Interview #20: Daron Sutton, Carol Wilsey-Sutton and Lexi Wilsey-Sutton
A family interview well worth the read, if you want the truth about the Dbacks polo shirt legend
Intro
So this one’s going to be a little longer because it’s three people’s stories in one. When I reached out to Carol for an interview, she was excited and said she’d bring her husband and youngest daughter along. At the time, I was worried about how my amateur interviewing skills would handle three people at once, but they were so good and so engaging and shared such interesting stories about their lives together that it ended up much better than if I’d done all three individually.
Carol Wilsey-Sutton, 46, who I know from our days working at P.F. Chang’s corporate office, was born in Chile and moved to California as a kid and then ultimately to Arizona. She’s one of the nicest people I worked with there and we’d occasionally talk about baseball, but I was super focused on being the best employee I could be so I was buried in my computer screen most of the time. 😉
Daron Sutton, 54, is an experienced play-by-play broadcaster who has spent years working in the booth for the Angels, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and nationally as well. He also is very involved with amateur baseball through his work with Perfect Game USA. His late father, Don Sutton, was a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Dodgers, with stints on the Astros, Brewers, A’s and Angels as well. He was also a broadcaster for the Braves on TBS for many years.
Lexi, 21, is Carol’s youngest daughter and now Daron’s stepdaughter. She was born and raised in Arizona and is finishing up school at NAU.
There’s three main things I wanted to share with this interview. First is the different ways all three of them are fans of baseball. There is more detail on Daron’s career and baseball life because it’s been part of his history for over 50 years now. So there’s some cool things about his broadcast career and also growing up with his dad, who didn’t stop pitching until Daron was a freshman at Auburn University.
The most fun part of the interview was when they share their baseball experience as a family. By the time Daron and Carol met, he was in his 40’s and out of Major League Baseball, but still involved with other baseball jobs. Carol’s baseball knowledge was probably 10% of what it is now and Lexi was a middle schooler who liked baseball but didn’t understand it. But in the last 5 or so years, all three of them have had this fire lit for the game that, in Carol and Lexi’s case, is them discovering the sport and falling in love with it. In Daron’s case, it’s how their fandom reignited his passion for baseball that, while never gone, had atrophied a bit after so many years in the sport and dealing with the harsh realities of the business side of baseball.
And then there’s their relationships. Carol and Daron had a completely different story than Lexi and her boyfriend, Jackson. Although when I was listening to Lexi tell her story about how they became a couple, it was almost the same thing I had happen to me last season. She was super excited about baseball and wanted to talk to someone about it, so they reconnected and one thing led to another and now they’re a happy couple. I liked a girl who got really into baseball last season and started talking to me about it all season, we went to a playoff game together, too. Except I’m an idiot and never got my bat off the shoulder, in baseball terms, and now she’s with someone else. So Jackson, at 21 years old, is way, way smarter than I am at 37. Oops.
I’ll mention a couple other things before getting to the interview that should make things clearer as you read it. First, one of the big topics that comes up often in this article is Daron’s brief stint as a play-by-play announcer for the Angels in 2021. He was fired mid-way through the season: Angels part ways with broadcaster Daron Sutton for rest of season. Also, we address this urban legend: Daron Sutton was suspended... for wearing a suit.
Three styles of baseball fandom
Carol: So when the season ends, Lexi has a small funeral. And she starts a countdown. Every day is like, how many days are left ‘til spring training. So I'm just giving you like a base of how much of a diehard fan she is.
Graig: Are you a Diamondbacks fan?
Lexi: No, we're Dodgers fans. Also Reds fans. Dodgers for me and my family. My boyfriend's also a Reds fan too, so we kind of picked that up for him a little bit.
Graig: Why the Dodgers?
Lexi: Dodgers is because of the family ties. And then Reds is part from my boyfriend, but then also part from… so we were Angels fans back in 2021. And then it ended poorly for the family. So we had to find a new team to enjoy. So we had the Dodgers and at the same time, the Reds were making a playoff push that year for the Wild Card spot. And they were a really exciting team. They had Castellanos and Winker and they were just a really fun team that year, so we kind of hung on to them. I brought them in on it too, and then we even stuck with them through 2022, where they had the worst year of their whole history.
Graig: So when did you start being a fan? Was it when Daron showed up?
