Honey, do not make plans Saturday, January twenty fourth, okay? Why, what's happening? The Walmart Wellness Event. Flu shots, health screenings, free samples from those brands you like. All that at Walmart.
We can just walk right in. No appointment needed. Who knew we could cover our health and wellness needs at Walmart? Check the calendar Saturday, January 24th. Walmart Wellness Event.
You knew. I knew. Check in on your health at the same place you already shop. Visit Walmart Saturday, January 24th for our semi-annual wellness event. Flu shots subject to availability and applicable state law.
Age restrictions apply. Free samples while supplies last. At Capella University, learning online doesn't mean learning alone. You'll get support from people who care about your success. like your enrollment specialist, who gets to know you and the goals you'd like to achieve.
You'll also get a designated academic coach who's with you throughout your entire program. Plus, career coaches are available to help you navigate your professional goals. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella.edu. Good voting, everybody.
Welcome into the Winklerverse. I am Bart Winkler, Caleb Durbin, Brewers' third baseman, third base in Rookie of the Year voting. Was a Fond du Lac dock spider in the Northwoods League in 2020 and 2021. On Tuesday night, the 20th of January, just a random Tuesday, I was invited to host an event. Where he Via a QA with me.
So it was a QA.
sort of event. It was very great. The the Caleb Durbin Fond du Lac thing. is really awesome. And as somebody that grew up in Fond du Lac.
Before I bolted 10 years ago, and maybe longer even. It's cool to see just a guy embrace. That city as much as he does. And he really does. He was a D3 collegiate player, got an opportunity during the pandemic to play in Fond du Lac, maybe got some eyes on him that wouldn't have been.
So he really realizes that Fond du Lac was a big part of his journey to the Brewers. And really to the majors, but then the fact that. He was able to be a brewer after a couple of trades. And then be so close to Fond du Lac and close to where he lives, just outside of Chicago. Um Not a Cubs fan.
He's very quick to say. But I had the chance to do an event with him, and I just want to bring you guys the audio.
So that's what this episode of Into the Winkler Verse is. The uh first part of this is nice clean audio. It's the six-minute conversation I had beforehand. I posted it on the Dan Shaney YouTube stream as well. Um And then after that, we'll take a little break.
And then I'm going to air the full QA.
Now, QA is good, the audio between me and Caleb is good. But there is like a Maybe you know, I mean, you'll notice. It's not bad, though. It's fine. But I'm just letting you know.
And that's the great part about podcasts: you can listen to as much as you want. and enjoy as much as you as much as you want.
So you'll have the six-minute kind of YouTube thing I did with him, and then the full, it's about 35 minutes. of a Q and A at an event in Fond du Lac at the Fond du Lac Beer Company. to about 150 people. Great event put on by the Doc Spiders. It was just, hey, you guys are Doc Spider fans, come and watch this.
So I think the organization of the Northwoods League did a really good job of just you know, giving back. And not asking for anything in return. I thought that was a great event that they had put on.
So, thank you to the beer company. Thank you to Jim Mishadek and Rob and everybody with the Doc Spiders for asking me to come and do this and have these opportunities. Into the Winkler versus brought to you by Happy Place Hemp. Promo code is Bart for 25% off every order at happyplacehemp.com. And also, want to give a shout out to Carl's Place.
You can get your voicemails in if you have any thoughts on this QA or anything else that we do or don't do, 402-915-2278. That's 402-915-5. Bart and check out Carl's place. Uh online in my link tree. As well.
So, this is the kind of pre-game I did with Caleb. And then we'll take a break and then I'll give you the uh the full Sample.
So enjoy as much as you want to enjoy. I'm just, I'm hoping to warm you up. With a little With a little brewer's talk. I just want to warm you up. Here in the dead of winter, this is into the Winkler verse.
Caleb Durbin. Barr Winkler with Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin, who is in Fond du Lac for an event with the Doc Spiders, who he played for now five, six years ago. I'll make the same kind of joke upstairs, but I think of the college jobs that I have. Like in the summer, and I never think of them again. But you're kind of like tied to the Doc Spiders forever now.
What's it like to have that connection? Even, you know, the brewer thing, yeah, but you're connected to your Northwoods League team. That you were here for a couple of summers and there are gonna be a bunch of people here that wanna see you. Just what's that like, that connection and keeping that alive? Yeah, you know, it's funny because You know, everyone, all my teammates, they're They're trying to get summer internships, right?
They're trying to get set up for post-college, and for me. That was, you know, playing Summerball in Fond du Lac. You know, that was my summer internship. And I treated it just as serious as those other jobs.
So, Uh you know It's really important for me because I come back here and it was a spot where. I spent two summers and it led to where I am now. I put it all in perspective and this place is, you know, really special to me. Were there things like outside of baseball and fond duly like that you did? I think that's always like.
Well, what does Caleb know? Because I like that Ledgeview Lanes I went to a million times growing up, and that Taco Bell I spent all of my soccer referee money at. Like, where did you. Spend your free time when you were here in Fond du Lec? Yeah, I made quite a few trips to Gillies.
Gillies? That was a spot. But that's the thing, like, the fact that you just said that, like, people from Fond du Lec are like, He knows Killies. It's like insane. But it is insane.
