPEAKER_05 0:46

Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Thank you for doing this. Out with your family, and we're ruining your family weekend. And we appreciate you guys for taking the time to do it.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Shout out, shout out Ailey, uh, for letting you stop in the mall and and talk to us for a little bit about baseball. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

No, I appreciate I appreciate you guys. You guys sound like you guys have a really good thing going here. And I'm not gonna lie, you know, now that my wife actually stepped away, that was one of the hardest flights I've been on because I haven't flown with my daughter in a long time. But my goodness, uh, flying with a one-year-old might be one of the hardest things I've ever done. But she's fun and she's busy and she's crazy like I am.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

When you when you stepped on the plane with the one-year-old, did you feel like everybody looked at you like, oh no, this guy's race?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Well, no, it's funny because I probably had the least amount of kids on the team on the plane, and so um I only had one. She was she was crazy, she watched Bluey the whole time, and so but she was running around and playing with all the other kids, but it was fun, it's a good time.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

So, you guys are in LA?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Yeah, we're in LA. We're playing the Angels right now. Um, it's very different, you know, coming from Denver and it's cold, and now I now I get palm trees and I gotta adjust to the weather. And you know, I hate I hate 75 and sunny every day. It's the worst, you know. Just tough place to be.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

That's a tough life.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Yeah. So I got a question, I got a question for you guys then, real quick.

SPEAKER_05 2:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Wagger, what what position do you play?

SPEAKER_05 2:22

So I really play uh anywhere besides middle infield. Those are my two, I don't play those.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

He's he's primarily uh catcher, is for primarily where he's played.

SPEAKER_05 2:33

Primarily, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

So wow, okay. Well, that's that's actually super interesting. Um, because you know, you talk you talk about how you're kind of gearing towards a certain age group, youth baseball. I didn't realize, I'll tell you a story on kind of how it got me to the big leagues. So when I was with the Marlins, and Jordan remembers this, I was an outfielder. Then they said, Hey, you got a little too uh too fat after COVID. Um, I'm gonna need you to go play first base because you can't run anymore. And I said, Okay, sounds good. And I thought I was gonna play, you know, I was gonna be the first base outfielder, I was gonna do this. They ended up having me just play first base. And then a couple years down the line, when I was doing okay, they said, Hey, you know, you're just so positionally limited, uh, you know, I can't, we can't bring you up to the big leagues. I'm like, what are you talking about? I play outfield too. So I play like, you know, I play four or five spots if you need me to. And they're like, ah, no, you're just a first baseman. And it's funny that you say you play all the positions because I had to make a change for myself and say, hey, like, I'm gonna force their hand by, you know, being so desirable being able to play so many different positions, slot in different spots, hit it different spots in the order that now you become a such a valuable player. And that's so cool that you play all the positions because now you have no idea how valuable you truly are as a baseball player.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

That's a great, great point. I I was sitting here trying to think uh because I knew you were you came up playing first. Then I was try trying to remember if you played any first in Batavia, but it yeah, it was always you were you were in right, we had JD in center. Or were you in left in?

SPEAKER_00 4:20

I think I was in right most of the times, but then we had a random guy in left field every once in a while.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

It was a platoon left field, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Yeah, platoon left. You know, platoon in short season. I would have never guessed that.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Listen.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

That's what that's a wild concept in my mind.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

The uh the Marlins do things different, we'll just put it that way.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Yeah. Even even a platoon and triple A. Yeah. I could see a platoon in the big leagues, but platoon and triple A, eesh.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

So well, I know you hate doing it, but but tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Um Oh, that is no problem. I love introducing myself because I I got it, I got an interesting I got an interesting path that a lot of people, it's not, you know, it's not a straight, straight shot, straight up the straight up the gullet. But um so I am Troy Johnson. I grew up in Pew Olip, Washington, which is a suburb of Tacoma, Washington, which is a small town away from Seattle, Washington, if a lot of people don't know where any of those places are. Um, but I grew up, I played four years of varsity baseball, I played three years of varsity football, and I played two years of varsity wrestling in high school.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Shut up.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yeah, so I I wrestled, I wrestled in high school for my dad. My dad was a wrestling coach. He just retired about three or four years ago. Um, and then one of my favorite things that a little tidbit about me was in junior high when I was, oh man, I must have been like 12 to 14-ish. I actually played basketball, I ran track, and I played competitive golf. And I was actually out of every sport, I went pro in baseball, but I was probably a better golfer than I was a baseball player. Wow. And I won a few tournaments back in the day, got some trophies to prove it, but I'm still I will never be as good as I was at 12 years old. Never. I was so good. You know, when you're playing from the red tees, it makes it all so much easier.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

