Dan: 0:00

Not too long after Trayvon Robinson was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, his coaches came to him with an idea.

Trayvon: 0:07

They're like, "Hey, Tray. You're so young. We wanna try something with you." I'm like, "What are you gonna do to me?" So they're like, "We want you to learn how to hit left-handed. Have you ever hit left handed before?" And like, yeah, on a video game. I don't ever hit left-handed before. Like, what are we doing?

Dan: 0:24

Trayvon was a right handed batter. Trying to bat left-handed would take a tremendous amount of work, but he was game.

Trayvon: 0:33

I took about, like, hundreds of swings every day. I took more swings after we were done with the day.

Dan: 0:39

After countless practice sessions, he started trying to bat left-handed in games.

Trayvon: 0:44

My first hit actually hitting left, it was unofficially, so I won't include it. It was a guy named Jumbo Diaz. He was throwing a 100 miles per hour. Bam. I hit it right back in the middle, and everybody was shocked. And I was like the talk of the instructional league, like, this guy don't know how to hit left-handed, h e's hitting left-handed. Alright. Fast forward, I went back to the same league I was in. The first week, I ended the week hitting a walk off home run left handed to center field.

Dan: 1:08

Woah. That's amazing. Trayvon played pro baseball for nineteen years. He played AAA, AA, independent leagues, winter leagues, and for a brief time in the majors. And that early work to learn how to switch hit is something he's proud of.

Trayvon: 1:29

You know, you that's just hard work. That's hard work. I broke a lot of bats. I cursed a lot of people out. You know, I did a lot of stuff, you know, when it came to to trying to actually understand how is this gonna work.

Dan: 1:50

I'm Dan Heath, and this is What It's Like To Be. In every episode, we walk in the shoes of someone from a different profession. A welder, an NBA referee, a city manager. We wanna know what they do all day at work. Today, we'll ask Trayvon Robinson what it's like to be a baseball player. We'll talk about what happens on game day before the game starts, why baseball players are all superstitious, and what it's like to answer the phone and hear that you're being called up to the Majors. Stay with us. First of all, when you're traveling, are you on planes or buses, or how does it work?

Trayvon: 2:37

Depends on the level you're at. The first time I got to AAA, you have the sleeper buses, like the tour bus, you know, for rock bands and or musicians and stuff like that, that holds about 20 beds on each bus.

Dan: 2:49

And so, the the does the sleeper bus mean you're you're not typically staying in hotels when you're traveling?

Trayvon: 2:53

No no no, you're still staying in hotels. It's just because of the bus trip is so long.

Dan: 2:58

Oh, okay. Yeah.

Trayvon: 2:59

It's just not a really a typical regular bus.

Dan: 3:02

And when when you get to your hotel in the the city where the game is, should we be thinking like La Quinta or Hilton or Four Seasons or like what what...

Trayvon: 3:11

In this league I'm in, La Quinta. Yeah. AAA is very nice. It's the nicest you're gonna get out of all of the minor leagues.

Dan: 3:19

Trayvon walked me through what a typical day might look like before a home game. The first event is not mandatory. It's called early work. It's for players who wanna work on a specific skill with coaches. Then, about three hours before the game, there's a team stretch, and then a warm up.

Trayvon: 3:41

They play catch. For simple terms, they play catch. You know, you have your infielders. Infielders will probably take some ground balls. Outfielders will probably take some ground balls. And then right after that, then we go into coaches' batting practice, which is where the coaches throw batting practice to the players. They typically take about maybe fifteen to twenty minutes each group, and it's about three groups. So it's about an hour. We're about an hour out there.

Dan: 4:05

And then so, like, do you come back into the locker room for a while before the game?

Trayvon: 4:09

Yes. We hang out for maybe if you're the home team, an hour and a half, and then when you're on the road, you're about, like, forty five minutes to an hour to go back out.

Dan: 4:18

And what's happening during that time? Are you just kinda getting your head in the right space?

Trayvon: 4:21

Oh, man. The baseball culture is pretty wild.

Dan: 4:24

Okay.

