August 20, 2004; April 29, 2016 – A star pitcher-outfielder, as well as valedictorian, at Cathedral High School in Springfield, MA, Chris Capuano was drafted out of high school by the Pirates but chose to go to Duke University on a baseball scholarship. Following his junior year, he was signed by the Diamondbacks, but before beginning his professional career he completed his degree in Economics at Duke where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The discipline and tenacity that enabled him to be a successful student-athlete at Duke helped him to endure and survive several obstacles in his big-league career, including two Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgeries and assorted other injuries.

Following a trade to Milwaukee, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound left-hander had his breakout season in 2005. His 18 wins were the most by a Brewers pitcher since 1987, and as of 2021, only three had ever won more in a single season. He was named to the All-Star team in 2006, but in 2007 underwent his second Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He returned to the Brewers in 2010, mainly as a reliever, then spent the next five seasons pitching for the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees, alternating between starting and relieving roles. In 2016 he returned once more to Milwaukee, where his season was cut short at the All-Star break by an elbow injury.

In spite of his many setbacks, Capuano never gave up on returning to the mound. His determination and work ethic enabled him to spend part or all of 12 seasons in the majors, compiling a record of 77-92 with a 4.38 ERA. Following his retirement, he earned an MBA degree from MIT and became Operations Director of the MLB Players Association.

Transcript

Interviewer: Larry Baldassaro

Date: April 29, 2016

Larry Baldassaro: You told me about your grandparents coming from Italy, then Springfield. What didn’t come up at that time, did they live near you? Did you grow up around your grandparents?

Chris Capuano: You know, I never knew, my dad’s parents. They died in the ’70s, a couple years before I was born. Yeah, so my grandfather was born in 1896, and my grandmother was born right around 1900. So, you know, they had 13 children, my dad being the youngest. And you know, I believe, you know, my dad was born in 1948, so that would have been, you know, my grandfather was nearly 60 at that point, 58, almost 60. So I never got to know them.

Larry Baldassaro: Oh, that’s too bad.

Chris Capuano: Yeah, my dad always said that you know, that he wishes I would have got to meet them, yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: As long as we’re on the topic of Springfield, can you talk about, you know, Springfield’s not a really big city, obviously, but there’s a pretty good history of major league people coming out of Springfield. Do you know about that, or can you talk about any of those people?

Chris Capuano: I know, you know, the one I always heard about was Vic Raschi, the Springfield Rifle, who pitched, for the Yankees. And but, you know, other than that, you know, I had Mike Trombley, who I spoke to when I was trying to decide to go to Duke, because he was a Duke guy, and he was in the big leagues at that time. And yeah, other than that, I don’t know. Are there a lot more?

Larry Baldassaro: Leo Durocher.

Chris Capuano: Mm-hmm. I’ve always heard that name, yeah, absolutely.

Larry Baldassaro: Harry Dalton.

Chris Capuano: Okay.

Larry Baldassaro: Former GM here.

Chris Capuano: Yep.

Larry Baldassaro: If you’re going way back, Rabbit Maranville who’s at a Hall of Fame.

Chris Capuano: Okay.

Larry Baldassaro: Little shortstop.

Chris Capuano: Really?

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah, it’s quite a history for-

Chris Capuano: That’s pretty cool

Larry Baldassaro: A town that size.

Chris Capuano: My dad was a shortstop. He’s only 5’9″.

Larry Baldassaro: I know.

Chris Capuano: Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: But your dad, I know about his Tri-County League days Danny Dolcino’s.

Chris Capuano: That’s right. Yeah, that’s right. Chris Corkum, all those guys.

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah. All right, well then let’s jump ahead to 2005. I mean, obviously that was a pretty good season for you.

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Yeah, that was you know, I broke into the big leagues in 2003, with Arizona for about a month and a half, and I was coming off of… That was one year to the day that I had my first Tommy John surgery, which was in May of 2002. So, you know, 2003 was just kind of breaking into the big leagues, and there was a lot of you know, really great veterans, on those Diamondbacks teams. You know, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams, and just a lot of great guys had amazing careers. But then when I got traded to Milwaukee that off season, you know, that, it was my first shot to really try to make the team out of camp, which I did in 2004. And you know, had some good moments, but I also had a pretty bad quad pull in 2004 that I missed some time, and I also had some elbow tendonitis, which was kind of scary towards the end of that year. So, 2004 was kind of a up and down year for me but I had some good moments. And then 2005 was, you know, my first real full season where I was healthy all year and made all my starts and, you know, winning the 18 games was you know, it was kind of good validation and something as a young player when you finally realize, you know, “Okay, I’m here, and now let’s see what I can do.”

