FURIOUS 5 INTERVIEW: GARRETT JONES
It's the RedWingsBaseball.com Furious 5: five minutes with a Red Wings player - past, present or future - and a non-stop, fast and furious, Ramones-like barrage of at least 15 minutes' worth of questions packed into one interview. Some questions are serious, some are not - follow along as the player tries to determine which questions are which.
The Player: 1B/OF Garrett Jones
Furious 5 Interview Date: 1/27/07, TwinsFest 2007 at the Metrodome
Length of Interview: 5 minutes
Number of Questions asked: 24
Garrett Jones has put together two of the best back-to-back slugging seasons in Frontier Field history. After an impressive rookie season at Triple-A in 2005 (22 doubles, 24 HR, 72 RBI), Jones stepped up his game in almost every way while providing leadership and clutch performances for the 2006 playoff club. His 21 homers tied for best in the Minnesota organization, while his 92 RBI was tops in the system and second in the International League. He is the first Red Wing to hit at least 20 home runs in back-to-back seasons since Don Baylor (1970-1971).
Jones hit .406 in 9 post-season games (13-32) with 3 HR and 10 RBI. He followed up by hitting .281 with a club-best eight homers and 26 RBI for Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League in the off-season.
Originally drafted by Atlanta, Jones was signed as a minor league free agent by Minnesota in May of 2002. He became the third player in history of the Midwest League to hit four homers in one game on July 14, 2002. Jones has been on Minnesota's 40-man big league roster the past two seasons, and should be the Wings' first baseman and cleanup hitter in 2007. This interview was conducted by RedWingsBaseball.com's Nick Sciarratta, in the Red Wings booth on the field at the Metrodome during TwinsFest 2007; Rachel Askin assisted in the preparation of this feature.
RedWingsBaseball.com: It was a great 2006 season, for the team of course and for you personally... I last saw you after the final game of the playoffs, in the clubhouse at six o'clock Sunday morning when the bus came back from Toledo. Where did you go from there, and how did you spend that next week after the season ended?
Garrett Jones: After we lost, I drove home that day and the next week I took it easy for a while. I was leaving for Venezuela (to play winter ball) about three weeks after the season so I was just resting up, getting ready for that.
RWB: Your favorite moment from the 2006 season?
GJ: Probably when we advanced to the Championship series after beating the Red Barons. That series was a big win over Scranton and it was a lot of fun.
RWB: Did you ever see that picture we took of you, you hit a home run the night The Famous Chicken was here ...the picture's of you coming back to the dugout, and The Chicken's holding up his "Employee of the Month" sign. Did you ever see that picture?
GJ: Yeah, that's a good picture. I was looking up after I hit the home run, and The Chicken was there and he held up that sign... it's a good picture.
RWB: Tell me a first year rookie ball horror story. I know you actually came up in the Braves organization.
GJ: Well, I was drafted by the Braves and I had a rough stint over there. My second year in rookie ball I broke my jaw and it was just a rough three years over there. But I came over here and everything's starting to work out.
RWB: Complete this sentence: Most people don't know that I...
GJ: Let's see... Most people don't know that I am a good basketball player.
RWB: Do you do your own laundry?
GJ: No.
RWB: Water or Gatorade?
GJ: Water.
RWB: What unique-to-Rochester things have you had a chance to try in the last couple of years? Have you had a white hot dog?
GJ: No, I haven't. I gotta try one of those.
RWB: How about Abbott's Frozen Custard down at the lake?
GJ: Haven't tried that either. I'm going to have to do all that stuff.
RWB: "CSI" or "American Idol"? What type of TV entertainment person are you?
GJ: I'd have to say "American Idol" is pretty entertaining, with the bad singers the first couple weeks.
RWB: What's the last karaoke song you sang?
GJ: "The Gambler", Kenny Rogers.
RWB: What music do you like to listen to to get pumped up before a game?
GJ: Probably a little hard rock, some rap, I like to mix it up every now and then depending on how I feel.
RWB: How many email accounts do you own?
GJ: Just one.
RWB: Who owns the domain name GarrettJones.com?
GJ: I have no idea, I didn't even know there was one.
RWB: What's the last animated show you watched?
GJ: Probably Finding Nemo.
RWB: Favorite website?
GJ: YouTube.com
RWB: Dogs or cats?
GJ: Dogs.
RWB: Seeds or bubble gum?
GJ: Seeds.
RWB: Who's more of an athlete, a pro golfer or a pro wrestler?
GJ: Pro wrestler.
RWB: What musician or singer have you ever wanted to be, for a day, for a concert?
GJ: Probably just a hard rocker.
RWB: What's more exciting: hearing the umpire say, "Play ball!" or hearing Maury Povich say, "Kevin, you ARE the father!"?
GJ: Hearing "Play ball!"
RWB: If you were forced to sit in a hot tub with Rosie O'Donnell, Oprah Winfrey, Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers, who'd be the first one you would ask to leave and why?
GJ: Probably Rosie O'Donnell because I think her voice kinda gets on my nerves sometimes.
RWB: And who'd be the last one in the hot tub left with you?
GJ: Probably Oprah, because she's a pretty interesting woman and she'd be fun to talk to.
RWB: There's this trend of taking great cartoons and making bad live action movies from them - "Scooby Doo," "The Flintstones," "Rocky and Bullwinkle"... Eventually we're going to see a live action version of "Beavis and Butt-head." Who are the candidates from the Red Wings' clubhouse this year to perhaps play lead roles in that movie?
GJ: I think J.D. Durbin could probably play Beavis and, let's see... I think either me or the Boof could play Butthead. It'd be pretty funny.
RWB: Okay, one last question: your favorite Hilton sister, and why?
GJ: Probably Nikki Hilton because she's not in the press as much as Paris, and Paris kind of has a bad rap going for her.
Check out Garrett's 2006 Red WingsBaseball.com Player Profile page here.