In Play with Craig Mattick, made possible by Horton Inc. in Britton, a worldwide supplier of engine cooling systems and proud member of the community for more than four decades, hortonww.com.
Craig Mattick: Welcome to another edition of In Play. I am Craig Mattick. Today's guest was a multi-sport athlete, quarterback for two consecutive high school football titles. Twice played on two state runner-up basketball squads, but wound up playing baseball. Drafted by Kansas City in 2008 and it would take seven years playing in the minors before that big day came. Being called up to the bigs, the O'Gorman Knight, the Wichita State Shocker, the Kansas City Royal, the San Diego Padres. He's Dusty Coleman, D-Man. Hey, welcome to In Play.
Dusty Coleman: Hey, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. It's good to talk to you again.
Craig Mattick: I'm fascinated with athletes who battle their way trying to get to the highest level, especially baseball where sometimes it's years between getting drafted and making it to the big leagues. I mean if you even get there at all. But you played multiple sports in high school, but was baseball always your favorite sport?
Dusty Coleman: I mean, looking back, I always said whatever sport was in season was my favorite, but baseball was definitely the first love. I mean, my dad used to take me to Rockies games all the time growing up in the summer, and I just loved going to that. I looked forward to it every year and I was like, that's just what I want to do when I grow up. And baseball was one of the sports where when that last game hit, I was always bummed. I wanted to keep going in some of the other sports. I was just ready for that next one to start, but baseball was never one of those. I always enjoyed kicking grumbles and hitting and practicing and it never got boring to me. And so that's what led me to make that decision.
Craig Mattick: You've got two sisters. What was sports like growing up with the family?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, it was probably like most families now, just all over the place, going to different sporting events. I mean, I remember growing up going to my sister's soccer and basketball tournaments all the time and it was always pretty competitive at the house, especially in the base and basketball hoop that we competed in all the time. So, it was fun. And obviously my dad loves sports too.
Craig Mattick: I might know the answer to this, but where did you get your competitive edge?
Dusty Coleman: I would say probably more my dad. He definitely got a little bit too, but my dad probably pushed that side of me more, which I'm really thankful for.
Craig Mattick: You went to O'Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, you had success in football, your junior and senior years. You quarterbacked the Knights to consecutive football titles. When was the first time though you were told that you were going to play quarterback for the Knights?
Dusty Coleman: I think it was right after my sophomore year. Tommy Hill was graduating and I had played on the sophomore team quarterback and some of the JVs, so I felt like I had a good chance at winning that spot and put in a lot of work in the offseason and went to camps and stuff like that. So that was when I knew that that was the transition I wanted to make from being that running back DB to really try to take over the quarterback spot for the team.
Craig Mattick: Steve Kueter was your coach at O'Gorman. He must've had his eyes on you pretty early for that decision.
Dusty Coleman: Well, he never told me that, but maybe he did. It was probably me or Tyler was going to be the option, but...
Craig Mattick: Tyler Schulte, yeah.
Dusty Coleman: He's faster and can jump higher. So, let's put him at wide out.
Craig Mattick: Well, you're going to football camps, but you're also trying to play baseball. I mean you were able to juggle both of those after your sophomore year.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, I would always try to. I mean, there was definitely guys that did more football training than I did just because of the baseball schedule that I was playing and we were traveling quite a bit, but I would always try to get to some Iowa camps, some Minnesota camps and just try to get my name out there and learn as much as I could on the quarterback side. And DB too, I was, my dad played defensive back in college, so I figured that could be a route for me too.
Craig Mattick: 2004, it's your junior year at O'Gorman and the Knights make the championship game. It's against Roosevelt, Roosevelt's first trip to the dome that year. I mean two really good teams. You win the game, 14-7, you score two touchdowns. Your name the Joe Robbie MVP. Man, both teams were stacked with talent for that game. What do you remember the most about that 2004 championship game?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, I just remember that, I mean, we had a great leader in Josh Mahoney. I learned a ton from him, especially from that year going into my senior year where that switched over to me and Tyler and some of the seniors on our team. But I just felt like we were really well-rounded as a team. We weren't the biggest, but we had a lot of heart and a lot of fight, and that game was a battle. I mean, I remember being exhausted at the end of it because I think I ran the ball quite a bit and it was really fun because the other side, Roosevelt, which we had already battled throughout the whole season that year, close games, and those are all my buddies from baseball. All my best buddies from baseball were on the other side, like Ryan Breitling and Pete Rose. So, there was some bragging rights on the line and it made it fun.