Larry Baldassaro: And then 2005, 2006, you went to the All-Star game.

Chris Capuano: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Certainly.

Chris Capuano: That was really special. You know, certainly one of the highlights of my career. And to get there, I think I threw a couple of complete game shutouts against the Cubs, right before the All-Star break. That kind of, you know, helped me be at the top of the list when Tom Glavine ended up backing out of participating. I was able to get that last spot. So and, you know, that was just a pretty surreal time for a young player. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Were you… And this is kind of a silly thing to ask, I suppose, but were you surprised when you won 18 games that your first really full season and full healthy season? ‘Cause it didn’t happen around here very much.

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I guess so. You know, as a player, you’re, you know, you don’t think about the big numbers, you know, whether it’s trying to get 20 wins or 220 innings or whatever it is. You just, you know, you just kind of go out there and compete every day. So it’s really not until the off season when I sit around and try to evaluate or assess, you know, kind of how things went and, But, you know, at the end of that season, there was certainly, a sense of accomplishment and, you know, felt like it was a pretty special season.

Larry Baldassaro: When you first started playing pro ball, did any coaches or managers try to change how you pitched?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Absolutely. You know, the… My first year in professional ball, I was in South Bend, Indiana, and it was the Low-A team for the Diamondbacks. And I had a pitching coach, Royal Clayton, who’s Royce Clayton’s brother, who was a pitcher. And he really… You know, I remember my first game was a pretty good game. I pitched for them. I won the game, you know, thought I pitched pretty well. But he said, “Oh, that was pretty good, but, you know, we got some stuff to work on,” you know? And at that time, he really helped me develop my changeup, because even though I was having success at that level, he wanted to make sure that, you know, I was prepared to have success as I went up at the higher levels and in the big leagues. So I really learned more in that first year of professional baseball in 2001, or I’m sorry, in 2000, than, you know, I had learned pretty much in my whole college career. So, you know, there’s definitely, you know, when… And that’s the debate of whether you should sign at a high school or college for guys. And, you know, if you’re a high enough pick, you know, I know you wanna get your education, but the baseball education that you get in professional ball is so much more advanced, so, and faster, so.

Larry Baldassaro: So that was a positive experience. It wasn’t like you felt, “I know what I’m doing and you know, you’re gonna mess me up.”

Chris Capuano: No. And I’ve always been someone who likes to… I don’t wanna say tinker, but, you know, I like to experiment with grips and, you know, I’ve had to change, some mechanical things because of the injuries that I’ve had. So I’m always… And I always tell my pitching coaches, I told, Derek Johnson here and Lee Tunnell, I said, “You know, if there’s something you’re seeing or something, don’t ever be afraid to talk to me about it, share it with me, ’cause, you know, I’ll try it. If it’s something I like, I’ll incorporate it. If not, I’ll, you know, I’ll throw it out.” But you know, I like to have a lot of interaction and I like to continue to work on my mechanics all the time and pitches.

Larry Baldassaro: Had you not developed a changeup before that first year?

Chris Capuano: No, I really hadn’t. I really hadn’t. And we got in a situation in that first year when I was in A-ball where I would call my pitches for an inning and then my pitching coach would call them from the bench for an inning, and we’d kinda have a little game within the game against one another. And he would kinda force me to throw, you know, that changeup in any count or sometimes throw three or four in a row. And so that’s when I got comfortable. You know, and I think as you get to the big leagues, you have to be comfortable throwing any pitch in any count, you know, in order to really succeed, unless you have, you know, overpowering, blazing fastball and overpowering stuff. You’ve gotta learn to, you know, be confident so that the hitter can’t rule out pitches or really sit on pitches.

Larry Baldassaro: And that sort of became your go-to pitch, didn’t it, over time?

Chris Capuano: It did, yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Changeup?

