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Latest Off the Mound has Geovany Soto
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Latest Off the Mound has Geovany Soto


Dec 11, 2020, 12:34 PM
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December 10, 2020 – 2008 National League Rookie of the Year and former Cubs catcher Geovany Soto will be the featured guest with his former batterymate on Off The Mound with Ryan Dempster presented by Sloan tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT on Marquee Sports Network. During the 30-minute episode Soto looks back on his eight seasons with the Cubs, including his breakout performance in 2008, being part of a long line of Puerto Rican-born MLB catchers, and how he managed on-field ups and downs during his career.



A preview of the episode can be viewed here. Select quotes from the episode are transcribed below:



On watching the Cubs in his native Puerto Rico and ultimately being drafted by the team in 2001:

“It was a dream come true to actually be the starting catcher of the Chicago Cubs. It was one of the teams that you saw in Puerto Rico, we saw them a lot. That’s why I mess a lot with Kerry Wood. I always look at him like, ‘Oh my god, that’s Kerry Wood!’ When he got the 20 strikeouts, I saw it at home…The Chicago Cubs family is my family. I come from there, that’s where I signed, I grew up there. It’s a family that waited for me with open arms and it’s really humbling for me to come out of that organization.”



On the long line of MLB catchers from Puerto Rico:

“Long story short, we’ve got big thighs [laughs]. … We take it very seriously. We like a challenge, and being a catcher you have to be on the game, you have to go hit, you have to go run, but then you have to take care of your pitcher. You’re more into the game, you’re like a manager, like a coach inside the lines. It’s an interesting job and usually when you’re a kid nobody wants to do the most tiring job, they just want to go out and hit and play shortstop. I think there’s something to be said about Puerto Rican catchers throughout the years. We’ve developed to be one of the greats in the world and I think now we know it, and we actually take pride in that.”



On his struggles to throw back to the mound:

“It was tough in my career. I think everybody goes through this. This is a mental, little block that you get and you keep believing and believing… It was a fear to just go out and play. It was a fear to just warm up the pitcher because this Rookie of the Year, the first rookie to ever start an All-Star Game can’t even throw the ball back. That’s the lie I kept telling to myself and failing on it. Obviously I come out the other end years later, but it was a struggle. Some things you can’t explain.”



Since its premiere on November 6, the second season of Off The Mound has featured conversations with guests including David Ross, Hall of Famer Jim Thome, Mark Prior, CC Sabathia, and Cliff Floyd. For more information about Off The Mound, go to www.offthemound.com, follow @OffTheMound, contact the Marquee Sports Network Media Relations Department, or reach out to Lorraine Fisher at lorraine@ldfcommunications.com.

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