Rick Eckstein
Episode 253
4 DEC 2023
He has been working in baseball for parts of four decades now, including having been the hitting coach for the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as the player information coach for the Los Angeles Angels AND the minor league hitting coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. He was also on the coaching staff of the 2008 Team USA Olympic baseball team, plus he coached at the collegiate level, including the University of Kentucky, as well as the University of Florida, having played for the Gators during his years as a student-athlete.
Notable guest quotes:
“We were a very strong Catholic family… I was born and raised with a very strong faith and at the very young age of around seven I started doing the altar boy (duties).”
“Everything about our faith, ya’ know, praying and relying on the Lord and everything, was very strong in our household.”
“I started playing baseball. I was, at the time, six (years old). So, I did the Little League Baseball thing. I was an avid surfer… And then I did gymnastics. I did the rings in gymnastics… And I also did basketball.”
“Definitely my faith was a big component in that because when you’re sitting in the silence of your own head, thinking about what your future looks like, what just happened, I just said, ‘Ya’ know, Lord, everything always happens for a reason, and it’s always turned out for the best’.”
“That’s how my faith got me through the injury, is, I just said, ‘Okay, Lord, maybe I was meant to be a coach, not a player’.”
“I can remember going to Sunday church in Gainesville, Florida, at the University of Florida, and I would pray – I had my own prayer in my head that I said daily – and I started that that year because I didn’t know that what I did was any good at coaching, so I prayed to be a good coach.”
“If I have a plan and I show up ready to execute that plan and I’ve done my homework and put everything out there, then I know the good Lord’s gonna, whatever happens is best for me.”
“In the process with that, when you get to know me, you get a sense of my faith as well. You get a sense of who I am as a person and what I value and a lot of times the conversations in the (batting) cage do have a faith-based message behind it.”
“We went on a retreat… we hired a bus and… went to Miami to see Pope John Paul (II). So, we made the trek down to Miami from the Orlando area… When I always, when I see the word ‘holy,’ I think of that day, and I don’t know why. But when I think of ‘holy’ I always think of seeing the Pope riding through the crowd… It was fascinating; truly, truly moving.”
“We started bringing in one of the local priests to do Catholic Mass inside the locker room so guys wouldn’t have to miss ‘cause Sunday day games are tough to go to Mass.”
“I could tell you the story about being at Dodger Stadium and Vin Scully reading the first reading and second readings to us as a congregation inside Dodger Stadium. You talk about super special?!”
“I went and saw Pope Benedict. I took my mom to Rome, Italy … and we did Mass with him and, just phenomenal, fantastic. One of the best trips I’ve had.”
