Wally Joyner talks Baseball

14/08/2012

During the Major League Baseball (MLB) European Academy in Tirrenia (Italy) we had a chance to meet former MLB hitting star Wally Joyner. Now 50, Joyner is a hitting instructor for MLB international. He was happy to share with us his baseball knowledge, his insights and his opinions.

by Riccardo Schiroli

During the Major League Baseball (MLBEuropean Academy in Tirrenia (Italy) we had a chance to meet former MLB hitting star Wally Joyner. Now 50, Joyner is a hitting instructor for MLB international. He was happy to share with us his baseball knowledge, his insights and his opinions.

“I am pleased with this commitment. It is a gret opportunity for me” said Joyner “It is the fourth time for me at the Academy. I must admit that, becoming a coach, I felt like I was a Rookie again. I didn’t have a background as a coach, but I dedicated a lot of time to it and here I am”.

Joyner‘s idea of a coach is pretty simple and charming: “I wanna help these kids go in the right direction. Here we have a lot of talent and it is a pleasure to monitor their improvement. A coach should not do things to listen to himself speakOvercoaching is pretty dangerous”.

Joyner himself has played over 2,000 games (for the AngelsRoyalsPadres and Wally Joyner during the interview (CB-Oldman Agency)Braves) in the Big Leagues and has a very good knowledge of what happens to a kid when he signs a pro contract: “When you begin your experience as a pro, you have to be prepared to be alone for most of the time. You also have to understand that you won’t have the support of your parents and that your coach is not your coach anymore, he is everybody’s coach. It can be dangerous to sign out of High School. For instance, I didn’t because I was not ready, neither physically nor mentally, and I thought it was a better idea to go to College first”.

A few years ago Wally Joyner admitted he had used performance enhancing substances (PES): “Well, I admitted I took them, but I did not use them”.
Meaning what? “I had steroids in my possession, but I took them for a very limited period of time. I doubt they improved my ability or my strength and this is why I did not use them. I understood what I was doing was wrong and I got rid of them and it was clear to me that I was doing the right thing. Years later someone asked me if I had taken steroids and I was honest, I said yes. I didn’t believe it was worth a story, though. Now, if you asked me if I took amphetamines, I would answer yes….”.

Really? “Yes, I took amphetamines. But it was a mistake. I thought they were a medication for a cold that someone kept in his locker. I ended up not sleeping and I never took them again. So, I did not use them”.

Still, you are saying that someone had amphetamines in the locker room…: “You have to understand that in those days there were not rules banning amphetamines or guidelines for the use of drugs”.

Now it is different: “I am pleased with what MLB has done. Now the field of play is levelled and you see true talent emerge”.

Mr Joyner, does baseball belong into the Olympics? “Sure it does. We have had exciting baseball in the Olympics from 1984 until 2008“.

Now the top of international baseball is the World Baseball Classic: “The way I see it, the World Baseball Classic is an answer to baseball being pulled out of the programme of the Games. But I believe the 2 events can exist and thrive together. I would propose to have an age limit for the use of 25 man roster MLB players (the 25 man roster is the official list of players eligible to perform on a given MLB game day, author’s note), let’s say 23. You would still have a huge amount of talent in the Games and it would be easier for the clubs releasing them in the middle of the season”.

It is useful to add to Wally Joyner‘s comment that the IBAF has never considered such a possibility  and that the goal is to have the best players possible in an Olympic tournament.

Wally Joyner is a baseball man projected into the future: “Baseball is a game of tradition, but no sport can afford losing the younger generations. That is why I committed to Major League Internationalto help the game internationally. When I was a kid, people described America through 4 things: baseballhot dogsapple pie and chevrolet. Now, in the 21st century, baseball is no longer the american pastime, it’s an international game“.