Lexi: So I had always had interest in baseball, and I've been to my high school baseball games more than any other sport. I always said I was a baseball fan, but I never watched any games. I knew it was my favorite sport out of all of them, but without actually paying attention, I barely knew what stuff meant. And then when he started working for the Angels, we started tuning in every day to watch him. And then I started being very interested in learning about it and ever since then, I've just been loving it.
Graig: Are you guys from Arizona?
Carol: So I was originally born in South America, in Chile. I grew up as a kid in Claremont, California. And then I moved to Scottsdale in ‘93. So I've been here for a really long time. In my younger years, I just knew the big names like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire. Mark McGwire is actually from Claremont, where I was from, so that was a big name. I remember watching the World Series when the Diamondbacks won, back in 2001. Tori was a baby, so other than that I just knew what everyone knows, you know.
Lexi: I am, born and raised here.
Graig: OK, so you’ve been here your whole life. Well, you’re wearing a Diamondbacks hat.
Lexi: I just got this hat actually, because I was going to a spring training game last weekend and, being from here, I like the Diamondbacks. They're not my favorite team, but I go to the games a lot. I went to a Diamondbacks game for my 7th grade birthday party, so, I definitely don't have any hard feelings for them. I know Dodgers fans usually don't like Diamondbacks fans, and vice versa, but I was pulling for them last year after the Dodgers heartbreak.
Graig: Wasn't a lot of time for heartbreak. It was pretty quick. (Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in the NLDS). So why did you go to high school games if you weren't into watching baseball?
Lexi: I had a lot of friends on the team and I liked the idea of going to baseball games and the atmosphere of it and watching it and the fun parts, but I didn't super understand everything that was going on and, now what I do know, I realized how little I knew then, but back then I thought I knew stuff. So I liked it, but I never watched any games on TV or I watched like a couple of World Series games, but.
Graig: So it took a while to understand. Which is what I hear a lot. So Carol are you a big fan?
Carol: I mean, I watch it daily during the season.
Graig: Did you watch before meeting Daron?
Carol: No, for me it started also when Daron started working with the Angels. Like her, I was kind of a casual fan. But when Daron started working for the Angels, we would tune in every night, and then I got to know all the players. I'm a different fan in the sense that I watch and I follow more of their storylines, where these two sit and talk stats all night and it just goes right over my head. They're like, all night, what about this? They're looking things up and, ‘He sucks!’ ‘No, I can prove to you he doesn't suck, but he's better than this guy!’ and I'm more of the casual fan. But I do watch it every night, yeah.
During the season, it's on every night at our house. It's always the Dodgers game, and most days the Reds game’s on, and last year for the entire postseason and the games leading up to the postseason, I found myself, while I would work, my TV was always on because I was like, OK, they lose one more game then they still have a chance. We need this team to win. So I was doing that leading up to the postseason. So I would say I watch more than the average person probably does.
Graig: So if Daron hadn't come into your life, would you be watching?
Carol: Probably not, no.
Graig: So, besides him, like, yes, you'll watch to support him. But what made you like watching the game, aside from just that he's on TV.
Daron: Because that gets old real quick. I mean, let's be honest, it was fun. They watched to be supportive, but they also saved me. When I got let go by the Angels in ‘21, I was done with Major League Baseball. I have my job with Perfect Game, which is all amateurs, and it's amazing. It's a fun job. It's growing like crazy. But, I was fine to not watch games. And I came home and they were like, ‘We're not gonna watch games anymore?’ So they were interested in what I was doing, and supportive, but the game hooked them, not me. Is that fair to say?
Carol: 100%. Because I remember last year, you were so busy during the postseason, you’d come home and you'd ask me who won the games during the day. I’d be like this team won, they won, and they're three away. The Reds need to win today and you know, they need to lose. And so yeah, definitely it's not because of Daron anymore, ‘cause I watch it alone. If she was in school, I would still be watching.
Lexi: It was only half a season that time, but we fell in love real quick. By the time that happened, we had baseball gear everywhere, like Angels jackets and sweatshirts and dog collars. Once that happened, it was like, well, we can't give up now. We have to keep loving the sport.
Carol: And kind of what you were talking about, you touched on it a little bit. I feel like it's one of the sports where there isn't a lot of controversy, like from the standpoint of, the kinds of things in our society right now that make people hate each other, there's not too much of that. There's some, but not a ton. I love watching the kids that love the game, seeing families, dads and their sons at the baseball games, or old grandmas. It's such an experience and we are very fortunate in the sense that we've gotten to go to a lot of games.