Trayvon: 4:25

Most of the time, it's joking. Like, you know, that's pretty much for the season. That's like our home. So, you know what I'm saying? Them are our brothers in there. Even though we know how the game is, to where it's a business, guys can get released at any given moment, guys can get traded at any given moment, but it's a small community that we have, you know, in that locker room. It's a small brotherhood, so it can be all kind of stuff going on in that locker room. And I don't want to disclose some stuff, but it could be a lot of different things that could be going on in the locker room.

Dan: 4:54

But you're just hanging out. It's just informal.

Trayvon: 4:57

You're just hanging out. Some guys can go work out, some guys can talk on the phone and catch up with their family. It's literally just kind of like a bingo hall, you know, if you want to put it like that.

Dan: 5:09

And then did you have a pregame ritual that you stuck to?

Trayvon: 5:13

Absolutely. We are all superstitious in this game, and I don't think a lot of people realize that, hey, if you guys ever watch a game, and a guy goes to the plate, goes to hit, my thing was that if I get a hit or two, I don't change my compression leggings. I wash them. I'm not dirty. I wash them. But I will wear that particular look clothing, whatever I wore yesterday, no matter what kind of wear it is, the shoes, the batting gloves, the bat, I will use that for the next game.

Dan: 5:40

Just keep it the same.

Trayvon: 5:42

Just keep it the same.

Dan: 5:43

Right.

Trayvon: 5:43

The same song, I will use. If I go o-fer, I will change my walkout song. I was a big walkout guy. I literally would change my walkout song every two days if nothing

Dan: 5:52

Oh, so you get to tell them what your walkout song is? I didn't realize that.

Trayvon: 5:56

Yes.

Dan: 5:56

I thought that was just like some DJ thing at the stadium, and they were doing...

Trayvon: 6:01

No, you get a chance to pick your own walkout song, but it has to be clean. Funny funny thing is, when I play Winter Ball in Venezuela, you can play the the dirty versions of any kind of song, because, I mean, their first language is something else, so they don't really care about that. But so if I go through and look a little bad streak, the first thing I'm just like, no, no, no, I don't like the vibe. I'm getting out of here. I don't want this song no more, so I'll just go and do something else.

Dan: 6:24

It's so interesting that baseball has such long seasons that it's almost like you're guaranteed to have a great streak and a terrible streak. Right?

Trayvon: 6:32

Absolutely.

Dan: 6:33

And so how much did you believe in the power of the superstition, versus it was just a way of coping with the whims of luck?

Trayvon: 6:41

Well, everything is confidence. Right? Because I think being a hitter in this game, a hit is very valuable, and you're gonna do whatever you need to do to get that hit. You know, at best, you're successful three out of 10 times. What sport actually, you know, allows that to happen? Like, we're praised if we hit two seventy or two eighty or two ninety or 300. So we would do absolutely anything for a hit. Hit is like you're just buying a new piece of land, and you just, like, slipped and fall, and and you found oil. Like, that's how it is. Like, it's just a very, very superstitious game, and you would do anything, and you will argue, and you will fight for a hit.

Dan: 7:24

Well, you've probably heard this quote a 100 times, but, you know, Ted Williams, the famous superstar, said, hitting a baseball is the hardest thing in sports, period.

Trayvon: 7:33

Agree. Agree. 100%. It's the hardest thing to do, but also to to show up the next day is even harder. And with with the mindset of, like, I can do this. That's that's just as hard.

Dan: 7:45

And I guess the fact that you're failing so often, it really I mean, what you're saying about confidence is so important. It's like, there's so much failure, and the difference between getting a hit and striking out or fouling out or whatever is so narrow. It's like your head has to be in the right space, right?

Trayvon: 8:03

Your head has to be in the right space, your timing has to be on time and, more importantly, you have to see the ball. And the higher you get up, the harder it is to actually get a hit. It's incredibly hard to get a hit at the highest level. I don't care what anybody say, standing in that box, you got 50,000 people screaming at you, you suck, this and that, whatever the case might be, and then you have to lock in, and then you get on second base, and you're like, you're thanking God, you're like, yes, I finally made it. Then you look around, and it's like, how did I get over here? And it's like, I snuck a hit in between all of these guys.

