A Lighthearted Interview with Brooklyn Cyclone Joey August

(bumped from the FanPosts. --eric)

Hey all,

I am one of the globe's newest Mets fans. Primarily because my Cousin, Joey August, was recently drafted by them. Being a fan, I have always followed the draft from afar. This year, I had a great deal of interest in the process and outcome. In the days leading up to the draft, I had a ton of questions, but for fear of jinxing my cousins chances like a 5th outfielder jinxes a no hitter by asking "Do you think you can keep this up for two more innings?", I refrained from asking them. This past week, with the process over for my cousin, I sent him a bunch of questions, because i really wanted to know the answers, and he really answered them. I figured you die hard Mets fans may find the conversation interesting, or at least amusing.

Me: Did you follow the draft as it unfolded? If so how?

Joey: I did follow it, I was watching the draft tracker in my room and listening to their live stream.  It was a little bit stressful for sure just waiting to see your name pop up on a computer screen

Me: Did you have any advance knowledge that the Mets would take you? If so, did it still shock you a little bit when you actually were taken?

Joey: I had a about 5 minutes advanced knowledge that the Mets were going to take me.  They sent me a text making sure I would sign and wanted to play and told me they wanted to take me in the 20th... they proved true to their word.  It did shock me, it just was hard for me to believe that one of my dreams was being realized and I was actually going to get a chance to play pro baseball.

Me: Once you were taken, what were your initial thoughts on your new organization?

Joey: I was really excited about the chance I had to play for such a great organization.  I have friends in the system and they had great things to say and plus New York is a great sports town and the fans are very passionate about their teams.

Me: What is living in Brooklyn like as compared to Palo Alto?

Joey: Brooklyn is very different from Palo Alto.  The biggest change is just the pace, everyone here seems to always be in a hurry and you have to move with a purpose or your going to get run over.  It is a lot of fun though, there are a ton of people here and there is so much culture here its unbelievable.  (Laughing) It's going to take me a while to get used to people honking every two seconds though.

Me: You guys won your first game against Staten Island, what was the atmosphere like in that first game? Did the game sort of solidify "teammate" bonds? Did you know any of the other guys on the team before coming to Brooklyn? Was there an emphasis placed on beating your cross town rivals? Was there a big Mets v. Yankees buzz between the players?

Joey: The atmosphere was unreal on opening night.  We had about 10,000 fans there and they were all very intense and passionate.  The people not only love the sport but they love their teams and do whatever they can to will us to a win.  I think the game was big for our chemistry, just to get to finally work together toward a common goal helped us all come together.  It was just nice to see guys cheering for each other.  It was great to beat that team opening night, some of the older players talked a little bit about the rivalry and the hatred between the two teams but I heard it most from the fans.  The Mets and Yankees do not like each other and the fans want badly to win this rivalry at all levels.

Me: Can you walk all of us through the typical day of a SIngle A ball player? How is it different than playing in the Pac-10?

Joey: A typical day starts fairly early with some breakfast... we usually walk across the street to a little cafe.  Then vans usually leave our dorms at about 1 for our game at 7.  We show up and get dressed at get a lift in usually and/or get some early work in the batting cages.  We have some down time before we actually start getting ready for the game and some guys like to read, listen to their ipods, or play cards.  We spend a lot of time at the field so thats really where we get to know each other.  Then we go outside for some fundamental stuff and infield/outfield before we take BP.  Then we come back inside for a little pre-game meal and get ourselves ready.  They feed us after the game too (they take really good care of us here) and then we head back to the dorms and get ready to do it all again the next day.

Me: Thanks for your time.

Joey: You're the man, the dude abides.