My grandfather's house was all about baseball, that's for sure. My mother came from a family of teachers, and her mother was a librarian. So books were really important and another side of life. But having my grandfather, it was like a museum. And he was scouting at the time, so he was still involved in the game. As a younger kid, he would take me around with him while he was scouting the minor leagues. I would get to sit with him and other scouts. I got to really learn the game while watching guys. They'd all tell me "hey look at the on-deck hitter" or "look at the shortstop's feet." Things like "watch how the catcher sets up with men on base. It was just fascinating. It was such a huge advantage for a young kid.

[The Twins] were one of about five teams who were interested in me. [Terry Ryan] just said everything I wanted to hear. He knew all about me. He was a former scout too, and he knew my grandfather. I just felt like the way they played the game was how I was brought up to play. It just felt like a great fit.

Tom Kelly was just great at putting guys in situations where they had a chance to have success. I probably faced more left-handed pitchers that year than any other year of my career. He just knew I could battle them. He didn't mind starting me against certain guys, and most of them happened to be left-handed. It was a good year. I would've liked to hit for a bit more power. But I had this thing with my elbow. My right arm just wouldn't straighten out. It cut the extension down on my swing a little bit. But it was a very fun year for me.

3-2 pitch. It was a breaking ball that was up. We were ahead by a few runs in the game, and this kind of blew it open. You know, I was battling. It was August. And just like any other home run that I hit, they came when I wasn't trying to hit them. But that one was a good shot. I remember telling the newspaper guys, it was right around my birthday. I said, "I'm finally 30 years old and maturing as a hitter." But it's neat to be able to say you've got a grand slam in the big leagues.

TK [Tom Kelly] was just a blue-collar baseball guy. He threw batting practice, he hit fungos, he sat in the back of the plane and played cards. He'd break chops and pat you on the back. You kinda knew where you stood with him. He just made you want to play hard. The motivation was just to respect the game. Play the game the right way.

We were not a good team in 1995. I get a little consolation looking back at the White Sox last year, or the Rockies this year. But we would go into towns playing top division teams, and the writing is on the wall. TK would just tell us "play the game the right way, boys." It was definitely a working man's approach to the game. We know it's hard. There's no secret answers. He was a worker.

I knew they were gonna be good pitchers if they stayed healthy. Both of them had a calm demeanor about them, and they didn't really seem to get shaken up. They never got rattled and had [sic] this presence, even when they were young. They were just good, young pitchers. It was a pleasure to catch them. I had come up in the White Sox organization with some guys like Alex Fernandez and Jack McDowell. They had the same kind of professional approach to the game at a young age. And with good stuff.

Kirby Puckett used to break my chops, but it was beautiful out there in the summertime. I hated driving to the Metrodome. So I was close enough that I just bought myself a mountain bike to ride past all these lakes and through these parks and stuff to go to the ballpark.

Certain teams would have a nice place to go if they were coming out of high school. And we didn't. We didn't have a Gulf Coast League team or an Arizona League team. The lowest level we had in the United States was Missoula, Montana. It was primarily a league of college players who were just drafted. We didn't really have that entry level for high school players, at least from the States. But in terms of scouting players, you're all looking for the same things.

The Diamondbacks were essentially started by Buck Showalter. He set up the whole thing. I can remember when he was still managing there, we had organizational meetings where he spoke to the scouts. It was very simple stuff. It's a game of speed and strength. Not necessarily size, but pound-for-pound strength. A lot of the scouts came from different organizations and had long histories. Everybody likes to think they have a certain philosophy or play the game the right way, but essentially, we're all trying to do the same thing.

The Diamondbacks, I guess you could say, had their own special philosophy. I like to say we were the smartest team in last place. We had degrees from everywhere in that scouting office. Myself, and the other scout. Another guy who was a former big league player and had been in player development, Shawn Barton. The two of us had the highest reports on [Trout]. But the general consensus was still kinda "eh." Things like "who else from that town has ever been there" and "why is East Carolina the only school that wants him." They're finding all these warts.