It's cool. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of couple restaurants that were favorites for all the guys on the team. We would go out and mingle with the locals sometimes, and it'd always be fun because you want to be immersed in the community while you're here, and you want to build those relationships with other people in the community, and it only makes you more comfortable while being here for the summer.
So, Doc Spiders is obviously part of your journey. It's a long and twisted journey, we'll talk about, but you did end up in Milwaukee. Great season last year. Third in Rookie of the Year voting. Coming into 2026, There's gonna be a lot of expectations, but I think there's also gonna be.
I think the thing with the brewers right now is, and this has been the way for the last four years.
Well, the Brewers, I don't know, but they're gonna win 90-some games. Is that kind of the same expectation now? Do you have like that expectation that I don't know I've said that word nine times just now, but is that what you guys are coming into? Like where we were last year is just A building block, and there's more for us to do? 100%.
I think going into every year, obviously, I only spend one season with the brewers, but from what I can tell, our standard and our expectations are going to be higher than what anyone else places on us.
So, that being said, it's. Obviously the the next step is is World Series and trying to to win one for the city of Milwaukee. Because we feel like we truly believe we can do it and at the end of the day that's the only thing that matters. When you're in the offseason, Do you pay as much attention? Because like for fans...
We're looking at signings and we're looking at who's going where and We're all complaining about what one particular team is doing, but do you guys look at that? Are you as in. In tune with that is focused, or does it just show up and then you Figure it out come spring training. Yeah, I think. You'll hear about it, right?
Because it is. You wanna know what's going on with your teammates and the team. Is there like a group text? Like, did you see how much Tucker got from the Dodgers? No, there's not.
Like, we'll we'll talk about it individually, you know, with our buddies. But for the most part, you know, you're you're kind of just focused on the day-to-day and Um it's the same as when we're in season, you know, you you try to kind of block out the unnecessary noise, but In this case with You know, the day we live in today with social media, you definitely hear about stuff like that, but Um Yeah, I I think it's It's in moderation though, right? You're not super locked into it to where you're too worried about it, but you also want to know what's going on with your team once in a while.
Well, and you gotta know what's going on with you. I mean, you've been a guy who's been traded. in off seasons a couple of times. Do they like, they don't like say, hey, by the way, you're not, or you just wake up and you're a brewer tomorrow? Oh, they say.
You know, we like you, but it's a business, you know?
So you kind of understand both sides of the things. They try to be as transparent as they can be with you, but at the end of the day, it's a business, and there's. you know, decisions way way outside of my control that, you know, I I can't be too worried about. Getting traded must be the weirdest thing in the world.
Someone said, hey, you go there, but then someone's like, we want you, and also, you have to uproot your life, and you did it twice. Yeah, I think it's an underrated Part of the business that a lot of fans don't really think about is They trade for a player, yay, but for that player, their whole life's kind of changed. All of a sudden, they're in a new spot. For me, I'm getting ready to play in New York. All of a sudden, I'm playing an hour from where I grew up.
So, for me, it worked out to where a lot of family and friends could come out and watch me play, so it was pretty cool. Yeah, any time you get traded it's kind of comes out of nowhere for for most guys. You'll get a few of these questions and more when we go back upstairs for the event. Caleb Durbin, thank you for your time. And good luck.
Thank you. Honey, do not make plans Saturday, January 24th, okay? Why, what's happening? The Walmart Wellness Event. Flu shots, health screenings, free samples from those brands you like.
All that at Walmart. We can just walk right in. No appointment needed. Who knew we could cover our health and wellness needs at Walmart? Check the calendar Saturday, January 24th.
Walmart Wellness Event. You knew. I knew. Check in on your health at the same place you already shop. Visit Walmart Saturday, January 24th for our semi-annual wellness event.
Flu shots subject to availability and applicable state law. Age restrictions apply. Free samples while supplies last. At Capella University, learning online doesn't mean learning alone. You'll get support from people who care about your success.
like your enrollment specialist, who gets to know you and the goals you'd like to achieve. You'll also get a designated academic coach who's with you throughout your entire program. Plus, career coaches are available to help you navigate your professional goals. A different future is closer than you think, with Capella University. Learn more at capella.edu.
Without further ado, Caleb Durbin. Yep, check check one two, check check one two, check check one two. Um so I think a lot of people here Are very appreciative of the fact that you are here. I think there's been a lot of different players that, you know. How many people have played baseball at any given level, and then what kind of connection do they keep?
with that team.
So for Caleb to come back. All these years later, not too long, but still long enough, and have this event, I think this is great. Go another real quick round of applause. For National League third place rookie of the year runner-up Caleb Durbin.
So, why do you keep that connection? What is so important? For you to make sure that you're still in touch with all these people that supported you and watched you. all those years ago, what motivates you to keep this alive? Yeah, well first I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight.
This is really cool. I'm not a public speaker. This is outside my comfort zone. It's cool for me to be able to share my journey a little bit and shed some light on. Just how much the Fond du Lac community played a role in my development.
Because a lot of people, they see what's on T V, right? They see the Milwaukee Brewers, but they don't realize the journey to get there, the grind that it takes in little town Fond du Lac, you know?
So. Really cool for me to see a lot of familiar faces here tonight. And yeah, Jim's been awesome to me. He always welcomes me back with open arms and fired up to be here. As far as that journey, I think There's always the time and you know, a kid's life where they learn baseball and play baseball and think I want to do this for a living.
