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Draft Day Nerves, Steroid Era Realities, And A Yinzer’s Grit
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A first-round pick, a hometown heart, and a league in flux. We sit down with Kevin Orie to unpack a career shaped by grit, timing, and the unforgiving glare of Wrigley Field. From kicking rocks out of infields in Pittsburgh to a private tryout at Wrigley where he sprinted the bases after BP on instinct, Kevin’s story tracks the highs and hard lessons of a young player dropped into a franchise starving for a solution at third base.
The rookie season hit like a wave: an 0–14 start, the pressure to transform into a power bat behind Sammy Sosa, and the quiet squeeze of the steroid era altering not just bodies but recovery and confidence. Kevin doesn’t hedge. He breaks down how mindset, workload, and the drumbeat of expectations can change a player’s identity in weeks. He remembers a shoulder separation that killed a September call-up, a quad tear after a two-mile treadmill test, and a late cut in L.A. when the Beltre controversy closed a door at the buzzer. Through it all, there were anchors: Jim Leyland lighting up the tunnel in St. Louis as the Marlins went back-to-back-to-back-to-back, and Don Baylor’s simple inside-pitch drill that later unlocked a swing he didn’t know he had.
We trace the journeyman years—out clauses, selling himself to third base coaches mid-game, cleanup roles on loaded Triple-A rosters that didn’t lead to a phone call—and the eventual return to Chicago on unfinished business. Kevin reveals the difference better development and clearer roles might have made, and how today’s strength and swing tech would have sped up his learning curve. Off the field, he opens up about raising three daughters after losing his wife, pivoting into hotel investments and commercial real estate through a recession, and staying in the game with Pirates pre/post on The Fan to keep those clubhouse threads alive.
Come for the dugout stories and stay for the clarity about pressure, identity, and resilience. If you’ve ever wondered how a career can tilt in three weeks—or how a single drill can change a season—this one hits home. Subscribe, share with a baseball fan who loves the human side of the game, and leave a review with the moment that stuck with you most.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!
www.holdmycutter.com
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By Game Designs
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A first-round pick, a hometown heart, and a league in flux. We sit down with Kevin Orie to unpack a career shaped by grit, timing, and the unforgiving glare of Wrigley Field. From kicking rocks out of infields in Pittsburgh to a private tryout at Wrigley where he sprinted the bases after BP on instinct, Kevin’s story tracks the highs and hard lessons of a young player dropped into a franchise starving for a solution at third base.
The rookie season hit like a wave: an 0–14 start, the pressure to transform into a power bat behind Sammy Sosa, and the quiet squeeze of the steroid era altering not just bodies but recovery and confidence. Kevin doesn’t hedge. He breaks down how mindset, workload, and the drumbeat of expectations can change a player’s identity in weeks. He remembers a shoulder separation that killed a September call-up, a quad tear after a two-mile treadmill test, and a late cut in L.A. when the Beltre controversy closed a door at the buzzer. Through it all, there were anchors: Jim Leyland lighting up the tunnel in St. Louis as the Marlins went back-to-back-to-back-to-back, and Don Baylor’s simple inside-pitch drill that later unlocked a swing he didn’t know he had.
We trace the journeyman years—out clauses, selling himself to third base coaches mid-game, cleanup roles on loaded Triple-A rosters that didn’t lead to a phone call—and the eventual return to Chicago on unfinished business. Kevin reveals the difference better development and clearer roles might have made, and how today’s strength and swing tech would have sped up his learning curve. Off the field, he opens up about raising three daughters after losing his wife, pivoting into hotel investments and commercial real estate through a recession, and staying in the game with Pirates pre/post on The Fan to keep those clubhouse threads alive.
Come for the dugout stories and stay for the clarity about pressure, identity, and resilience. If you’ve ever wondered how a career can tilt in three weeks—or how a single drill can change a season—this one hits home. Subscribe, share with a baseball fan who loves the human side of the game, and leave a review with the moment that stuck with you most.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!
www.holdmycutter.com