How I Got Here with Corey Koskie

The path to  Major League Baseball isn't always on the diamond.  There are other ways to work for a Major League Baseball team.  Both paths require hard work, tenacity, and resilience. Dustin Morse has climbed the ranks from an intern with the Chicago Cubs to the Senior Director of Communications at Minnesota Twins.  Some will say that he is "lucky" to be able to interact with the best baseball players in the world on the daily basis.  There maybe some luck involved but through hard work he put himself in a position to be lucky.  Listen to Dustin tell his story of his path to the big leagues, who his favorite manager to work with is, the toughest situation he had to deal with, and the players he connected with. 

Dr. Heather Bergeson is an accomplished Primary Care Sports & Pediatrics Physician.  She is also an athlete and youth sports mom.  She has seen the good of youth sports and she has seen the bad.  She has treated 1000's of kids for overuse injuries and has had to deal with out of control coaches as a mom.  She is doing all this with a long-term, progressively disabling autoimmune disease, Rheumatoid arthritis. This disease causes inflammation, swelling, and pain in and around the joints and other body organs.   In this episode Dr. Bergeson tell us how she got into medicine, the effect playing youth sports has had on her, dealing with her disease and how she had to dodge a scalpel thrown at her in the OR during her residency. 

With every sport there is a risk for injury. With contact sports the risk increases dramatically. It is every parents greatest fear that when their child gets hit they don't get up. 

Jack Jablonski’s life changed forever after he was hit during a high school hockey game. The resulting injury left him quadriplegic. In a flash, Jack rose to local and national recognition. The ensuing outpouring of support not only helped Jack begin the journey toward his personal goal to someday skate again, it also provided the inspiration for his family and friends to do more. Jack continues down his road to recovery, believing that every day holds the potential for something amazing to happen.

In this episode Jack talks about his journey and what he plans to do in the future.

Corey Koskie played for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers and retired in 2009 while he was in Spring Training with the Chicago Cubs.   July 5th, 2006 would be a day that changed Corey Koskie's career path forever.  A little fly ball over his head landed him on the disabled list for 2 1/2 years.  Corey tells his story of what happened and the events that transpired over the two years that lead him back to giving it another shot.

 Latroy Hawkins had a 21 year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays.  At the time of his retirement, Hawkins was the only active player to be a member of the 1,000-games-pitched club, and at 42 years of age, was the oldest active player in MLB. LaTroy had a great career.  This is a long way from growing up in Gary, Indiana.  Latroy played high school baseball as a freshman, and had a falling out with the coach and didn't play again until he was a senior.  Latroy was then drafted by the Minnesota Twins.  This is his story...... 

Darrell Thompson became a Minnesotan because of an IBM minority recruited push in the 1970's.  His dad was recruited and the Thompson family moved to Rochester.  Making friends in a new city is hard enough but it can be even harder when nobody looks like you. Sports helped connect his parents to the community. Sports also helped Darrell Thompson connect to his community. Darrell was blessed with some incredible gifts and not  only  did he use them on the football field but off the field as well.  Listen as Darrell Thompson talks about his life on and off the field.  

This is his story.......

 As a child in the 1950s, Frank White loved to watch his dad, Louis “Pud” White Jr., play baseball with the Twin City Colored Giants. That made an impression on him.  The 50's was also a time of segregation in the South but Jim Crow were not in the north.  At least they weren't suppose to be but there was still a culture of racism that exist. Frank White tells us stories of growing up in St. Paul during this time.  This is his story.

Through his acrobatic catches, booming bat, and contagious smile Torii Hunter captured the hearts of fans everywhere he played; Minnesota, LA, and Detroit. He was a guy that loved playing the game of baseball and his game showed it. Torii was a great teammate that came to play everyday and gave his full effort. To get to the Major Leagues was a battle. The east side of Pine Bluff, Arkansas was not an easy place grow up. Money was tight and he would go days without eating, rats eating at his wrist while he slept, gang pressure, and the pressure of trying figure out a way to help his mom pay the bills. He had to deal with a lot of adversity and battled through it. This is his story......