Was there a moment, did it happen here, did it happen after, where you thought I'm pretty close that I can actually see this through. Man, it's such a long journey, right?
So every step of the way, you know, even when you get to high school, the next goal, what's the next goal? It's, I want to play college baseball. You know, so then you try to play Division I baseball. And for me, I ended up going the Division III route, and I'm sure we'll get into that, but once you get to college, then it's, all right, I want a shot at the pros, right? Um and you really it doesn't sink in that you're good enough to get to that level until you're at that level.
And then you try to make the adjustments to get to the next level. Um So yeah, honestly, it's a tough question to answer and be like at at this moment is when I realized I could play in the big leagues because it really is just a continuous journey. Because I think in a lot of professions, you know, with the radio profession or whatever profession, When you're at a certain point, there's always somewhere you want to be.
Somewhere you aspire to be, but you do know that there's going to be a climb. When you're like, playing with the Doc Spiders uniform on or in college. Is there that thought in your head, like, I need to do this to get better to get to the pros, I need to do this to get better? When do you, or is that like reflective after? After games, when do you think about where you're at in your journey?
How much further do you have? When do you kind of put that together? Or maybe as you were saying, You just have to take one step at a time. Yeah, I mean I I think if Even when we were downstairs, you're looking around, no one even sees me because I'm the smallest person in the room, right?
So, knowing where I'm at, I lost you. I was like, I had to tell you something, I couldn't find you. Like, I'm very delusional in my aspirations. I always have been, but I'm also realistic with what I feel like it's gonna take, and knowing that I'm always gonna be on the smaller end. Physically, I For me, it's been a blessing in disguise, because it's made me work a lot harder.
So, it's not one or two things that I felt like I needed to do. It was, I'm working. Pretty much tirelessly until I'm able to achieve these dreams because for me it was. you know, why not? Like, why not go for it?
So yeah, it's been a long journey, but it's just a lot of work that it takes.
So I'm going to only bring this up because I'm Talking to a major leaguer, and my kid, I wasn't going to bring up my kid, but I, because I always do, he's six years old. But he's playing baseball, and he loves baseball, and he loves watching you guys, and he stays up. He likes, you know, when I put him to bed instead of mommy, because then mommy reads books, daddy watches the Brewers in bed, so he likes that. But he's a little on the smaller side. And so he did machine pitch this year as a six-year-old.
And he never wants to play again. Because that thing was coming at his face.
So like when you're, I mean when you're a kid, what was... I remember playing baseball as a kid too, and it's so fun. You're with your buddies. What do you think is the most similar from when you were playing at that age? to when you're playing now.
We always say you guys get to play a game as a living. Does it still feel like that to you? Is there a time where. Yeah, you know, it still kind of becomes work. Are you able to stay humbled and say, I'm playing baseball.
People are watching me. I'm here because of baseball. Are you able to kind of keep that? Yeah, 100%. I mean, it's a little bit of both though, right?
You're playing at the highest level of anything. There's going to be stressful environments. It's still a job. But at the end of the day, I go back to when I was playing wiffle ball in my backyard with my buddies, right? And it's a little bit different than that, but at the end of the day, it's like, like you said.
You know, I'm just playing a game. I'm wearing baseball pants to work every day. You know, I look at my coaches, I'm like, why are you yelling right now? You're wearing baseball pants. Like, take it easy.
Like, don't take yourself so seriously. But, um, Obviously there's that professionalism that you have to carry yourself with, but I definitely think back to those days in my backyard playing wiffle ball. There's that level, there's college like you mentioned, there's the Northwoods League, there's the minor leagues. There's the pros. Is there something that sticks out for you when you think back of your time in Fond du Lac?
when you think back of your time in the Northwoods League, that You maybe miss that you don't have that in the majors. Because I'm sure with the major leagues, you've got... Nice hotel stays, maybe nicer amenities, maybe nicer travel. But is there something that you wish if we could just find a way to capture that that I had in Fond du Lac that I had in the Northwoods League, that would be a cherry on top? Yeah, you know what?
I think The Where my mind goes to when I hear that question is like the team camaraderie, right? The bonds that you have. with your teammates. The what made the brewer special last year I've only been here a year, but what I felt like made us special is we had that. We had that team camaraderie.
We made those power of friendship shirts. To a certain extent, it was real, right? Like, we really cared about each other. And in the minor leagues, you don't really get that as much. You know, guys are going up and down.
Guys are getting hurt. You get that in the big leagues too, but there's a little bit more sustainability to where we're together the whole season and we're spending. You know, our whole lives together, pretty much. You know, and you get that in Fond du Lac, you get that in Summer Bowl, you get that in college and high school. You're with your buddies in the hotel rooms 24-7, and a dude that you just met that summer becomes one of your best friends.
You're gonna know them the rest of your life.
So, that's the really special connections that luckily was able to feel like I experienced this year with the brewers, but that's one thing that. If you're able to get that at the highest level, then you could do some special things. Would you say that that um comes more with winning I'm just I'm thinking back to Sometimes when I would cover I would be in that locker room and like 16 and 15 and if you guys remember The brewers were not. This, what they are in the locker room. I talked to one guy, I'm going to keep names out of it.
But I was asking one guy about if he talked to El Ramis Ramirez ever, and he said, oops. He said, no. Because he was trying to play third base, and Ramirez was there. And he said, I thought that joke would land harder, otherwise, I wouldn't have said his name. I kind of botched it anyway.
