CALLAWAY MICKEY

New took a Mets timeout manager for some Mickey Q&A Callaway with Post columnist Q: A: Nolan Who was Ryan Steve your by Serby. far. boyhood I loved the idol? way he could. attacked It was and fun. just threw as hard as he Q: you Describe want from the your mound pitchers. mentality A: never I want back them down to from be aggressive a challenge. and Q: A: I How motivate do you by making motivate? sure that players gonna know be honest what to and expect. open I’m with always them. They I’m never can be gonna open judge and honest what they with do, me. and I’m only gonna help them be a better version of themselves if that’s what needs to be done. Q: What won’t you tolerate? A: If I had three rules, and I were making the rules, I think that it’s critical that the players have some say in what the rules are gonna be. But mine would be: Be on time, never back down from a challenge and have your teammates’ back, and be prepared. Q: Who are coaches in other sports you admire? A: Chip Engelland, who’s kind of the shooting instructor for the Spurs. I’ve talked to him a bunch about coaching styles, and learned some things from him. Q: Anybody else? A: I’ve always admired the way Phil Jackson did things, and the perception of that. I don’t know Phil from a personal standpoint, but he got his players to play the right way, and he managed a bunch of guys that were really good and got ’em to play together. Q: What is your definition of leadership? A: I think it’s somebody who has a lot of self-confidence. Someone who has integrity. Someone who communicates. Someone who is open and honest. Someone who will always be willing to do everything they can, and not ask anybody else to do things that they wouldn’t. Q: Who are leaders you admire in any walk of life? A: I think I admire the way things are run, and the things that are valued in those businesses. I think that if you look at successful business people, they have one thing in common, and that’s they communicate, they collaborate, and they understand that you have to care about the people that work with you, and you have to create a family. Q: Who specifically comes to mind? A: I think [Blue Jays CEO/president] Mark Shapiro comes to mind, and I think [Indians president] Chris Antonetti comes to mind. Q: What attracted you to the “Live Your Life” poem? A: I enjoy movies — Tecumseh, who was a Native American chief, he has this poem, and it encompasses everything. It was the real Navy SEALs that did the movie (“Act of Valor”). Q: Did you want to become a Navy SEAL? A: I went to college and got into criminal justice, because I thought maybe the FBI, the CIA, something like that would be fun. So I have a passion for those type things. Q: How do you deal with stress? A: I rarely get my feelings hurt, so that makes it easy. I never lose much sleep at night. And the reason it’s like that is because on the front end, I try to collaborate with everybody to get as much information as I can, and I try to prepare for everything I do. And when you do that, stress doesn’t mount, because you’ve done everything you possibly can, and then you make the tough decision, you go home and sleep at night and you prepare the next day to make those other tough decisions. And I think that keeps the stress at bay. Q: Why won’t managing in New York scare you? A: Because I’m gonna be prepared, and I’m gonna collaborate with everybody I possibly can, to do everything I can to succeed here. And in the end, whether I succeed or not, I’m gonna be proud of the job I’ve done because I’ve done everything I can to do it right. Q: You will succeed, you have no doubt. A: I do feel I will. Q: Describe the feeling of running onto the field when the 2002 Angels won the World Series. A: It was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like that in my baseball career. And when you get to jump the fence and run out there and dogpile with people that you’ve cared so much about, and you’ve done something special with ... there’s no better feeling than that. Q: On the flip side, the heartbreak of coming so close last year against the Cubs with the Indians. A: It was devastating at the time. I think that it didn’t hurt for long, because I sat back and reflected on what we did as a team, and focused on that. And that ended up becoming a special year because of that. Q: You’ve taken different things from different managers and coaches. What did you take from Bud Black during your time with the Angels? A: Nobody connected with players better than Buddy Black. He’d put his arm on your shoulder and make you feel at ease in whatever you were doing. Even if you were giving up a ton of runs, he was calm and cool and personable, and he’d come out on the mound when you’re in the middle of giving up four runs and go, “How’s it going out here?” and be relaxed. Q: Buck Showalter during your time with the Rangers in 2003-04? A: It’s the day-to-day, the preparation, knowing what to expect, here it is, we’re gonna be structured, we’re gonna be prepared to go our and do a job. Q: Angels manager Mike Scioscia? A: The in-game management, he’s very passionate about all of those things, and thinking the right way, and managing players in and out of the game. Q: Terry Francona the past several years with the Indians? A: He does every single one of those things. He encompasses all of those guys I just talked about. Q: Do you have an anecdote that sums him up? A: Every year he would take the coaching staff to play in this World Series of golf at Pebble Beach. ... That’s who he is. Q: If you could pick the brain of one manager in history that you haven’t met, who would it be? A: I would have to say Casey Stengel, because my brother’s named after him, and I’d like to know what his personality’s like ’cause I know my brother’s personality. Q: What’s your brother Casey’s personality? A: He’s very similar to me. He’s a little tougher than I am. He’s a lot bigger than I am, and we are best friends. Q: Why did you write letters to the seniors after you failed to close the state championship game as a Germantown High School junior? A: Because it was their last chance and I felt like I blew it for them. Q: Don Kessinger? A: The first major league manager I was ever around. He managed I think for one year in the major leagues and then he was my college [Ole Miss] coach. So right away when I got to college I started kind of being exposed to that professional way of things, and it helped me transition to the minor leagues very good. Q: Why did you go to Ole Miss? A: It’s an hour from my house, and every step of the way, Don Kessinger showed me how much he cared about me and how much he wanted me. Q: Have you met Eli Manning? A: Yeah, I’ve met Eli before, just around a group of people. I’ve met Archie, great family, probably the First Family of the South. I had a bunch of buddies that attended school with Peyton at Tennessee. Unbelievable family. Q: Describe your major league debut in 1999 with then-Devil Rays. A: My parents, my high school coach were there [in Montreal], and it was just a great game. Although it was almost like making an eagle on the first hole in golf, and trying to live up to that standard the rest of the round. It was probably the best game I ever pitched, I got two hits, an RBI and ... put the pressure on me (laugh) for the rest of the round. Q: What was getting your first major league win that day like? A: To throw six innings, and get two hits, drive in a run ... and