Daron and Lexi take at least one trip a year, I feel like you guys have been to a lot of stadiums. There's just something about the game that I think it's family oriented. And there's not a lot of activities like that anymore. It's relaxed, and I can do other things while the game is on and it's dependable. It's there every night during this season. There's gonna be a game on every night and honestly, I think most TV's kind of junk right now. I don't like 90% of what's on TV. If we're going to put TV on the house, I'm glad we have that as opposed to a lot of the stuff that people are really hooked on. That's kind of why I love the game.
Graig: So there’s no Bachelor night at the Wilsey-Sutton house?
Carol: No, I don't like any of that stuff. Any of the Real Housewives or the Bachelors or the dating shows, none of that stuff. It's true crime or baseball. It's a fun experience to go to a game. Daron and I have gone on plenty of date nights to different games. Every time the Dodgers come in town or the Reds. Then Daron and Lexi take their dad-daughter trip to different places. She got to see the Reds Hall of Fame.
Lexi: I just went this last weekend. On Saturday I went to Salt River Fields. I just went by myself and I just walked around and enjoyed the game, took in the food smells, people-watched. I love it, it was because I was like, I need… I looked up when the first game I could go to because I was like I need, I need some baseball back. It's been a long time.
Graig: Carol, you have Daron working in baseball so it’s always around. But do you think if Lexi hadn't gotten super hooked, would you care as much?
Carol: Probably not, because I feel it's become such a bonding thing between the three of us. We have 4 girls altogether (Carol has two, Daron also has two, from previous relationships), but the other three, I would say are a lot more independent and kind of on their own. Lexi just finished school, she's the youngest so she's the only one that's remaining. As Daron and I are approaching empty-nester season like, we all have, the three of us have this in common, so it's been fun to share that together.
Daron: We started dating late in ‘15 and got married in ‘17.
Graig: So Lexi, you were still young when they got together.
Lexi: Yeah, I was in 7th grade.
Daron: My baby's the same grade. So she had her youth around baseball. But she's not crazy about it like Lexi is. She likes it, it's part of her soul when you're around it from your birth. Then my oldest, she goes to a game, it’s more of a social thing. Carol’s oldest daughter works in sports, but she’s not like a baseball fan. Baseball is part of her life. She worked at amateur baseball events, she learned how to do content working at baseball events. She learned way more at our stuff than one day in college, which is typical for most stuff, right?
Carol: Tori, my oldest, she's kind of a gamer and she plays The Show. (MLB: The Show, the baseball video game). So we always made fun of her, we’d call her a pretend fan because she never really knew what she was talking about. And all of a sudden she started naming different players and we were like, so have you actually been watching? And it's all from playing The Show.
Daron: Like their fandom, it's funny, and I won't bore you with this, but their fandom, it's amazing. In 2022, the Brewers reached out to me and were like, hey, we're honoring the ‘82 World Series team. We'd love for you to come represent your dad. And I was like, wow, that's amazing. I looked at it and I was like, I can come, and they said please bring your wife, we want to pay for that. And I was like there's one other baseball fan I'd love to include, so I'd love to invite my stepdaughter and they're like, no problem. So we got to go back and then they got to be a part of my past that, you know, because I was 12 and 13 when that happened. So they got to hang out with Robin Yount and Paul Molitor and Rollie Fingers and meet all those people. Because we were stuck in a group together. All the guys knew me, I was the bat boy.
Carol: We had so much fun.
Daron: So there's these moments, because they love baseball, where they got to tie back into my life. And my father's too. I got to ride in a car and wave. It was ridiculous. Like there’s Robin Yount… and Daron Sutton. It was amazing and to include them in that was amazing too. So we've had these moments where it's been very cool to have them be a part of it.
Two Types of Baseball Relationships
Graig: Daron, when you met Carol, it was obviously not baseball related. I'm thinking of the relationships I've come across… some relationships are literally like, one person has zero interest in sports and the other is passionate but they make it work. But for you as a baseball lifer, were you looking for a sports fan?
Daron: When I met Carol, she had no concept of what I used to do and what I did until we got to talk and explain it, it was funny. She had some of her friends at work, they were like, ‘Oh, my goodness. Don't you know who you're dating?’ Which I laugh at because who cares. But they said, ‘He was with Mark Grace for all these years and we watched, he was in our home every night.’
