ROUNDING THE HORN WITH MIKE SCIOSCIA | GIVING BACK GUNNAR HENDERSON’S PET PROJECT | MONEYBALL
WHAT DRIVES SALTDOG MATT CRONIN
“What a day it was for me. September 3, 1971. I could hardly wait until the national anthem was over because that way, it’s legit. I’m on the roster.”
22 DICK BEVERAGE
Historical Inspiration
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31 MIKE SCIOSCIA
Giving Back to Local Youth Ball
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6 PITCHER’S MOUND
KAMERON LOE, APBPA PRESIDENT
8 THE SIXTH TOOL
There’s a Mental Crisis in Baseball ERIN SHANNON, Ph.D.
10 AROUND THE HORN
A Quick Q&A with Jeff Andrews! WILLIAM COLINAS
37 MONEYBALL
Are Your Investments Protected? GRANT BLINDBURY
Iam extremely excited about the direction that APBPA is going, and I want to share that excitement with you. We’ve had our challenges recently, but we are back on track.
I started proudly giving to this association back in 2003. I remember the great Dick Beverage coming to my first minor-league spring training and talking to us. He told us what the Brotherhood of APBPA was, and what we’ve done over the last—at the time— about 80 years. Ballplayers helping out ballplayers. I was sold.
It’s only fitting that our inaugural issue has the feature about Dick and what he has meant to this organization. Truly an honor to dedicate this issue to him.
Right now, the APBPA is working on amazing things. One of them is this magazine. Publishing on the eve of our 100th Anniversary is one accomplishment I will cherish, and I hope you do, too! Our pages will highlight the lifestyle of current and former ballplayers. Stats are great, but we will leave those stories to other publications. In our features, we want you to hear firsthand how our brothers have achieved their goals, faced challenges,
changed direction, or how they managed to move on after hanging up their spikes. Our columns are educational articles on topics about life outside of the ballpark. Columns such as “The Sixth Tool” by Dr. Erin Shannon (page XX) will have topics related to mental wellness.
Helping fellow players in their time of need is the mission of this organization, and this magazine is an incredible extension of this mission.
For example, our Associate Publisher, Nick Corso, got to sit down with former Dodger third baseman, Ron Cey. His cover story graces this first issue’s pages (page XX). Reading and listening to how he was able to begin his career in baseball while navigating the armed services draft is a choice story to read. When did he know it was time to move beyond the field and pursue a different trajectory is a story probably not unlike many of you.
So again, welcome to Baseball Professional. Let us know your thoughts and how we can be of service to you, our brotherhood of baseball.
From the pitcher’s mound, Kameron
“ Publishing on the eve of our 100th Anniversary is one accomplishment I will cherish, and I hope you do, too!
Founded in 1924, Association of Professional Ball Players of America (APBPA) is celebrating 100 years of service to The Baseball Brotherhood with a .999 fine silver limited-edition collector’s coin. This 2" limited-edition coin will be the prize of your collection. • Images of historical players represented • 2-inch coin made with .999 fine silver • 30-Day Money Back Guarantee Only 1,000 coins are being minted!
High levels of stress and fear are showing up in ballplayers across the globe. So how can we help to improve mental wellbeing and access to services within our own community?
There have been several articles written recently about the mental health crisis in major-league baseball. Sports Illustrated ran a story about a number of players walking away from baseball for personal reasons. Rays reliever Ryan Sherriff, who is working his way back to pitching form after leaving the team on April 3, 2022, is featured in the article discussing his struggles with mental health issues in the hope that he can inspire other players to come forward and seek help. Drew Robinson survived a suicide attempt early last year before returning to the game. Andrelton Simmons opened up about his own battle with suicidal thoughts and depression in the midst of last year. While not all have been as public and open as Ryan Sherriff, Adam Haseley, and Chris Devenski—many are struggling with their own problems. MLB does have a current Employee Assistance Professional (EAP) program (https://www.mlb.com/playerresource-center/wellness), which provides voluntary, free and confidential assessment, counseling, referrals and follow-up services
to players, coaches and their families. And yet, that’s not nearly enough.