But it just felt like that locker room They didn't have that. Is that camaraderie? Is that something that Winning helps, or you need winning to have it, or did you guys have it? Because right away, Um you know, I think before you got called up, the season was off to a rough start. You know, torpedo bats were the name of the game, and then that disappeared.
But do you think that you need winning for camaraderie, or have you been around baseball enough that you either have it? Or maybe you don't. Yeah, I think it's one of those what came first, the chicken or the egg. And I think it's both. I think that.
You know, the more winning you do, the clubhouse is probably a little bit happier, you know. But I think if you have that bond and you have that trust in each other, that's going to lead to a lot of winning too. And then it just becomes this cycle effect. And I saw that firsthand this year. We had an eight-game, 11-game, and a 14-game win streak.
And It felt like we were untouchable during that time. And vibes in the locker room were immaculate. You know, it was unbelievable. Um But yeah, I I think it's both honestly.
So two thank yous off of that. The 14 game win streak. Free burgers, so that was great. Good job on that. You know what, Sue?
Sorry to cut you off. No, I gotta. No one's here for me. Cut me off. As much as you'd like.
I apologize. I got a good buddy. He actually played for the Fond du Lac Doc Spiders too. He's in the Rockies organization now. And they had a well, you say woo, but they had a rough year, right?
They had a little bit of a rough year. But I would ask him, because we would talk all the time, it's like. Jesus That's what we talk about at that level. It's like what makes the difference between the teams up here and the teams that don't quite get there. I wondered, I was like, what's the vibes in the locker room like?
Like, what you guys can't sniff a wind, and he's like, We we go into every game. thinking we're gonna win, like they they're still confident, but It's not like they're talking, everyone's kind of to themselves. I'm like, it's not like that at all in our locker room. It's like, if you're in the corner on your phone by yourself, people think you're weird. You know, it's like.
Come join the team type of thing, so. Um that kind of opened my eyes up to You know, it's... I was lucky to be in that type of clubhouse as a rookie, and now I kind of know what it looks like. It is a weird thing about baseball because One thing that we'll always debate in sports radio is chemistry. You know, what does it matter one day to the next?
Momentum. And baseball is a sport where You're playing together, but you're at the plate. You're at the and then the next guy's at the plate, and then the next guy's at the plate, but you do see a lot of examples like. The brewers last year were if Everybody gets along. I don't know.
You're not up there at the plate thinking, I got to get a hit because I like the guys I'm with. But it does seem like Better chemistry does lead to better results, as you're saying, with the Colorado chemistry. Yeah, it's again, baseball is awesome because it's. It really is an individual sport, you know, disguised as a team sport, right? Because you're in the batter's box by yourself.
You know, the balls hit you, you gotta make the play, obviously. You know, there there's other aspects involved, but You know, it's more of the energy. I think it's. You're feeding off the energy of the locker room, the guys in the dugout. That's a big thing.
Like, that's a very real thing. And I think we just had a lot of guys that they say hitting's contagious. Like the energy everyone brought was so contagious that we could be losing big early or losing by three or four late and still come back. We did it a lot last year. And it just It's tough to it's Talk is cheap, but take my word for it.
There is something special in that locker room.
So, I did want to thank you for the free burgers. Also, the show that I was doing. The other guy that did it with me, big Cubs fan, so Thank you for beating them. I think we can all thank him. Yeah, for beating them.
That Environment. I mean, I know they put up a good crowd. In a good atmosphere at Hare Baker, but... When you're in that five-game series against the Cubs. I mean home and Wrigley that That game they were chanting Freddy, man, that was terrible.
They were on top of it. That was awful. Is there anything that you've been able to compare that five-game series to, environment-wise? previously. Yeah.
Not really.
So I played in, I had the opportunity to play in the Division III World Series. And that was mostly parents, right?
So that was mostly parents. A lot more than just parents in the divisional series against the Cubs. Buy it. Man, it was it was electric. Like, as it As a kid, that's what you dream of.
You dream of those types of atmospheres. Um and you ask the guys, right? You're asking them in the locker room, you're asking them we had a buy, luckily, so we had a couple days to prepare. But I I you know, I'm asking yellowish, like, dude, what's this gonna be like? He's like, every pitch is gonna be life and death.
Like, you have to be willing to die in that batter's box. And that's what it felt like. It was awesome, because, like, that's what you live for as a competitor. But, you know, just to be able to feed, even, I keep saying it, but you feed off the energy of the crowd. Um it was just super special.
You've been traded twice. What is that like? I I can't even imagine. You know, you work somewhere, it's like, okay, it works somewhere, he works, but you are being told, no, now you're working here. Uh on one hand, a team looked at the stats and were like, eh, we'll give them them.
But on the other hand, there's like, we need this guy. And you were involved in the Devin Williams trade. And you come over, what is that like? And how badly do you never want to go through that again? Yeah, it's not fun, honestly.
It's not that fun. Uh pretty much out of nowhere.
Some guy calls you. It's usually either GM, assistant GM, farm director. whatever it is, I was in the minor leagues both times, so one of the times it was the farm director. The next time to the Brewers, it was the Yankees' assistant GM. And they just they say, Hey, what's going on?