Dan: 8:36

Who is the most intimidating pitcher you ever faced?

Trayvon: 8:40

Well well, there's one pitcher in winter ball. He played in the big leagues also with, I think, Oakland and San Francisco, but he's around my age or a little bit older. I remember hitting a home run off of him in the playoffs. When I say I did not touch the ball after that, and I faced him about, like, 10 more times, I did not touch the ball. I did not foul the ball off. I just all I did was swing and get a call strike.

Dan: 9:08

Swing and miss.

Trayvon: 9:10

Swing and miss.

Dan: 9:10

He held a grudge, I take it.

Trayvon: 9:12

That's what I was thinking, but, I mean, when I talked to him, I was like, dude, I just wanna hit a ground ball. Like, I just wanna get out. Like, don't embarrass me. Like, you don't have to embarrass me. I didn't embarrass you. But I tell you what, I don't know. He did it in the form of with me that I just couldn't hit the ball.

Dan: 9:27

What do you think it was about his pitching?

Trayvon: 9:29

The horizontal cut. We call it a cutter. So he he throws a fastball, and he manipulates it to where it cuts in on me. So it's a straight fastball, but it late movement, and it goes horizontally into me, because I I'm a switch hitter, so he was a right handed pitcher. I was a lefty, so it cut into me at a high like, one of his fastest pitches. So it kinda messed me up a little bit, But then he throws a good change up, then he throws a good slider, so it was like, I don't even know what to hit. I don't know what to hit anymore. So I just kinda I'm just kinda like, whatever he threw up there, I'm a just wing I'm a just swing at it, you know?

Dan: 10:00

So when you're in the minors, do you constantly feel like you're auditioning? Like, are you are you always thinking about, is it my time? Am I gonna get the call?

Trayvon: 10:09

Absolutely. That, AAA is probably one of the hardest levels because you're right there for one. Two, everybody's good. Most of the team is either a top prospect. They're one injury away. They're a guy that was in the big leagues prior, they literally just signed that guy over just for insurance purposes. I did it all, so I was a top prospect in, you know, insurance purpose and and so on and so forth. But you tend to play psychological, how would you say, outcomes in your head.

Dan: 10:44

Mhmm.

Trayvon: 10:44

You tend to try to play general manager. You tend to try to play manager. You know, you tend to try to, like, hey, he should make this move right here, I should line myself up to get to the big leagues. It's like, I think, when the first time I got to AAA, that was the hardest, because it wasn't about actually playing the game.

Dan: 11:02

Because you're trying to think the next step.

Trayvon: 11:04

Yep. You know, it's trying to put yourself in a position to where you can get that call to the big leagues. Because I think the average stadium holds about, in the big leagues, about 40,000 fans.

Dan: 11:14

Mhmm.

Trayvon: 11:15

The history since baseball has started under, you know, a league. It's only been twenty three, 25,000 players who have played under contract as a Major League Baseball player. That's over a 100...

Dan: 11:30

Oh, you mean, like, ever? Ever.

Trayvon: 11:33

Ever.

Dan: 11:34

Wow.

Trayvon: 11:35

That doesn't fill up a Major League stadium.

Dan: 11:38

Wow. That's a great stat.

Trayvon: 11:40

And that lets you know how hard the game is.

Dan: 11:43

Because most minor league players will not get called up. Right? Aren't the odds, like, heavily against you?

Trayvon: 11:49

The odds are very, very slim to get called up. The odds are very slim now to actually get drafted, and actually make it to the big leagues. And, actually, they make it to AAA. And play as long as you can. You know, the odds go down each time because, you know, you have your superstars. You have your first round picks that the teams they invest a lot of money into, to where they're always gonna get the opportunity more than anybody who signed for anything. I signed out of high school, I signed for $50,000. I had a couple teammates of mine that signed for 1.1, 1.2, and I played longer than them.

Dan: 12:26

When you're in the minors, how much do you care whether your team wins on a given day? Like, are you thinking more about just shining as an individual player with an eye toward, you know, the big leagues, or or do you care a lot?