Craig Mattick: You and Mahoney, you were both 1000-yard rushers. Of course he had that dangerous wide receiver with Tyler Schulte, but you also had to play both ways, both ways. You guys, I mean, Mahoney was linebacker. You and Schulte were cornerbacks. You guys never left the field during the game.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, we were in great shape. I loved it that way though. I mean, it kept you in the game. You always felt like you had a feel and the pulse of what was going on, and I loved both sides of it. I know you don't quite see that as much anymore, at least. I mean the games I watched down here in Kansas City too, you don't see a lot as many two ways. But yeah, I loved it. It was so fun.
Craig Mattick: Second quarter could have been a game changing play for Roosevelt. Do you remember this play Fredenburg of Roosevelt, that huge defensive lineman intercepting your pass? I think you were trying to throw a screen on that play.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, I think I forgot that he was 6'7" or 6'8". So, when I tried to dump it over him, he just stuck his arms up and snagged it. And luckily, I can't remember who forced the fumble, maybe Chris Isaacson.
Craig Mattick: I think it was, yes.
Dusty Coleman: I came back and tackled him and forced a fumble. That was a big relief, big swing from almost pretty much giving him a touchdown because it was in our side of the field and getting the ball back. And I think we drove for a little while. I can't remember if we scored on that drive or not, but...
Craig Mattick: 14-7 was the final. You wanted to have a little bit of a defensive stand at the end. And of course, you guys with that game, your defense was pretty darn solid against a really good Roosevelt team.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, no doubt. I mean, Josh Mahoney as the middle linebacker, Isaacson was great coming off the edge, so we had a lot of talent on that side and speed too. I felt like a defensive team that had a lot of speed, so it was hard to, we didn't give up a bunch of big plays. We got to you pretty quick.
Craig Mattick: Well, you had a lot of youth on the team too, and you all came back the following year, 2005, you are seniors now you're back in the championship game and you guys had no problem beating Yankton 42 to 7. Tyler Schulte is the Joe Robbie MVP. What was special about that 2005 team?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, I mean, those are all my best buds. So, it was a fun team getting to compete with guys you spent all your time with and we worked so hard together in the off season, especially me with the wide outs, just making sure we were on the same page and putting in the work and just to see the fruits at the end of it, at the last hurrah of your high school football career and you come out on top and beating a couple of good teams to get there too. And it's pretty easy when you've got talented guys like Tyler and Levi Polen and some of the other Ryan Isaacson guys on the team that I leaned on quite a bit and they carried us.
Craig Mattick: At that time, was there any thought of not playing college baseball and maybe playing football instead?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, no doubt. I mean, I would say all that summer I did the same thing, did a lot of camps and was looking, trying to decide what I was going to do. And so, there was some football teams reaching out and yeah, I definitely could have decided on football. I don't know, I really wanted to go D1 and I wasn't getting as much traction there. So, once I went to Wichita State and they talked to me and wanted to bring me on and Gene Stephenson said he thought I had a chance at going pro. He really just solidified my mind. I was like, "That's what I want to do." And I think I signed the November deadline or whatever. So, I would say the first part of the season I was football, but then towards the end I just realized baseball is where I wanted to go.
Craig Mattick: You also played basketball at O'Gorman. You guys made it to consecutive title games your junior and senior year. You lost to what Huron when you were a junior and then Mitchell as a senior. What was the best part of playing basketball at O'Gorman knowing you could certainly play football and baseball was in the back of your mind, but what about playing basketball for the Knights?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, basketball is fun. I mean of all the sports that I played, basketball is the one I probably still play the most with my kids out in the front yard or going and playing some pickup ball. But yeah, it was so fun. I mean Mitch Begeman and Steve Smith and those guys that were ahead of me when I was younger and just how talented they were and especially Mitch as a shooter.
Craig Mattick: And Mitch is now coaching; he's had success as a coach.