Carol: It was Meaghan. And do you remember Pat? (Meaghan and Pat were co-workers of Carol and I at P.F. Chang’s for several years).
Daron: Pat was in love with my dad. So she knew about me.
Carol: I told Meaghan that I have to tell Graig this story. I went on a date with Daron because Lilly, his daughter, and Lexi were friends. He used to help me out because I used to work with getting Lexi rides and whatever. And finally, he asked me to lunch and we went out. And then I was telling Meaghan the story after, like I would tell her if I had gone on any date. And she goes, ‘What does he do for work?’ I'm like, ‘I hear him talk something about some baseball radio show.’ She's like, ‘You're dating a guy that has a baseball radio show? What's his name?’ And I was like, ‘Daron’, and she’s like, ‘What’s his last name?’ And I'm thinking, what’s Lilly’s last name. I’m trying to think, because I knew his daughter. And I’m like, ‘Sutton.’ She was just like, ‘You’re full of crap’. Because her and (her husband) Scott were diehard Dbacks fans. And then Pat loses her mind, she was like, ‘That’s Don Sutton’s son!’ So Pat was all about Don and Meaghan was all about Daron. So I had to have Meaghan explain to me what his role was, because I had no idea.
Daron: You know, for me, I had my job with Perfect Game, which, back then when I met her, I was wrapping up being paid by the Diamondbacks to not work there, which was wonderful. When you want to court a woman, you have all day if you want to. I was doing tons of PAC-12 play-by-play, but I had all kinds of freedom. And then I evolved into working for Perfect Game. So I was around baseball a ton, but I wasn't chasing baseball like crazy anymore. The concept of fandom, like they said, we watched the 2020 World Series because it was the pandemic and we were like, this is interesting. Let's root for the Dodgers. But it was about this much clapping (proceeds to golf clap) compared to how we’re living it now. Until that Angels job came in, it had been a decade since I called big league games. I had done Fox games, I had done a million things around amateur baseball, but I had not been someone's voice for almost a decade. So, our family was moving on, and baseball was a small part of it, but nothing like it is now. So Carol and I would talk about baseball. And we’d go to a game on occasion…
Carol: We watched the Cubs win the World Series.
Daron: We did because your father loved the Cubs. But now it's a big deal and I'll give them a ton of credit for their newfound passion for the game. When I got fired, I was good. I was like, I'll go back to my job at Perfect Game. I kept that job the whole time. And literally, she's right, it was like, well, wait, we still love baseball. And it was their love that pulled me back. All my life, like almost too much baseball in my life, to have kind of a new perspective on it, a new way to see it, a new excitement was very fun.
And you talk about relationships and meeting. I'm going to talk way out of school. This is scientific. This is fact. She's got a very nice boyfriend. And they’re pretty serious. He would not be her boyfriend if it wasn't for baseball in 2021. That's fact. And it's not like, OK, if baseball didn't exist, they’d hate each other. That's not what I'm saying. But because of what happened to me, then what happened to us, and then her passion for the game, and his passion for the game. It's 100% why they're a couple. Now, all the other things that really matter about coupling: trust, respect, love, all those things that truly matter, but the entree, the centering point was baseball. And he got in really good shape when got home from college.
Lexi: I can tell this story, too.
Graig: So your boyfriend is a Reds fan? Let's get your side of the story.
Lexi: So we were friends in high school. We had known each other before. He played baseball. He was always a big baseball fan, but he even admits that he was not a baseball watcher. He had a little bit when he was a kid here and there, but never watched every day. We graduated high school, went off to different colleges, kind of lost touch, didn't really talk anymore. And then when Daron started his Angels job, I started watching every day. I know there's a lot of girls, not to be stereotypical, who will start liking a sport because of a guy. And I'm always careful and like, ‘No, I didn't start because of him.’ I started before, and I started watching every day.
I'm watching every day, I need a baseball friend.
And then I was like, I need someone to talk to about this stuff. I'm watching every day, I need a baseball friend. And so I reached out to him, I was like, ‘I remember you were a baseball fan. Do you watch?’ And he's like, ‘I just started watching last year’, because it was COVID back in 2020 and so that's when he started watching baseball again because we were locked inside the house and had nothing better to do. And so it's like, well, my stepdad just got a job announcing for the Angels so I've been watching every game. And then we kind of started talking about that and he started tuning into the games to watch Daron so we could talk about it, and he would tell me about the Reds. And then we started talking more because of that and now we love baseball together.
