C. Trent Rosecrans | Cincinnati Reds Insider

We're pleased to welcome from Dyersville, now that his work is done, Trent Rosecrance, who covers the Reds for the athletic.

Trent, I'm just going to start out because I want to get your thoughts on this. What was it like to be there for a baseball game at the Field of Dreams? You know, it was cool.

It was, I mean, that's probably an understatement and I'm supposed to make my money with words and that's not, I'm having trouble like doing it. There are so many emotions it brought that I did not realize it would. And I think partially is that I lost my father in February and he loved this movie. We shared baseball, you know, the whole thing that the movie's about. That was a big part of our relationship. Last year when they had this game, I know he watched every second of it and loved it. And when it was announced that the Reds were going to be there, he was super excited.

And I know he knew at that point that he wasn't going to be able to go, but he was really hoping it was something that he could experience through me. And, you know, it's funny that just the father-son parallels that go through it. Joey Bato talked about he and his father bonding over the movie and he lost his father 14 years ago and what it meant for him to play here.

You know, talking to David Bell, who is a third generation major leaguer. And then before the game, I was in the trailer with Ken Griffey, Jr. and Ken Griffey, Sr. and we were talking a little bit. It was just, it was a complete, like, you almost have to remind me that there was a game played and I don't really remember anything about the game, but I remember so much about the event. Well, thank you for sharing that with us, for sure.

And you're right. There are a lot of emotions around this for a lot of people. David Bell doing an interview on TV and getting emotional before the game when Ken Rosenthal asked him about his brother who he lost to cancer last year. And so I appreciate you sharing that with us, Trent. It still feels so significant that we're able to get an actual baseball game out there and nowhere else in the world would it make any sense for athletes to walk out of a cornfield and yet it's so perfect there in Dyersville, Iowa.

Yeah. And to walk and to kind of do it yourself, you know, I got to walk through a cornfield into the movie set field. It was really, it was cool. And on the movie set, Jordan Bastian who writes for MLB.com covers the Cubs. He and I, he and I had him a catch and I brought my glove. He brought his glove. I felt like a goober bringing my glove, but I'm glad I did. It's interesting that baseball and really this facility makes all of those options available where you wouldn't get that on a major league field.

Why is that? Do you think it's the spirit of the movie? It's they build this, you know, a stadium that you can play major league baseball on for one game.

There's only 7,000 people here. Joey Votto talked about it after the game. He says, it kind of felt like a minor league game in a way like it was a minor league game, but it, it felt like a minor league game, but yet it had a lot of similarities to an all-star game. It was just those like that dichotomy. And it was, it was really amazing.

And, and I know it's funny. You hear the people are like, well, last year was so much better and yeah, what a great game last year was the first time cost was there, but I don't think you can be here in person and not feel moved by it. Yeah. It's not so much about the game. It's about the atmosphere and about the nostalgia that, that surrounds that whole place. Trent Rosecrans covered the field of dreams game between the Reds and the Cubs still there in Dyersville, Iowa, and is joining us here after hours on CBS sports radio. I was pretty blown away when I saw the Griffey's walk out of the corn field that gave me chills to hear Ken Griffey Jr. say to his dad, Hey, dad, want to have a catch. You had a chance to talk to Ken Griffey Jr. before the game. What did he have to say about the experience?

You know, it's just got to do a lot of things, but he was having fun with it. It was fun to be with his dad. Um, you know, it was, it was the, and he, uh, he flew in today and, you know, his dad kind of did some interviews and, and, and find some autographs and what's around. Um, you know, they're, they're fathers and sons. We all have, uh, our times together and it's, uh, Oh, it was me.

Ken was really relaxed and he was going to have fun with it. Um, I had to correct him on the line. He was like, Oh yeah, I just got to say one line. Hey, you want to play catch? I was like, no, no, no, no, no. You gotta, you want to have a catch.

Okay. So what is Ken Griffey Jr. up to now? Um, he's working for major league baseball and so he's, he's been all over, uh, the U S you know, it's so many of the youth, um, games and, and, and some of that youth outreach. And that's really important to him is growing the game, um, with, with the next generation. He's it's, it's a passion of his, uh, which is funny because, uh, both of his sons played college football and we're not baseball players. Um, but like, you know, like my dad never pushed me to any sport.