I described him by saying he's gonna be like Robin Yount. Meaning he's gonna play center field. He's gonna hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases as a 19-year old. But he plays and moves around like Kirk Gibson. Maybe not the smoothest guy in the world. But he's strong as an ox, and fast, and he can play center field. So you've got speed, you've got power, and it's rare.

[Trout] shows up, and he's the only guy in the dugout they've got in the studio...I'm representing the Diamondbacks, with all the other teams sitting at tables. Phones next to us coming from the front offices on our selections. Trout knew me, and the phone rang twice. He learned in and looked at me while I'm answering the phone. I'm looking at him and my eyes go down. It's not him. Phone rings again, same thing. Sorry guy, not you.

So we passed on him. A couple of articles came out. My scouting director has been nice enough to joke around saying if he had just listened to me, we'd all still have jobs with the Diamondbacks.

I don't want to say it's obvious, but in same ways it is. The northeast has a very short window to evaluate players. The kids in high school don't start playing until April. And you've got chase around colleges down in Florida or the Carolinas that are heading south on their opening trips. It's hard to cram things into your schedule. There might be a Division II school who has somebody you're interested in. And then you're trying to get your supervisors and cross-checkers and scouting directors all pointed in the right direction so they can see the guys you think are potentially high picks.

The Baltimore Orioles hired Merullo to manage in their farm system. He managed Short Season Single-A and Rookie ball teams. These rosters are often made up of players who are fresh out of high school or college, and playing professional baseball for the first time.

I felt very at home coming off of scouting. I had been watching college players for the last 12-15 years, as well as high school guys. I knew what their level of play was already like. For instance, there was a second baseman from Clemson. He wound up getting to the big leagues, Stevie Wilkerson. Four-year starter at Clemson in the middle of the field, mainly shortstop. But we had him at second base. And the first couple of weeks, I'm realizing that he can't get to the base on time on stolen bases. These are good throws, and he's getting to the base same time as the runner. Finally, I said, "What did they teach you at Clemson? To stay there and see if the ball is hit to you?" He said, "Yeah." So I had to teach him if that ball is hit to where you left, so be it. That's how it works. You've got to get to second base and be ready for a throw. Be able to put a tag down. This game is faster than what you're used to, even at Clemson.

A lot of it is teaching. It was so fun. I had Mike Yastrzemski coming out of Vanderbilt. I remember scouting him when he was in high school [in Danvers, Massachusetts]. Trey Mancini was on that team. We had a catcher named Austin Wynns who got to the big leagues. I had a great staff. My pitching coach, Alan Mills, was awesome. He was a 12-year veteran of the big leagues as a reliever, and also had been coaching for ten years or so. He helped me a lot as a manager.

Merullo took advice from a Hall of Fame manager to help him deal with young players in the minors.

There was a quote I read from Tony La Russa. He said, "It's a lot more fun to believe in your players than to doubt them." That struck me. And I'd always tell the other coaches, this game is going to let you know what you can't do. So it's the coach's job to remind these players what they can do. You know if you just don't have the speed to get an infield hit like other guys do. Or the arm isn't there on a sacrifice fly. Guys have a tendency to do too much or try too hard. Coaches need to remind you what you are good at. Just tell them to keep it up.

It's fun to connect with my son and do this volunteer thing for a couple months each spring. I get so much joy. He's a teacher, number one. He teaches fifth graders. The structure he has and the way he carries himself. Never shows up the players, and has a great feel on when to go to the mound. I hardly ever see him get back from the mound to the dugout, and then see the pitcher throw a ball. It's always a strike. He's got a knack for it.

2021 was his first year, and it was a rough year coming off of COVID. He went from 2-18 his first year, to a .500 record the next year. And then in 2023, we were lucky to have some good pitchers and some guys who had started as freshmen in 2021. We made the state finals. We lost that game, but we had an 18-game winning streak up until that loss.

Are you interested in Twins history? Then check out the Minnesota Twins Players Project, a community-driven project to discover and collect great information on every player to wear a Twins uniform!