Trayvon: 12:41

Oh, well, the game I think the game does to ourselves because we foster comparison a lot. Like, know what I'm saying? Like, oh, who's our best shortstop? He's better than him. He's not as good as this guy, this and that. So it's definitely individual development at the lower levels. You're not really worrying too much about winning. But the higher the higher you get up, you have to learn how to win. I I would say IA is when you start implementing winning. Not so much, though, not so much of you're caring too much about it. AA is when you have to learn how to win. And then AAA, we're not talking about development no more. We're talking about how we're gonna help this team win.

Dan: 13:16

Oh, that's interesting.

Trayvon: 13:18

You know, yeah.

Dan: 13:18

So the closer you get to the big leagues, the more you have to think about the whole.

Trayvon: 13:21

Absolutely. So you gotta have some type of impact.

Dan: 13:25

In 2011, Trayvon was on a AAA team when he got the news. He was being called up to the majors. Hey, folks. Dan here. I've heard from a number of people recently in both reviews and emails something so specific and yet shared among them that I had to tell you about it. So they said that this show has become the one thing everybody in the family can agree to listen to in the car. Like, maybe the mom would rather be listening to True Crime and the dad would rather listen to a sports pod and the kids would rather jam out to KPop Demon Hunters songs, but everybody can agree on this one. I just loved that. So maybe that's our new tagline. We're the show that gets played because no one hates it. Or maybe a more positive spin is "What It's Like To Be... The podcast that brings families together." Anyway, thanks for sharing that folks. And now, back to the show. So one day, the call comes that Trayvon has been waiting for.

Trayvon: 14:35

They say, hey, Tray, you're going to the big leagues. You're gonna meet the team in Los Angeles, which I'm from, and then they're gonna suit you up on Friday.

Dan: 14:43

Woah.

Trayvon: 14:44

And the first person I called was my little brother. I was screaming in the parking lot, and then the team that I was just from, they came and hugged me and all this stuff, you know what I'm saying, because we all know how hard it is to get to the big leagues.

Dan: 14:56

Trayvon was playing for the Seattle Mariners, and he made his debut against the Anaheim Angels in Anaheim, California, not far from where he's from. His family came to the game.

Announcer 1: 15:07

Here's the Major League debut, Trayvon Robinson.

Announcer 2: 15:13

How big a smile did he have on his face when we got here this afternoon?

Announcer 1: 15:16

It was great. Strike three called.

Dan: 15:20

In his first at bat, he struck out. But in another at bat...

Announcer 1: 15:26

.293. Here's a base hit. First of the big leagues for Trayvon Robinson.

Dan: 15:32

Were you freaking out to take the field, or or were you all confident?

Trayvon: 15:35

No. Absolutely not. I was nervous. I was so nervous because at at a younger age, I actually played in that stadium, completely empty, a high school scout ball, a travel ball. So I played there at a young age. So I'm there on a Friday. You know, all my family's there. I just didn't know what was going on. I'm in a different jersey. I just felt like everything was going way, way too fast, so I didn't have any idea what was going on. I was just like, you know what? Just do the best you can. Don't step anybody's toes. I got this guy over here making $20,000,000. His kids are probably just as old as me. This guy right here lives in a $6,000,000 house. This guy has a $500,000 car. This guy's necklace is the brightest necklace I've ever seen in my life. There's a lot of different things that were going on. Absolutely, I was nervous. I was terrified to be up there at first.

Dan: 16:26

And were these pros were I mean, how did they interact with you?

Trayvon: 16:30

Oh, they turned out to be one of the nicest guys. And, you know, like I said, it's brotherhood. They remember their first day. So it's like a softness that comes out of those type of people. Like, you know what I'm saying? So they get it. They're like, you know what? This is this is huge for him. Anything you need.

Dan: 16:47

So it's Trayvon's first game and he actually makes a play that ends up on ESPN SportsCenter. He's in left field. Torii Hunter of the Angels is at bat. Trayvon was shifted towards center field because the analytics said Hunter tends to hit more in that direction.