But um, after that, I had a couple college offers. Um back in the day, you were able to, you know, get offers a little early. I had a couple offers when I was a freshman, freaked me out. I ended up waiting, waiting, waiting, and I went to a place called Gonzaga. And Gonzaga is in Spokane, Washington. Uh, so it's on the east side close to Court d'Alane. From there, I played three years. I actually was a platoon guy. I was the pinch hitter platoon guy my freshman year at Gonzaga, um, which was a Division I in the West Coast Conference. I didn't really play too much at the first half, and then I ended up having a couple of good games in a row at a pinch hit home run, and then I ended up starting and hitting two as a DH in college. Because again, I got a little big and I forgot how to run. And so I ended up DHing. Um then after that, my sophomore year, I actually only played, I think, 15, 20 games, something like that, and I broke my hammock. So that's a little bone. I have a scar right here, but that's a little bone in your hands that when you wrap your hand around the knob, it'll like press in, dig in, dig in until it abs, it just snaps. But you really don't need the bone, it's not too interesting. Um, it's just something that hurts and all that kind of stuff. So I ended up actually not playing most of my sophomore year. And it was really cool because it actually gave me the opportunity to be like, okay, baseball is not my whole personality. I'm gonna focus on school, I'm gonna get a really good degree, and you know, I'm gonna play another two years in college, and that'll be it, and I'll go into the workforce. I ended up having a really good junior year, uh, led the country. I was in top two in doubles, I think with like 27 or 30 doubles, and you'd have to fact check me in like 50 games. And from there I got a lot of attention. Uh, wasn't anywhere near first round, you know, Paul Skeen's level attention, but I went to drop down to the 17th round, and I just said, Hey, I'll take you know this amount of money and I just want to play fresh road baseball and pay for my school. That was a big thing, is I want it because Gonzaga came to me and they said, Hey, we want you back. We just don't want to give you a full scholarship. And I said, Okay, that's not gonna work for me. Uh, you know, I I only have so much money left over in my 529, like I won't be able to afford uh school after take out loans. I don't want to do that. Yeah, and so I said, Okay, cool, I'm gonna go into the draft, and they're gonna pay me to go back to school. So I said, Great, I left early, my junior year. I ended up meeting Jordan and Batavia, which I have some like fond and scary memories about Batavia. Um it was my first experience with professional baseball, and I actually ended up going back and finishing up my degree at Gonzaga on time. So in 2020, during COVID, I finished up my degree. Fantastic. Wow. Um, and then so yeah, because I did not want to go back to school. If I had to go back to school now, there was absolutely no way that I'd be able to do it. Yeah. And so I finished up my degree, got my business degree, and then I ended up playing six and a half years in the minor leagues before I finally got my shot in the big leagues last year with Miami. And last year I ended up debuting with Miami in St. Louis for the Cardinals. I see you guys have the ball right there in the screen. Yeah, we're sorry in the front. And then I ended up getting put on waivers at the end of the year, which is very confusing. There's a lot of different transactions. It's it's fully a business when you get up to the big leagues. And then I ended up getting picked up by the Colorado Rockies, and here I am.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

And and you're having a great year so far. This first.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

And I'm having I'm having I'm having fun, I'm providing for my family, and you know, if I if I ever need to, I got my degree in my back pocket. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Dude, it's it's awesome being able to follow these guys. You know, I've been out of the game since since 2020. Um, started started doing my family thing. But it's fun to watch you guys get your opportunity and just talk a little bit about that. Like we were we were talking, you know, before you jumped on. What was that what was that call-up like? Because you were you were in Jacksonville, how'd they tell you who was there? Um, how'd you find out? Where was Miami?

