Listi — lover of family, baseball and funnel cake
Austin Listi loves hunting, fishing, golfing, working on a ranch, his wife Krystal and 1-year-old son Weston.
The 2018 Phillies minorleague player of the year also enjoys hitting a baseball.
The 25-year-old Dallas Baptist product has done plenty of that lately with a strong stretch with Double-A Reading, which led to his promotion June 21 to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Here’s more on the utility player from Texas:
First car: “A hand-me-down from my brother [Michael], a Ford F-150 four-wheel drive.”
First job: “Odd jobs. Nothing that I’ve been employed other than baseball.”
First tattoo: “I’ve got two. The first one is this cross on my left arm. It’s got my immediate family’s initials on it: my mom on top, my oldest brother [Wayne] here [on the right], my dad in the middle, my other brother [on the left] and me on the bottom.”
First baseball memory: “Probably the thing that comes to mind is my dad used to take us to Astros games at the Astrodome. I got the funnel cake every time, and when the fireworks went off it would scare me every time and I’d drop the funnel cake.”
Most treasured baseball memorabilia growing up: “Never been one to be starstruck. Never did collect baseball cards. The coolest thing I can think of was when I was a baby, my oldest brother, Wayne, held me over the fence with a ball in one hand and a pen in the other. [Hall of Fame shortstop] Ozzie Smith ran over and took the pen out of my hand and signed [the ball].
“I don’t remember it, but my brothers remember it. We have the ball somewhere at the house. That’s pretty cool.
“Other than that, I got to play with Kacy Clemens in high school and showcase ball. I’ve taken BP off Roger. He’s throwing all his pitches trying to get us out, trying to get us ready for games. He’d take us golfing after games.
“That stuff is pretty cool. I’m blessed to say I’ve been around some pretty incredible baseball people.”
Worst Mi-LB living arrangement: “It wasn’t terrible because it saved us money, but in Clearwater we had a threebedroom house with eight, nine guys in there at one time.
“Pretty much everyone except one or two guys was on an air mattress. Me and Darick Hall shared a bedroom, three or four shared a living room, Adam Haseley and Henri Lartigue had their own rooms and then [there was] a dude in the garage.” What did you do with first baseball check: “I don’t even remember it, honestly. Direct deposit, so I don’t even get a check.”
Golf, video games, pingpong: “Golf. As of right now, I’m not that good. I’ll go out and birdie a couple of holes, par a couple of holes and then quadruple a bunch. But I love it.
“Golf is probably my favorite sport. I didn’t grow up playing it, [but] I can watch on TV, I can study it on YouTube [and] I can play it every day.”
Worst weather you’ve played in: “It’s got be somewhere up here in the Northeast. I’m from the Texas, where the worst weather we play in is 110-degree heat with 100 percent humidity, which sucks, but I’d pick that over 18 degrees with a wind chill of 7 and sleet and snow. I don’t like it.
“Our opening series [this year for Double-A Reading] in Portland was pretty bad, a wind chill of like 8 and kind of wet. It was miserable.”
Most stressed you’ve been on a baseball field: “I’ve seen some pretty bad collisions. Those are never good. I was involved in one in high school — dude got knocked out. A bleeder in shallow center. He was playing center and I was playing short. We just collided. His mouth hit me in the [right] shoulder and he started having seizures. Pretty crazy.
“There was one in college where two teammates collided in practice. Mine in high school was in practice too, but the one in college the guy had a severe concussion and couldn’t remember anything past Christmas. He’s fine now. The other dude shattered his face and had to have surgery. It was scary.”
When you’re done playing baseball, what will you be doing: “Hopefully that’s a long time from now and all I’ll do is golf and hunt. Originally it was going to be something in the oil business, international sales. I still might do that, which I think will be fun and interesting.”
Funniest guy you’ve met in baseball: “I’ve had some funny coaches. Playing for the Houston Heat [showcase team], guys like Tim Price and Vinnie Sinisi. Get those two dudes together, a couple of older guys who just have a ton of fun. Been coaching for years and have other jobs as well.
“They’re probably two of the funniest guys I’ve been around anywhere. They’re just crazy. There’s a different vibe in the dugout when they are in there — funny [and] relaxed.”