Since the worldwide pandemic, mental health has been put in the spotlight. Pandemic-related stress has impacted all of us in one way or another, certainly the new normal of social distancing and social isolation have taken a toll on humanity. Human beings are social creatures, and we all have seen how the effects of touch starvation can be widespread and painful. Yes, touch starvation is indeed an actual thing. When humans don’t get enough physical touch, we can become stressed, anxious, or depressed. This raises our cortisol levels and make our bodies go into fight, freeze, or fear mode. The problem is, instead of this mode being temporary, which is tolerable, we have all endured an extended period of societal isolation. Now many of us are in what is essentially “adrenal fatigue” rather than fight or freeze. Adrenal fatigue is a stress-related condition that results in
“ Trust is one of the most challenging aspects in the life of a professional athlete. We have a hard time trusting anyone anyway. But with something so intimate as mental health, you gotta earn that!
symptoms like exhaustion, weakened immunity, physical pain, mind fog, sleep disturbances, and food cravings. The adrenal glands and Hypothalamic Adrenal Pituitary system (HPA axis) become depleted and dysregulated after a long period of emotional stress or chronic illness.
Team sports are often seen as a microcosm of the wider culture, and baseball is one of the most iconic team sports. Rising to the top to be among the best and making it to the major leagues is a huge challenge that has inherent stressors and daily pressures most people will never face. Yet now, all around the world, we are facing high levels of stress and fear. This is also a time of having a critically scant number of professionals and resources in the mental health sector. So how can baseball become more of a leader in mental health services and policy? Can we as ballplayers help to improve mental wellbeing and access to services within our own community? Then, can we raise the bar for the community at large? Can we change the archetype of a pro ballplayer to include mental strength rather than only physical?
A system (or world) in chaos affords a great opportunity to make changes to that system. The best time to alter the status quo is during crises or upheaval. So, if the current situation is ripe with opportunity, what are we doing in Major League Baseball today to make lasting progress in this regard? What are the improvements needed to address the current day challenges of our ballplayers and their teams and families? Isn’t this indeed the mission of our organization (APBPA) “Ballplayers helping Ballplayers?”
One Possible Solution
We must begin to normalize mental health services and dispel any fears
of stigma or discrimination. The best way to do this is to create a space on every single major and minor league team to have easy access to mental healthcare. Just as each club has a variety of resource professionals— trainer, a chiropractor, a pitching coach, mental skills coach, etc.—each club must have a mental health professional imbedded in the organization. This professional has to be on-site, travel with the team and become trusted by the players and coaches. This is not the mental toughness grad student, or the traditional sports performance person, nor the team pastor. This is a 100% professional clinical psychologist who has the ability to diagnose and appropriately treat the broad spectrum of mental health problems that arise in the course of a season and beyond. This person is someone who is dedicated to this job and will be there for a longstanding relationship.
Trust is one of the most challenging aspects in the life of a professional athlete. We have a hard time trusting anyone anyway. But with something so intimate as mental health, you gotta earn that! It takes time and patience to get acceptance and buy-in from players, especially when it comes to their body/ mind, which is critically important to their identity as an athlete. To be allowed into the very unique and closed world of professional sports and trusted with some of the most private information is an honor and privilege that is to be given sacred respect. It takes a very special skill set and temperament to be the type of clinician who respects the psychological barriers that are inherent and assure players that you are worthy of their trust. One that also can understand the unique challenges and difficulties of the lifestyle of professional baseball. Most importantly, in my opinion, this person must have absolutely zero amount of star struck fan energy—which
is completely contrary to the feeling of seeing someone as a human being not as a celebrity or famous role model!
It’s a tall challenge, but the right ones are out there, and baseball is calling for more. The new era of players are more comfortable with the idea of therapy and the league has to do more with normalizing and encouraging players to check in regularly with not only problems but to use the clinical professional for inner strength building as well as improving communication skills in the team. Rules of return to play and compensation systems should be updated to reflect that mental health is as important as physical health in players. Also including support and therapy for players wives and children who are struggling as well.
Making these services available to players after they stop playing is perhaps the most crucial missing piece in taking care of our players. The essential education of players, staff and coaches to be aware of some of the warning signs that they can look for in their teammates before things spiral out of control. Trying to make the culture of “toughen up” progress to “open up” in the future will help us all to be able to live more authentically and be able to speak up when things aren’t right mentally or emotionally. It’s not only the right thing to do for individual mental wellbeing but it’s essential for the community and team to be successful and healthy. Thriving on and off the field is the goal rather than surviving to play one more day!
