Giants Q & A with Tommy Joseph
Joe Ritzo: After struggling at the plate early in the season, you really took off starting in June. How do you explain the offensive surge?
Tommy Joseph: Once we lost (Chris) Dominguez and (Hector) Sanchez I knew that I needed to step up, both offensively and defensively. I knew Gary (Brown) needed a lot more help if we wanted to win. I had to work a little harder and focus more. Davy and Skeels were a big help. Things just started clicking. I felt like I started seeing the ball better and started hitting the breaking ball. It really took off from there. I just wanted to help the team win as best that I could, whether it was moving a guy over or getting a big hit.
JR: I know you worked closely with Andy Skeels, a former catcher, all season on your defense behind the plate. How would you rate your progress in that part of your game?
TJ: It's probably been the biggest improvement in my game, without a doubt. I know a lot of people questioned me and whether I could still play back there. I think this year that I proved a lot of those people wrong. Skeels is definitely a big part of that. He really helped me out this year on working with things and watching video. Also, (pitching coach Brian) Cooper helped me out a lot too with some of the pitch calling and stuff like that. I tried to work as hard as I could at everything to become who I am now.
JR: After a great regular season, why do you think the team came up a bit short in the playoffs?
TJ: That's tough to say. In Game 1, we barely lost (7-6). It was a tough game to handle right off the bat. We jumped out on them, Gary is our catalyst and was getting on base, but we couldn't produce really to get that win. In Game 2, we blew them out. I thought that's when the series was going to change. I thought we would take over from there. I think we beat them 13-1 and everyone hit. It was good to see Parker come around and start driving the ball. Gary obviously was great. Burg, Adrianza, everyone else in the lineup did great. As soon as we moved to Stockton, I couldn't tell you what happened. It was like a completely different team. I thought we were going to take-off and play really well and get back on a roll. Unfortunately, it didn't happen and we fell short.
JR: What were some of your favorite moments from the 2011 season?
TJ: The main one was definitely clinching the first half and going to the playoffs. I had never been part of a team that got to pop bottles and enjoy a champagne shower. That was definitely one of the coolest moments. Some of the other ones were watching Sanchez strikeout his first two at-bats and then hitting three consecutive homers in a game. I've never seen anyone hit three home runs in a game like that. When I had six RBI's on my birthday in July with my family there - that was cool. The whole season was just a fun ride. Everyone got along in the clubhouse. We never really had any problems. It was a good group to play with. It's definitely a season that I'll never forget.
JR: Who were some of the pitchers on the team that really impressed you, in particular with their improvement over the course of the year?
TJ: I think Chris Heston is the main one who improved during the season. At the beginning, he struggled a little bit, but he was a Cal League All-Star and then I felt like once we got to the second half, he was our number one. He was the go-to-guy. I had complete trust of every pitch that he threw for pretty much the entire season. He was our biggest bulldog competitor out there. He was a lot of fun to work with. So was (Craig) Westcott. He's always throwing strikes and is out there battling. He's another fun guy to catch. Our bullpen the entire year was stellar. (Heath) Hembree, obviously, as the saves leader. He's got unbelievable stuff. (Jake) Dunning back there at the end of the bullpen was phenomenal. (Mitch) Lively when he would come in, it was always a show. He's a very emotional, energy kind of guy, so it was always fun when he came into games. (Jacob) Dunnington when we had him. (Stephen) Harrold was really good for us in the playoffs. One of the most improved guys was Andy Reichard. I caught Andy in Augusta last year and he was fun to catch last year, but this year it was off-the-charts. He would pound the strike zone. When he became a starter, you knew that when Reichard went out there that we were going to get six, seven, maybe eight innings. He was going to keep us in the game.
JR: What do you think is the toughest aspect of catching?
TJ: The toughest thing is to be mentally prepared day-in and day-out. You can't really sit back because you're in the game for every pitch all nine innings. You have to know what's going on in certain situations, how to handle the pitcher, how to handle the pitch sequence. You have to work to the pitcher's strengths and the hitter's weaknesses. Definitely staying focused was the toughest thing for me. The physical part of it was also brutal, but nearly as bad as the mental part. I never thought catching would take such a toll mentally until I got the chance to do it everyday and realized how hard it was.
JR: Who was your favorite player growing up?
TJ: I never had a favorite catcher growing up because I always liked watching Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez - any of those guys. I admired all the power hitters. I liked watching home runs as a kid.
JR: What was it like watching Gary Brown play all year?
TJ: That guy is something special. He's on a different planet most of the time. I've never seen a guy do what we did this season. I've played with a lot of good players the past few years and he's probably the best one I've played with. Overall, when you look at his speed and his defense. The guy also hits for power, which surprised me the most, how much power he hit for. You knew when the ball was hit in the gaps or straightaway center field that Gary was going to run it down. At the beginning of the game, we felt like Gary was always going to get on base. He was the catalyst of our offense the entire season. He played 131 games during the regular season which I'm pretty sure was the most on the team. He was, without a doubt, the MVP of the team. He's a good teammate and a good guy to have around. I definitely enjoyed watching him play and hopefully I'll get a chance to play with him again sometime soon.
JR: Looking ahead to next season, what part of your game are you looking to most improve upon?
TJ: Defense for sure. I'm going to work all offseason on being more flexible and definitely working on little things to help prepare myself for the mental grind for next season. Offensively, I'm going to keep doing the same things that I've been doing. I have to work on my speed and agility because I know I'm not the quickest guy out there. I'm going to prepare and do everything I can to hopefully earn that promotion to the next level.
JR: What are your plans for the offseason?
TJ: I'm in instructs right now. I'm staying at home, loving life out here. I've got conditioning camp in December and January. Keep working out and preparing myself for spring training.