Chris Capuano: Yep. It’s been a really good pitch for me and, you know, the breaking ball is something I’ve always, you know, struggled with a bit to get really… Some days I feel like I have a good sharp one, other days it’s not as sharp, but that changeup is usually there. You know? So I can usually rely on that pitch when I need to.

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah. Which is good.

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Other than that coach, others who had an influence on you as you moved along?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Man, I’ve had some great coaches. You know, my first coach, my first pitching coach here, Mike Maddux, was you know, really good about learning the mental side of pitching and how to you know, how to break down, attack plans against different hitters. And, you know, I learned a lot about the mental side of the game from him. And, you know, a lot of it was you know, not rocket science. A lot of it are the basic, foundations of pitching, things that you would get from reading “The Mental ABCs,” but by, Harvey Dorfman, who passed a couple years back. But he was great mentally, learning how to just become a big leaguer. And then after him, I had Rick Peterson, who, when I was coming back from my second Tommy John, Rick was very big into the biomechanical analysis and did a lot of, you know, video breakdown and motion analysis to try to help you get your delivery to be as efficient as possible. So I was able to, I feel like, take some strain off of my elbow after that second Tommy John working with Rick, which was really good. And he also had some ideas on Eastern, philosophy. He had spent some time in Japan and some of that I actually enjoyed. And I think… And I’ve actually continued to use it and kind of the meditation, the visualization, of hitting a target and you know, so just very different ideas that I hadn’t heard before. And yeah. Rick Honeycutt in LA was a very good left-handed pitcher and a, and is a very good pitching coach. I also, took a lot of things about my delivery, from working with Rick and also getting to play, you know, I played catch with Clayton Kershaw for two years when I was there and Zack Greinke, in 2013. You know, it… Every coach that I’ve had and the different really good players and pitchers that I’ve played with I’ve always, I’ve taken a little bit from everybody and, you know, the result is the experience I have now.

Larry Baldassaro: Tell me if I’m wrong, but when I watch you, your delivery is somewhat similar to Kershaw’s, isn’t it?

Chris Capuano: Yeah, I wish. I wish it was more similar. Yeah. He physically, you know, is just really a gifted athlete and he can do some things mechanically that, you know, physically are really hard, for-

Larry Baldassaro: Like what? I mean, it’s…

Chris Capuano: Well, the for instance, the pause he has right before he goes forward, which he basically gets to the same set out of the windup, the same spot out of the windup as he does from his stretch position. He kind of pauses and then goes to the plate.

Larry Baldassaro: And it jumps?

Chris Capuano: He does. He has the, you know, he has the high front side, which provides a lot of deception for him and then kind of comes straight over the top with it which I’ve always had a hard time with having a high arm slot just based on the way my body works. So he has a lot of deception as, in his delivery and, you know, obviously explosive stuff.

Larry Baldassaro: So the physiology can affect how a pitcher can or cannot throw?

Chris Capuano: Oh, 100%. Yeah. The, that’s why there is no… You can’t take a pitching delivery and just, you know, try to clone people and say, “Do this and you’ll have success.” It’s, everybody’s bodies are built a little bit differently, the way your hips and your pelvis work, the way your shoulder and the joint works. Everybody is gonna have to, you know, try to maximize their own, potential in their delivery. And it definitely varies based on body size and type and everything else.

Larry Baldassaro: So what does a pitching a good pitching coach see when you’re going into your delivery that an average Joe in the stands wouldn’t pick up?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. A good pitching coach… Well, I think the way the ball is leaving the pitcher’s hand will dictate, you know, a lot, you know. And, but typically, a pitching coach at the major league level will be focused mostly on rhythm and timing type issues, making sure that everything is on time in the delivery. And that’s, you know, pretty much in any rotational sport, whether it’s, you know, golf or swinging a bat or pitching. You know, there’s a certain sequence of things that have to happen in order for you to maximize, power from the ground up through your hand and into the ball. And so you’re looking for good rhythm and timing and just making sure that everything is happing, happening on time, making sure that the arm is continuing to move, you’re not getting stuck in any points in your delivery. That’s typically what they look for.

Larry Baldassaro: So the term that you often hear is, “The ball is coming out of his hand well.”

Chris Capuano: Yes.

Larry Baldassaro: And that means exactly?