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Let's hear that. Yeah, I got it. So here's here's an here's an interesting tidbit, I'll tell you this right now. So for any of the kids that are listening, the parents that are listening, this is one of my favorite things. I actually had a keynote speech uh speech on it at Gonzaga. Uh I actually almost quit baseball in 2024. I was done. I absolutely was absolutely, you know, there's articles about it, you can read about it, but I current I was I told my wife we were we just found out we were pregnant with our first, and I said, I have no money. Like we're talking swiping the credit card, closing my eyes, hoping it goes through. One eye open. Like we're talking that broke. And I said, Okay, I have my degree, I have connections. I even took an interview as a medical device sales in Jacksonville.

SPEAKER_04 11:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

And I said, Okay, I'm gonna set up for when baseball's over with. I ended up going down to Dominican, which I know is so funny because it's so grimy. It's it's so it's it's Batavia baseball. It's grimy, but they paid me well, I had fun, I stayed in a resort, and my wife looked at me and said, Hey, give it one more year, give it one more shot. And so I played out 2025, and I said, Okay, you know, if I'm done with baseball, I'm done with baseball. It's you know, I I I I did my best, and that's okay with me. I did, I gave it my all. I ended up getting a call around the trade deadline on July 28th from the hitting coach, Mike Marchima, and he pace timed me on an off day, and I said, I looked at my wife, and we got back in at 4 a.m. because we had a night game in Durham, and I drove back to Jacksonville about six hours, and so we got a little, a little four-month-old, my wife, and we'd said, We're not gonna do anything, we're not gonna go grocery shopping, we're not gonna do anything. It's our off day. We literally sat on the couch. I got a call about seven o'clock from uh Marge, and I said, I look at my wife and I go, I think I'm getting called up. And she goes, No, you're not. We've been waiting for this call for three years. Like, no, I don't think so. I said, There's no way that a coach is calling me on an off day at night and I'm not getting called up. And so Marge opens the phone and he goes, Hey, what are you doing? And I'm like, I just made a a pot of spicy rigatoni and some garlic bread, and we're gonna have dinner and hang out. He goes, Oh, okay, nice, nice. And he goes, So how you feeling? And I'm like, I I I it that was three sentences, and I said, Marge, if this is a call I've been waiting on for three years, you need to tell me right now. And he smiles as big as he can. He brings over our manager, David Carpenter, who's unbelievable. And they go, Hey, you're going to the big leagues. And I look at my wife, and it gets a little emotional. Um, but she starts crying. I start crying because we know how much hard work it took. We know how long the sleepless nights, the anxiety, the the money issues, the the things that everything that could have happened that that we envisioned happening, it was all just fake. It it it didn't, there's no emotions that could prepare you for reaching your goal, reaching, you know, completing your dream. There's there's no amount of emotions that I can even put on that, but you know, I'm I'm bawling my eyes out, and they say, Hey, you got a flight at 6 a.m. the next day. So, you know, I I'm on I'm on about five hours of sleep, no nap. And I tell my wife, I said, Hey, we got our apartment here, like you're just gonna have to leave everything, and we'll just come back and get it on the off day. And so I I call my parents, and we actually the timing of it was actually insane because we actually had a death in the family. My uncle passed away, and so my dad was in Denver, you know, packing some stuff up, doing different things with my mom. And I told them, and they said, wow, you just turned around a whole week, a whole day. You know, we're we're driving out to St. Louis because you know, getting a flight at 6 a.m., 7 a.m., and making it for game time just wasn't gonna do it. So they actually drove from Denver, flew out my brother, flew out my my grandmother. Um, and it was just what a wonderful day, uh, filled with so much love, so much appreciation for just how long and how gritty it really took. Because, you know, everybody sees the big leaguers, they they see Aaron Judge, they see, you know, Mike Trout, they see all these guys, but nobody sees the behind the scenes, nobody sees the emotions, nobody sees the the the hey, you know, you got knocked down a peg. Hey, you've had a tough month, you've had a tough week, you've had a tough game, and you have to show up every single day and try again because you never know when the light at the end of the tunnel is actually going to be there and and the light you're actually gonna reach that end of the tunnel.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