As we all move forward with our lives and the new normal of post-pandemic life, be aware of what mental health issues and topics you’d like to see in this magazine and we will continue to work to provide you with some insights and answers. And please feel free to contact me directly at (APBPA email) . Until then, take care of body and mind!
“What a day it was for me. September 3, 1971. I could hardly wait until the national anthem was over because that way, it’s legit. I’m on the roster.”
the irony of driving to the top of the mountain in the hills of Calabasas, Calif., to visit a guy who’s career had reached the pinnacle of the MLB mountain was not lost on me as we arrived at Ron Cey’s home. The first face we saw was that of Fran, Ron’s wife of 50 years. As gracious as anyone could ever be, Fran greeted us warmly and immediately invited us to make ourselves at home. Surprisingly, while walking through Ron and Fran’s home, there is very little evidence of Ron’s illustrious baseball career. What is evident is that his family means everything. And while baseball was obviously a huge part of this man’s life, there was sparse evidence of it until the moment
OPPOSITE: Los Angeles Dodgers’ Ron Cey #10 swings and connects against the New York Yankees during the World Series at Yankee Stadium in October of 1978 in Bronx, New York.
we walked into his office—the inner sanctum. That’s when we began to grasp the enormity of the moment. There were jerseys, baseball bats, photographs with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, baseballs signed by the “Who’s Who” of the sport, city commodations, not to mention Championship and World Series rings in addition to a World Series MVP trophy. This guy is a true fan of baseball.
Dodgers. Cubs, Oakland A’s. A 16-year career filled with success. Greatness. Our team felt giddy at the prospect of interviewing a cherished player from our youth. We were unsure of who he was going to be when the cameras started to roll. But we had a feeling he was going to be great. A few minutes later, a humble man greeted us with a firm handshake and a warm smile. Softspoken and comfortably dressed, he sits on his couch and settles in for our interview. The wall behind him is covered with amazing photos of his famous career and accomplishments. Once he’s miked-up, cameras focus, the room grows quiet, and we begin.
Ron, many of us know about your career as a professional ball player, but tell us about how it all started. You went to Mount Tahoma High school in Washington and lettered in three different sports—football, baseball, and basketball. It almost seems ridiculous to ask, but which was your favorite?
Baseball. It was always baseball. It started out as a childhood dream of wanting to be a major league baseball player. If you would have told me how I was going to accomplish what lie ahead for me, I would have said, “I’ll take it!” I didn’t really have any expectations other than I wanted to be a major league player. And then of course, as a ballplayer and you’re in the process; you’re in the moment; you start to see where you sit. And your goals start expanding. The expectations of yourself start expanding. You begin to realize as you rise through the different levels of ball, “I’m one of the better players here and I’m proving it.”
But, I was groomed that way from an early age. A lot of other players had made it to the higher levels or kind of had a similar path, but I won at
every level. I was an all-star at every level, and there wasn’t anything that knocked me off my perch. I was climbing a pyramid of success. I had started way down at the bottom and just kept moving up toward the top. At the top, the numbers get smaller, and it keeps getting smaller.
When you start out, you’re the best player on your high school team. Then you’re the best player on your college team. Then you’re an all-star in the minor leagues, and you start thinking, “OK, I’m moving up!” Soon, I found myself thinking, “I played my first All-Star game. Well, now I’ll never settle for anything less than that.” Then my team won a divisional title and a national league playoff title. We go to the World Series. Again, I found myself thinking, “This is where I want to sit every year.” There just wasn’t anything less than that. Thereafter, if I didn’t accomplish those things, if I didn’t do that every year, it was a disappointment. I was fortunate in comparison to other guys. There are a lot of great players, Hall of Fame players, that never got to the World Series let alone win a World Series title.
Tell us about the day you signed your first contract to play baseball. How did that go?
At Washington State, we had a really good club. After my sophomore year, I signed my first contract in the June draft. I went and played in the summer of that year. I played around 60 games that season but when that ended, I still had to go back to school because I needed to be protected [from the Selective Service draft]. The bad news was that by going back to school, I was going to miss the first two weeks of spring training. When I finally arrived at camp, there were only two weeks of spring training remaining. Needless to say, things didn’t work out very well. I didn’t really have any time to prepare, so I was playing from behind. Eventually, I was assigned to Double A where I found that I was still behind. The club told me “Listen, go down to A ball. Go to Bakersfield. You’re going to play every day when you get down there. That way, you’ll get yourself back into this thing.”