Chris Capuano: It’s just a pure throw, a true throw, you know, if you will. If it’s… Anybody who’s ever played any kind of sport, you know, has experienced, you know, when the timing is right and everything comes out right, that feeling, and that’s what keeps us coming back, you know, that keeps us that gets us hooked. And so a pure throw or a true throw is one that, you know, you really feel yourself push right through the baseball the way you’re supposed to. It comes out, you know, on the trajectory that you imagined and typically, there’s some late life or late action. And that’s the key. It’s kind of, you know, going straight for, you know, about 50 feet or so, and it’s that last 10 feet when the hitter starts to react that the ball moves or explodes. And then you can throw, you know, two baseballs to a spot at, you know, 90 miles an hour, but have them come out of your hand very differently. You know, one might come out of your hand pretty straight, pretty flat, kind of on a flat plane as opposed to a downhill plane, and you can have one come out of your hand and it kind of jumps. It kind of gets halfway there and jumps into the catcher’s glove, and it, and that’s the difference between a, you know, I guess a truth, a true pure throw and kind of one that where the timing wasn’t really there.

Larry Baldassaro: You mentioned the Tommy John. You had the second one, and was that more difficult than the first to get through?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Typically it’s about a year recovery, you know, anywhere from 10 to 16 months typically. And my first Tommy John, I was back pitching at 11 months, in games and I figured I would have a similar timeline. It was six years later and I was 29 instead of 23, and when I got to that 11-month timeline where I thought I’d be back in games, I just kept having setbacks basically. I’d have hitters stand in there for live batting practice sessions and my elbow just kept, you know, kind of swelling up on me and giving me a lot of problems. So it just took, ended up taking me closer to 16 to 18 months to get back from that second one. So it was a lot longer than the first.

Larry Baldassaro: Did you ever reach a point in that process when you thought, “Is it worth it?” Or, “Is it gonna work?”

Chris Capuano: Well, I, it was always worth it. You know, the, you know, there’s nothing I think any of us would rather do than be able to come out here and play and do this for a living. So it was always worth it, but at some point, you know, I had to accept the fact that, you know, maybe it wasn’t gonna come back and I had to be okay with that, you know. I said, “You know, I’ve had a pretty good career up to now and, you know, I have my degree and I can, you know, I have a lot of options after baseball, so…” Once I accepted that I felt a real weight lift off me. I didn’t feel all the pressure to try to get back and that’s when actually things became a lot easier and I, you know, I kind of, I was able to come back and then appreciate it a lot more.

Larry Baldassaro: There have been very few pitchers, I don’t know exactly how many, who’ve come back from a second. So, how do you explain that you did?

Chris Capuano: I mean, I don’t know. I’ve alwa- I’ve always been good at you know, whate- whatever I was doing, I’ve always been good at being very I guess, patient and meticulous, detail-oriented and that’s how I attacked the rehab, you know. I really, I learned about the surgery, I learned about the rehab. I bought these big calendars, these big dry erase calendars and marked out different, way stations along the way. You know, knowing that if I checked every day off that, you know, I’d be one day closer and just really taking the mentality that, you know, not only will I be back again, but I’ll be better and stronger than I was before. And so really taking that mentality, every day and into my training and my rehab and also looking at that downtime because, you know, when you’re playing and you’re in season, you’re at the park, you know, 11, 12 hours a day and, you know, when you’re rehabbing, you, there’s only so much you can do. You go to the park, you’re there for three, four hours maybe, and then, you know, you’ve kind of done your work for the day. So, you have a lot more I guess, you know, free time or downtime. So, looking at that extra time while I was rehabbing as time that was given to me as opposed to time that was stolen from me was a big part of mentally being positive every day and getting through it.

Larry Baldassaro: In more recent years, you’ve made the transition from a starter to a reliever.

Chris Capuano: That’s right.

