HT: What teams do you think will win their divisions? (NL East, Central and West; AL East, Central and West)
RM: Phillies and Dodgers again. And I would love to see the Brewers do it in the NL Central. For the AL, the Red Sox, Twins, and let’s go with Seattle in the West.
HT: What teams do you think will be the AL and NL Wild Card teams this year?
RM: Go Yankees for the wildcard! =) And the Cardinals.
For the second part of the preview, we got a little personal…
HT: What’s your favorite baseball team?
RM: Boston Red Sox
HT: What makes it great/frustrating to be a fan of your favorite team?
RM: I grew up with the pain that came from loving that team, that’s for sure. 2004 and 2007 changed everything, before that, man, it was rough. You loved the team to death and you heard your father and your father’s father talk about how they never saw them win it. Then we got two in four seasons. So that was the top of the world! I love the front office of the Red Sox now, Theo Epstein, I love Joe Castiglione on the radio. And Fenway Park is one of my favorite places on earth.
The only frustrating part now is people hating on us. Same thing happened to the Patriots. But, what can you do? I’m a home team guy, born and raised. I love my teams.
HT: How do you feel about your favorite team’s offseason?
RM: Psyched. We got Lackey, so the rotations looking wonderful. And we became one of the best defensive teams in baseball on paper, with the addition of Beltre, an upgrade at shortstop in Scutaro, and Mike Cameron in center, moving Ellsbury to left. Plus, a full year of Victor Martinez will be nice. So I’m psyched. Pitching and defense this year all the way.
HT: Do you participate in Fantasy/Rotisserie Baseball? If so, how did your team do last year?
RM: I don’t. It’s sort of the same with video games, I just try to stay away. But our drummer James is way into it and is a sabermetrics junkie. He knows EVERYTHING about baseball stats as far as I can tell. Helped me out with this interview too. Thanks, James! Get in the van.
HT: How closely do you follow your favorite team when you’re out on the road?
RM: Maybe not as closely as I’d like, but we definitely follow. The tough
part is that I’m a HUGE fan of Joe Castiglione calling the games on Red Sox radio. It’s one of my favorite things in baseball, listening to that guy. So we haven’t hooked up how to listen to the local broadcast on the road just yet, but someday we will. But we check the scores for sure and watch/listen to as many as we can.
HT: What’s your favorite ballpark memory?
RM: My father had season tickets to Fenway for about 17 years from the time I was nine. So I have been straight-up spoiled on games over the years. Fenway is a special place. I was at game five of the ’86 World Series and for some reason have a distinct memory of Marty Barrett wearing a gray cap on the field after the game. Years later, the kids smoking a joint right behind me was pretty memorable. I can’t even imagine that happening now. Seeing Phish there. Watching Ray Charles sing “America the Beautiful” in the rain on an opening day game that got cancelled. Watching Pedro pitch in his prime. Too many!
HT: What’s your favorite stadium to visit?
RM: Wrigley is pretty amazing. Although last time I went, some fans around me were so jaded and negative I was shocked. But I think I just got a bad bunch.
HT: What’s your favorite ballpark food?
RM: Franks are always good but they require a beer.
HT: Who is your favorite player (current and/or all-time)?
RM: All time is Willie Mays. I wrote him a letter when I was ten and got an autographed portrait in the mail. Current, I don’t know if I really have one guy. I heard that Joe Mauer never breaks a bat because he always, always hits the ball on the sweet spot of the bat. That’s CRAZY. So maybe Mauer.
HT: What player do you love to hate?
RM: I try not to hate on anyone, because they’re all clearly talented dudes. But, hey, born and raised Red Sox, you can put it together…
This summer, the Ryan Montbleau Band will be touring extensively with Martin Sexton in support of Sexton’s Sugarcoating release. Not only will Ryan and the band open for Martin, but they will also act as Sexton’s backing band. The cross-country tour includes high profile gigs at Bonnaroo and Jazz Fest as well as a few dates opening up for the Dave Matthews Band.
2 Responses
go Sox! love those answers from Ryan. That’s really interesting about Joe Mauer always hitting the sweet spot of the bat and never breaking a bat. I’d never heard that before and I’m a baseball junkie.
Surprised he didn’t say his fave ballpark food is the Cuban sandwich @ Fenway. Those sandwiches with a cold beer is almost as good as a Youklis game winning hit.
keep these features coming HT!
He didnt run into a bad bunch at Wrigley, all cubs fans are that way.