Dusty Coleman: I know. He's been doing awesome, which is great to see. He deserves it. He knows the game well, obviously he got the pedigree to be a great coach with his dad and it's funny that we ended up winning it as seniors when I feel like it was maybe our least basketball focused team. Most of us were football players figuring it out on the basketball court.
Craig Mattick: Well, during this whole time at O'Gorman, in this summer, you're involved with this baseball traveling team. When did that start? How many games would you play during the summer?
Dusty Coleman: Oh shoot. It started when I was really young. I think we started our travel team, maybe at 10, and we were the Sioux Falls, Diamond Kings and spent a lot of our summers in Omaha coming down to Kansas City and just trying to get some exposure and play some good teams that probably get to play a little bit more baseball than we did up North. And it just developed and I think we switched over to the South Dakota Wildcats at some point. But it was, like I said, most of those guys from Roosevelt, like Pete Rose and Ryan Breitling and Blake Dickerson, a lot of my Ian Strum who ended up playing at Augie. So, I think we played a lot of baseball. We traveled quite a bit. I think we probably played 60 games a summer probably.
Craig Mattick: Those are lifetime relationships too, isn't it, with that traveling team, huh?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, I wish I, wish I got to see him more often than talk to him more often, but whenever I do see all my buddies from whatever sport, it's always pretty quick to get back when we got to hang out quite a bit.
Craig Mattick: You did pick to play college baseball at Wichita State, so why the Shockers? What was the biggest reason you wanted to go there?
Dusty Coleman: To be honest, I didn't know too much about the program. I mean, I knew they had some really good seasons and were a good program, but when I went down to a baseball tournament, that Wildcats team and we played a team from Wichita, they had a coach who was really tight with the assistant coach at Wichita State and they told me to come down to a camp and I got to see the campus and I got to see their awesome facilities and come to this camp.
And there's also another guy at the camp that they were looking at who ended up being the first rounder and they were pitting me and him against each other and at the end of it he offered me and said that I, thought I had a chance to go pro, and that's just what sold me on it, honestly. I've always thought I maybe had that chance, that potential, but nobody had really told me about it besides me. And to have somebody with his 30 years of experience say that I had the talent to do it just sold me.
Craig Mattick: 2006, the summer. You're a member of the Wichita Gators. Who were the Gators?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, the Gators were the team that we played the year before that beat my South Dakota Wildcats team to go to the NBC National Tournament, which is a big college tournament and they invite one high school team to go to it and they beat us to go to it the year before. And one of the guys on the team, Ryan Jones, who ended up being the right fielder for Wichita State with me and one of my best friends, he kept calling me all winter long because he knew that he was going there.
I knew I was going to Wichita State. So, he kept saying how nice the weather was down there and he was trying to recruit me to come play for the team and so I ended up making the decision, lived with the host family and got to know a couple of other guys that were going to go to Wichita State, which was a good little transition for me.
Craig Mattick: So, 2007, you're a freshman at Wichita State, you played 63 games mostly at shortstop, although you had a couple of games at second base. Let's see, you batted 264, 32 runs, 10 doubles, couple of homers, 19 RBI. That sounds like you were fairly comfortable playing for the Shockers as a freshman.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, I mean there was definitely a big learning curve going from high school to college and just the caliber of pitching that you're playing or that you're facing. So there was a lot of adjustments to go through there in that year, but I was thankful that Gene gave me some room to go through some of those learning curves and didn't panic button, bench me if I had a tough game and just let me work through some issues and build confidence and I think I started was going to start as maybe a potential redshirt, but because I could pitch, they brought me along on the trip our very first trip and I ended up getting to go in and played well and didn't turn back. I think I was starting shortstop after four or five games into the season.
Craig Mattick: Well, talking about pitching, you did come in and you were a relief pitcher like five times. What was that like? I mean that wasn't something you normally did. What was the reasoning? Were they trying to maybe see if you would become a pitcher instead of playing shortstop?
Dusty Coleman: No, I don't think they ever thought they would switch me over to full-time pitcher. I just think in college you got to utilize what you have and I could do pretty well come in and certain closer type situations or help get out of a jam if our bullpen was struggling. So that's the role that it became. I didn't really get a ton of innings. It was more if we had guys that needed a rest that threw too much and I think if maybe I would've maybe had some more success there, I would've got more opportunities. But it was the situation where it was like come in from shortstop, not too much. I usually rarely ever got to go to the bullpen, get loose, it's just almost like little league come in from short and go pitch.
