RSN: Your given name is “Raymond.” How long have you been “Chip?”
CA: I’m actually Raymond Payne III, but I’ve always been “Chip.” My mom said that I was “a chip off the old block.” She always likes to tell the story about how when I was little -- maybe 3 or 4 -- my grandparents gave me my first baseball bat and I went right into a hitter’s stance with it.
RSN: You’re swinging a hot bat right now. What are you doing right?
CA: I try not to think about that too much. It’s all just recognizing pitches and situations, and then executing. I think I’m maturing as a hitter, which explains it as well as anything.
RSN: What tends to be wrong when you’re not going well?
CA: I tend to chase more. My front shoulder opens a bit and my direction to the pitcher is off. The natural reaction is to pull the ball, and staying up the middle helps keep you in line.
RSN: You’ve hit a few home runs recently. What kind of hitter are you?
CA: I’m mostly gap-to-gap. Power just happens. It does what it does when I put a good swing on the ball and catch it right. I certainly don’t try to hit home runs.
RSN: Where do you like hitting in the order?
CA: I’ll hit anywhere, but I like a chance to see the pitcher if I can. If you’re lead-off or in the 2-hole, you have to hurry up and get a read on him. I like to see what he’s throwing, so I’d rather hit third or in the middle of the line-up.
RSN: You have good speed and have stolen a lot of bases. Tell us about your running game.
CA: I’m not a blazer like a Carl Crawford or a Joey Gathright, but I work on getting a good jump. That’s half the battle. Lou Frazier has been working with me on my first step, making sure I stay low. That’s one of the biggest things in baseball. Being up high -- away from the ground -- is bad. That goes for everything, not just baserunning.
RSN: What kind of lead do you take?
CA: I try to get an aggressive lead if I can. Stealing bases is an attitude thing. You get a Rickey Henderson on base, and everyone knows he’s going to go. That makes the pitcher’s job harder, because he’s worried about more than just the hitter. And you can be a good base-stealer without blinding speed, too. Guys like Carlos Beltran and Bobby Abreu have such fluid take-offs and great instincts. Larry Walker is another player without great speed who can steal bases.
RSN: Why did you sign with the Red Sox?
CA: Rob Leary was a big part of it. He’s our Minor League Field Coordinator. He was with the Marlins when I first got drafted, and he took me under his wing. He was like a father figure to me and really helped me with my career. Other teams were interested this past offseason -- Tampa Bay, the Twins, a few others -- but having guys like Rob and Lynn Jones here made a difference.
RSN: What are your early impressions of the Red Sox organization?
CA: Very classy. Not to take anything away from the Marlins, but it was the best decision I could have made. It’s a new start for me. I can see why guys who are free agents sometimes want a change -- they want a chance to recharge their batteries. And I can see why players want to come here. It’s a great organization.
RSN: You were a 1st-round pick by the Marlins, but struggled at times early in your career. Why do you think that is?
CA: I don’t think I really understood the pro baseball mentality or the expectations. I had to get used to being away from home, and didn’t know how to deal with a full season. I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed, and I’d say it took me three seasons to learn how to pace myself and get the mental part of it together. I also battled a few injuries -- I hurt my hamstrings a lot -- but feel like I have that behind me. I feel like my oil has been changed when it comes to being healthy.
RSN: At the age of 25, you’re not much older than a lot of top prospects. Have you considered what might have happened had you played college ball?
CA: People have brought that up, so sure. But in a way, you’ve got college right here in pro ball. You learn from the game, but you also learn to relate to different people -- some from different cultures. College was definitely an option when I signed. I was recruited pretty heavily for football.
RSN: I understand that you were a quarterback, and several Big-12 schools were interested. Were you an option quarterback, or did you throw a lot?
CA: Both. We ran a pro-style, shotgun, option -- all of it. I threw pretty well, but ran for a lot of touchdowns, too. I wasn’t big on taking unnecessary hits, though. When it was time to go down, it was time to go down!
RSN: You have a reputation as having an average arm in the outfield. Could you go deep on the football field?
CA: I could. The mechanics aren’t at all the same. The baseball aspects of a throw are totally different. I could throw a football 70 yards. But when it came down to it, baseball was what I wanted to play.
RSN: Can you elaborate on that?
CA: It just seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I’ve played since I was five, and it’s what I’ve always loved best. A lot of people in school -- even friends -- looked at me as just a football player, but that wasn’t me. And in a way, maybe I wasn’t even sure of myself as a baseball player. There were a lot of scouts at one of our games once, and our coach, David Perkins, came up and asked if I was ready, or nervous. I told him I was fine, and he asked if I knew that the scouts were all there to see me. I thought they were there to watch everybody!
RSN: Back to football for a moment: George Lombard was a big-time running back in high school. If the PawSox had a football team, we can assume you and he are both in the backfield. But who’s the fullback, and who’s a wide receiver?
CA: Boy, good question. I’ll say Shoppach is our fullback. Mike Lockwood is a receiver. He’s fluid and stylish, like Tim Dwight.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mark Malaska walks over and says, “Make sure you say something nice about Mark Malaska.”
RSN: How about Malaska? Where do you play him?
CA: Maybe tight end. Maybe flex-receiver. He better catch the ball, though! If he drops one, he’ll have to make eye contact with me. That would mean trouble!
RSN: Malaska likes the Pittsburgh Steelers. Who do you follow?
CA: I’m more into players than teams, but my dad is a huge Steelers fan. Every year I have to get him a new Steelers cap. I've been doing it for about ten years, so he has every style imaginable. Every Sunday he watches the game, and the caps sit on top of the entertainment system!
RSN: Which players do you enjoy watching?
CA: There are a lot of them. I like Donovan McNabb, and was rooting for the Eagles in the Super Bowl. I guess I can admit that here, because the Patriots won! And I actually played with Javon Walker of the Packers. We were together for two years in the Marlins organization before he went to college to play football.
RSN: How would you describe your personality?
CA: Really low-key. When I get done with the game, I usually just head back to the hotel and kick back. My focus is on baseball, and I’m not much into nightlife. I’ll go out once in awhile, but that’s not my thing.
RSN: Any final thoughts?
CA: Only that the support of my family and the good Lord above is the reason for my success. This past year I saw The Joe Louis Story, and I have a line from it written inside my cap. In the movie, his trainer tells him before a fight, “We’ll win, because God’s on our side.” Louis told him, “No. We’re going to win because we are on God’s side.”