| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | My family owns a cabin in the middle of the woods with no Wi-fi or energy. I remember when my dad said he'd let me go fishing at the stream across the street with my brother for the first time. So, the next morning my brother woke me up at about 4AM to start fishing. We were down there for longer than we probably should have been, and our parents freaked out a little. When we eventually went back up, we were covered in mud and bug bites, and we caught and released maybe three fish that whole time. I'm not sure why this was so memorable but it's one of my earliest memories. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | I most closely identify with my dad, I think. He’s been the person who has driven me to all my travel baseball games, went with me to all my showcases and tournaments. I’ve pulled a lot of my personality from him, especially my humor. He’s not exactly the most social guy and he has his quirks, but I think that in general his interests are near mine. I have a close relationship with my mom and brother too, but I’m closest to my dad. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | I admire it when a person is independent. If someone doesn’t always need someone at their hip to do things, I find that appealing. I also like it when a person is adaptable, where they can adjust to difficult situations. It’s easy to break down when faced with an uncomfortable situation so I find it really endearing when someone can do that without missing a beat. Being kind and gracious to everybody is also an important quality to me. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | The funniest thing that has ever happened to me was very recently actually. It’s a little morbid to think of it this way but I got hit in the eye by a baseball. That sounds bad but it really wasn’t. I was doing a bunting drill, which is one of the easiest things to do in baseball, and I messed up on one rep and bunted it back into my eye. What was funny was how I just stood up and started walking to the trainer like nothing really happened. My teammates and coaches were confused and worried, but they didn’t know how to react except to bust my balls about it. I was pretty much fine the next day, but my friends bring it up often. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If I could go anywhere, I would probably go to non-touristy parts of tourist countries, Anthony Bourdain style. I think I would get a lot more out of traveling If I went to places where the culture hasn’t been westernized. Don’t get me wrong, the tourist spots are still exciting, but I think there is something to be said about a loss of place in a lot of the world. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I would like to pass on my love for nature. I think that a lot of people are set in their ways with technology and there’s a lot of kids that are reliant on tech and don’t show much interest in nature. To view nature in the lens of a child is an important experience in my mind, I think you can tell when someone hasn’t experienced that. |