I'm like You're not supposed to call me. Like, you tell me what's going on. And then they tell you, well, we traded you to the Milwaukee Brewers? Thank you for your time and then. Out of nowhere, you're not with the team that you were with the season before.
So for me, being traded to, I went from Braves to Yankees. That was cool because I felt like the Yankees would be a really cool opportunity, historic franchise. Really looked forward to that opportunity. And then from Yankees to the brewers, I was like, all right, it's go time. Like, we're going to get going in Milwaukee here soon, which is really close to where I grew up.
So I was super stoked about that. Honey, do not make plans. Saturday, January 24th, okay? Why, what's happening? The Walmart Wellness Event.
Flu shots, health screenings, free samples from those brands you like. All that at Walmart. We could just walk right in. No appointment needed. Who knew we could cover our health and wellness needs at Walmart?
Check the calendar Saturday, January 24th. Walmart Wellness Event. You knew. I knew. Check in on your health at the same place you already shop.
Visit Walmart Saturday, January 24th for our semi-annual wellness event. Flu shots subject to availability and applicable state law. Age restrictions apply. Free samples while supplies last. Is it time to reimagine your future?
The right business skills may make a difference in your career. At Capella University, we offer a relevant education that's designed to focus on what you need to know in the business world. We'll teach professional skills to help you pursue your goals. Like business management, strategic planning, and effective communication. And you can apply these skills right away.
A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella.edu. Yeah, how were you able to make those? Like, because you played here, obviously, you're from just north of Chicago. Was were you able to make like Connections pretty quick, or you were able to get acclimated really quick.
How did that work once you first got into? the organization. Yeah, so there's, I think, right when I got traded, Murph called me and Uh Matt Arnold called me, the GM.
So both those guys called me right away. Kinda eased me into it and then Uh yeah, basically you go into spring training, you're meeting You know, a hundred new people, you know, as far as like minor league staff, big league staff, teammates. You know, it's new faces everywhere.
So, at least, you know, when you go into spring training, you usually at least know the dudes you played with the season before. I didn't know anyone. Along with that, you're also trying to make a big league team for the first time.
So you're trying to meet everyone, and then you're trying to, you're not really settled in yet. It's overwhelming at first, but the brewers organization as a whole is like. honestly perfect for that the scenario that I was in, 'cause I Like I said, the my teammates were awesome. Murph's already crapping on me, telling me jokes, and already making me feel a part of the team.
So that helped a lot. But yeah, it takes a little bit to get going. You didn't uh settle it in, but once you do, it's It's the same.
Now is it your nickname that he's given you, Murphy? That was from your first interaction with him, is that right? How did that happen? What happened there? Yes.
I still don't understand it, so I'm going to butcher the story. But pretty much You know, I haven't met Murph yet, right?
So I went to spring training a couple weeks early last year. Murph comes in a couple days before camp's really going to start getting going. And he's in the dugout watching us, you know, field ground balls and I'm like oh man the Captain's here, you know, the sheriff's in town. Um so uh after we're done practice, I go up to him, shake his hand. I go, what's up, Murph?
Great to meet you. And he just says, happy? And in my mind, I'm like, is he asking me, am I happy to be here? I'm like, yeah, fire it up. Like, I feel like an idiot.
Like, I don't know what to say. And he just doesn't say anything. He doesn't say anything back to me. I just walk away. And one of my teammates is like, dude, he's the weirdest, isn't he?
I'm like, is he like this to everyone at first? Like, what's going on? Later on, we're walking to the cages and he comes up next to me and he's telling me the story on why my new nickname is happy. You know, that's what everyone's going to call me now for some reason. And in the offseason, You know, he's still good buddies with Craig Counsel, which I don't know if that's fake or real, but.
He said he's out to dinner with Craig Hounsel and and Council brings up the trade that we just had in me coming. to the brewers And Pretty much Murph goes, oh yeah, happy Durkin. Was that a. I think that was a baseball player back in the day. It's what he told me.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and council's like, no, it's Caleb Durbin. What are you talking about? And pretty much, Murph wanted me to go up to Craig Council in our spring training game and be like, hey, my name's Happy, nice to meet you. Um so yeah, my he only calls me happy now.
Oh, that's right. All right. Happy. Happy. Well, we're happy you're here.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Still weak, but thank you.
So it is the offseason. You've been traded twice. Brewers are. Active. How do you Follow what's going on?
Do you not want to follow what's going on? Because there's a lot of rumors, there's a lot of. You have people like me that live off these rumors and we're trying to figure out what the team's going to look like.
Meanwhile, there's a team in California that's got more money than ever possible, and they're bringing in people. How do you just try to manage like, I've got friends on this team, I liked the team last year, every team's a little different. Do you check the phone? Do you not check the phone? What is an off season like in that regard?
Yeah, it's it's You kind of steer clear, like obviously with social media these days, you're gonna see everything eventually, or word of mouth. Isaac Collins, one of my good buddies, fellow rookie last year. You know, he got traded early on in the offseason and I Wasn't paying attention at all to it, but all of a sudden I get a text from. One of my friends, a pretty random person to get a text about this from, but He's the one that broke the news that my good friend isn't on my team anymore.
So you'll get stuff like that where it's kind of like. I feel I wish. SAC was the one to tell me, you know, or I wish I didn't find out that way, but that's the way it works sometimes, you know, it just spreads so quick. For the most part, you you don't see it, but obviously if there's a big sign, like it's everywhere, right? You know, so you see it.