Craig Mattick: Yeah, it's like when you're either ahead or behind 19 to nothing and they bring in the left fielder, whatever, just to save the arms of the pitchers. But this wasn't like that at all was it? So here comes 2008, you've completed your freshman year at Wichita State and here comes the major league baseball draft, 2008. Did you have any inclination that you were going to get drafted that year?
Dusty Coleman: I did. I think after I had a really good start to my sophomore year and when we traveled out West and played some good teams like Long Beach State, I had a few good games and hit a couple of home runs at their park that is historically harder to hit some home runs on and I feel like after that put me on the map a little bit and so I had people reaching out to me and going out more like MLB draft questionnaires and stuff like that. So, I felt like if my season continued in a good way that there was a chance, and obviously, we had a pretty talented team that made the super regionals, which helps when you're trying to get drafted and you're playing in some big games and on TV and stuff. So, I had a feeling I wasn't sure where I would fall or if I'd go, but I knew that there was a chance.
Craig Mattick: What was the phone call like from the officials from Oakland?
Dusty Coleman: It was crazy. Yeah, I, so I got drafted in the 28th round and I was a sophomore, so I still had some leverage and decided I was going to go out and play in the Cape Cod League. Well, actually I did the Team USA trials and then for the college team and then played in the Cape Cod League out there and was playing well and my agent who was at that time there was an NIL, he was my advisor, called me and said that their first offer to him was above the slot round that I was at and something that the number that they brought up was when I had to seriously consider. I was like, "Oh my gosh, this might happen. I might make this decision and go start chasing the dream."
Craig Mattick: So yeah, you had to either accept to play in the minors for Oakland or go back to Wichita State. How long did that decision last? How long was it before you made that decision?
Dusty Coleman: I felt it went super fast. It was right towards the end of the summer. So, I think it was probably a three or four day thing where they got to the point where the offer they were making was something that I felt I couldn't turn down or at least I had to seriously think about. Obviously, I loved Wichita State and was also looking forward to going back there and playing my junior year, but we had a really good team that lost quite a bit of players to the draft that were leaving, so I knew there was, who knows how that next season would go. And I just felt they gave me a second round slot. So, to go back and have the pressure to, if I needed to do better, I had to be a first rounder, so I just was ready to go take the chance
Craig Mattick: From the draft in 2008. It's going to be seven years playing in the minors with a bunch of teams. Let's start with Kane County Cougars. What was that first year like? That experience playing at that level?
Dusty Coleman: It was great. I mean, I was lucky enough to be on the team with some guys that were a little older than me, some guys that have been in that league a few years, and I actually got a really great, great roommate who was a huge influence on me just on and off the field. So, it was a great experience, a lot of learning courage with some arms that I hadn't seen before, some sliders that I'd never seen before, even in college call. But yeah, it was a really fun year.
Craig Mattick: And then a couple of years later, 2011, you're with the Stockton Ports California League there. How much different was that just a couple of years later?
Dusty Coleman: That was different. I had a year off just a balance through an injury. I had to get back into the flow of playing again and missing, so I had a little learning curve again, just getting my feel my feet wet again, seeing some pitches. And in that league, there's a Pacific Coast League, which is AAA, so you see also out there on the West Coast, so you see a lot of guys that'll bounce back and forth from AAA to single A, even big leaguers that'll come down from rehab starts, and so you get to see a wide variety of talent and experience and that was a really fun year.
Craig Mattick: 2013, you're playing for Midland, the Rockhounds, right? I think they were the Rockhounds.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah. And then Rockhounds. Yep.
Craig Mattick: So, five years you're in the minors and during this whole time, were you thinking about when's that call going to come up with the big club?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, of course you're always thinking about that. If you're playing well, you're wondering when that call's going to be. If you're struggling, you're wondering if you'll get sent down or if they'll call somebody else and give another opportunity. So, there's always that in the back of your mind, but I mean that's stuff you can't necessarily control.