For sure. Yeah, it's it's crazy. The stuff that, you know, especially in, you know, I I didn't get any higher than short season in in my athletic training journey, but the the day-to-day, the ins and outs, like the you talk about the 6 a.m. flight, like you know, that was always my job. If you guys got moved up or moved down, I had to get online with a travel agent and f find the flight. Nobody talks about like leaving leaving an apartment, leaving you know, sometimes if you're more, you know, if you're not as mobile as you and Haley were at the time, like you're leaving your wife, moving to a completely different city. It's it's this there's stuff people don't talk about. And I've I you know I think that's one of the the great things about Avenue on is being able to, you know, shed some light on the I mean it it is it is a life, like it's you're you're in the trenches, it's it's not all I mean when the lights come on it's it's it's cool and it's the dream, but the the work put into the dream is I mean it it has to be the hardest sport.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Yes, but that's also the most rewarding, isn't it? 100% that that that time I know I know I know Riker. You know the feeling when you absolutely square up a baseball and all the the the nights of hitting off the T and getting some extra cage work or do it, that's what makes it worth it. You know, that that that little tiny bit of success every single night, little victories, little wins, that's what makes it worth it. And it's so funny because you know, we talk about the struggle and you talk about how long it took me to get here and you know, perseverance, and that's so important. But for a youth athl a youth athlete, I actually had a manager, a coach when I was, oh man, I must have been 15, 16 years old, something like that. And man, I was having a tough go. I just couldn't figure it mentally, I just wasn't doing well. I just I was so frustrated, and he pulled me aside and he goes, Hey, what are you having for dinner tonight? And I go, I don't know, I think my dad's making like burgers or something like that. And I go, I go, you know, just I don't know, whatever. And I was so upset, so frustrated. He looks at me and he goes, You're playing a game, no matter how you do, you get to go home. And you know, at my at my age, you get to see your family, you get to do all this kind of thing. But for a youth baseball player, you get a good meal, maybe you get, you know, a slurpee on the ride home. You get all these kind of things. You like, yeah, the struggles, you know, the struggle's tough, and the struggle's part of it, and struggle's part of the game and what makes it great, but I mean, we live such a great life as baseball players. We have the opportunity every day to go up and have success, learn from our failures, fail so fantastically that now we get to go be better. And that, you know, what an opportunity, Raggar, you have in front of you to be able to play youth baseball. I wish I could have that opportunity again because for me, it's a job, you know, as as cool as it is, as cool as you know, all of this is, it's a job. I still wake up, I still have to go put in the hours, I still have to make sure, you know, I'm I'm on time for certain things. But you know, youth baseball is so much fun, and you get to learn so many life skills from it. It's just what an awesome, what an awesome part of it.

SPEAKER_05 19:03

Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 19:06

Let me let me ask you. Let me ask you. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, I was gonna ask you because it's it's youth baseball has changed, you know, even since I was since I was a kid. I mean, it's it is it is still fun, but it's become more some ways business like year-round like. And you you mentioned that you played all these different sports. Would you recommend to because we're struggling with that with Riker because it's like if you take a I mean it's year-round, so if you take a little break, you feel like you're behind now. But I do want them to be, I feel like there's benefit. I played all the sports, I feel like there's benefit in doing that. Would you recommend to to kids his age to do that? Or because again, it's tough because you feel like you're gonna get, I mean, some of these select teams will just they'll leave you. They're not gonna wait on you, they'll they'll get another kid and you're out.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

So I 100% with my whole heart would recommend playing every sport you possibly can. Because when I tell you, when I hung up the cleats for football, when I finally had my route last wrestling match, I knew I was never able to, I was never able to do it again. I was never, you are never ever ever able to play those sports, meet those people. Because not only do those other sports help you in baseball. So, you know, I'm talking with my hitting coach and and he shows me a golf video and he's like, hey, like, like this is a move we're looking for with your baseball swing. And I'm like, oh my goodness, I know that, I know that golf swing. I know how to, I know how my body, how to move that. And you're in the outfield and you're maybe you're playing defensive back, you know, in football. You you're it's doing the same moves. Oh, you're doing basketball, you're cutting side to side. You know, maybe that's when you're in a pickle and you gotta figure out how to be athletic and go, it's the sports are training athleticism.