Larry Baldassaro: And was that frustrating at first or did you see it as a, like a downgrade or how did you approach that?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. It was frustrating in that I’ve had a really hard time, you know, learning how to become a reliever and learning how to tackle that schedule at, on the big league level, that routine. Because as a starter, you know, you have your five-day routine and I had done that my whole life and I was very confident in how to navigate that. And then in the bullpen, it’s different. It’s, you know, you’re ready to pitch every day and, you know, you don’t have, you know, you can’t go out there and give up a run in the first and still, you know, go seven or eight innings, one run, maybe two runs and keep your team in the game. You know, you’ve, there’s no leeway there. You’ve gotta be on it from pitch one. And so… And not only that, just the lifting schedule and the running schedule and how do you stay strong, you know, when you’re potentially gonna be in the game pitching every day. You know, that’s been the biggest adjustment for me, I guess. But also the camaraderie that the bullpen has, it’s like a team within the team, is something that I’ve really enjoyed. And, you know, this year when I came into spring training and I sat down with Craig Counsell and David Stearns and they saw, they said this was kind of the role they envisioned for me. I really tried to embrace it from the start of spring training and that has made a difference because in the past, I feel like I had fought it a bit and was always just trying, you know, felt in my mind that I was kind of doing it until I got a chance to start again. And, you know, who knows what the future holds. I would like to start again, but right now I’m committed to this role and I’m committed to trying to learn to be as good as I possibly can at it. So, it’s made a difference.

Larry Baldassaro: What is your daily routine like now?

Chris Capuano: Well, the relievers go out and stretch, about, I’d say let’s see, three and a half hours before the game, typically at home. So, you know, for a 7:00 game, I get to the park around 1:00, eat something around 2:00 is when I get going. And it, I usually takes me about an hour to an hour and a half of warming my body up, in the weight room or, you know, I spend a little time, in the hot tub at first just to get my arm warm, get my body warm. And then there’s a whole bunch of exercises I do. We call it movement prep nowadays, to, make sure that all the proper muscles are activated. You heard Tiger Woods, a few years ago, I know took a lot of heat in the media when he said I think his glutes weren’t firing, one day. And to the average person, that probably sounded ridiculous, but, you know, my, professional athletes say, know what that means and we’re in there trying to make sure that, you know, our hamstrings are firing properly and our rotator cuff and shoulder muscles are all properly, turned on and primed before we throw. And as someone who’s been injured, I need a good solid hour to hour and a half to make sure that I’m ready to do that before I throw. So, that’s an everyday kind of routine for me. Go out and play catch. And when we play catch as relievers, you know, some days you stretch it out a little more, some days it’s light catch. You’re spinning some breaking balls, you’re working on your stuff. That’s really your time to practice, because you can’t, you know, get up there on the mound and, you know, throw a full bullpen session like you would as a starter ’cause you’re available that night. So that’s where it gets tough because, you know, you might be pitching back-to-back days or you might not pitch for, you know, a week, you know, possibly, especially if you’re in this long roll. It could be four, five, six days. So you just have to pick your spots when you do your lifts, Typically, if we have a day game, I’ll try to lift after the day game because it’ll give me a few extra hours of recovery before the night game the following day. Or if you’ve pitched two days in a row and you know you’re probably not gonna pitch that third day, that might be a day to get in the weight room and try to get a lift in and make sure you’re keeping your strength up so you can get through a full season.

Larry Baldassaro: Apart from whether you’re starting or relieving do you think you’ve changed over the years as a pitcher, and how?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. You know, I wouldn’t say I’ve basically changed because I basically still have to do the same things. I’ve never thrown much harder than 90. You know, there’s been times where I’ve hit 92, 93, but nothing really consistent at that level. So, I’ve always been a guy who’s had to, you know, hit my spots, but I’ve always also had a little bit of deception in my delivery, which enables me to pitch in on the right-handers. So, you know, I’m always gonna be someone that pretty much has to hit their spots, has to change speeds on the hitter to throw their timing off, but also has to be… It doesn’t mean that you don’t… You still need to attack the strike zone. You still need to be throwing in the strike zone. Just need to be smart about it. And so, I think basically the way I pitch hasn’t changed very much, but the way I train and the way I think about my mechanics, has changed a lot as my body has changed, probably to enable me to still go out there and make pitches in the same way.

Larry Baldassaro: So, like everything else in baseball, you make adjustments.

Chris Capuano: Yeah, you have to, just because, you know, you… Physically, your body changes, from your early 20s to your late 30s. And, you know, the I think you just try to learn to be a little bit more efficient, in your training and in your throwing, you know, because you can cover up some mechanical flaws, if you’re really young and strong. But, you know, over the long haul, those things will kinda wear you down, and you need to learn to just be a lot more efficient with the way you’re doing things.

Larry Baldassaro: Apart from that 18-game win season, are there specific memories that stand out in your mind?