I mean, baseball, it's a very mental game, so if you're focusing on that stuff, you're not going to play as well as you can, so that's part of the grind of the minor leagues. But all the best players are the ones that can go out there and consistently put in their best effort and focus on what they can control, and so I try to do that. It took me a little bit longer than most to figure that out.
Craig Mattick: Over that time, how much better of a player were you getting?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, I think I got a lot better. I mean, I was consistently getting better defensively. I mean I knew that that was where my biggest skill set was, being able to be a really good shortstop but also bounce around if they needed me to any other position and I felt at least for my teams there, I was able to show that I had some durability too. I think over my three years in Midland and double A, I think I probably played all but five, six games of the seasons combined, so I was able to go out there every day and put in good effort and continually try to work on getting better at the plate as well to show that I can be an asset to a team on that side of the wall as well.
Craig Mattick: Well, life was going to get crazy. Now it's January of 2015 and you signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals. What were those conversations like with the Royals compared to what you had when Oakland was first looking at you?
Dusty Coleman: At that point, I mean, you're not really having a ton of conversations with the team, it's more your agent. So, at that point, I had had my first son in October, so I finished up my minor league contract with Oakland, hoping to sign a free agent, deal with another team or maybe back with Oakland, who knows, and get to keep playing, but especially your first time going through free agency, you're like hope it's quicker. But just the whole process of all these teams thinking about what their first move is in terms of big league moves and winter meetings and then it trickles down and takes time to when they start looking at who they want to bring in for minor league camp and those types of things.
So, I was like, "Well shoot, maybe I won't get picked up." So, I started looking for a job. I got a job with Sanford and I was starting to train with that for Sanford profile and I was in Sioux Falls at orientation and my agent column and said that the Royals wanted to sign me to a minor league deal and asked me if I wanted to take it and I was like, "Heck yeah, let's do it." I pretty much stopped my training right there. I went in and told the instructor that I'm going to go play baseball, and they were like, "All right, cool. Good luck." And I just got my car and went back to Kansas City
Craig Mattick: And then they sent you to AA, Northwest Arkansas. What was that year like? It was about a year, right? No, it was even less than that before things really changed, but first you go to Northwest Arkansas. What was that like knowing that you'd done the rigmarole of travel here and there in the minors?
Dusty Coleman: That was different. I was hoping signing a new deal that I at least get a go and start writing AAA with the Royals, but they told me there was a chance that I might start in AA and play well and get a chance to move up and I just didn't worry about that aspect. I went and started playing well there. I had a really good roommate named Hunter Dozier who had a good big league career as well, and I had a lot of fun with that team. I started off really hot at the plate playing well defensively, and luckily, I think maybe a month into the season I got called up to Omaha and started playing up there.
Craig Mattick: Well, July of 2015, seven years after being drafted, you get that call up by Kansas City. How did the club tell you, you were coming up?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, so I was selected to go play for the minor league team USA to go play in the Pan American games, so I knew that was coming up. It was maybe in a couple days, so I was getting prepared for that. And so we finished up a game and I was at the house or back in my apartment already and my manager called me and he was like, "Hey, I just want to let you know you're not going to be able to go to the Pan America game."
So initially, I was like, "Why? What happened?" They gave my spot to somebody else and he said that you're not going to be able to go because you're going to go to Kansas City, and I was thinking he was joking, but it was just a very surreal moment. A lot of hard work and years of dedication put into it and thinking about my parents and my wife and everybody who supported me through that time. It was a moment you'll never forget.
Craig Mattick: Well, that first day you're with Kansas City, what was it like walking into the locker room knowing that you were taking a different entrance maybe this time at Royal Stadium?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, it was a blur. I mean, I've got very little sleep after my manager called me because I knew I had to wake up at 7:00, 8:00 to get in the car, drive to Kansas City and get settled and then head over to the field and I wasn't exactly sure where to go, where to park. Luckily, there was people there that helped me find my way. But no, it was all just a surreal day flew by. It was one of those days I wish I could have slowed down a little bit more and soaked it all in.
Craig Mattick: Did not get in the game that day, right?
