06/16/2009
Posted on the USF Dons.com Website
Q&A Session with the Former Outfielder
June 16, 2009
In a USF Summer Baseball Blog special edition, senior outfielder Drew Johnson reminisces about his time at USF and lets us in on his future plans.
What are some of your best memories from USF?
It’s funny to sit down and reflect on the last five years and try to pick out what memories stick with me most. The details of actually playing the games, the good days the bad days, the at-bats, wins and losses seem fade as time goes on. Sure there are a few big moments while playing that will stick with me forever, but most of all I will remember times when we just hung out as a group. The Rookie Show, Christmas dinners at Coach G’s house and Thanksgiving at Zach Kim’s to name few. Some of my favorite memories are sitting around in the dugout or the locker room after games and practices talking with teammates. These were times to let off some steam and temporarily escape the craziness of the life of a college athlete. It was during these times that we got to know each other so well.
What will you miss the most?
Oh man, where do I begin? I will rattle of a few things that really stick in my head. I will miss the long bus rides and the waiting time in airports with the team. It is amazing on how creative we got during these times in order to keep ourselves entertained. When you put twenty-five baseball players on a bus the topics of conversation reach a whole new level of “out there.” I will miss the stupid laughs on busses and planes that came along with being exhausted and delirious after a long day. I will miss bussing back from the Oakland Airport and seeing the San Francisco skyline from the top of the bay bridge. I will miss the pranks that Naks and I played on each other on a daily basis, always keeping each other on our toes. I will miss talking politics and life with Coach Moore…
Most of all, the thing I will miss the most is the daily interaction with teammates and coaches. Being on a college baseball team is a unique experience because you spend so much time with a certain group of people. It’s amazing how familiarized you become with each of your teammates’ tendencies, routines, body language and characteristics. For example, Connor Bernatz and I would challenge ourselves during the pre-game prayer by attempting to identify each person by only looking down at their cleats. We could identify every guy based upon how they tied their shoe laces, the scuff marks on the cleats, and the size of foot. Weird huh? I am not aware of anything else out there that comes close to being on a college baseball team. I will miss being a part of a team, sharing the pains of losing and the joy of winning and every emotion in between.
And of course I will miss the game itself. But mostly the people that baseball has brought into my life…
How has baseball impacted and influenced your life?
I think that this game has had a huge impact on my life. It has brought me places I would never go otherwise. It has given me the opportunity to spend summers in Hawaii, Vacaville and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I have met people from all over the country and from different backgrounds. This has helped me put perspective on my life and where I came from.
The game has taught me how to deal with adversity. My freshman year in college I was exactly 1 for 23 on the year. My first college hit came in the last game of the year. It was a challenging time to say the least. Throw in a broken jaw and two shoulder surgeries during that time and it made for a great opportunity to respond to adversity. After receiving WCC All-Conference Honors in 2009 it’s rewarding to reflect on the challenging times knowing that you battled through them. I will continue to draw strength from these experiences as I move on to the next chapter of my life.
What are some things you have learned from coaches, professors, teammates, and/or friends while playing here that you will take with you into your next endeavor?
Credit is due to many of my professors for helping me find something that I am passionate about other than baseball. My professors were always there for extra office hours, and were flexible with the crazy baseball travel schedule.
I learned a great deal from Coach G as well. He has taught me so much about the game, but I have a gut feeling that I won’t be asked how to hit a breaking ball at a job interview anytime soon. More importantly Coach taught me a great deal about life, and how some of its lessons can be learned through the game of baseball. In post game speeches Coach would relate the struggles and successes of baseball to life. This is what I cherish the most out of everything he taught me.
The coaching staff has taught me more than any person with a PhD. I have never met a harder working and more committed group of individuals than the coaching staff. The gear we are supplied with, the restaurants we eat at, and the hotels we stay at are all made possible by our coaches. I have been witness to the way they go about their business on a daily basis. Watching them inspired me to challenge myself and see what I was capable of. They would never take credit for this but I feel I would have never been able to accomplish what I have, had they not had this influence on me. The culture that they create within the program is the reason for my success on the field and what pushed me to earn the opportunity to go to graduate school. I want to be great like them.
What was it that made you want to transfer to USF?
In the summer of 2006 I met Rigo Lopez, an alumnus of USF baseball and a former assistant coach. I was looking for place to play and our paths happened to cross in Honolulu. After spending some time with Rigo and speaking with the coaches over the telephone I knew that I wanted to be a part of the Family. If someone would have told me that I will spend my college years in San Francisco, I would respond by saying “you’re nuts man.” It couldn’t be any more different than my hometown of Reno, NV. It seemed crazy at the time, but I grew to love the city and I am so thankful to have been part of the program; it changed my life.
What’s next for you?
Well, I have met the love of my life, put a down payment on my first home, have a great paying job with great benefits and will be getting married at the end of this summer. I have everything mapped out to the last detail. The reality is, none of that is true. I am still a broke, single college kid, trying to figure out what to do with my life. In the meantime, I am living with my parents in Reno and rehabbing my shoulder from recent surgery. In August I am moving to Texas pursue a Master in Professional Accounting at the University of Texas at Austin. I will be working as a teaching assistant at the McCombs School of Business while studying toward my masters.
Any advice to your former teammates?
Enjoy it. Work hard, get crazy and challenge yourself. Push yourself in school and find out what inspires you. I probably don’t need to say work hard in baseball, because we most likely all share the same passion for the world’s greatest game. Learn to laugh, especially at yourself. Mess around often and make it fun; it got me through the everyday grind.
To upperclassmen: Try to give back to the program anyway you can. Best way I found is to pay it forward by helping the younger players. The only way to leave your mark is to instill what you have learned in those that will come after you. You are never too good to help out a younger guy. And before going to the field everyday, take a second to ask yourself: “How do I want to be remembered?”
