Interview With Yankees Slade Heathcott
By:
Chad Raines
Slade
Heathcott has been a big name in the Yankees farm system ever since being
drafted in the first round by the team in the 2009 Amateur Draft. It was dream
come true for Heathcott as it came with signing bonus of 2.2 million dollars,
and high expectations for the young 18 year old. Being a left-handed thrower
and hitter, Heathcott has drawn comparisons to one familiar Yankee, Brett
Gardner. Heathcott has shown flashes of possessing all five tools on the field.
His only problem: injuries. Heathcott’s injuries from his shoulder, to his knee
have tampered with his path to Pinstripes, as he has only played more than 100
games once in his career (103) which was in 2013.
Despite
Heathcott’s misfortune with his health, he has remained incredibly positive
mainly credited to his renounced faith with God. Heathcott was kind enough to
talk to us at the BBB and he without a doubt is one great guy. Heathcott gave
us some powerful words that are truly moving for aspiring big-leaguers such as
himself, to Little Leaguers, to non-athletes. I encourage you to read all of
our questions (italicized) and his
responses (bold) as they really hit
home. Below is our interview with him!
1.
“What baseball team did you grow up liking and who
was your favorite player? Why?”
“I didn't really
have a team I followed. I liked watching certain guys play the game. In high
school, I became a huge fan of Josh Hamilton. After being around Jeter the past
couple years, Jeter has become by far my favorite player in the history of the
game. Jeter is the real deal day in and day out. He is the most consistent
person I have met, conducts his business the right way every single day, and
shows respect to everyone. For these reasons I believe there will never be
another Jeter, nor will there ever be a greater ambassador to the game of
baseball.”
2.
“What came along with being the first round pick of
the New York Yankees in 2009?”
“I think for me
it showed to a lot of people my immaturity level when it came to decision
making. Now looking back I am thankful for it all, without my immaturity then I
would not be where I am now. I would not appreciate the little things in life.
I would not realize the importance of respect, and most of all, the fact that
we all need to be accountable to our actions.”
3.
“Have you seen American Sniper, and what are your
thoughts on it”
“I have read the
book, which is amazing! I have not gone to see the movie and probably will not
for quite a while. Our service men and women strike really deep for me. I have
trouble accepting that I am playing a game and men and women are giving their time,
effort, and ultimately their lives for me to have that right, which is partly
why I play the game the way I do, 100 percent. Some have said that is why I
have been injured due to my reckless play but the fact is, I have never really
been injured in a game. All my injuries are results of things just out of my
control while training.”
4.
“What do you enjoy doing outside of baseball?”
“I enjoy a lot
of things about life, big or small. I enjoy leaning about new things, reading
positive books, being in the outdoors doing anything, most importantly I
believe that we need to give back. In order to be truly successful in all areas
of life we need to help other people achieve their goals.”
5.
“How is the knee and how have you worked this
offseason to ensure you are ready to go by the start of the season?”
“The knee feels
better than it ever has since I injured it in Spring Training in 2013. I will
be for the first time completely healthy entering camp, not only that but I am
stronger and in better shape than I have ever been. I have done nearly 500
Personal training (PT) sessions in the past year and now for the past 4 months
I have concentrated on the performance side of everything. I have completely
changed my diet, my routines, and my lifestyle to better suit me playing 180
games a year. Though I have barely broke 100 games in one season, I also have
not been healthy starting the season since signing. The most important thing is
though, that mentally I couldn't be in better shape. I would not change a thing
about the past because I would not have the same outlook on life as I do today
and for that I am very thankful.”
6.
“Has the club indicated what your role is going to
be this upcoming season?”
“Not
necessarily, but as a Yankees we understand what each of our roles are to be
and that is to go about each day the Yankee way which takes us back to why I
think Derek Jeter is so amazing. We are to be the best ball player, the best
teammate, show respect to everyone we interact with, and most importantly be
the best husband, father, or friend that we can be while maintaining the Yankee
code.”
7.
“Can you briefly describe what it’s like being a
minor leaguer in the Yankees organization?”