He never pushed his kids to any sport. And, um, his kids grew up in baseball, but love playing football. And, uh, uh, but you know, the game is still important to him and it's given him so much and he loves it so much. Um, I don't know here at his, uh, this is kind of a weird story, but I was talking with Ken and had his, Oh, you got your glove.

You had to have it there. And he's like, yeah. And I put it in and he's like, well, you do it with the two hands and two fingers in the pinky. I'm like, what are you talking about? I was like, that's how you should do it.

And like, so we have this discussion, like who, who, who gets this opportunity? So finger for junior puts his two is pinky and the ring finger and the pinky section of the glove. So the last one, the middle finger and the ring finger slot leaves the next one open. And then the, and the fast back, the, the, the finger on the back of the glove. And he's like, do this.

And I did it because it closes easier. Right. I'm like, yeah, And he's like, also the pocket feel the pocket.

You're not going to get the bone bruise there. And I'm like, I'm 46 years old and Ken Griffey jr. Just taught me how to wear a baseball. That's really neat.

Oh my goodness. Where else would that happen? Except for the field of dreams that's fitting. Trent Rose grants is covering the game at the field of dreams in Iowa for the athletic and follows the Cincinnati Reds, which maybe have had an unremarkable season, except for this unbelievable experience.

It's after hours on CBS sports radio. It's kind of interesting too, to think about Ken Griffey jr. And his impact on baseball and now going back to his MVP season, which was what late nineties. So those mariners who haven't been back to the playoffs since then his Cincinnati Reds years. But I say this a lot about the current generation of sports fans, Trent, that you guys are sad saps. If you didn't see Michael Jordan play, if you didn't see Joe Montana throw a football, well, we're getting to the point where there's a hell of a lot of sports fans out there did not see Ken Griffey jr.

In that sweet swing of his dominated the plate. It's unreal, you know, and you and I probably had the same thing when the Michael Jordan documentary came out and we were just like, we knew all this and it blew my mind because they're all the kids. You're like, like for me, it was like a refresher course and I'm like, hey, did you know about this?

I'm like, yeah, of course. And you like, oh my gosh, I'm old. This is my dad talking about Mickey Mantle. I'm talking about Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey jr. Oh my God, I'm an old man. Oh, still, I wouldn't trade it though, because they missed out. These younger kids missed out on seeing some of the greatest of all time. I wouldn't have traded it.

Nope, not at all. One of my other favorite stretches of the broadcast on Fox is when John Smoltz was mic'd up with Joey Votto. Now, interestingly enough, we just saw these types of exchanges at the All-Star game, but not in the middle of a game that counted. So I was fascinated by the way that Joey was able to actually figure out what he was doing out there on the field and still carry on a conversation. And of course, they talked to him about the fact that he's a quote unquote old man, and he's spanned a couple of different eras.

I'm not sure if you had a chance to hear the conversation. His time with the Reds, obviously, is he's seen so much, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. What does he mean to that franchise and the fact that he's still there, Trent? Yeah, it's, I think Tony has a weird spot in the franchise because in some ways he's been underappreciated for just how great he is. And I mean, think about it.

You know, you're talking about spanning. Ken Griffey Jr. is out there. When Joey Votto was a rookie and debuted, he was on the same field as Ken Griffey Jr. Wow. In 2007. Yeah.

I want to hear another crazy one. I'm looking out into the, in the stands and you would see, like I saw Sean Casey, I saw George Foster. I looked down and saw Carlos Zambrano and he was with Giovanni Soto. Giovanni Soto was the winner of the 2008 National League Rookie of the Year. Joey Votto was second place. Giovanni Soto hasn't played since 2017.

Whoa. He's now at 38 years old. They were talking to him about whether or not he will continue playing. And he mentioned actually having a conversation with Ken Sr. about the fact that Ken played into his forties. Considering where the Reds are, does he ever talk about how it's maybe not worth it to go through another stretch like this where they're trying to find their footing in baseball?

No. Joe is, he's a different cat and he is, he has a focus. He has, I will, I will never cover anybody else like Joey Votto.

I don't know that anybody will. He, I usually joke that you could tell me anything about Joey and I believe it. Anything he puts his mind to, he can do. He, he, he's just one of a kind. Heck, I just finished writing about all this experience and his words off the top of his head were better than what I could write, writing down. And like, I'm supposed to be a professional writer and this guy who's one of the greatest, probably the greatest peer hitter of his generation is, is, is better at that than I am.