then, for all those teammates who I’d been around for two days, to be pouring beer on you and make you feel like you’re one of the team, was the most special. Q: You have played in Japan, Korea, Taiwan. What was the neatest experience in any of those places? A: I think just being in Seoul, South Korea, which is like New York, and spending three years in a place where I got to learn about their culture, and you’re visiting 2,000-year-old Buddhist temples right in the middle of this unbelievable city. The people there are amazing. It’s probably the safest place on the planet. Q: I don’t know if it’s safe right now ... A: Right. Your neighbor doesn’t make it very safe, but just being around there, it was special to me. Q: Favorite NYC things? A: There’s a place called the Carnegie Club. And on Saturday nights, he’s not a Frank Sinatra impersonator, it’s a Frank Sinatra tribute with a 12-piece orchestra behind him. It’s a cigar lounge, and he does this Frank Sinatra show, and it is outstanding. That’s my favorite thing to do in New York. It is one of the best things I’ve ever done. Q: Were you a Sinatra fan growing up? A: Yeah, I’d always kind of liked his stuff. Q: What was your worst minor league bus ride? A: Oh man. There’s plenty of ’em. I think we were going to Mobile [Ala.] one time, and I’ve got a couple of bus rides where flat tires and stuff like that. And this one, we get a flat tire, I’m not sure what all happened, but the back of the bus started smoking, and it was coming inside. So we’re on the side of the highway, in the middle of a 12-13-hour trip, and we all have to get off the bus and stand on the side of the highway ’cause there’s smoke going into the bus. Q: Why was your father such a Yankees fan in Memphis, Tenn.? A: I’m not sure exactly why. I’m assuming that the Yankees back then probably got more coverage than any other team, and that was probably one of the reasons — he was just more of a baseball fan than a Yankees fan. Q: You didn’t root for the Yankees? A: No, I actually grew up — my grandfather and grandmother were Cubs fans, and every afternoon, there’d be a game on, so I’d sit there with them and watch the Cubs. And Tito Francona (chuckle). Q: Your favorite Christmas present was a Cowboys helmet. Why did you like the Cowboys? A: I think I liked the star on the helmet more than anything (smile). Q: Tell me about the basketball game against Central High School. A: (Laugh) As I recall it? I had six 3-pointers and six dunks, but I heard somebody said it was only three dunks. I think I scored around 32, but it was probably the highlight of my basketball career. Q: You were 5-foot-10 and you could dunk. Why was that such a big deal? A: Yeah, I don’t know (laugh). I loved basketball. That’s probably my second sport. Q: You met your wife Anna in Memphis? A: We went to middle school together. Q: How did you propose? A: I was playing in Durham, North Carolina, and we went to Duke Gardens, on the Duke campus — I guess I’m cheesy, but there was this little bridge that was over the little bypass going from lake to lake, and I proposed on it. Q: Did you get down on your knee? A: Yeah (looks over at wife) ... Didn’t I? That was so long ago (laugh)! Q: Hobbies? A: I like to fly fish. I love to golf. I like to take a boat out, deep-sea fish. I don’t watch much TV, but I’ll go to a movie theater and sit there by myself and sit down and watch a movie a lot. Q: Three dinner guests? A: George Washington, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, since I’m named after him (smile). Q: Favorite movie? A: “The Natural.” Q: Favorite actor? A: Robert De Niro. Q: Favorite actress? A: Elizabeth Shue. Q: Favorite singer/entertainer? A: Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows. Q: Favorite meal? A: Prime rib. Q: What drives you? A: My passion for the game! I love the game of baseball. There’s no other job I’d rather have in the world than to be outside, smelling hot dogs and beer, and watching unbelievable athletes try to do something special.

AP