I ended up having a really good year in A ball, but when that season ended, the prospect of the Selective Service draft still loomed. I knew,
ABOVE: Cey’s office in his home is filled with jawdropping photos, awards, and collections.
ABOVE, RIGHT: Sal Bando #6 of the Oakland Athletics is safe at second as Ron Cey #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers tries to tag him during Game 1 of the 1974 World Series on October 12, 1974 in Los Angeles, California.
however, that I couldn’t keep continuing to go back to school and miss spring training. I was just shooting myself in the foot. I wasn’t getting the full opportunity to show myself. So I ended up getting into a [military] reserve unit. Fortunately, I wasn’t scheduled to go to basic training for a while. That’s when I went and played winter ball in Mesa, Arizona with Tommy Lasorda. By the time I showed up, I had missed the entire spring training and the first month and a half of the season. When I got to training, I was trying to rush things and ended up getting hurt. As a result, I was taken off the Major League roster because I only played half of the season.
As I was headed home to get in better shape, Lasorda called and told me that because I was now on the AAA roster for the team he was managing, I was going to be his third baseman. He told me, “I don’t even care if you get a hit in spring training, we’re going to get this thing all straightened away, and you’re going to be fine.” As it turns out, this was my breakout year and I got called up in September.
At that time, we were in a pennant race, and I didn’t get a chance to do anything. I pinch hit a couple of times, but at least now I was center stage. I had finally graduated to the big leagues, and what a day it was for me. September 3, 1971. I could hardly wait until the national anthem was over because that way, it’s legit. I’m on the roster. My
name is on the list for today’s game. So I ran into the little hallway that goes up to the clubhouse, and I just started jumping up and down.
What a time it was. At 22-years-old, not only was my childhood dream coming true but, at the end of the week on September 11, I was getting married in Chicago and meeting my wife-to-be’s family for the very first time—and here we are, 50 years later.
They must have liked you.
Well, they did. I fit right in, and they accepted me right away. But doing it that way is not something I recommend.
We’ll cover that story on a podcast with you. Being on the board of the Association of Professional Ball Player of America and, as you know, we have over 49,000 members, I get to chat with a lot of ballplayers and some don’t handle it as well as you did when the time comes to hang ‘em up.
(Laughing) I’m not so sure my wife would agree with that, but I felt like I got over it in a relatively short period of time.
As I look around this room, at all this baseball history, it is truly amazing what you were able to accomplish throughout the course of your career.
Thank you. You know, looking back on it, certainly I can punch a lot of holes in it, as we all do. I’m harder on myself about stuff—should have done this…should have done that….
Well, that’s kind of where I wanted to go. If you look back at it, and you were a six-time all-star. You won four national league championships. In 1981, the Dodgers won the World Series and you are the World Series MVP. Also in that year, you won the Babe Ruth Award (who, by the way, was one of the founding members of the APBPA [thank you for also being a member]) and then, in 1982, you won the Lou Gehrig Award, who is also a founding member of the APBPA. Those are two big awards, back to back. When you look back on your career, where are the holes, and what are the things you love the most? What do you think you would have done differently?
Yeah, it’s a matter of hindsight. You find yourself saying, “Yeah, I could have patched that up” or “I should have understood that better” but the truth is that I didn’t see it then as well as I do it now.
OK, so you retired at the ripe old age of 39; a time when most people’s careers are kind of just getting started.
Yeah. Baseball definitely took its toll on me.
Tell us tell us about the mental side of that. You reach these pinnacles in your career and accomplish things that you’ve always wanted to do, and now you have to let it go.
I was fortunate to have played as long as I did. There are no guarantees as there’s always somebody else making a decision on you. The people who own the club; the people who run the club; the coaches and managers all make decisions about why you are there or why you’re not. But, in many ways, you dictate some of that yourself. If you want to roll the dice and not work hard—and you stay out late and don’t work hard in the offseason—if you want to just wing it, you’ll be out in no time. You have to understand that there’s always going to be somebody right behind you. You need to continue to perform; you need to be consistent; you need to be durable; you need to have individual success; and the team needs to be a success to make it all work. That’s one of the reasons why the Dodgers’ infield stayed together as long as we did. We were able to do all those things. We all stayed healthy. We all performed individually. We won as a team. We were the nucleus of the team. That’s an incredible thing to be able to hand to your manager every day.