You know, I'm s a normal person in in society, like I'm not completely shelled off to it, but you definitely don't want to, you know, go overboard with it. Yeah, well, that's crazy. We'll see what happens with the team. We wish you guys the best of luck, obviously, next year. Events like this, I think, are cool.
To have this connection that we've been talking about, you're here, it's cold Tuesday night to come back to Fond du Lac. I think one thing about. Having grown up in Fond du Lac, Um Is there's a There is a sense of pride, but there's also a sense of... If you show us like Hey, you're not so bad. We're gonna love you right away, I think.
There's a big part of that. But then, when you're like, no, not only are you not so bad, I like being here. I'll come up anytime. I'll come up in the middle of January. How would you, if someone that you knew was like, hey, I'm in the Northwoods League.
I'm going to Fond du Lac. What is this place? Why is it spelled so weird? What's going on? How would you like.
Pitch them or tell them. These were my experiences. These are the things that I love. This is why you'll love it too. Yeah, it's it's funny, like if my dad always says this, like even at Brewers games, like you show the crowd on the big screen, and my dad loves it.
He always says, It's just happy people doing happy people things. You know, like everyone just has a smile on their face, they're laughing. And that's just kind of Wisconsin in a nutshell, you know, from what I've experienced at least. Obviously, I came across the border playing baseball a ton throughout my life. Played some really serious college ball in Fond du Lac, traveling all around the state and like.
That's all it is. It's just... For lack of better terms, it's really good vibes. It's just really happy people that love baseball. And you don't get that everywhere.
You know, I I'll go to Just, you know, the Chicago to White Sox games and it's No one's in the stands. It's always cloudy there. It's sunny during Cubs games and cloudy during White Sox games all the time. I can never understand it, even on TV, I can never understand it. But that's just kind of the beauty of Wisconsin.
It's just... everyone's, you know, happy and and you know, enjoying where they're at at the ballpark. What were your favorite things to do? When you weren't playing, I know it's a rigorous schedule. You're on the road, free time's probably limited, but what are some things like?
Alright, when I get back to Fond du Lac again, I gotta do this, or I want to see this. What are some of those things for you? Yeah, well, for me, it revolves around food. You know, Gilly's is is always a good one, Smitty's. Uh that's that's my favorite wing play so Those are the two spots when I'm back, my host family, they take me there all the time.
So it's Those are the spots for me. You're still very tight with your host family. I did a uh stay in Germany. My senior year of high school. I had a host family for a week.
Nicest people in the world. I've never talked to him since. It's totally fallen off. Um No, I was only there a week.
Okay. I did have a big crush on the girl that I lived with, the sister. I think the brother knew. Anyway, um Okay. To go to some, like, you're just becoming a part, and there's a lot of people that do that, and that's like.
They find a reason or a meaning to do that. For those host families, and for your host family, like, What is that relationship like? How weird is it at first? 'Cause they just willingly invite, you know, a grown man into their home. And you're just kind of being a grown man in their home.
Yeah. Doing grown man things. Yeah, so I actually Bro, rewind a little bit.
So I. Please. My first. My first summer ball season You know, my first experience in the Northwoods League was actually in Rockford. It was with the Rockford Rivets.
And I'll basically just say there's a reason why I'm not.
Somebody boo that? Who booed that? I love the boo. Yeah, Jay. I boo it.
I love the boo. But there's a reason why I'm not in Rockford right now. And it honestly starts with the host family. When I was in Rockford, I never saw him, right? And it was.
kind of an uncomfortable situation. I was like, do they even know I'm living here? It was very bizarre. And then I got to Fond du Lac. And Shout out Michelle Buck.
She does a great job. Like, she makes, yeah. Shit. She'd kill me. She'd kill me if I didn't give her a shout out.
But But she you know, she does a great job on it. Really does a good job at pairing people up with the right host families. And For me, I got paired with the Nolans, and obviously, you go in, shout out the Nolans. They couldn't be here tonight. Peyton's here, the daughter, the sister.
But The parents are in Florida out of this weather, which I don't blame them. Um But it's It's It's really cool, it's neat because you're an uncomfortable situation because you're living in a house with people you don't know.
So to be welcomed into the family. Is really special. And for me, I talk to them all the time still. They're up in Milwaukee. I'm seeing them during the year.
I still stay at their house when I come back.
So it's that type of bond that It's kinda, you know. Is why I love Fond du Lax so much, you know, and why I love the Dock Spiders. And it's funny, I don't know if we're going to get into it later, but I'll mention it now. Bye. Their house, like I was in their living room when I got drafted, you know, like I wasn't even with my family, yeah, I was with my host family.
During the biggest moment of my life. You know, so if that. you know, doesn't show how much this place means to me and how much they mean to me, then I don't know what does. But I think that's cool. Like you you come, yeah.
If you're going to have this experience in a city. you might not be too familiar with. I mean, they could, you know, throw in a hotel or throw in a dorm. Um I think for the Northwoods League it might be more affordable to do the host family, probably. But I think you have like a guide, you have people that can show you the city, so you're not just.
I mean, how many times do you go to like Rhodes Stadiums and well what do you think about Cleveland? I don't know. I've been to the stadium. I've been to the hotel. You know, this is a way for you to get out, maybe meet people that they know.
