GO Getter: Colby Rasmus

Springfield's top prospect talks about dugout pranks, nicknames and older women. Oh yeah, and a little baseball, too.

Baseball America ranked Springfield Cardinals center fielder Colby Rasmus the top prospect in the Cardinals minor league system this season. In May, the 20-year-old showed us why, winning the Texas League player of the month award. We caught up with the major-leaguer-to-be to see what’s going on in his million dollar brain.

I talked to your grandparents outside. How often do they come to your games? Do they follow you around?
Depends. You know, whenever they can. Most of my family tries to come up a pretty good bit throughout the year. My mom and dad come up a lot.

Do they all live in Alabama?
Yeah, pretty much. Most of my family lives in Alabama.

So are they driving around all the time? You’ve got a couple of brothers playing, too.
Yeah, one of my brothers is in Florida with the Braves. Two of them are in high school. So they drive around a lot. They won’t let me fly them. They don’t want me buying plane tickets for them, so they just drive everywhere.

Do you track what people say about you in the local media? Do you keep newspaper clipping or do regular Internet searches or follow what people say about you in the blog or anything?
No, not at all. I don’t try to get into that stuff. My dad looks at that stuff a little bit and my mom is all into the newspaper clippings and all that kind of stuff. I just don’t pay attention to all of that. I just play the game.

I ask about the local media first because if you look in the St. Louis paper, they’re talking about you all the time too. You don’t follow any of it to see what the big league club might be saying about you?
I might take a look at it every now and then, but I don’t… If it’s something someone points out to me maybe, but I don’t really read the newspaper or anything like that.

When you are in the dugout with the team, what’s the best practical joke you’ve had pulled on you so far?
This year there was a good one. It was one of the first games of the year, and I ran out onto the field. I was the first one, but everyone else stayed in the dugout so I was standing on the field by myself for a little bit. But I had a good laugh with it.

That’s pretty harmless. Nothing too serious as far as pranks go?
No, nothing too bad.

So you turn 21 in about a month. (Ed. Note: August 11 to be exact.) What are the big plans? I looked at the schedule and it’s a home game that day. What are the big plans when the game gets over that Saturday night?
Uh, I don’t know. (laughs) We’ll probably go out. Probably go to Trolley’s. That seems like a nice place to go. Go out and take some of the players out and try to have a good time.

Do you have a girlfriend?
I’m single.

There’s a 24-year-old girl on our staff. She wants to know if you like older women because she thinks you’re really hot.
I definitely do. (Smiles) Definitely do.

Then the follow up question is that she wants to know if you’d go on a date with her if she buys you a beer. When you’re 21, of course.
Definitely will. No doubt about it.

So how much of your time in the dugout is spent looking at the hot girls in the stands?
We look every now and then.

Have you ever asked a girl out at a game?
Um, not really. I’ve asked for numbers a couple of times after the games, but not really. I don’t do that a whole lot. But, I don’t know, it’s all good fun. If you see a good-looking girl in the stands, everybody will be taking a peek. It’s pretty funny watching everybody.

You started out and your average was a little down. Then in May you went crazy and were the Texas League player of the month. Now, in June, your average has gone back down. What kinds of adjustments are you making to get the average back up?
I got to feeling good. I was hitting better than I probably ever have, or at least pretty close to it. Then I ended up getting sinusitis, a sinus infection. You know, that hurt me. I lost a little weight and lost a little strength. I got into a little funk and it messed me up, so I wasn’t on those pitches like I normally would be. Now I’m just trying to get back into a groove and get comfortable at the plate. I’m trying to get my strength back up.

So are you feeling better now?
Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better. I’m just waiting to get hot again.

Your name came up a lot in some trade talk last year. How does stuff like that affect you. You say you don’t read a lot of stuff in the newspapers, but people must be talking about it.
Yeah. Well, I heard stuff going around, you know. But I kept in contact with my agent. A lot of that was just talk. There wasn’t really anything going on. That’s why I don’t try to listen to most of the stuff that people say. Unless you’re on the inside you never really know what’s going on.

Did you ever watch the Tom Emanski videos when you were a kid? You know those instructional baseball videos for kids?
No. We always made fun of those. I never really got into that stuff. My dad coached me from the time I was little, all the way through high school. He played pro ball in the minor leagues, but he never made it to the big leagues. But since he coached us we never really got into those things.

What organization was he with when he was playing?
The Angels.

With your brothers all in the game somehow too, it sounds like this is what everyone in the family does.
Yeah, we’re definitely a baseball family.

Since you grew up around baseball, at what point did you realize you had what it takes to play professional baseball?
We played baseball since we could walk, me and my brother. When I was 11 we sat down with my dad and he asked us if we wanted to make it to the big leagues. We both said yes, so from then on he pushed us. From that point on that was our main goal. Up until my senior year I thought I was going to go to college. Then I was fortunate enough to get drafted, so it became more realistic and I kept working hard, trying to make it.

What do you do for housing during the season?
I have an apartment with Cory Rauschenberger and Sean Danielson.

Do you get as scared standing next to Joe Mather as I do? That guy is huge. He just got called up, so I’m not afraid to say this, but that guy’s a freak. He’s huge.
Yeah, Joe’s awesome. He’s a big guy, but he’s a good guy. He’s one of the best guys that I know. You know, he’s never getting mad at anybody or anything. He’s always keeping his cool. He’s a really cool guy and I love playing with him. But he is a big guy, so I guess he can be a little intimidating sometimes.

Do you have any hidden talents or know any stupid human tricks?
No, not really.

What’s the biggest thing that has changed about the way you play from one year ago today?
Um, I’ve probably just got better at putting my best game on the field everyday. That’s what its all about. We play so many games. We play every day of the week and only get one off day a month, so you’ve got to be able to come out everyday and give your best everyday. That’s probably the main thing, and I feel like I’ve got a lot better at that.

If you could have tickets to see a game between any two teams in baseball, who would be playing?
I’d probably like to see the Red Sox and the Yankees. I’d like to go watch that game at Fenway.

Who were the professional players you watched growing up?
I always loved Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr. [Griffey] was pretty much my favorite player growing up. When I was, like, one, [Griffey's team] was playing against my dad's team and [Griffey] sat out that day. He was sitting in the stands because he was hurt. He was hitting on my mom a little bit and I sat on his lap.

You sat on his lap while he was hitting on your mom?
Yeah.

What song do you have playing when you walk up to the plate?
I have two of them. “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Jump Around” by House of Pain.

Do you tell them which one to play, or is it just whatever they feel like doing?
They pretty much alternate it. It doesn’t really matter to me.

If you weren’t playing baseball, what would you be doing right now?
There ain’t no telling. Probably basketball. I probably wouldn’t be doing anything. Sitting on the beach. Selling umbrellas.

Did you grow up near the beach?
Not really.

How far away were you?
About four hours. Four hours from Panama City.

Do you have any nicknames?
Uh, most everybody on the team either calls me “Raz” or “Razzle Dazzle.”

In the interviews you’ve done, what’s the one question you’ve always wished someone would ask you, but no one ever has?
It would be a lot easier if you’d said the one question I wish they wouldn’t ask. Just kidding. Hmm. [he pauses to think for more than a minute.] I’ll think of something, just give me a minute. [He asks a friend, who says his answer should be “What time is dinner,” then another 20-second pause.] How about, “Will you be mad if I don’t ask you any questions today?” (laughs) There you go. Because I definitely wouldn’t be. That’s a good one right there. I told you I’d come up with something.