Trayvon: 17:06

And he hits it, crack. And I'm just like, oh my god, he hit a home run right now. And I'm just running, I'm running, I'm running. I was like, I might have a chance right here. Then I just started looking a little bit. I was like, I'm just go for it.

Dan: 17:19

But how do you sort of gauge like, you've gotta be running, but you're also worried about running into the wall? Like, do you know, like, where you are with respect to the wall?

Trayvon: 17:27

Your peripherals your peripherals would tell you, and we also have a a warning track. It's the dirt before you get to the fence.

Dan: 17:35

Okay.

Trayvon: 17:36

So once you start feeling something a little different like you are or you're getting very close to the fence, you better start reaching to try to see where you're at. So I'm running and looking at the fence, looking at the ball, and the the closer I got, I felt more safe. It like, you know, if I jump in these stands right here, I won't feel that bad about breaking my arm in my major league debut. So I was like, well, you know what? I'm a just go for it.

Announcer 1: 18:03

Robinson making an effort, did he get the ball? Baby, he caught it.

Trayvon: 18:09

So when I felt it, I was more so shocked like, oh my god, I caught this ball. The whole stadium just went, oh. I will never forget that moment ever.

Dan: 18:25

Another highlight came the next season in 2012 in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mariners ace pitcher Felix Hernandez, they called him King Felix. He was on the mound. He was throwing well.

Announcer 1: 18:39

Drives one, left center field hanging up in the air for Trayvon Robinson. Another quick inning for Felix. Hernandez, 10 pitches here in the second inning.

Dan: 18:48

It wasn't until the seventh inning that Trayvon noticed something out of the ordinary.

Trayvon: 18:54

You know, I'm going back to the left and I'm kinda looked up a little bit. I was like, oh my god. No. This guy, he's he got a no hitter going on. Then I looked again. I was like, that's not a no hitter dude. That's a freaking perfect game.

Dan: 19:06

A perfect game is a towering achievement in Major League Baseball. It's when a pitcher manages to keep the opposing team from reaching base for an entire game. No hits, no walks, nothing. It's only happened 24 times in the 150 year history of Major League Baseball.

Trayvon: 19:25

And then we got back in the dugout, everybody's staying away from Felix because everybody knows what's going on.

Dan: 19:29

Oh, is that the way you handle it? You just, like, don't talk about it?

Trayvon: 19:32

Yeah. Don't talk about it. Don't say nothing. You're just kinda chilling. You're just, you're just chilling.

Dan: 19:37

So when you take the field in the ninth inning and you know by this point, everybody in the stadium knows what's at stake, are you feeling it?

Trayvon: 19:47

Yes. Yes. In the eighth inning, I was still nervous. In the ninth inning, I was like, it's either I'm breaking my leg to try to catch this baseball, or I'm breaking my arm to try to catch this baseball. It's like, if this ball comes somewhere near foul territory, I'm catching this baseball.

Announcer 1: 20:04

The Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez, the two two. He got him. Thirty four years. 119 games. It's finally happened. A perfect game by a Seattle manor. It was done by the king, Felix Hernandez.

Trayvon: 20:24

So glad he didn't hit the ball to me because I probably would have pooped my pants. Oh my god. But, yeah, he got the strikeout, and I was so relieved after that. We had a couple interviews. They wanted to talk to us or whatnot. I just stood I just stood there, and I was just like was just stone faced. I was like, bro, that was that was the most incredible thing I've ever been a part of.

Announcer 1: 20:43

And now. Felix Hernandez. He puts his name in the record books. with a perfecto.

Dan: 20:52

Trayvon's career in the majors had started so blindingly fast. SportsCenter, his first night, a home run-in his second game, but he just couldn't keep up that pace. He played parts of two seasons with the Mariners. He batted about .215, not quite good enough to make it in the majors. He was sent back to the minors after that second season, and he would never play another major league game.