And it's, that's really annoying. What did he say? He talked about like, you'll have to go, it's in the pregame and it was unbelievably, it's talking about like the, the, how it resonated, um, being here, he and his dad, and he talked about the act of playing catch and how it is kind of a relationship that, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's two people and you're trying to help the other person.

You want to throw it right where they can catch it so that they can continue this. And just the kind of symbiosis. And it was just this soliloquy that the mental state I was in kind of had me fearing up.

And, uh, I don't know. And I, you know, it, it, it sent me thinking about all the places where, you know, growing up where we moved and I would play catch with my dad, you know, it was, um, it was just special. After the game, he tweeted, thank you Dyersville, Iowa. What an all time experience.

You built it. We came with a heart emoji. Now, any man that will use a heart emoji is a man after my own heart, but he, for him to be around for this experience, I mean, he's nearly 39, actually.

I said he's 38, but he's got a birthday, not that far down the road. I mean, to be able to say now that he played in this game too. Uh, I mean, that's, that's the type of experience that only so many guys will get in major league baseball.

Yeah. It's just a phenomenal career and, you know, like you got to see him play in home in Toronto this year and hit a home run there. Um, it's, it's crazy. I've been there since his first hit, which was a home run, um, in 2007 and, and to watch this career pretty much the whole way, it's been, it's been a privilege and they get to have, um, so many great stories that he's given to me, um, and made me look good. It's, uh, it's, it's, uh, it's been quite the honor and, um, I I'm, I'm really excited. I was in Cooperstown last, last year.

And, um, I was in Cooperstown when, when Sandra Junior got in and there's, there'll be no keeping me away, uh, and six, seven, eight, nine years. Before I let you go, Trent, we've talked a lot about him and Ken, obviously your experience, what about the faces and the words of some of the younger guys, even the Hispanic players who maybe didn't see the movie, or it wasn't a big part of their heritage growing up, how did they feel about playing there? They all thought it was really cool. I talked to Jose Barreiro, who's Cuban also, again, the son of a professional baseball player, his dad is a legend in Cuba. And he talked about how cool it was and like, he wasn't really sure of it.

Um, I also talked to, here's a great story and I'll write about this probably later this week. Um, each team got a 27th, an extra roster spot for this because of the travel and whatnot. Um, the reds called up Chucky Robinson, who is 27. He's a catcher. Um, the reds got him from the Astra out of the Astra system, um, two years ago, um, career minor leaguer. This was his first ever call up first time he's on the 40 man roster. And he was called up just for this game.

Wow. He'll, he'll, he'll be joining the bats in, uh, Des Moines, uh, later this week, but the reds pinch hit for starting catcher, Michael Papierski and the seven and, or no for starting catcher, um, Austin Romine in the seventh and then put in Michael Papierski, uh, Papierski was coming up fourth in that ending in the nine. And he had, um, he had, uh, uh, Alejo Lopez was on deck for him when the final out was made. Well, if the reds had tied it, Chucky was going to make his big league debut game as a 27th man, get sent down without having a, probably without having an, a bat like moonlight Graham. So I asked Chucky if he'd ever seen the movie and he goes, no, I haven't. And I tell him that, I tell him, well, there's a player moonlight Graham who gets in the game, just it's a game never gets to that bad as if he took the replacement and he never gets in that bad ever.

It goes, Oh, that could have been me. And so like, honestly, like, you know, I cover the game for, I cover the game. I I'm not rooting for teams or anything. I was rooting for a tie game because I really wanted Chucky. And I was like, I'm going to be writing about Chucky if this happens.

And, uh, it was funny, I was sitting in Bobby Nightingale and he knows my, um, my love of talking to catchers and he was like, well, what happens when somebody hits the walk off home run? I don't care. I'm not going to write about that. I'm going to write about Chucky. Cause I care about that.

Um, I don't know. Those are the fun things that you just kind of think of and get excited about because I'm a big dork. Oh, well, it's a perfect night to be a big dork, especially if it has to do with being on the field from the field of dreams and all of that nostalgia and, and surrounded by other people who would say the same thing about those feelings. And Trent, thank you again for sharing your personal memories, your personal story with your dad.

You can find Trent Rosecrans on Twitter at C Trent covers the reds for the athletic, but for tonight carried away, transported to a different world in Dyersville, Iowa. It's really good to catch up with you. Thank you so much for sharing your personal perspective. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me.