unknown 20:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Yeah, I I have a firm belief. My dad said this when I was a kid. I didn't quite believe him at times, because you know, you're a kid, you never believe your dad. But say that one more time, Troy. If you're good, if you can play, teams will find you. It is not it is about being one of the best teammates, it's about being the most athletic. And I'm not saying the best baseball player, I'm saying the most athletic. So that includes playing other sports, that includes being so well-rounded and being so many different places that you can do. Because if you think about it, you think you know, you look at a trade turn or slide or like you know, a swim move or something like that. That's a very athletic move. You don't learn that just playing baseball all all around. Like you learn that by going swimming, you learn that by diving, you learn that by you know in soccer, you know, being a goalie, something like that. You know, there's so many different aspects to all these different sports, but baseball players can play all the other sports. It's really hard to play baseball. So if you train the same amount, like, yeah, if you want to be a baseball player, I get I get baseball is such a cool sport. There's so many opportunities, but there's time to play baseball along other sports. You know? Like you don't have to play at the highest level of all the sports all the time. You can have fun and play your school. Like what I did, I played my school sports. And then I would practice baseball on the side. And then when it was baseball season, I'd practice baseball season. And so there's a lot of different parts. And I do understand your frustration with you know select sports and youth sports because it's such a business now. And they there they're there's so much money being thrown around. There's so many different things. But if you really look at it, how many uh college scouts or or pro scouts are really out of 14U backfield scheme on a on a you know a field that doesn't have a fence? You know?

SPEAKER_03 22:50

No, and but the but the parents and the coaches uh don't act that way, you know.

SPEAKER_05 22:54

No, no, they don't.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

So it and I understand there's so much pressure on these kids nowadays. And Riker, I hope you I hope you don't feel it, but what an opportunity you have just to have fun and just to go out there and be a kid and be yourself, because at some point that opportunity is gonna go away, and you know, whether you're 45 or whether you're 12, you know, the opportunity ends. Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, pre-intermission. Sorry. Okay, what what do you got?

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Well, um I just I so you know, Ryan and Riker, devote Cardinals fans, uh got me thinking about about our year together in 2019, playing for Tom Lawless, the Cardinals legend. Um you know, talk about talk about Lawless. Talk about some of the other coaches you've had in Pro Bowl and and you know, who who really learn the game from, you know, the most, you know, especially the the pro way to do it, because it is it is a different beast from from Division I baseball. It's you know you don't know it if if you're not in it, just you know, the way the way you handle yourself, the way you approach the field every day, you know, a uh a day of game you know, it it changes level to level in Pro Bowl, but it also looks nothing like what you do what you did at Gonzaga. Just talk about talk about the guys who who influenced you on the way. I know you had I know you had Mike Jacobs for a year. I had him, I saw his managerial style, and and he was completely different from Tom. And and who who stands out to you? What'd you pick up along the way uh to where you're you know who you're with now in Colorado?

SPEAKER_00 25:04

That is such a unique question. I've had so many different coaches, so many different positional coaches, because in the big leagues in in professional baseball, you have positional coaches on top of your managers. It's not just, you know, you got you know the local dad coaching, and then you know, maybe somebody that had some college experience that, you know, he's the assistant coach, and you know, sometimes you got two guys, and I have a positional coach for everything. And so I would say the biggest thing that I learned out of all of them was how to take pressure off of yourself. That's one of the biggest things that you know you you think you get to this level and you have to be this this certain guy, you got to play differently, you gotta do all these different things, but honestly, it's it's trying to take pressure off yourself and have fun again. Because when you realize that it is a job and you think that it's a job, now all of a sudden, you know, it becomes a job and you start dreading going to the field or you dread you know being this certain place, but having fun and going out and doing different things, you know. I I'm gonna say the biggest coach that I'm happy. Hi, Nick. Hey, that's Mickey Moniac if anybody wanted to say hello. He's a big stud.