Trayvon: 21:18

I should have played more of my game rather than the game that I literally just you know, what got me to the big leagues. You know, I'm a guy who steals bases, gets good at bats at the top of the lineup, I'm a switch hitter, and I can play all three alpha positions. I felt like when I was in the big leagues, I stopped running. I think that was the thing for me. I think I would've hit a little bit better if I would've bunted a little bit more, if I would've able to pull the ball, hit the ball everywhere. I was just trying to hit the ball to left field a lot and not run. So it was a combination of my ideas, and they were just not up to par. Don't get me wrong, maybe stuff was just moving way too fast. I did, I tried to do whatever I can do to stay up there. So I was like, well, I'm not gonna change who I was the past year because whatever I did the past year got me to the big leagues. So I just wish I would have been able to show my speed more.

Dan: 22:11

Yeah.

Trayvon: 22:11

And also, I wasn't playing much either. I only got, like I got less than 300 at bats in the major leagues, so I did strike out a lot. But I would have struck striking out would have probably been minimal if I would have just, you know, stayed within myself instead of just trying to be something that what I'm not.

Dan: 22:29

What was the hardest part of your career mentally? Like, when do you feel like you were at your low?

Trayvon: 22:35

Probably 2016, before I got to the team I'm with right now. It was my first full year in independent ball. I just felt like, you know, nobody wanted me no more. And I just just I just felt like I I just was not able to get over that hump of just kinda getting out of my own way. You know, I was I was still young, so I was still blaming a lot of people and not looking in the mirror. And it just it just I just wasn't happy, you know what I'm saying? Just wasn't happy at all where I was, and and that happens. Trayvon: And it just it just I just wasn't happy, you know what I'm saying? Just wasn't happy at all where I was, and and that happens. In order for you to to move forward, you have to identify that you're not happy.

Dan: 23:12

Starting with that 2016 season, Trayvon bounced around on teams in the independent leagues. These teams aren't officially part of Major League Baseball's minor league system, but players on them are still getting paid to play baseball. He played in New Jersey, in Venezuela, and in Pennsylvania. And all the while, was working to try to get back to AAA. In 2019, he tried something a bit dramatic. He emailed one of the staffers on the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league team and pitched himself.

Trayvon: 23:46

I was like, hey, just calling just to see if there's anything that is available. I'll pay my own way. I'll pay my own food. I'll pay my own hotel. I just want a jersey just to see just to see.

Dan: 23:58

So he's basically trying to walk on to the team, and he got a quick response.

Trayvon: 24:03

He was like, what city are you in, and can you be here tomorrow morning? I wrote back to him, I can be there tomorrow morning, dressed, ready to go, if you want me to. And he was like, alright, I'll see you tomorrow.

Dan: 24:19

Trayvon was rusty at first, and the team led him to believe he'd be sent down to AA after spring training. But

Trayvon: 24:27

At the end of the spring training, I was still with the AAA team, and then the AAA manager, Brian Esposito, actually played against him. He came up to me and was like, hey, we're taking you to Indianapolis.

Dan: 24:39

He had basically fought his way back into AAA ball.

Trayvon: 24:43

And I was like, woah. That felt more emotional, because of all the stuff I've been through, all the stuff that I'm going through that time, I'm going through a divorce at that time, and you're telling me that there's another chance for me to get back to the big leagues. I will always remember that conversation that he had with me, just because of what I've been through, and the perseverance, and the heart, the grit, all I had just came together all at once. You know, sometimes we get so fearful of rejection, and I was literally ready to get rejected. And I just said, you know what? I'm just gonna give it a try. What can I lose? You know?

Dan: 25:19

So, Trayvon, we always end our episodes with a quick lightning round of questions. Let me fire away here.

Trayvon: 25:25

Okay.

Dan: 25:26

What is a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know? And what does it mean?

Trayvon: 25:33

He swings a wet newspaper is a a good one.

Dan: 25:36

A wet newspaper, and what does that mean?

Trayvon: 25:38

It's a guy that doesn't have much power to hit the ball the other way quite a bit.

Dan: 25:43

But it doesn't mean you're a bad hitter necessarily, it just means you know No.

Trayvon: 25:46

Not at Not at all. All. Trayvon: Not at Not at all. All. Not at all. I mean, there's probably some of those terms that come from pitchers, you know what saying? The guy the guy's just single like, getting single base hits to him to death, so he probably hates that stuff. So Yeah.

