You're listening could dominant jimenez on sports byline. Usa welcome back into the show. I'm absolutely pumped injuries. My next guest. It is kevin millar. The first baseman who played twelve seasons in the big leagues and of course was part of that iconic the legendary two thousand and four world series champion. Red sox team kevin will be participating at the In the american century championship in lake tahoe july seventh to the eleventh. Some of the other names sets tee off joe theismann. Who spoke with last week. Aaron rodgers patrick mahomes charles. Barkley john smoltz sixteen hall of famers thirteen. Mvp's and fifteen cy young award winners the american century championship in scenic lake tahoe features a purse of six hundred thousand dollars and charity fundraising components that have produced over five and a half million dollars for nonprofits over the years kevin. Let's start there. Does it get much better than a weekend golfing in tahoe with your buddies and other celebs athletes and raising a ton of money for charity. No no that's like. I basically i said this is like our masters when you. Let's let's use it works celebrity. But when you're talking about the celebrities athletes whoever's in involved and you're talking about bombing the whole this is like the masters because most of the big off that we all play. Hey that's good comedy. Hey hey that's good. That's good but i'm telling you a sixteen inch. Putt is not good. And you're a nervous wreck. This is an iconic tournament. You mentioned the masters to an extent for you guys. How did you get. I get involved with the tournament. And how important is philanthropy and charity to you kevin. Okay i got. This'll be about but i think it's my seventh or eighth year You know and and you named a lot of hall of famers and all stars. I wasn't one of those in the big league level. you know i just. We started our show ten years ago. Seventy i thank potential. Talk and then we'll be networking that that helped out a lot and Once i was in. I said listen if i'm never invited him cry so no matter what you know. Once you're you can't get out. And i said i have to come back every year as a joke. But it's been a great ron and it's truly important to me because this is the stage. You have a chance to touch people's lives. I mean first of all you know on a regular year last year obviously being kobe. But you're you're running through thirty to thirty five thousand people through those few days. In like tahoe. And it's time to wear like your humanized with all of the fans and you know you like you said you've had michael jordan out there. We've had justin timberlake steph. Curry aaron rodgers. tony romo. Will you know those names and those you know athletes. It's a big deal so it's a lot of fun and i think it's very important for all these being. Can you mentioned intentional. Talk in double digit years now. Officially i signed on. Did you expect it becoming so iconic and popular as it has become. Obviously you signed onto a new project. You hope that it's accessible but realistically did you imagine intentional. Talk being as huge as it is now because when you think baseball i in television shows talking baseball. Intentional talks to be near the top of the list. If it is yeah you know great. Because you're able to kind of make like who you are staying almost like a clubhouse feel on television and that was the first thing you know i got released in two thousand ten. The network launched around. That time. I think it was two thousand nine to be exact and they're trying to create shows right here. You are getting released for the first time the baseball. It's the sad part. You're thirty eight year. Young man alive your oldest sports and you got through to go. Hey that major league baseball a network awesome. I don't know anything about television. You're on the straight baseball player right coming out. Don't even know what a talk back. Button is and the. You're nervous wreck element. It's like being like being at the american century. You on the tahoe vent you can have the greatest receivers and quarterback but you put them on the first he you out of your element. So there's a nervous factor that goes involved and that's the way it was television and you know we look back now. In two thousand ten went up and get a few shows tie had a earpiece. Harold reynolds was a big influence. In helping me learn television and then it's still going. I thought i was going to be fired three months into it because really you know what you're doing other than trying to create some kind of energy through a camera in an earpiece and then now kind of all make sense in the early days did you have a john madden moment. Where they're talking back to you and your earpiece and you answer it on the air. I don't do that her laugh. He'll make a comment. And i don't pay that because you know i'm like a i always joke around like i'll plagiarizing. They say my ear and lobbyists dancers. If we're doing a trivia. I have no idea you know. We're xyz as idaho is on the map or whatever and then the british kind of picks me up but he might tell me air but a lot of stuff. I still do what you said something that. You're you're answering. Excuse me we got. And you're live on tv. Shut up we're speaking with kevin millar first base played twelve seasons in the bigs won a world series and four with the red sox you can see unintentional talk. You can also see him if you're going to be in lake tahoe. Because kevin will be playing at the american century championship. July seventh to the eleventh. Now you had a very non traditional route to the big kevin. You went to community college. Lamar university in texas independent ball. Were fill in during the strike season. And then you went with the marlins. What was that like just getting to the bigs because you hear so many stories of he was drafted first round pick flew through the minors in the big leagues or he fought in the minors and he toiled there for a long time but he went to a big college program. So what was it like for you going from community college to the bigs. Two world series champion. Yeah i if the pat an honest to god not just because my story. But i love talking to kids in high school and college or independent low ball. You have the opportunity. Plane big lakes. Don't let anybody tell you can't don't let any scout. I always joke around. I couldn't run field hitter throw and found a way to play twelve years up there and and i mean that by there should be a six tool and it should be your heart and it's hard. It's the hardest tool to judge because always physical traits right. Get six foot. Three runs a six to forty. He flies or he's six. Say you know the bottom line. Is we see that. But what's inside of a person. And i think that you know i was a guy that had to fight my whole life and that's okay and i wouldn't change it. You know started making six hundred bucks a month with the saint paul saints and ninety nine three thousand rich guy the coolest guy ever swinging bats taking bus trips with leon durham. Who was on our team. And you know it's it's what it's what makes you now the minor leagues and the one thing about the game now is that we have so many young stars and studs and everybody's strong big but i don't know if you've learned how to fail yet and that's what the miners teach you. 'cause you fail a lot in this game it's a tough game and that's the one thing i always appreciate it every minute as the big leagues because you know once you're in the minor leagues for years and years and winter ball and dominican and mexico and puerto rico. You know you wanna stay in the big leagues and it's hard to stay there and that's the one thing i've always appreciated was every single minute i was there now. I love analytics giants fan. So i love doing what the club the way gabe kappler approaches it in conjunction with the front office. But i i think there is such a gap that needs to be filled in with. Exactly what you said kevin and that's hard because there is still something to the test where you can see does a guy go out there and it's a cliche but does he grind out net. It's not just all. About how many pitches does he see. What's his spin rate. What's his launch angle. There is something to be. Said about the grit. The guys like yourself. I think of dustin pedroia. Who if you are jose. Altuve if you look at them in a lineup like pick the baseball.