Brad Wilkerson
Episode 285
15 JULY 2024
He served one year ago as Assistant Hitting Coach for Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees. He played for eight seasons in MLB, having been drafted in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos and then going on to play for them and the Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays. Along the way he earned the distinction of hitting the last home run in Montreal Expos franchise history, AND, following their move to Washington the next season, hitting the first grand slam by a Nationals player. He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. He was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012, two years after having been inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a “Gator Great.” Prior to his college career he played for the U.S. national junior baseball team and was the MVP of the World Junior Baseball Championship in 1995. Along the way he has also coached for USA Baseball and Jacksonville University.
Notable guest quotes:
“I went to Catholic school through fourth grade – Immaculate Catholic School… I grew up at that school and that church.”
“I lived right down the street from my grandmother she went to Mass every Saturday night. We were right there with her almost every Saturday night… her and my grandfather really led our family and faith-based and the Catholic religion.”
“When I started my sophomore year, turning 15 years old, and I got invited to go to Team USA as a 15-year-old in baseball and I kind of, when that started, you know, we went to the World Series when we were 12, and, you know, didn’t really see it then, but I knew I was pretty good. But then once I did that at 15 I kind of figured out, hey I might be alright at this baseball stuff.”
(while away at college) “I think I stayed active in my faith, and, you know, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have got to do what I did, without the supports around me and people keeping me grounded.”
“I really leaned on my family. I remember back then I used to go to Confession a lot more. My grandmother would push that. I leaned on her, I leaned on my immediate family, and they always kept me grounded and always made sure that I was putting the time in at church and putting the time in in prayer.”
“Every game during the National Anthem I always say a prayer, like, every night, every game, I’d always say a prayer, and I would always pray that, not that God would give me hits or God would give me, you know, great performance or whatever, just give me great wisdom to make great decisions… and great reaction during the game, and thank you for the opportunity.”
“I stay grounded through my faith and through my family and without them I wouldn’t have anything. They supported me no matter where I went.”
“You deal with adversity, and you can either use that adversity as motivation – where, you can go pout and you can go in the corner and start feeling sorry for yourself, and – I tried to use it every time for motivation.”
“I used to visit churches on the road. I would go to different cities, and I would go to these cathedrals or some kind of Catholic church. It was unbelievable… I just really felt revived and really put everything in perspective of why I was here and what I was doing with my life.”
“I just want to see kids smile, you know, and we would bring them to the game with the tickets, whether it be that or the Wounded Warrior Project that we did in Dallas… and we built a baseball field back in my hometown. I was very proud of that, partnered with MLB on that, and it’s always been a passion to give back.”
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