Dusty Coleman: I did, yeah. So, my very first day I got there, I did end up getting in as a pinch runner. At the very end of the game, unfortunately got thrown at home by Torii Hunter. But luckily, we ended up in the ninth inning. It was not the ideal first day in the big leagues, but we ended up winning on a walk-off, which was exciting after that and then being on a team that eventually went on to win the World Series. They were playing really well in July. I think we had probably, if I'm remembering right, maybe three walk-offs in the first home stand while I was there, so you got to be part of all those moments and celebrations and it was pretty cool.
Craig Mattick: What four games, five at bats for the Royals? Do you still remember every pitch of those five at bats with the Royals?
Dusty Coleman: I think if I really sit down, I can picture them all. That first one definitely was a blur. It was an odd moment to get your first at bat. I was just sitting in the dugout. It was pretty early in the game, so I wasn't expecting to get in until maybe something would happen later, pinch run again or something. Especially being in the Al with the DH, there wasn't as much substitutions. But unfortunately, Mike Moustakas, his mom was sick at that time and his wife came down to the clubhouse and said that he probably needed to go and go spend some time with his mom. And so, I was just sitting on the bench and Mike was on deck and they told me to go get my helmet and jump up there.
Craig Mattick: Oh, boy.
Dusty Coleman: So, it was just like, "You're in."
Craig Mattick: Oh, boy. Well, September of '15 though, the Royals assigned you to AAA Omaha. What are you thinking at the time? I mean you got the taste of the bigs, but you had to go back to the minors. What was that like?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah. I mean that was definitely disappointing, getting up to be up there for a little while. I didn't get a ton of playing time, so I felt I didn't really get to show exactly what I could do. As part of the business, I think they traded for Ben Zobrist right around that time, which for them, great move, very veteran guy, utility player, obviously had a great playoff one of the major reasons why they want it, so I totally get it. I was hoping for a September call up, but it just didn't work out. They needed more pitching and they needed extra infielders, but it was still an awesome experience. I love my teammates in Omaha, so I wasn't bummed to go back and spend time with them and just get to keep playing baseball, but just hoping for another opportunity at that point.
Craig Mattick: How was family life over this time since being drafted in '08? You're playing ball, eight years later, you got a wife and a child. What was family life?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, I mean it's definitely different. I was very lucky that my wife decided to sacrifice and just travel with me as much as she could so we could spend time together and give up on a little bit of her trying to follow her career dreams and stuff like that so we could spend our time together. And at that time, we weren't sure how it was going to work out, but looking back we're very thankful that we made that decision and she would most of the time come for a road trip, or not a road trip, but like a home stand for two.
And then when we went on the road, especially when I was with Kansas City, not a very far drive from either Northwest Arkansas or Omaha, she would just go home, spend time with her family and then come back when I got back in town. I'd wake up every day in the morning early and spend time with my kiddo, which is different than most players that don't have kids. The games are all night games, so they're sleeping in and I'm waking up and play with my kids, so I'd rather do that anyway.
Craig Mattick: November 2016, you are in free agency. You're thinking about your future, but a month later here comes San Diego and you signed a minor league deal with them. Was the dream of the bigs, was it back?
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, I think so. I mean it never really went away. Even I was still going through talks with the Royals and they wanted to sign me back as well. So, that was a really tough decision on whether I wanted to go back and try to make it back up with the Royals or give San Diego a shot. And I just really had good conversations with Andy Green, the manager of the team at that point. I feel we connected both personally, just very similar personalities and family life and even career, his career in my career, my league to little bit of big league time are very similar, and so I just felt that connection. He gave me a good feel that I might have a legitimate shot to make it up there.
Craig Mattick: Well, let's talk about San Diego, some 27 games with the Padres. You batted 227, 4 Homers, 9 RBI. So, what was that game time? What was it like playing with San Diego?
Dusty Coleman: I loved it. It was obviously an amazing ballpark there. I really liked playing there. I feel the major difference from my time with the Royals to my time with the Padres is I was able to be in big league camps for spring training with the Padres, so I got to know everybody that was pretty much in AAA and all the guys in the big league. So, you build those relationships with the coaches and the players. So, once I got up there, it wasn't like, "Who's this guy?" It was like, "Hey, what's up, Dusty?" and jumped right in and then it just became another game, getting out there doing my work. And after that first game of getting those nerves out of the way, it was just getting to play fun baseball.