Chris Capuano: Let’s see. The first time I made… I pitched in the playoffs was 2013, with the Dodgers against the Cardinals, and I’m sorry, against the Atlanta Braves. And I remember I came in Ryu, our Korean starter, had come out after, I think it was in the middle of the fourth inning or the third inning, and I came in a game there, and I just remember, you know, seeing my heart beating through my chest, you know. I could feel my heart pounding, and I looked down, and I could see it actually moving, you know, underneath my jersey. And I think I was throwing, you know, 92, 93 that day, which is really hard for me. And I ended up throwing, like, three innings, and I got a win, and that was, you know, the most, I guess, amped up, I think I’ve ever been on a baseball field, pitching in that playoff atmosphere. And the first time I really understood what guys meant when they said they got that second wind, you know, when the playoffs came around, ’cause I hadn’t experienced it before that. And, you know, but you do, ’cause it’s a long season, and in September, you’re tired. Your body’s tired. But as soon as you switch over to October, you have this new life, this new energy, and you feel like you could just keep going forever. So that was really memorable to be able to experience that. You know, my other memories in the game, are just pretty much standard milestones for most people, you know. Like, the… In my first year when I got called up, Curt Schilling had a neck problem, and I got called up from Triple-A in July to start a game. And I remember, I believe it was on the 4th of July, actually, and we had the planes flying over, and it was a very, very patriotic, kind of event. It was still only two years after, September 11th. And so you know, there was just a lot of emotions in that game. And I remember my dad was at that game too, and I pitched really great. And so things like that as a young player when you know, when you’re first kinda getting used to the big stage and, you know, especially for… To have my dad to be able to kinda share in it, who loves baseball, you know, more than a lot of things. He’s, he just has a real passion for the game. So, that’s a… That one really stands out for me. And, you know, the All-Star Game experience in Pittsburgh in 2006, really stands out for me as well.

Larry Baldassaro: Are there some hitters that stand out in terms of just being tough to pitch to?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Albert Pujols, when he’s… He was really in his prime with the Cardinals, could be, you know, one of those guys. You know, Alex Rodriguez, he also, can… He’s a little more streaky, but when he’s hot, man, he can be very dangerous to face. So yeah, I’d say those two guys.

Larry Baldassaro: You told me about pitchers that you sort of admired when you were younger coming up. What about since you’ve been playing? Are there certain pitchers that have really impressed you?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. You know, Clayton Kershaw, I’d say, is just you know, probab- probably the greatest pitcher I’ve ever seen in, you know, in my current era. And he really is the total package, you know, in terms of, Just the kind of person he is. He’s very humble, you know, just a good human being. His work ethic is second to none. You know, he is very disciplined, and regimented in his schedule and in his work. And his ability to elevate his game when situations get tough is one of the things that impresses me most, you know, because he’ll sit there and he’ll be kind of going along in cruise control, and as soon as he gets a runner on second base, it’s like he turns up the heat, and all of a sudden, he gets better, you know, when the situation gets tougher. So I would say him, and then Zack Greinke’s another one who the last few years, you know, he’s really been on top of his game, and he’s someone who is just a pure athlete, whether it’s basketball or ping pong or golf or baseball. He has an unbelievable, body control, you know, hand-eye coordination. And watching him even just throw practice bullpens is it’s kind of mesmerizing, because, just because of how perfect his mechanics are and, you know, how he can go through stretches where he’s just in total control of the baseball. Yeah. Yeah. Tanaka could throw some impressive bullpens as well. He it was, we always joke when someone, you know, when someone is in that good of a zone or has that good a control, it’s like they’re playing Nintendo or a video game, you know? It’s like they’re controlling it with a controller and watching Masahiro Tanaka throw bullpens was like that as well. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: So here you are, a Phi Beta Kappa from Duke, and now it’s been more than 10, you’re what, this 12 years now in the majors?

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Well, yeah. The, well, this is my 12th, yeah. I have 11 now, yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: So what’s it like to be a Phi Beta Kappa in a clubhouse? I mean, did you face any kind of stereotypes at first from teammates or coaches, managers? I mean, ’cause there aren’t a lot of them in locker rooms.

