thirtysomething Q&A with Tyler McNeely

July 10, 2008

Redbird All-Access members, watch Tyler McNeely's full interview (30 questions) on Redbird All-Access, your exclusive home to full student-athlete video interview's during this summer's "thirtysomething" series.

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GoRedbirds.com: Summer is a very busy time for baseball players. You're actually here in Bloomington still for the summer, what have you been up to?
Tyler McNeely: I've been working the ISU camps with our shortstop, Collin Salzenstein, and a couple of our coaches, Coach (Mike) Current and Coach (Brian) Neal. I'm also taking some classes and coaching a 16-and-under team as well. It's been a lot of fun. It's pretty busy right now but it should slow down here in a couple of weeks.

GR: You missed most of the 2008 season with a shoulder injury (torn labrum), can you tell us a little about your injury and how things are progressing?
TM: In the second game (of the season) I dislocated my left shoulder on a swing - it's my non-throwing shoulder so that was good. It just got swollen and I wasn't able to compete. I had some tests done and nothing really showed up so I ended up (having arthroscopic surgery) and they found the torn labrum then. At this point I'm doing rehab and I'm hoping to be back swinging off a tee in August and then progressing to live pitching sometime in October.

GR: You played with the Allegany County Nitros in the New York Collegiate League last summer and had planned on playing in the Northwoods League this summer before your injury, can you explain summer baseball to some of the fans that might not know a whole lot about it?
TM: Summer ball is a great opportunity. There are a lot of great people out there who accept the responsibility of being a host family and they take you into their home. Some leagues just have apartments, but there are a lot of host families, a lot of people behind the scenes that take you into their homes and make us one of the family for a month or two and we go from there. It's a lot of fun. We learn a lot about baseball that we wouldn't learn otherwise. It's like playing minor league ball, a lesser version. Everything's baseball related. There's no school, your job is to play ball. It's a lot of fun.

GR: How much of a difference does playing with a wooden bat make compared with hitting with aluminum like you do for the college season and does experience hitting with wood help you as a hitter?
TM: With the aluminum there's a sweet spot that's about six inches - you've got six inches to hit the ball. With a wood bat, the sweet spot reduces to about the size of a baseball, maybe a little bit bigger. The sweet spot is the only thing that I've seen that's a drastic change. Obviously wood bats break and aluminum don't. The ball doesn't seem to travel that much further - it's slightly different - but it's just about the sweet spot. You don't catch the balls off the end (of the bat) and hit them out like you would with an aluminum bat. It's a lot tougher to go from aluminum to wood than it is to go from wood to aluminum. With the wood bats you have to make good contact. If you get fisted or hit one off the end of the bat, it's a broken bat and you don't want to hurt your hands. It makes you focus a little bit more and work on hitting the ball off the center a little bit better so I think it does help you.

GR: What's it like for you being able to play ball for the Redbirds in the same town you grew up in?
TM: It's a great opportunity. When coming out of high school I didn't have a whole lot of offers, ISU was very open and accepting of me. It's turned out to be a great fit, it's allowed me to pursue my dream of professional baseball. We have a lot of kids who get that opportunity coming out of here. Tyler Cox and Kevin Dubler are living their dream right now. Hopefully, ISU will prepare me well enough for it. It's a blessing, but sometimes being in the same town is a little rough. It's definitely a great thing for me so far.

GR: In addition to the great coaches at ISU, you've got a coach at home. Your dad played baseball at Illinois Wesleyan and in the minor leagues, what's his role been in your development as a player?
TM: My dad has always been there. He would always come to the games and that's what we do together. He had to help my brother out once I was old enough to take care of myself. He kind of let me go. He kept coming to the games whenever my brother didn't have one and was always there. With him playing minor league baseball, it gave me the idea that it's something I wanted to do. This past summer I played in a lot of the parks that he did when he was in the minors, so that was pretty cool. I hit a ball out of one of the parks that he didn't. He was a pitcher but he got to hit. He hit it off the wall and didn't quite get it out - I one upped him and hit it over. That was a lot of fun.

GR: So there's a little rivalry there. Do things get heated in the house around the time of the ISU-IWU baseball game every year?
TM: Not too much. He was supportive of me going to ISU or (Illinois) Wesleyan, whatever I decided. ISU ended up being the right fit for me. He's definitely behind ISU when it comes to the games since I'm playing but he's got some contacts over there and a little love for his alma mater. It's definitely ISU when it comes to the Horenberger-Bass Classic.

GR: Like you mentioned earlier, Kevin Dubler and Tyler Cox recently heard their names called during the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, how closely did you follow the draft and what's it been like from a teammate's perspective having players taken in the past couple of seasons?
TM: I didn't get a chance to follow the draft too closely, I was gone coaching with Luke Baughman who just graduated from ISU. When I saw they were chosen I was happy for them, that they got the chance. I think both of them would have liked to be taken a little bit higher but they're in a good spot. Kevin was actually my roommate when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. That was a great experience for me and he taught me a lot. I knew Tyler for a couple of years and he was a good guy to me so I was really, really happy to see him go.

GR: Things are definitely on the move for Illinois State baseball as the new stadium around Duffy Bass Field will be completed next spring. How excited are the guys about having a revamped home?
TM: It's very exciting for us. (The guys that are seniors this year and last year were shown pictures of the new stadium when they came in) and with Dr. Zenger and Dr. Bowman pushing for it, it's come a long way. They've been a leading force for it along with Coach Brownlee. For them to actually get something done about it, it's definitely going to be a blast for us. It's much overdue when you go to the other parks in the Missouri Valley but it's a step in the right direction - we're going the right way.

GR: What's an item the concession stand in the new stadium should offer next season?
TM: Barbeque pork sandwiches. I love those. They have them over at the golf course that I usually play at. I love `em. Those things and a nice Coke - that's all you need to get you through your day.