Craig Mattick: Your first home run in Major League baseball, describe it.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah, we're playing the Mets. It was actually a pitcher that he was in AAA most of the season I think at that point or up and down. So, I had already faced him. I remember facing him in Las Vegas earlier in the season, and so I knew what stuff he had and he threw me a fastball away early in AAA and I hit it well. I think I hit a home run to field as well or something hard that way. So, I was looking for another thing like that. And once he threw it, I put a good swing on it. I wasn't sure if it was going to get out, but I knew I had a chance at a double or maybe a triple. It was a great feeling.
Craig Mattick: Were you intimidated at all by any major league pitching? I mean, you couldn't believe you were facing a popular pitcher in the majors.
Dusty Coleman: Oh, no doubt. So that same timeframe I got to face Jacob deGrom, which obviously is one of the best arms in the big leagues as a starter, being able to throw 9,900 consistently and just getting up to face him. His ball just, it's one of those ones where it comes out of his hand and you feel like it's going to be low at your ankles and it just rides and it stays straight and it's right knee-high and he just painted 3, like 99 mile an hour fastballs away against me and I was like, "Wow, okay. That's why he's as good as he is."
Craig Mattick: You're playing with San Diego, you're playing the LA Angels, I believe, and you hit a two-run home run in that game. What was the dugout like when you're going back to the bench and you hit a homer that's scoring a couple of runs?
Dusty Coleman: I don't think I ever hit one against the Angels. I hit one against off Garrett Cole against the Pirates, and I hit one off a guy from the Nationals also. That might've been the one, that one felt really...
Craig Mattick: That might have been.
Dusty Coleman: That's the one I hit it in the upper deck in left center.
Craig Mattick: Nice.
Dusty Coleman: I've never really been a guy to hit a home run and as the same goes, pimp it and do a bat flip, but that one right off of that. I knew that was way gone and so I just toss the bat and started the trot and that's a memory I'll always have, being able to say that I've done that in the big leagues
Craig Mattick: For the most part during a major league baseball game, what is the dugout like?
Dusty Coleman: It's similar to a minor league dugout. I mean there's obviously a little bit more focus and intensity, and obviously the fans are louder. But most of the time you just have guys goofing around playing little games, but also very focused on what's going on at the same time. And everybody's a professional so they know whatever their role is. If you're a bench guy and you know might come in at the end of the game, you have your routine of like, "All right, if anything, I'm going to go in and start taking some hacks in the cage and start swinging and getting my body loose just in case I'm needed later on." And everybody just, you knew how to go about their business in the right way.
Craig Mattick: I have to think this happened when you were in the minors, whether you were early on when you're with Midland or Kane County or you go back to Stockton or whatever, maybe even when you were in the minors with Kansas City or San Diego. There had to be a time where you heard the word South Dakota or Sioux Falls when you were getting ready to bat, maybe you're in the batter's box. Did you ever hear that?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, all the time, especially in DP. And when people were out there lining trying to get autographs and stuff, people would say South Dakota. And if you wanted to get my attention, South Dakota or Sioux Falls, I end up always turning my head and finding that person and trying to talk to them if I could. So, I would say there was a bunch of moments where I got to see people that I hadn't seen in a long time, and they just mentioned that and that's what got their attention. If you yelled like Dusty or whatever, that's what everybody was saying if they were trying to talk to me. But if they knew where I was from and all that, that was probably the number one way to get my attention and come over to you.
Craig Mattick: The most surprising person you ran into either from Sioux Falls or South Dakota when you were there out on the road?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, that's a good question. There was a shout-out to one of my buddies from elementary school. His name's Tyler Archer and big baseball fan, loves the Royals, and I think I saw him at Spring training and Omaha and in Kansas City. He was always around. And for some reason, we would always connect and be able to see each other. So, I would say, him, for whatever reason. It's just the elementary school buddy that I would always end up seeing and chatting with him. And he followed my career and he's such a nice guy. And I'm sure there's plenty of others. Forgive me if I forget somebody...
Craig Mattick: Sure, sure.
Dusty Coleman: Besides family that I obviously most of the time knew they were coming and got them tickets.
