RSN: You're a good hitter. What do you attribute that to?
JS: It's something I've always done. Good hand-eye coordination is part of it, but I've also always gone out to the field and hit until my hands bled. Growing up, I'm sure my dad threw me a thousand rounds of BP. Of course, sometimes I wish I had spent some of that time working on my defense. But I've always loved hitting.
RSN: Your dad has been a big influence on you?
JS: Absolutely. He coached me until I was 10 or 11, and he's still my hitting coach. I call him every night and we talk about hitting. He understands my swing even better than I do, and he gives me advice and helps me make adjustments. A lot of times it's just simple stuff, like "Make sure you're keeping your head on the ball," or "Make sure you're staying back." It's scary that he can tell, just by talking to me on the phone, what I need to do.
RSN: When you're not hitting well, what are you typically doing wrong?
JS: I'm probably trying to do too much…trying to attack balls too much. I mean, you have to get the bat head out -- you want to square balls up -- but you want to go about it the right way. You want to hit it where it is….go with pitches. You don't want to try to pull balls on the outside. The better the pitching, the more important that is.
RSN: You had a better season at North Carolina State than you did at Stetson in 2005. Why do you think that was?
JS: It wasn't anything with my swing. It was a more my approach, which is what I meant by not trying to do too much. Everything happens when you just play -- when you don't try to force things. Pitchers make mistakes. You need to hit those, and then get lucky a few times when they make their pitches.
RSN: What style of pitcher gives you the most trouble?
JS: Submariners. I've faced a few -- Florida State, for instance, had a couple of guys who got real low -- and I couldn't get used to it. They're hard to pick up, and the ball seems to move around on you a little more over the plate.
RSN: With the Green Monster in mind, what will Fenway Park be like as a place to hit?
JS: Well, I have to get there first! But, for the most part, the ballpark doesn't matter that much if you can hit. People will tell you that home runs are mistakes, and there's a lot to that. I guess The Wall factors in at times -- some home runs at Fenway are no-doubters, but others just make it over…and some go off of it for doubles. I did actually hit there once, when I was playing on the Cape, and I banged some off the wall. In general, I'm more line drive power. I use the gaps.
RSN: You hit fourth, behind Aaron Bates, at North Carolina State this year. In your mind, is there a difference between hitting third or fourth in the line-up?
JS: Not really. 3-hole, 4-hole, and 5-hole are all similar in that your job is to get hits and drive in runs. For me, it doesn't make a difference where I hit. I wouldn't mind the 9-hole as long as I was in the line-up. Of course, it's a compliment if you're in the 3-hole, because it shows that the team has confidence in you. I'm actually hitting in front of Aaron here, and either way, it's really neat to have had the Red Sox draft both of us.
RSN: Give us a scouting report on Aaron. Not as a player, but as a person.
JS: He's a laid back guy. A cool kid. He lives baseball, and is a hard worker, which is a great influence on me. Aaron was my roomie in college.
RSN: Are there any good Aaron Bates stories you can share with us?
JS: This isn't a story, but every time he wakes up he kind of moves his hands around. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean, but it's this funny little hand movement. I don't think he's even completely awake yet when he does it.
RSN: The Red Sox took Daniel Bard, who pitched at the University of North Carolina, in the first round this year. With them being a conference rival, how familiar are you with him?
JS: He only pitched against us once this year, but I played four games against him on the Cape, and also caught him in the Cape League All-Star game. He definitely has great stuff. His fastball is heavy, and has a little two-seam run to it, so it's hard to square up balls on him.
RSN: You played with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, in the Alaska League, in 2004. What was that like -- not the competition, but the overall experience of spending a summer there?
JS: Mississippi is pretty backwoods -- you'll see a deer in the yard once in awhile -- but in Alaska you'll see a moose walking across the street. That's pretty cool. A teammate got chased by a bear once, too. He was jogging through a neighborhood, and it started following him! He ended up running into a stranger's house.
RSN: What was it like on Cape Cod?
JS: Falmouth was super. I lived there with a great host family, who I'm definitely hoping to go down to see this summer. They were the first people to call me when I got drafted. They're Red Sox fans, so they were really excited.
RSN: I understand that you're a Red Sox fan yourself.
JS: That came from my dad. There are no teams there in Mississippi, and when Carlton Fisk hit the home run in the 1975 World Series…that was it for him. Every time that inning would be on TV, he'd call me in to watch it. I think I've seen it 10 or 15 times.
RSN: Is your mother a Red Sox fan, too?
JS: In a way, but when it comes to baseball, my mom is mostly just a fan of me!
RSN: What are you a fan of away from the game?
JS: The Carolina Hurricanes! Not that long ago I hadn't even seen hockey, but a buddy asked if I wanted to catch a game and I said, "Let's go." Now I'm really into it. I went to 14 or 15 games this year, and it was really neat when the won the (Stanley) Cup.
RSN: Can you picture yourself as a hockey player?
JS: That's a tough question. Had I grown up with the sport -- had I been a New England guy like Matt Antonelli, who was with me in Falmouth -- maybe I would have played. I did play football -- I was a fullback and middle linebacker -- but quit while I was in high school because of baseball.
RSN: Now you're a professional baseball player. Has that really sunk in for you yet?
JS: I think its hit me, but that doesn't mean I'm done. I'm flattered to have been drafted by the Red Sox, and pumped to be out here playing, but in a way it's really just the beginning. Now it's time to get to work.