Is there any advice you might have for the guys who are going through it now?
Well, look, play it. Follow your dreams first of
ABOVE: Cey’s office in his home is filled with an awesome collection of photos, awards, and collections.
all. Find out for yourself whether you know this is something that you’re good enough to do, and let that rest solely with you. Don’t be convinced by someone else. Make the most of this thing. You’re only going to get one opportunity to land it. It’s going to be well defined. Work as hard as you can on it. Don’t let somebody point the finger at you and say, “The reason you didn’t make it was because you didn’t work hard enough.” Give it everything you got.
You don’t have to please all 32 owners, you only really have to please a couple. It doesn’t have to be a unanimous decision. You’re always
going to find some flaw, and there will be all kinds of obstacles. Listen, not everybody’s a five-star recruit, not everybody’s a five-tool player. There are plenty of guys who get by because they know who they are. They know their limitations. They know their boundaries. They know how to work hard. They know how to get things done. There are always those top athletes who are so gifted that they just walk over people. Yet they really never know how they got it done. These guys have just been better all of their lives but, when they finally come up to some level of competition, that challenges them. Those guys get lost.
So interestingly, you have this work ethic that you’ve developed since you were a young child, and that work ethic carried you through college and through pro sports. Fast forwarding to today, it is clear that the work ethic that once drove you still drives you and is still pushing you forward in life. If you had to tell us, what is your passion today?
Well, my passion is that when I decide to do something, I’m going to do it as well as I can. That’s, where I sit with myself. I learned earlier when I met my favorite player, Willie Mays. I really didn’t want to admit that Willie Mays as my favorite player (laughing). I was kind of a macho guy. Saying things like, “I don’t really have a favorite player, I like all these other guys.” Well, finally, I said to myself, “You know, what is this charade? You know that your only you’re lying to yourself, and you know better. You know it’s a big lie, so why don’t you just tell everybody who it is? You might feel really good about it.” So, I finally came to terms with it. Yeah, my favorite player is Willie Mays. Bottom line, what I learned was this: just follow through. Give it your best shot.
Today, I just enjoy what I’m doing. I’ve had a life change. I am no longer working for the Dodgers. It was 40 years. I’ve moved on. I am now involved in doing podcasts, and I just got finished writing a book. You talked earlier about people not knowing much about me. Well today, all you have to do is Google somebody and it’s really easy to find out. There’s a lot more information out there about me than I cared about. I was hesitant to do a book because I just didn’t want people to know everything about me. I wanted to have something a little bit sacred internally. I didn’t just sell my
soul. But, over time, somebody finally persuaded me that you might feel really good about doing this project and there might be a lot of people who are able to get something out of it. Thinking this way made me feel good about writing a book. Feeling like it may somehow help someone makes me feel good. Now whether somebody is going to be interested in it or not, I’m not so sure, but we’re going to try it. Here I am, 74-years-old and I’m starting to branch out with a book and a podcast. So ultimately, I did step out. I stepped into brand new territory. I’m excited but also a little bit intimidated, because I didn’t grow up with a cell phone and a computer. For guys my age, who’ve never really been in the corporate world, it’s very different.
Ron, I want to thank you for letting us join you today. Just being in this room and taking a look around, we can tell that you’re going to probably let us know a lot about you and who you are in your book. I have a feeling that there is still more.
Well, there is more. There’s a lot more.
Ron, so much of what I think about being on the Board of the APBPA is the history of baseball. The APBPA has been around for 99 years. In 2024, it will be a 100-year-old organization, and you’re part of that. You’re part of baseball history and we feel it. The board feels the weight of that history on our shoulders. Guys like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays and Hank Aaron and yourself, you are all a part of this. It’s really important to us to protect this history and tell the story. So thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
Well, I hope that baseball continues to honor its history and tradition. Let’s not make it all about corporate America. Let’s do it right. This is where families bond together. It’s a big part of our heritage, our growing up. Sports is alive and healthy in this country. It runs our country. It gives people a break from their boredom and their days of struggle. It gives them a team and a player and something to cheer for. Hopefully, it is a form of entertainment and we can entertain you from time to time. But sometimes you need to know the history and tradition that goes along with it. So, thank you for doing that.
Cey backhands a catch during an MLB game at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1979.
(Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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