Garrett Stubbs on overalls, catching for the Phillies, and life after baseball

and every Sunday we welcome in our Sunday sitdown guest and today it's Philly's catcher Gard stubs thanks for being with us and let's start here because I was going back and looking at some of the numbers sixth season in the big leagues your 10th season in professional ball I wonder after a decade of playing pro ball has it gone quickly for you can can you believe that it's been that long uh I guess when you say it like that it definitely feels like it's gone a lot quicker than 10 years in pro ball and six years in the big leagues um but that's just you know a little bit of a testament of one how fun it is is the game that we play um and winning on top of that uh always makes things go a lot better than the alternative so it's been a lot of fun so far no doubt about it all right let's talk a little bit you grew up uh in San Diego and uh you were an accomplished obviously accomplished high school player and college player I I was looking back again at some of those numbers in college at USC and I think maybe a lot of people don't realize just how good the numbers were for you uh always a terrific defensive catcher and uh the Johnny Bench Award winner uh talk a little bit about the how USC kind of set you up for getting drafted and and having the successful pro career that you've had so far yeah uh for first and foremost uh incredible school um to go to um one not only because of the social aspect but the academic aspect too um going there and being able to just learn how to become a real human in the real world um was something that I feel USC really prepared me for uh and then the baseball side of things too um the winning is program in college baseball history uh maybe not as of late but we have 12 national champions uh championships uh which is the most in college baseball and when I got there we hadn't really won too much um but ended up getting to our first Regional in a decade um and is the only one in the last 20 years I believe so um changed the program a little bit got to win a lot more um and get to a playoff birth which you know is always the goal so it was a lot of fun um and getting to be a part of that turnaround uh you know I think really set me up for what I wanted to do in pro ball and uh now getting to do it in the big leagues tell me a little bit about the the Johnny Bench award because it's for the best catcher in collegiate baseball uh and you know it's a prestigious award and something I would imagine you take a lot of pride in looking back and and and realizing you were able to accomplish that yeah uh Kyle schwarber was nominated back when he was playing and I think it was in 14 he got nominated uh he didn't win it sorry Schwarz uh but but uh yeah it was a really cool award to win uh not only because of the you know the recognition of being the best defensive catcher in college baseball but uh it was awesome getting to meet Johnny Bench um and getting to hold on to that relationship as well uh he lives over in Jupiter so when I was with Houston he was real close by we got to go to dinner uh Every Spring training um I still keep in touch with him during the season so that relationship I think is the the best thing that has come out of that award um but yeah always get always really good to be recognized uh for something like that was it always baseball for you I know you have a brother CJ he also plays uh professionally was it was it baseball all the time for you guys or did you guys kind of mix it up when you growing up we played all sports um I think that really helped at an early age with just general athleticism um I also think for me at least uh you know I like to do a lot of different things um so being able to you know push my energies elsewhere I played soccer Growing Up Football um but baseball was always number one for me my brother was a kicker in football uh really really good one and so when I got to high school it was when I really honed in more on baseball uh but yeah for me playing multiple Sports was always something that I love to do uh and it was a lot of fun and kept me busy as a kid all right so you get drafted in 2015 and uh you make your way through Houston's organization relatively quickly you know I like to ask you know some of the guys that uh have spent a lot of time down there in the minor leagues you know just what kind of grind it was but for you it was it was a relatively quick path uh to the big leagues did it feel quick to you when you were going through it it doesn't feel quick when you're in the minor leagues uh you know we talked at the beginning of this about uh 10 years in pro ball and six in the big leagues the six went by a lot faster than the four in the in the minor leagues to start um but yeah it it was uh you know everyone goes through it some people a little faster than others uh but I think just holding on and and really trying to to go as far as you can to fulfill that dream uh that was always something that I held on to I had some really good years and some really bad years in the minor leagues uh that's kind of how baseball goes um obviously some guys have that success early and and continue on that success but uh you know my road wasn't necessarily Smooth by any means but going out there and just playing ball and I think the biggest part for me was just