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Maybe early on but not really. I mean, we’re all ultimately the same in here. The only thing, maybe where I was treated a little differently, especially when I first got to the big leagues, was a lot of the veterans said, “You know, you’re gonna be going to the union meetings and you’re gonna be our rep.” And, you know, they wanted to try to get me involved, in the, on the business side of baseball, on our union side. And that’s been fulfilling and interesting over the years to kind of get a little extra education, I guess, and being heavily involved in that stuff. But other than that, we’re, you know, we’re all the same, you know, in here. And, you know, hopefully, you know, hopefully my, the dedication that got me through school and gave me some success in school has helped me, you know, to navigate, you know, some of the adversity that I’ve had to go through, you know, just in trying to be smart about how I, you know, attack things. But, you know, book smarts are great and doing great in school is great, but I’ve learned to respect the genius that I’ve seen in a lot of my fellow Major Leaguers, because these guys, you know, and the guys who make it, you know, to the top level, these are smart individuals. You know, they’ve had a lot of life experience. They you know, they have to be pretty well-developed people, to navigate all the ups and downs and to get to where, to get to the top of the game. So… And not only that, but like I was saying before, I respect the genius that a lot of these guys have in their craft, in baseball, is humbling sometimes. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: How often have you been a rep?

Chris Capuano: Oh, I mean, you know, every year since I started going in 2003, and then, uh-

Larry Baldassaro: Every year you’ve been a team rep wherever you’ve been?

Chris Capuano: I have been, and then once I got I joined, there’s a couple committees, that make up the executive subcommittee of our union and the structure. And once I got on the pension committee, we would always elect two reps in addition to myself with whatever team I’ve been on. So that’s… So it, in the last couple years, we’ve had a couple of union reps, but it’s the more guys you have who are involved on a team, the better. So, yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: So what would you say that baseball has meant to you to this point in your life?

Chris Capuano: Man.

Larry Baldassaro: ‘Cause you’ve had other op… You had other options from the get-go, but here you’re still pursuing this.

Chris Capuano: Yeah. Baseball for me has been great because… I guess there’s a simplicity to it that you don’t often find in everyday life, where, you know, whatever struggles you’re going on in your personal life with your family or whatever’s going on when you come to the park, you know, no matter where it is, whether it’s on a playground or in a big league stadium, you know, the, it’s still 60 feet 6 inches from home plate to the pitcher’s mound and the base paths are still 90 feet and, you know- Three strikes, you’re out. Three… You know, it’s… The rules, I guess, don’t change. And so to have… To be able to do something where you can very often see your hard work, you know, directly pay off that I think is one of the things I feel really lucky, you know, to be able to do, I guess.

Larry Baldassaro: So when you finally decide that you’ve had enough hang up the old cleats, how would you like to be remembered as a Major League ballplayer?

Chris Capuano: I don’t know. You know, I mean, well, we don’t spend… I don’t know, at least I’ve never spent a lot of time looking back, you know, on my career and thinking about the grand, the big picture like that. But, you know, and I guess if I did, you know, I always say, you know, man, I think I coulda done a little bit better. I wish I coulda done better. I wish I coulda, you know, pitched better in this situation. And it’s easy to do that, but you have to… I guess the biggest thing that I wanna be able to do is just, you know, be able to be at peace, when I’m done, knowing that, you know, I worked hard every day, you know, I always tried to take care of myself, I tried to be a good teammate. You know, I always did the best in every situation I was put in that I could do at the time, you know, with the information, everything I had available. So you just want, you just wanna kinda leave it all out there, as the old cliché goes, you know? And… But I guess if I thought about how I wanna be remembered, mostly, you know, someone who did, who gave everything physically and mentally they had, who was a, you know, a good teammate, a good person to be around, a positive influence to be around. And hopefully through some of my involvement in the union, someone who tried to at least ensure that, you know, the rights and benefits that we have as players, continue and continue to even get better for the guys to come after. So, you know, so that guys 20, 30, 40 years from now hopefully, you know, enjoy a real meaningful stake in this game the way we do.

Larry Baldassaro: Is there anything that I haven’t asked that you wish I had or a topic that I haven’t brought up that’s important to you?

Chris Capuano: I don’t think so. Yeah. Not really. Maybe my wife a little bit, I don’t know. But this is a baseball article.

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah, it is.

Chris Capuano: Yeah. I don’t know. I can’t think of anything.

Larry Baldassaro: That’s great. Listen-