SPEAKER_05 26:20

Hi Dylan.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

What I would say the best coach that I learned from was my um sorry, you got a surprise guest right there. You have to feature him in the thing. Um he it was my mental skills coach. That was my that was the most important coach that I I think I've had over a couple of years. And he gave me he gave me a a thought when I was because just like humans, we always like to protect ourselves, protect our minds, and we like to say, you know, what if everything goes wrong? What what if I don't do something right? What what if something happens, you know, and you get all tense.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

And he gave me a quote and he said, What if everything happens? Whatever, what if what if everything happens the way you want it to happen? What if what if everything he changed my whole mindset? You know, it didn't become, oh, what if I do this bad thing and you know we lose, or you know, I do this bad thing and I don't have a job anymore and I have to move. You know, it's what if everything goes right? And so I started showing up to the field and I'm like, man, I might get two hits today, and all of a sudden I get three. Or, oh my goodness, you know, I'm a really good, you know, first base printer, I'm not our outfielder today. And like I I might make a really good play, and I did. You know, it's kind of the that that was one of the coolest things of the coaching style. You know, I've had so many different coaches and different managers, but you know, they've all taught me different things, but I think that was the one that really I took from and actually ran with because you know, I can tell you, you know, I got one coach that put my hand in the right position, or you know, one coach that actually really taught me how to hit and how to do certain things, but it's a culmination of everything. You don't get to this spot, this level without so many different things. I I know you guys have heard this, but you know, it takes a village.

SPEAKER_04 28:03

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

It takes it takes a village to get to where you want to go. It's not just one person, it's not two, it's multiple different people, multiple different styles. And that's really, you know, I I I use that saying all the time. What if? What if everything works out the way you want it to? And that's really how I've been I I've been living my career these last two years.

SPEAKER_03 28:24

That's awesome. Dang.

SPEAKER_05 28:26

Yeah, I really like the uh I got good quotes.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

I'm a quotes guy.

SPEAKER_05 28:32

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Uh real quick, I wanted to ask because we we do we've been going around and highlighting each week on an episode, we've been highlighting different stadiums uh around the league. And so last week we knew behind the scenes that you were gonna join us, so we highlighted course field. So what is it like playing uh at course field? I know it's different now with the humidor and all that kind of stuff, but is it still do you still feel the difference there when you're when you're hitting there at course field?

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Yes, it doesn't suck when you wake up every day and you say, I get to play in a big league game. Yeah. You know, it's it's you when you start telling yourself that, you're not telling yourself, oh my goodness, I gotta go in. I'm facing Max Scherzer, I'm chasing Furlander, I got glass snout, and I, you know, I get to wake up and I get to play in a in a professional baseball game. I get uh, you know, that's such a what an awesome opportunity. And when I step in the box, I'm like, sometimes I just look around and you know, when there's a good crowd, and I was in Dodger Stadium and I was looking around and I'm like, wow. I had I had a moment too, and I'll tell you. Um, I had a moment here. Intermission real quick.

SPEAKER_04 29:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Sorry, need a room key. They only gave us one at the hotel. Do you want a room key or are you just waiting?

unknown 29:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yeah, you're good. Um, so I was sitting in Dodger Stadium. We get bases loaded, no outs. And the man himself, Shohei Otani, steps up to the plate, and 50,000 people raised to their feet. No, there's not a single person standing. If you were able to stand there, standing, and they are screaming, Shohei Otani. And I'm in left field, almost having to put earplugs in because it's so loud. He ends up drowning out at first and scoring one run. But that was one of the coolest atmospheres I've ever been in. And I'm gonna give you guys a compliment too, because it's since you guys are you know Cardinal fans, I debuted in St. Louis. Right. And when I debuted in St. Louis, they said, hey, now Batty, number 75, Troy Johnson making his MLB debut, and they say that. They don't always say that over the announcers, especially with the opposing team. And they said that, and everybody in the stands got up and cheered for me.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

That's St. Louis, baby. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

That's why St.