Dan: 25:57

Yeah. What is a tool specific to your profession that you really like using?

Trayvon: 26:03

Baseball bat.

Dan: 26:04

That that makes sense.

Trayvon: 26:06

That's it.

Dan: 26:06

And and do you have a preference for a certain kind of bat?

Trayvon: 26:10

I I give you the model. The model I like is C271. That's where Alex Rodriguez, Brandon Phillips, Ken Griffey Jr, they all use that same model. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of other guys that use that model, but that's probably one of the most legendary models that is it's usually like a smaller, smaller barrel, very balanced, very dense wood. So, yeah, C271.

Dan: 26:33

And and if you get a hit with a certain bat, like, will you definitely use that bat the next time?

Trayvon: 26:38

Absolutely. That would sleep in the bed with me too the next day.

Dan: 26:45

What phrase or sentence strikes fear in the heart of a baseball player?

Trayvon: 26:52

Infield, outfield. Whenever you hear a manager say, hey, we're taking infield today. Infield, outfield is literally when you just gotta be out there for an extra twenty minutes just throwing the ball and just working on cuts and relays. That's I would say that's how, like, one of her fears is just like, ugh, really?

Dan: 27:07

So it just feels like make-work like a nuisance?

Trayvon: 27:11

Yeah. Yeah. But it's worth it. It gets you better, but it's just like, really? I gotta stand out here for this, but I gotta do this right now. You know?

Dan: 27:20

Trayvon retired as a player in 2024. He's now a hitting coach with the Lancaster Stormers. That's an independent league team in Pennsylvania. He's found a home there.

Trayvon: 27:30

For me, it's emotional just because how long I've been blessed to play the game. The team that that took me in as a family, the team that gave me a second chance in baseball, and I found my home here. Well, a second home here. They're giving away a bobblehead of me.

Dan: 27:49

So there's gonna be a Trayvon Robinson bobblehead.

Trayvon: 27:52

Yes. Yes.

Dan: 27:54

And all the fans are gonna leave with this thing.

Trayvon: 27:56

Well, a thousand. A thousand fans will will have the chance to grab it. Yes.

Dan: 28:01

I mean, I it's hard for me to imagine what that's like to see like a thousand little copies of your head. I mean, what does it feel like to be like in the bobblehead circle of society?

Trayvon: 28:14

I mean, I'm gonna try not to cry when that day comes to be honest. I'm just gonna you know, seeing all these people and mostly just seeing all these kids, you know, with my bobblehead because at one point, I was one of those kids too that dreamed of being on a baseball field professionally and call it my job. So I have a different feeling, you know, when I see other people actually wanting to have a figurine of me.

Dan: 28:53

Trayvon Robinson was a pro baseball player for nineteen years. By the way, since we talked, bobblehead night did happen. And, I actually just went to eBay and bought one for $35 bucks. Amazing. So here's a guy who's always dreamed of being a Major League Baseball player, finally gets his chance, and his first game makes the SportsCenter highlight reel. Next game, hits a home run. I mean, imagine how that must feel. You're living the fantasy. But then the fairy tale recedes and the highlights get less frequent and it's back to the daily grind of fighting for base hits. And you're an amazing baseball player, but not quite good enough to hang with the very best. And isn't that all of our stories at some level, unless you're Taylor Swift? What happens when you get part of the fairy tale, but not all of it? What then? Do you measure yourself by what you don't have or by what you do? Trayvon kept playing baseball for twelve years past his time in the big leagues. And at a certain point, as he aged, it wasn't his speed that got teams interested in him, it was his maturity, his positivity, his work ethic. People in Lancaster liked him so much, they ordered up a plastic take home version of his head. So Trayvon didn't live the fairy tale, but he's living his story. And it's a pretty darn good one. The story of a guy who loves baseball. Enduring the gauntlet of sleeper buses and budget hotels, showing up for early work before the team stretch, auditioning nightly for a major league call up, and settling into the batter's box one more time to attempt one of the hardest feats in all of sports. Folks, that's what it's like to be a baseball player. This episode was produced by Matt Purdy. I'm Dan Heath. Thanks for listening.