Through The Eyes Of...David McCarty, World Champion Human Being

(Photo by John Mottern/Getty Images)

For those of you who have followed my exploits on the Bleacher Report over the last several months, I hope you've learned this about me.

For one, my family and friends mean more to me than the very breath I breathe.

If I were in a boat with any of my family or friends and some one had to go overboard so that the others can survive, it's me.

Not because I'm a hero, but because my friends and family are.

Second, I love the game more than I love the final score. Wins fade away. The players and the memories are timeless.

Third, I'm angry about steroids, skyrocketing salaries, players who don't give it there all or make use of the God-given talent they have been blessed with. See Rules No. 1 and 2 above if anything seems out of whack here.

So when life circumstances allow me to bump into a fellow human being who seems to be a mirror of these sentiments and beliefs, I get all weak-kneed and fuzzy inside. Not because I had a brush with a star, but because I had a brush with a human that my kids and your kids can still look up to.

So when I had the opportunity to spend some time with former Major League utility man David McCarty, I got (see above)...all weak-kneed and fuzzy inside.

No, I didn't truly meet Dave in the flesh. I cannot tell a lie. But, while living this fantasy we call Sports Writer, I mustered up enough Khutzpah (see Todd's Yiddish Dictionary) to ask Dave to do a cross country interview.

Right in line with his character, he was open and gracious and giving.

The following is the first in a series I will be doing called "Through the Eyes Of....".

In each segment, I will present interviews with or stories about those that I view to be the "Good Guys". It is my personal crusade to present baseball in all it's beauty and splendor instead of hashing and rehashing all that is broken with our National treasure.

So, I present to you, the first in the series..Through the Eyes of ..David McCarty, World Champion Human Being:

TC: How many MLB teams did you play for?

DM: I played for nine different organizations, and was in the major leagues with seven of them.

TC:  What was it like playing ball at Stanford?

DM: It was a great experience. I am a strong believer in going to college before turning pro. It gives a young man the chance to get his education paid for while allowing him time to mature as a person and a player.

By signing out of high school players are going to have to hit all the stops on the way up and there is some pretty brutal travel and very little pay in the low minor leagues.

The one exception to this is if a player is such a high-round pick that he will get several million dollars and be financially set for life. Otherwise the money will still be there when a player signs out of college. 

TC:  If you could have won a WS, an MVP, or gone to an All Star game which would you do?

DM: No brainer—win the World Series. It was incredible.

TC:

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