Dan Johnson Tampa Bay Rays (8/16/2002)

What is your baseball philosophy?

I think you’ve just got to play the game hard. It’s a grind, it’s a everyday sort of thing, and there’s not many breaks. If you have a bad game one night you got to let it go and come back the next night because you’ll have four more AB’s the next day.

What’s your hitting philosophy?

See the ball hit the ball, that’s the way most hitters make their way through the ranks is by keeping the game as simple as possible.

How about your strength and weaknesses right now.  What’s your strengths?

I’d say my strengths right now is seeing the ball. I’m seeing it pretty good right now. I’d say the pitch selection right now has been pretty good for myself and I’ve had good results.

Your weaknesses.  What are you working on?

Fielding and some off speed pitches.

Now pitchers throw inside to set you hitters up, do hitters set up pitchers?

I’d say so. I mean you watch a guy and you find out his tendencies and then you kind of cheat to those tendencies in certain situations.

Now when they drafted you did they give you a timetable of when they wanted you at each level?

No, they never said anything. They said you’d move up whenever the time is right and when the spots are open.

Do you read the catcher’s signs when you’re in the field?

Yeah, I look at the catcher’s signs to see where to set up and whether the pitch is a fast ball in or a fast ball away or off speed stuff. I’ll play the hitter to where I’d think he’d hit it.

It seems at times that guys with all the talent don’t seem to go as far as guys with lesser talents.  Do you think that’s true?

Well I think it’s more about how hard you play the game. It’s noticed. A lot of the coaches and people sitting in the stands notice the guys that are trying real hard rather than the guys that got all the talent in the world and just go out and dog it.

Do you look at your position in the higher leagues, AAA, or AA?

The guys in front of you, you always try to compare to them, look and see how they’re doing. If you get to watch them, learn and see what they’re doing and try to pick up on what you can.

You follow them to see what they’re doing or how they’re doing?

A little bit not a lot. I don’t check up on their stats or anything every day. Every once in a while I’ll take look.

Do you think the high draft picks get more chances?

I’d say they have to. They’ve got a lot of money invested in them so it’s only logical that they would get more chances, but everyone I’d say gets a fair chance out there.

So at the end it’s just who can play?

Yeah.

How does chemistry in the clubhouse affect the team?

The chemistry in this club has been real good. Usually they call it the dog days of August when everyone’s getting down each other’s throats but this team has been real good. Everyone is getting along and it’s been a real casual atmosphere in there. As long as we keep playing like this it should stay that way.

What are some things that you didn’t know about pro sports that you had to learn about that nobody told you about?

I’d say the traveling, living out of a suitcase, the day in and day out, and the overall wooden bats.

How did the wooden bats hurt you?

Well at first it was a big adjustment last year switching over to wooden bats. Coming from being a total aluminum bat hitter to trying to figure out where the sweet spot is on the bat is a big adjustment.

How important is weightlifting?

I basically just started this year. I can’t really say anything about it yet until I get some more time in there.

You didn’t do any in college?

No.

What would you tell some kids in high school about pro baseball?

Well I’d say it’s a good opportunity to make some money when you’re young. I’d say stick with it; never give up your dream of playing professional baseball. I don’t know it’s a personal choice I guess.

What’s the hardest adjustment you made in college to the pros?

I would say the hardest adjustment would have to be the bat. With the aluminum bat you get away with a lot of things, with a wooden bat you don’t get away with much.

Do you read the sports pages or the scouting reports about you?

No.

Not at all?

No.

What about the fans, how do you handle the fans yelling?

You don’t even hear them after a while it just becomes second nature. Everywhere has different fans and some are louder than others and you just funnel them out.

What about the umpires?  How do you handle the umpires?

You just got to let it go because if you get on them about one pitch or that at bat, they might come back and get you the next time you’re up. So you just kind of bite your tongue and walk away.

How about brush backs, knockdowns or retaliations?

I don’t much care. I look at it as if I get hit it’s a free base. It helps the on base percentage, other than that I don’t, it doesn’t bother me any.

How about possibly being traded?

Just like I said it’s day by day. We’ve had guys traded off our team. You never know when it’s going to happen but you can’t worry about that.