Our first official date was at a Diamondbacks-Reds game. We love it. He's coming home in like a week from school. Our plans are to go to spring training games. Once I lost the Angels, I got hooked on the Reds. And to be fair, they were an exciting team at the time, so if they hadn't been as exciting, maybe I wouldn't have ever become a Reds fan. But it's cool, too, because they have the history and even like the reason I got (Daron and Carol) to join the Reds bandwagon with me is because Daron said he grew up, even though his dad was on the Dodgers and A’s and Astros, he grew up in the time of the Big Red Machine, so he appreciated them as a kid.
And there's the famous story of him as a little kid and someone asked him who's your favorite baseball player and like, right when his dad was huge and everything, he went, Pete Rose. So it wasn't solely because of my boyfriend, but definitely helped. And then yeah, he's right, if baseball wasn't involved it probably wouldn't have happened. It was very much part of the foundation. So he's a big fan too. He watches every day as well.
Graig: So that's funny because with Carol, she would have thought Daron was an insurance salesman for all she knew if our co-workers hadn’t told her what he did, and now she’s become a baseball fan since. But then you and your boyfriend, it was literally, I need to talk to someone about baseball and then the relationship grew out of that.
Daron: I will poke him by saying she's a smarter baseball fan than he is. She's got that mind for the analytics and beyond, she gets it. We'll talk about defensive range. We'll talk about the runs saved. We'll talk about WAR. We'll go to Fangraphs together.
Lexi: Yeah, I've actually put my boyfriend to sleep before when I call him on the phone at night. I'm like, ‘Hey I'm looking at the 1990s best batting averages. And it's this guy and this guy, this guy is interesting.’ And he's like, I'm seriously going to fall asleep because of everything you're saying right now. He knows a lot of names and watches and he plays The Show, I think that's why.
Daron’s Career
Graig: So you’ve had a ton of baseball lives, right? Your dad was still playing when you were born.
Daron: I had maybe, of all the the sons of players or daughters of players, I’d put mine up with anyone’s. He started playing prior to my birth and he played until I was a freshman in college. It was my entire childhood. Yeah, so most young kids, oh, my dad played back before I was born, or my dad played ‘til I was 3, or my dad played ‘til I was 7. Mine was totally different. It was my entire life. And then I played, poorly, because I was legacy, but I played in college, played a little bit in the minor leagues. Then I went to CNN and worked, kind of learned to be a journalist and a content creator. I was a tape editor and did all the low level jobs. But I longed to get back to baseball.
And then my other baseball life started when I became a Major League announcer again. My dad was a hall of fame broadcaster for the Braves. So he broadcast for the Braves enough to go into their Hall of Fame, played well enough to go into the Baseball Hall of Fame. So yeah, he had a long career.
Graig: And then what’s the order your broadcast career went?
Daron: Angels announcer on radio for two years. Brewers announcer for five years on TV, play-by-play. Then five and a half with the Diamondbacks. My favorite thing from back in those days was I got to every Saturday, I got to do games with Joe Garagiola every Saturday. The old announcer who's long passed. that was amazing. And he was old enough to where his final year, I did games with him, they're up by Mayo. There's a senior condo place he lived in. So I would pick him up, we’d drive to Chase Field, we’d do a Major League game together and I’d drive him home. Now you want to talk about, like a thrill of baseball history and being around… And he was still sharp as could be. He was a really good announcer, but it was so fun to bridge those gaps there.
Graig: And so when you did your most recent stint with the Angels, you weren’t really looking at the time?
Daron: Oh I chased jobs. I've chased jobs because I love it. I love it. I 100% love doing it and I love it more professionally than anything in this world. I love my job now, and they're very good to me. I sat with Bobby Witt Jr. today and did an in-depth interview, the same Bobby Witt Jr. I covered when he was 14. So I love that part of my job.
With the right scenario, I’d go back again in 2 seconds, even to be treated exactly like I was treated in 2021. I would do it 100% again. So I love calling games. But, in the right setting now. I have a family, I have a wife, I have a mother-in-law. I'm not going to go to Pittsburgh and then go to Florida for spring training. I have a good job, I love what I do.
