During the off-season, some minor league players get jobs, some rest up a bit before working out, but how many go to NYU? We found one.
Johnny Doskow, the Sacramento Rivercats radio announcer, sat down with Adrian Cardenas (stats), who you know was a BlueClaw in 2007 and decided to apply to and enroll at NYU for the fall term.
Here is the full video (on YouTube) which is embedded below the fold. Below, some quick excerpts.
AC: I’m getting ready to experience my first winter ever in New York City. I’m here for school this offseason. I decided to apply to NYU and was fortunate enough to get in. I’ll be in school for the fall term and go home for a month and get out to spring training in February.
There were five years I could have done it, but I just think everything happens for a reason. These last five years, the first couple I went to instructs and fall league, but the last few I could have done it. But it was a matter of evolving, figuring out what my major was going to be. If I would have gone to school right out of high school, who knows what I would have done? I would have tried to major in baseball, probably.
The main reason I wanted to do this was to get some balance, a back-up plan, challenge myself in a different way. That’s a healthy thing to do.
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On his season, which started in AAA Sacramento, included a stint in AA Midland, and finished in Sacramento: You think allright, I got back to AAA, no more AA, but the year didn’t start the way I wanted to. I was happy with myself that I went back and didn’t let it get to me. I just took that mentality again, I guess I was more relaxed. I was able to lay everything out on the table and was free to do everything. I wasn’t worried about being sent down again, wasn’t worried about the league, which is a little different.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the minor leagues, it’s to try to separate all of your inhibitions. It’s the only way you give yourself a fair chance to reach your full potential. If there’s any hindrance, it’s just not going to work. You’re not going to live up to what you could be doing. It will be a lot more rewarding to just go up there, let it all go and see what happens. That’s the point I got to last year, finally, for most of the season. What’s ironic, is with all the ups and downs, it ended up being my best full season yet.
Cardenas, who was the Gatorade High School Player of the Year in 2006, when the Phillies drafted him 37th overall, is an accomplished musician who could have gone to Juliard if baseball never came calling. He was sent to Oakland in 2008 as part of the Joe Blanton trade.
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Not an actual Moose. Or a fake moose like on the right. But Moose.