“It's been a
blessing; I have been introduced to a lot of the greats in the game. What has
amazed me though is that they are not just greats on the field but also off the
field. When we start to talk about Reggie, Jeter, Mo, Pettite, Posada, and the
list can keep going but you see that these guys handle themselves with the
utmost respect to everyone around them. They are all stupendous examples of
leading by example, which could not be any better for young guys coming up in
the system.”
8.
“What does the bible verse in your twitter bio
(Colossians 3:23) mean to you and how do you apply it to your play on the
baseball field?”
“(In whatever
you do, do it with all your heart). That right there sums up how I view and how
I try to attack each second of every day. In my opinion and belief none of us
are entitled to anything, we all have to earn what we want in life. I know that
every second I am on Earth it is a blessing. So with saying that, when it is
time for me to go home I want to know in my heart I didn't waste one day, that
every single day I became better at every facet of my life. My daily goal is to
make every second as productive as I possibly can, without passing by all the
small amazing things throughout the day. In addition to that, we have mothers,
fathers, brothers and so on that are working endless hours with little sleep,
little food, or not ideal situations with maximum effort day in and day out.
Why should I not show them respect and do the same!”
9.
“How does your faith in God help you on and off the
field?”
“God is my light
in a very dark world. Without Him I would be lost, I wouldn't see how amazing
life can and is each second of each day, and I would have a gap in my heart
that can only be filled by our awesome creator.”
10.
“What is your mindset and philosophy as a hitter?”
“Right here,
right now! Our past doesn't matter and we cannot control the future unless we
control this second we are in. Every moment that we are in is the biggest
moment of our lives because it defines our future. Winners find a way to
succeed one way or another; I want to be a winner.”
11.
“What do you need to improve on to continue making
strides towards Pinstripes?”
“The list would
be endless. I will never be to a point in my life that I am good enough because
I believe each day we can grow and become better. Though every day I am very
content and just in awe of the world we are in. I mean we are on a rock
floating in space with an invisible atmosphere that keeps just happens to keep
us alive.”
12.
“What are you most looking forward to this season?”
“To be able to
wake up each day and play the game I love. Not too long ago at all I wasn't
sure I would ever be able to play the game of baseball again which made me
really slow down and think about what is important in my life right now. It's
just an amazing blessing to one, be able to play this game for a living and
two, I have the ability to be a positive impact on the world we live in (which
is my biggest goal in life). Now I do believe we all can be that but the fact
is when I was young I wanted everything big leaguers did. Now I have the
opportunity to be that for kids and adults alike. I have been a negative
influence for most of my life; I now see what is really important to me. The
fact that we are all here living together on this rock. We live in a world with
so much division and separation, it took me 24 years to see what I believe is
important in life and that is to just love people, in loving people you will
help people!”
13.
“You’ve dealt with a lot of adversity as many
athletes do, but how have you been able to remain positive through the good and
bad times?”
“I never
realized how negative I was towards life till this past year. I guess I felt
like the world owed me something, I constantly strived to earn attention and
acceptance from other, and I never saw the big picture in my life. I realized
that I can make a choice right now to never have another bad day, to always see
what opportunity lies in front of me. Romans 5:2-5 tells us that hard times
produce endurance and in that great character will arise. My grandfather always
told me that we are who our words are and until recently that never dug in.
There are always going to be terrible things happen in the world but in my
experience and testimony I have heard from others, there is always good to be
found if [we] want to find it, trials always change our life and it can be for
the better if we want it to be, and hard times often make us think about the
lives we are living. With those things we can grow into the person God wants us
to be. Everything in life has a purpose; we just have to decide what that
purpose is going to be.”
Again,
we really would like to thank Slade Heathcott for the awesome interview he did
with us. As you can tell, he’s an extremely humble guy who certainly has his
priorities where they need to be in order to succeed in the upcoming season.
Slade is one open and cool dude and it was an absolute pleasure contacting him
for this interview.
Slade,
we wish you a healthy and successful season wherever it may take you! And of
course, we really hope to see you in Pinstripes in the next coming seasons. If
Heathcott can stay healthy, which he is determined to do, look for a breakout
season from him in 2015.
Follow
me on twitter @Chad_Rain
Follow
Slade Heathcott on twitter @Heathcott_Slade
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