So the Angels thing… in ‘16, before we got married, I was one of two finalists for the Astros job. I kind of punted the interview by making it clear I had no interest in ever moving there because, I was thrilled to be considered, thrilled to interview, but I was about to blend a family. And you don't blend a family by going half a year to Houston. You don't tell a woman you love her and then do that. So I was thrilled when he called me and said no, you're not getting it . Because I said I'm not moving to Houston.
Graig: Carol, would you have moved to Houston?
Carol: No, no, I didn't want to move to Houston. Actually, it's funny because I like Texas. I would probably move there right now. I just can't because, we had four kids, and my dad passed away the year we got married, and my mom’s all by herself, and I'm her primary caretaker. So until my mom's gone, moving’s not an option. I'm her primary caretaker, so I we care for her and we know that that's a priority right now.
Daron: And I’m her co-primary caretaker. You know, I say that humbly, like I'm her partner now. And that matters to me. I'm not going to drag off to Boston for six months. I'm not saying they want me anymore, but I've had like, I chased the Tigers in the winter and I was a finalist, probably top two or three. Jason Benetti got it and he should have because he's ready now. That would have been hard, that would…
Carol: That was scary. I was scared.
Daron: But I was very interested in it. I've had so many fun baseball lives and I regret none of them. They've all been amazing.
The Diamondbacks Polo Shirt Urban Legend
Graig: So were you really fired from the Diamondbacks because of a polo shirt?
Daron: So I was a kind of an egotistical, sassy, mid-40s guy at that point. I was on the network track, I had kind of a volatile owner in Ken Kendrick, who still remains volatile (example: "We may run out of time in Phoenix."). And I push back a lot, sometimes publicly, and sassed them on on the air. None of it was fireable. But now, as an older person, a little wiser, I understand. I don't ever agree with it, but I totally understand it. I know for a fact I learned way more from it than they did, and grew way more. The whole clothing thing never happened. I stayed quiet so I could get paid.
Graig: Aw, man. It’d be so much funnier if that was true.
Daron: I know! I was watching Foul Territory (a baseball podcast). That came up on Foul Territory the other day.
Carol: Your t-shirt thing?
Daron: Yeah, yeah, yeah. AJ Pierzynski was like, ‘What was that guy’s name? Wouldn't wear a Diamondbacks t-Shirt and the host, Scott Braun, was like, ‘Well, Daron Sutton. He's a friend of the show. I think he wanted to wear a nicer outfit.’ And I was like, none of that ever happened.
Carol: Pat told me that he lost his job with the Dbacks because he wouldn't wear the polo shirts, he wanted to wear a suit.
Lexi: That's what my friend Sophie's uncle said, too.
Daron: That never happened. If you go back and watch the final broadcast I did, I'm wearing a Diamondbacks golf shirt. An Internet urban legend, right? But I was fine with it blowing up. I was fine with it because I got a paycheck every two weeks for four years. So say whatever you want as long as it's not libelous.
Graig: Did that one leave a sour taste?
Daron: 100%
Graig: Did you get along with Mark Grace?
Carol: They still do. It's kind of funny the texts that he will get from Mark Grace.
Graig: I bet those are hilarious. They're not PG-rated, are they?
Daron: Not all of them. I'm very proud of the work we did because even though we're very different people, when the game ended, we were very different people. And that's OK. But I'm very proud of the fact of, as a team, how warm we were, that people wanted to hang out with us. And I think sometimes announcers misunderstand their role. They should describe the action, they should inform. But what makes me most proud still is the random person that will still be like you're the Dbacks guy, aren't you? Well, that's 15 years ago now. I'm proud of the fact that we were kind of like two brothers talking baseball, older brother, younger brother, gigging each other and watching the game as most of us watch it, just as Lexi and I watch it. She's my Mark Grace now. She lives a cleaner life, but she's my Mark Grace. Like we go back and forth watching the game. I'm very proud of the work we did. Very proud of it.
Graig: And then when you went to Anaheim, you had to go there to broadcast, right?
Daron: Kept the home here. Rented a place there. It's an interesting place to work. That's all. So yes, I went out there. It was fun because Matt (Vasgersian) and I shared the role and I'd fly home when I wasn't doing games or the family would come out and stay a couple of days, we had a blast. If that would still be going on, we'd be having a good old-fashioned blast (note: remind me to go get an old fashioned after this).