Craig Mattick: November of '18, you elected free agency again. Did you know that maybe that was going to be it for baseball?
Dusty Coleman: No, I didn't. I mean, the year before was my best year in terms of getting big league time and going back to the Padres. So that hoping for another opportunity to stick up there and maybe make myself more of a big league assistant player and just the way the season worked out and the way the minor leagues had become at that point, it was just more of the young talent getting the opportunities, which is, I totally understand as a baseball GM.
If you have these young players, you're trying to see what you got and try to make them as valuable for whatever reason, whether to trade or get them up in the big leagues. It just was different than when I first started in minor league ball where you seed saw a lot more veteran guys than AAA. You started seeing a lot more younger guys and I just found myself on the bench or as more of a utility backup player and having a couple of kids at that point, I want to have more. We just decided after the season that maybe we'll just move on to new things.
Craig Mattick: What was that last game like? The last game you suited up as a pro baseball player?
Dusty Coleman: Last game, we were in Fresno, in AAA. I can't remember if we won or not. I just remember being pretty emotional going up for my last at bat. Just at that point having a sense of, I wasn't sure if I would play the next year and what that would bring. So, I remember being pretty emotional. I think I hit a hard ground ball of a shortstop or something and got out, but I do remember walking up there and just having a sense of this could be it. It was a fun ride.
Craig Mattick: What is keeping you busy today?
Dusty Coleman: Oh, definitely my family. I have four kiddos and they're starting to get into enjoying to play sports as well. So, when I'm done with work, I remember back when my dad really never ever said no to me If I wanted to go shoot hoops or play catch or go hit, he did whatever, most of the time dropped what he was doing and went out with me. So that's the path that I'm trying to do is be present for my kids and what they want to do and go travel and watch them play sports and just do this family life and I love it.
Craig Mattick: Major league baseball's not a 9:00 to 5:00 job, is it?
Dusty Coleman: No, definitely not. No.
Craig Mattick: And you got to get used to not doing that. Was it hard for you to get used to that?
Dusty Coleman: It was, it was. Right when I was done, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do next. I had a business degree, so I just jumped into medical device sales. I ended up going and interviewing at a company here in Kansas City that ended up having ownership that was ex-KU baseball players. So right away, I just had a connection with them and I worked for them for a few years and now I work for a healthcare company called iHealthcare, which I get to work remote.
So, it's really great for my family and family life and being able to not have to miss any of my kids' practices and just help out with what they have going on. But yeah, it's fun. Everybody goes through that little time of what do you do after post whatever athletic thing you're chasing, dream you're chasing, and then for everybody at some point it's done. And what do you do next?
Craig Mattick: Have you been to Royal Stadium or San Diego Stadium since you retired from baseball?
Dusty Coleman: I have not been back to Petco in San Diego. But yeah, we try to catch at least a couple of Royal games every year, especially now that my kids are getting a little older, it's a little easier to take him. And my son, my oldest son is super into baseball, so he definitely is a big Bobby Witt fan, as am I. He's a great player. So yeah, we try to get out there. I wish we got out there more, but usually it's going to his games more than going to Royals games.
Craig Mattick: One more for you, Dusty. I know you could have played college football. I know you could have played college basketball. I feel strongly about that, but you chose baseball. If you had to do it all over again, would you choose baseball?
Dusty Coleman: I think so, yeah. I mean, I really enjoyed my baseball career, even if it didn't quite go exactly how I planned it. But I think it went how God planned it and I wouldn't have changed anything and I wouldn't change where I'm at now. Are there times where I'd be like, "Oh man, it would've been fun to go play college football." I mean, as much as I love baseball, football games are the best. I just loved the process of baseball and games in the day-to-day, more than football process day to day. But yeah, I would've loved to gone back and played in some college football games and see if I could have done it. I think I could have too.
Craig Mattick: You could have been the next Dion. He played football and baseball, right?
Dusty Coleman: I know, I know. Maybe if I did it all over again. I remember after I signed with Wichita State, Oklahoma State called me and asked if I wanted to do baseball and walk onto the football team. Maybe if I had to do it all again, I'd try something like that where I could see if I could do both.
Craig Mattick: Boy, that dangling [inaudible 00:45:50] right there.
Dusty Coleman: Yeah.
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