Interview with Miami Marlins Glenn Geffner: Part II

MM:  Feel obligated to ask one question about the rumored sale of the team: do you see this impacting the way the club conducts business, in terms of either buying or selling parts, this summer?

GG:  I don’t know any more about the status of the potential sale of the team than anyone else who reads what’s been written nationally. From what has been said, it doesn’t sound like anything changes in the way routine baseball business is conducted.

MM:  You get a chance to travel with and interview the Miami Marlins players on a regular basis. Which Marlin do you think fans would be most surprised to see their off-camera persona? Basically, someone who only smiles when on the field, or someone who looks stoic in the dugout but is a cut-up the rest of the time?

GG:  I may not be the best person to gauge how people perceive players because I’ve never really focused on that. From my own experience though, I think Ichiro would be a guy I’d say has been a lot different than I might have expected before he arrived in 2015.

As single-minded and focused as he is (and he’s even more locked in than I could have imagined from afar), this is a guy who likes to laugh and have fun. I would imagine a lot of the younger guys in the clubhouse were a little unsure what to expect when he arrived a couple of years ago. But he quickly put everyone at ease and quickly became a big part of the clubhouse culture. 

MM: Fan geekiness creeping in, but just how cool is it to be in the presence of Ichiro?

GG:  I’ve admired Ichiro from afar since he first burst onto the scene in Seattle in 2001, so having the chance to watch him up-close the last 3 seasons has been incredible. The way he carries himself. The regimented way he goes about his preparation on a daily basis. The steadiness of his personality. The seriousness with which he approaches his craft. The way he fits into the clubhouse. It’s all been remarkable to watch.

I’ve been lucky over the years to be around a lot of great players in San Diego, Boston and Miami. Hall of Famers or at least Hall of Fame-caliber players like Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman and Rickey Henderson with the Padres. Players like Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz when I was with the Red Sox. Every one is unique in his own way. What I’m about to say probably doesn’t make sense in a literal way, because there may not really be degrees of “unique.”

But the best way I can say it is Ichiro is the single most unique player I’ve even been around.