SPEAKER_05 30:54

Louis that's that's why we yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

They absolutely, and then hear me out, I got a hit off Sonny Cray in my first at bat, got it out of the way. Thank goodness. That would have been tough if I did it. Got it out of the way, and they cheered for me on first base. Wow, and everybody when I was going up to deck uh in the front row were congratulating me. They were saying, hey, do it again, you know, all these certain things. And I thought, wow, what a fan base, what a what a place to to debut, like what an awesome experience. And I thank them and thank those fans at you know, anytime I can.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Okay, so that brings up a question because I've been meet I've been meaning to bring them uh when I was interning with the Rangers in 2010, when we clinched, they you know, they authenticate everything. So like I have champagne bottles with the authentication sticker. So did you get your hit authenticated? And who's got the ball? Where's the ball?

SPEAKER_00 31:51

So I actually I got a couple different things. So I have my first hit bat, I have my first hit ball, and my first home run ball, I have my walk-off ball, I have my two home run game bat, and I have my helmet. I don't know where I put my helmet, it's a really cool helmet. I don't know where I put it. Somewhere. When you move as much as I do, you lose things.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

Oh, I believe it.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Um but I have all of those authenticated. Um, I want to say right now, I have both the balls. Okay. My dad is holding on to the bats for me right now.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

But I have my debut lineup card that I gifted my my family.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

And so that one's really cool because it's got all the signatures on it, it's got all this all this different kind of stuff. And so that was I I got I got some good memorabilia about it and different stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 32:38

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Very cool. Guys, I probably have about five to ten more minutes if you don't mind.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

Five minutes. Riker wanted to ask you one question, Chris.

SPEAKER_05 32:50

I did, I did. Go ahead. So, um okay, yeah, I'm sorry. But uh basically, when I'm playing uh on the field, walk-up songs are very crucial, they get uh everybody kind of fired up. And I just was curious, what's your walk-up song?

SPEAKER_00 33:07

And uh why did you choose that's a great I actually have a funny story about that one. So my walk-up song, my walk-up song is Mambo number five. Wow. And and it's fucks now, I yeah. I don't, I don't, I didn't do anything trendy, there was nothing for it. Um, it was funny because I we were driving up to uh go on a little mom and dad vacation without the kid, and I was like, okay, this is the perfect time, you know, we're in the car, you know, pick a walk-up song. And she immediately goes, my wife goes, wambo number five, and she plays it. I'm like, this is the worst walk-up song I've ever heard. I hate it. And she goes over and she does this little dance and she's looking at me and she's doing she it it brought her so much joy to pick out my walk-up song that I had to keep it. And then I ended up having a couple hits, and I was like, Well, now I can't get rid of it. It's me. And I didn't realize it because I had no idea about the song until I actually listened to the lyrics. Yeah, and um, it's a Mardi Gras song. And somebody from Louisiana asked me, and they were like, Oh my god, are you from Louisiana? I'm like, No, from Seattle. He goes, Why do you have a Mardi Gras song?

SPEAKER_01 34:14

I had no idea that was a Mardi Gras song. That's crazy. Well, alright, I gotta so I've got a a picture of our uh our team celebration from when we clinched in Auburn uh to go to the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 34:33

And Nick Reddy put you in a trash can.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Yes, yes, there was a lot that day that happened. Uh um what's your I I gotta know what's your favorite Batavia story because man, you know, I talked about it last time I came on this podcast. Batavia, the sidewalks roll up at nine o'clock. There's there's not a whole heck of a lot to do. Um I mean, the bus breaking down and having to sleep in the Auburn Clubhouse until our new bus got there. And what uh which one sticks out to you?

SPEAKER_00 35:06

So I have a couple, of course. Um, this was before like the MLB actually stepped in and started doing hotel you know qualities. Um we were in oh man, we stayed at a days in, I think. In what was that? Was it the scrappers, the the uh Youngstown or something like that? Uh and my grandma came and picks me up, and she goes, and she looked at me and she goes, You're staying here? And I said, Yeah, why yeah. I mean, it's not very nice, but yeah, and she's like, I'm actually afraid for your safety. And I go, Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Yeah, and so that was the Indians uh affiliate in Ohio. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Yeah, that one yes, but it's something it was something, it was something like that, and um it it just I did those bad hotels. I don't, man, I don't remember. I'm trying to think of like a good family-friendly story from TVA because there's a lot of unfamily friendly stories. Sorry, that's the key there.