Know you know other things about the city. That's got to be a very valuable part of Because we were talking downstairs, like you playing for the Dock Spiders was a summer, collegiate summer job. And I think back to my collegiate summer jobs. I worked on a boat as a waiter. I got fired after two weeks.
I served one of these crest of water. And there was a dead bug at the bottom of it. And I didn't know and whatever. I'm just serving it to- No, I served it to the owner of the boat.
So he fired me that day. But I'll never think about that job again. Your summer job, you've got these connections that bring you here, that keep you with the family, you're getting drafted in their living room. That's got to almost be the selling point of the Northwoods League as much as the baseball. Yeah, it 100% is in You know, it helps like the whole host family s system.
It's like they. Ideally, they have really good host families, which they luckily do here in Fond du Lac. But they've been through it. They've had a, you know. Three, four, five summers of doing it, and as a player, you go in, and it's it could be your first summer living with new people, so it's nice that they have.
You know, they're used to the way it goes. They probably know how players feel. They've had outgoing players, more introverted players, you know, so they kind of know how to deal with it. And a big part of that, like you said, is. Getting immersed in the community, you know?
Like, every time I come, Michelle welcomes me to the arc. Shout out, Michelle Buck. Give it up for Michelle. A second one, nice. Second one.
Ha ha ha ha! You know, they're taking me to different restaurants around town, you know, so it's. Um You know, it means a lot when they take the time to kind of get you settled in here. Do you think without them, I mean, would you still want to be connected? That is what's bringing you back.
thou It's everything. Like, I can't say it's one thing. You know, it's it's it's it's everything, you know? That's why I feel like my bond with Fond du Lac is special. It's got s such a s it's such a strong part of my journey.
Being a D3 guy, you don't You don't get the exposure, right? You're not, Pro Scouts aren't coming to wash you during the spring.
So, for me, having the opportunity to come to Fond du Lac and play, where not a lot of Division III guys get that opportunity, was huge. And not only get a chance to play, but oh, I get to start at shortstop. I get to bat in the three-hole. They're giving me all these opportunities, and we end up winning a title in 2020. You know, we end up winning it all.
So, it's something like that, where. That's has a huge impact on my life. You know, that's has a huge impact on my career, and it stemmed from this community. Do you um Obviously, with your journey, there's so many parts of your journey with the D3 World Series, with the success you had in Fond du Lac, making it to the major leagues. We all know Dox Fighters Championship ranks one in your career.
I don't need to ask that. We know. When you're first taking the field and you've then made it to the big leagues. Because there's all these accomplishments that you've had on the way up. And then you make it to the big leagues.
and you're at bat for the first time. or you're in the field for the first time. Are you like, have you played enough baseball where it's, oh, this moment. Was it what I thought it would be? Or is it is it like, this is insane?
I can't believe I'm here. I can, but I also can't. What do you remember about your first at bat? First time you took the field. Yeah, so it's it's such a long journey that I think that You do have time to prepare, and it's mostly mentally, right?
For me, it's like. The debut day is so overwhelming. You're getting tickets for your friends, family, you're trying to get everyone else settled, but you're also trying to focus for the biggest game of your life. And so I remember there's natural just butterflies, right? It wasn't necessarily nervousness.
More just like excitement, right? I was super excited. you know, my dream's coming true. You know what I mean?
So. I remember not, like, I couldn't eat. Like, I was having to force food down, right? Because, like, I just had butterflies in my stomach, you know. Don't know how else to explain it.
But I visualize my debut so much. Like I visualize it every day. Like every. Every day um um Taking ground balls or hitting in the cage, or even working out in the weight room, like I'm visualizing this day is gonna come. And even But like my dream is like Play the Cubs in the playoffs at Wrigley, that was like a huge dream of mine.
And I thought about it so much.
So then, when it was actually happening, I felt like I was even more settled in because I've been there before. Not physically, but in my head, I've been through that experience before. The season coming up, when do you guys take off? A couple weeks? Yeah, I'm leaving February 1st.
Um I think report dates the 17th. Opening day is the 21st. All right. Do you have um Like individual specific goals that you're I I know as the year progressed you started steel and bases a little more. Do I have this right?
You led the league in hit by pitches? Yeah. Yeah. I think at twenty twenty four. And Ricky Weeks, our associate manager, had the Brewers' single season record at 25.
Almost had it my rookie year. How about that?
So, do you want that record? Are you over the plate? If it gets me on base, I'll take it. If it gets me on base, does it start to hurt less or more? As you get hit.
It hurts the same, but then it goes away. It goes away. We had a foul ball come at us one game, but it was like. in the sky and it was maybe the seventh inning of a game this year. And it just bounced in front of us and like kind of hit my wife on the leg.
And we ran out of it. Like, we were so scarred by that, and here you are, just getting drilled. 24 times.
Well, I don't understand how a dude hits a screaming foul ball or even a home run. People are catching it with their bare hands. I know. I can do that. I don't know how they do it.
I don't know. Foul balls are really weird. Like, time freezes. You're like, what's happening? You miss the catch 'cause you're so I don't know, I don't know how you guys do it.
It's great. Are you but are you is there things that you're going to be specifically like I want to hit more home runs or I want to get on base more. What are you going to try to do to make sure that you can help this team as much as you can? Yeah, all of the above. You want to hit more?