clearing my head mentally and and making sure that I'm going out there every single day and and trying to win the game uh you know whatever happened for me personally uh I could set aside and really focus on on the game itself cuz that's that's what you do from an early age uh when you're a kid is you go out there try to have fun and win the game and and you bring that to the big league level we've seen that uh your ability this team's ability you know right across the board to go out and enjoy what you're doing while also having success I don't know which comes first success and enjoying or enjoying or success but uh they probably come hand in hand but um that's really a big part of uh of what you're about as a player and and what this team is about is it right yeah before the game starts it's fun uh and success always comes before the fun part because uh losing is not fun uh there's nothing fun about it so yeah going out there and and being able to play with my the teammates that we have on this team I mean it's been incredible there's just phenomenal players Hall of Famers future Hall of Famers that are going to be um you know I hope to one day go to coopertown and and get to uh watch them get inducted into the Hall of Fame uh it's just an incredible group of guys on and off off the field uh and an incredible group that their first and foremost focus is on winning the game so um when you get to win a lot you get to have a lot of fun so it's it's been fun and uh we plan on doing a lot more winning here coming up you know in your six years you have done a lot of winning you've played in the postseason like five out of the six seasons that you've been a part of the big leagues uh that is special in it of itself there are guys that play their entire career I know you know that never get to the big leagues um are you able to appr appreciate that now as it's happening or is that something that happens after the fact uh I think we're six for six 19 was my debut I didn't get to play in the 19 postseason um I was on the taxi Squad but uh got to travel around uh but yeah you know the appreciation for it definitely happens during but I think would happen even more so after the fact uh you know looking around the league and knowing how hard it is to get to the postseason and we know that going into the season uh it's not an easy thing to get to the playoffs let alone um go deep into the playoffs so the appreciation is definitely there I know and we know every single day winning just a major league regular season baseball game is really hard to do there's a lot of really good players and a lot of really good teams in this league um you know even if you look at the record of a team below 500 or or not necessarily one of the winningest teams there are a lot of really good players over on the other side it's just that the rest of the league is just that much better maybe at times so um I think the appreciation is there no matter what whether it be regular season and postseason but uh yeah I I plan on and always plan on making the postseason every single year and going deep into uh Championship run you play one of the toughest positions in all the professional sports as catcher you know physically mentally it it's such a grind it is so challenging how would you describe the position of Catcher to someone that perhaps doesn't know a whole lot about it yeah uh you know to come and and talk with you I just got in a little break from my uh studying that I'm doing for the other team which you know I've been here uh for the last hour and a half two hours doing that so uh that's very specific to uh the catching position and not something you necessarily do anywhere else on the field nolles is somebody that does a lot of homework and there's other guys on our staff that do a lot of homework themselves um but yeah it's up to JT and Marshawn and I to really make sure that we know the other team and have a plan going into the game and don't get me wrong sometimes that plan doesn't work but uh having a plan going into it is better than having no plan so sometimes we have to make adjustments during the game but uh the homework part of it is is just another part of what we love to do is you know just trying to scout the other team and make sure we're putting ourselves in the best position to win the game but then the physical part of it as well I feel like every time you know we watch you and JT no different obviously at one point in the game you're going to take a pitch off the inside of the of the thigh you're going to take one off the The Mask it's it's a physical physically to demanding position all the time um that's going to work on you mentally right for sure I'm you know you look at me first glance I'm not necessarily the most physically dominant person you see out there on the field uh but I'd like to think of myself as a as a tough person tough physically and JT's number one at that right he's going out there and catching as many or more than any other guy in the big leagues uh at the most physically demanding position out there so uh you know JT and I and I know Sean too uh take pride in being physically tough uh I we make jokes you know whenever JT takes a ball wherever he takes a ball off the knee the head or whatever um that on the bench whatever deflection we make that we don't Flinch while we're on the bench knowing that