SPEAKER_05 36:06

Um this is for kids.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

So I remember, I remember here's here's my favorite. I'll I'll keep it PG as much as I can. We had a room 400, which was hilarious because it was a honeymoon suite. Yes, and why they had a honeymoon suite at a quality inn in Tavia, New York, I will have I have no idea. I have no idea why they have that. But um they do, and we would go in there every night after games and we would play cards and we would have fun and we played music and we talked to each other, and we do all this different kind of stuff, and that was probably the most fun I had. Um, you know, I I I want to give you like a grimy story, but there's so many grimy stories that it's just gonna ruin professional baseball for any kid that wants to grow.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

So sorry, there's a lot of music going on here.

SPEAKER_02 36:51

You're good, you're good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Hey, uh um, real quick, we'll we'll get you out of here so you can enjoy your your family time there. But um, is there anything? And I also I want to say, you know, I looked at the schedule. You guys play in St. Louis in August, so we may have to try to get up there and catch you. Uh, or the Cardinals are in Colorado in September. So we're gonna go to court there and cheer you on. But um, is there anything that you can say to Riker and you know all these other kids? I know you've kind of given some advice already, but just guys that are chasing their dream uh in the baseball baseball world, any parting advice?

SPEAKER_00 37:27

Yep. I I have a I have a great one for you guys. Okay, so no matter how well you do, no matter how bad you do, someone is always watching. Whether it's a scout, whether it's a parent, whether it's a teammate, whether it's a little brother, a little sister, whether it's a fan, somebody is always watching you. You have a higher, you have a high ceiling, you have a higher calling. Don't forget that there's always people watching you to be so you can always be the best person that you possibly can be, no matter if you go 0 for 4 or you go four for four. There's always somebody watching.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

That's great. Awesome, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 38:08

Be the best human you possibly can be.

SPEAKER_05 38:11

I like that. Wow, I like that.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Awesome. Troy, we can't thank you enough. Uh again, off day with your fit or uh, you know, taking the time with your family there. Really, really appreciate you jumping on.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

We'll have to of course anything, anything for you guys. You guys are unbelievable. And if you ever need a repeat guest, I promise I'll be on time and I'll give you a little bit more time for work stories. We're gonna take you up on that first year.

SPEAKER_01 38:35

This was this was unbelievably fun, bud. Awesome. Thank you, Troy. Good luck tonight. Good luck.

SPEAKER_05 38:41

Good luck. See ya.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

All right, thank you. All right, thank you, bye guys.

SPEAKER_05 38:45

See ya bye. All right, that was Troy. Um, and before we, you know, fully send it off, uh, we're gonna wrap it up with a verse of the week. Uh, this is Psalms 42.11. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God. So that is uh the verse of the week.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

Yeah, before we go, I just again thank Uncle Jordan for being here and for setting the connection up with Troy. We know that the the audio and the video of this episode might be a little different, a little off. Um weird watch. But it's all right, it's cool. Uh, we appreciate him taking the time to join us there. And so uh hope you guys enjoy uh all of his good content, and we'll have him hopefully back on again. So thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

Glad to be here. Uh thank you, Troy. And you know, as a family guy, uh understanding the grind and and you know the how unique those family trips are. I want a special shout out to Haley Johnston for stopping down in the mall, uh giving us Troy for you know 40 minutes or so there, and uh hopefully he finds his pants. He means this.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

You get them all, you can buy some pants.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Shopping's shopping for some pants. So thank you, Troy. Appreciate you, bud.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

All right, Riker, send us out of here.

SPEAKER_05 40:14

Send it off.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

Thank you guys. Pray for us, yes.

SPEAKER_05 40:18

Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you, just for another uh successful podcast. Thank you just for the uh connection with Troy, Lord. Um, I just am very grateful that you have given us the platform that uh we have to this point, Lord. Um I just pray that uh we would just have a good rest of our day. Same for anyone uh watching this, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

Thank you guys. Just wait till we have see who's coming up next. I don't know who it is, but we're building, baby. See y'all next time.

SPEAKER_05 40:53

See ya.