You do want to get hit more? I want to get on bass more. By any means necessary. All right. I'll let Yelich drive me in.
No, but I I think um Yeah. You know, it. I hear a lot like People Will congratulate me on my season, and it's a big deal getting up to the big leagues for the first time, but I just think I'm so far from. My potential and where I want to be. Like, I'm not even close.
So, it's an easy question for me to answer because I just think I can get a lot better at everything. Um I won't throw specific numbers out there, but Um 400. You want to hit 400? That's the goal, right? 73 bombs.
Ted Williams line. Yeah. 40-40 hitter. Trying to break records. If we're not trying to break records, what are we doing, right?
Yeah. 815? Yeah, you want them all. That's fine. 26 hit by pitches.
Well that, I mean, you gotta get that one now. You gotta get that one now. Um what about team goals? Obviously, you guys went to the championship series. last year.
I always talk about how I'm going to throw this theory at you because I talk about this a lot. Um having never played professional sports of any kind. But I think like When you get that far, And you're close. And then the next season starts. It's like I just want to be there again.
But you got to go through the 162. You got to go through the road trips. You got to go through spring training. When you got that far and you know that you want to get back, how do you... Keep that focus, like, we're not going to get there unless we keep winning now.
But also, we know we can get there. It's just it's very hard to do that. Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great point. Because like our goal is is to get past that level, right?
It's to get to the World Series, but you don't just teleport to the World Series. It's this long journey that starts day one of spring training. Honestly, it starts in the offseason. A lot of people don't see that work that you're putting in the offseason. But It's for me, it's just being where my feet are.
You gotta stay present, take it a day at a time. And you know, you're it goes quick. It's a long season, but it flies by, which Doesn't make any sense, but you just take it day by day, you look up and October's already around the corner. But you just have to focus on winning that day, and you stack up enough of those days where you're winning more than not. And then you hopefully are the one seat again and or playing for a World Series.
I always call it like the Super Mario it's my Super Mario take. Because now, in video games, you can save your progress or whatever. But playing Nintendo, you would get all the way to level 8. And then you wouldn't beat Bowser and you'd die. And then you'd have to start all the way at the beginning.
And I'm just like when I watch people make it that far, over and over and over, like the Packers or your Steelers. It's like, man, how do we keep getting back to this point?
So it is, it takes a, I mean, I don't know if there's. A sport that would take more focus than that, because it's 162, it's a grind. Yeah, and you're right. There's levels to it too, right? It's like, how do we push through?
We can get to this level, but how do we get to the next level? And I think. I think with the Brewers, we had a tough loss against the Mets. I wasn't here for it, but a tough loss against the Mets and the wild card. And it's like, okay, a lot of our team experienced that.
Having that postseason experience, it's the same game, but it's different. Postseason is a little bit different.
So having that ability to really experience that. And now we're, you know, make it to the CS this year, the championship series. It's like, okay. We're facing One of the best assembled teams of all time. And Now it's we've experienced that.
So now you'd like to think we're more prepared through that experience and Um again, we got all a lot of those same guys that, you know. We're fighting at the end of the year back, so. Um It's looking very positive. Just to wrap up our Q ⁇ A, and we'll do the raffle.
Some other stuff, if you guys have questions. Was there ever a time That you thought 'Cause I we've talked a lot about the the good stuff. Was there ever a time where you thought I don't know. Like this might not. happened for me.
And for, I know there's a lot of kids here. Um but i if when that point comes and if if they're trying to do that How do you work through that? How do you get over that? feeling if it if you've had it Yeah, about every time I go 0 for 4, I feel it. Yeah, I mean the the life of a Really, anyone trying to get to the highest level, especially baseball.
Like there's there's days where There's a lot of doubt. It's like, what am I trying to really do here? Everyone goes through it. But You know, I I think I've been someone who more times than not I'm gonna believe in myself. And for me, it's about self-belief and work ethic.
If you have those two things, you could go really far. Um but even then it's like man you have an injury, right? You get injured or you have a setback or this coach doesn't think you're good enough. You know, those are real setbacks that a lot of players go through. That I've been through, I've been somewhat lucky on the injury side of things, but.
Those are real things that, you know, when those happen, you gotta kind of look at yourself in the mirror and. It gets real, because it's not an easy journey. Um It's crazy because I've seen so many talented dudes that Haven't even sniffed You know, playing in college. You know what I mean?
So, when you think about how many. The pool of players there are, and how talented the people that you're going up against is. Even now, just talking about it, I'm like, how the heck do I play for the Milwaukee Brewers, right? Um you just have to live in the moment and not think like that. and just kind of be where your feet are and be focused on the process.
The results are going to go up and down, right? Like everyone who's played the game, everyone who's watched the game, everyone goes through them, right? Barry Bonds, Aaron Judge, the best players in the world go through them.
So for me, when I realized like I can't be emotionally attached to results. I have to be emotionally invested in the process. It doesn't matter how I feel or what the results are, if I could stay level-headed. and make and believe that I'm doing the right things every single day. Mm-hmm.
then I'm going to look up in a year or two or five years and I'm going to be in a much better spot. Final Lac Doc Spiders legend and the future Milwaukee Brewers all-time leader in hit by pitch. Caleb Durbin. At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the course room to the workplace.
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