that guy's going to be staying in there uh no matter what uh so it's it's a definitely a physically demanding position and uh but we have a lot of fun doing it and you get a chance to catch a a staff this year that has been quite frankly historic in terms of what they've been able to accomplish you guys behind the play are such a big part of that how much fun is it just to be able to to work with this starting staff and this Bullpen cuz they've both been terrific it's incredible um you know our job's not easy but having those guys makes our job a lot easier uh it's just an incredible staff an incredible hardworking staff you see him out here every day trying to work on new things um I've you know we have guys that come up with new pitches during the season even when they have one two three sub three eras just trying to get better and better uh and that doesn't necessarily happen around the league but it happens on our staff and uh JT and Maran and I are incredibly fortunate to have guys like that all right before uh we we wrap this up I want to ask you one other question just obviously you can't play this game forever and and I wonder if after you retire you know hopefully years and years down the road but have you thought about life after baseball would you like to stay connected to the game because you know I look at you as a guy that certainly could be in the coaching ranks or perhaps even doing what we do so yeah you want to work together we can start a TV show together I'm I'm on board yeah so I've thought about it you know it's not something that I I I think about it you know probably more than others but uh I you know I do hope to play this game for a decade or longer um and I always want to have that that secondary plan I I didn't know going out of college in fact I probably thought the opposite you know I didn't know I'd be sitting here talking to you um going on my sixth year in the big leagues 10th year in Pro Bowl uh it wasn't something that I didn't think I could do I always believed in myself I had people believe in me there's definitely people that don't believe in me uh but I hang on to those people that do believe in me and I believe in myself too so um I hope to play this game and I'm very fortunate to have played this game for as long as I have um but post baseball I don't know what that's going to look like uh it's a game that I love I think that I would love to stay connected to it um and I don't know if that's in a manager coaching role or in the media role um I think the media role would be a lot of fun for me uh but yeah we'll see what that looks like post baseball but uh there's always a plan the hours are much better on the media side of things than on the manager side all right before I let you go uh back when we did the TV I was doing the TV side of things we did a thing called minut it with murf uh a little bit of fun so let's let's go through those real quick you're you're engaged engaged to get married going you're planning a wedding right now so I wonder what is it that you're in charge of the you're solely in charge of in terms of the wedding yeah uh I'm in charge of nothing but uh you know my my fiance is amazing and she she keeps me in the loop on everything she asks for my opinion on everything even if she has her own opinion set course um I'd say the thing that I'm most in charge of is uh checking the credit card statement after each thing that we purchased for the wedding but uh it's been a lot of fun she's done an incredible job uh it's going to be a beautiful wedding and and I can't wait I can only imagine all right uh everywhere we go I do my show up on The Concourse each and every night and uh everywhere you look there are people wearing the Phillies overalls now and I accredit that almost entirely to you uh but I wonder when you look at your teammates which one of your teammates do you think is perhaps the biggest Fashion Icon yeah the overalls have been incredible this City's uh been so fun uh you know the winning is definitely the first and foremost thing and that's why they become attached to so many things we do as a team uh and the overall has been great the the best fashionista on our team I got to go with Christian pase he is a uh fashion icon in my opinion uh he walks in with uh something different all the time and uh he he's he's very well addressed all right that one come comes in under the radar a little bit all right finally uh I know you've been up on the mound here at Citizens Bank Park uh in a pitching rooll I I imagine a world where you're a pitcher and one of your pitchers is a catcher which one of the current pitchers on this team would make the best catcher I'm going with Aaron Nola uh one he's got absolute tree trunks for a lower half uh but he's very mobile uh yeah we we uh call ourselves the bendiest battery in the league uh he's incredibly hyper mobile uh he's an athlete uh obviously got an incredible arm but I think that he would do just fine back there and he's a tough guy so all right we predicted Aron NOA was going to be yeah Garrett uh hey I appreciate your time as always uh best of luck the rest of this season and uh you're just hoping that the the ring is at the end of this year no doubt thanks Murph all right Garrett stubs joining us here we'll take a quick break but we've got more to come so stay with us on the Phillies Radio Network