Carol: We rented an apartment out there, fully furnished, so we didn't have to, move our stuff. It's such a quick flight. Sometimes Daron would come home for the day, and I'd fly out to see him and I'd stay for a week and then I’d come home. And so it worked out really well.
Favorite Baseball Stadiums (yes, plural) and memories
Daron: Old Yankee Stadium was amazing. It was amazing.
Graig: The new one’s like a cathedral.
Daron: Or a mall. A little bit of both, just because of the size, you know what I mean? It is like a cathedral too.
Graig: Lexi, what’s your favorite baseball stadium and why?
Lexi: Oh, that's so tough. I have different things I like about different stadiums. The best I can give is a not very straight answer. Coors Field has the best food. That's what I learned. Great American Ballpark I really liked because of their museum. That part pushed it so up the list for me.
Daron: Give us the other seven ballparks that make up your favorite ballpark.
Lexi: I wish I had a more straight answer. They just each have their own thing. The the Reds Museum at Great American Ballpark really pushes it up there or me. It was a really cool experience for me, like, why doesn't every stadium have this? That really blew it out of the water for me. Dodger Stadium is just beautiful in it’s own sense. I liked the outdoor-ness of Angel Stadium. So basically, those are my favorites. and I haven't seen. I want to see. I could put
Graig: Well, which one do you want to see that you haven’t, then?
Lexi: Right now one on my list is the Oakland Coliseum. That's our possible next trip. I got to go before it's gone. But I guess like actual greatness-wise, probably the next one I want to see is Oracle Park for the Giants. That's or Petco for the views and greatness-wise, I don't know. There's so many. There's so many. I do want to see Yankees. I want to go to Fenway.
Graig: Sounds like you need a road trip.
Lexi: We do quite a lot. We went to Coors last summer. We went to Great American Ballpark the first year I was a fan. Brewers. Dodgers. Angels. I've been to Globe Life, that one was cool just because it was so new.
Carol: So you really couldn't narrow it down?
Lexi: But for which one I want to see, we're going to land on Oracle.
Graig: And then what's your favorite baseball memory? Actually, now that I know you can't narrow things down, I’ll let you think about it and go to Carol next. Alright. Carol, favorite stadium?
Carol: You'll be surprised it's not what you think it's going to be. I think it’s Petco. I really liked it. I haven't seen nearly as many as they have. I've only seen, I don't know, five, I guess. So out of the ones I've been at Petco, I just really liked.
Graig: And what's your favorite baseball memory?
Carol :It's more for emotions-related reasons, but after Daron’s job ended with the Angels, we were so sad. It really felt like we were grieving at home. Like, I don't cry and I would break down crying several times. It was because it was just hard to understand why somebody would do something that bad with no reason. But then we decided we just, we're going to love the game and they can't take that from us. We love the game and we went and to a Dodgers-Angels game like a month after he got let go at Dodger Stadium. And it was kind like, you can't take this from us. We're still baseball fans and we had the funnest time.
Daron: The Dodgers gave us amazing seats. We were field level. The Dodgers were great to us.
Carol: So I think it was just more symbolic cause it was like, you're the Angels. We don't have to hate you despite of what you did and you can't take our love of baseball away from us. And we're embracing the Dodgers, and we're going all in. And it was kind of fun. It was a really bad thing and a really fun memory. And Daron got to show me so much. I've heard so many stories since I've been with Daron from parents, specifically, Daron's mom. She was a Dodger wife for so many years. She’s got tons of stories about this stadium where Daron would go and where he would hang out. So having Daron walk me through and show me all the different things at Dodger Stadium was a lot of fun.
Daron: It was amazing. Those things are incredible, you know, and that's my answer. Dodger Stadium. Nothing's even close. But I love them all. I love the bad ones. I love the weird ones. I love the empty ones. I love the full ones. But Dodger Stadium is where I fell in love with baseball. You know, it's where back in ‘74, ‘75, ‘76, ‘77, you know, 6, 7, 8 years old, the world was safe enough where my dad could have me a $5, not a $20 or a $50, but a $5. And I could run around the stadium and buy hot dogs and a soda until my mom would come.
Graig: While your dad was in uniform?
Daron: Yes, I’d go in with him. He had rules. I had to respect all the rules. If I ever stepped out, if I ever interrupted prep, I couldn't come. So the discipline that went along with going to the office with Dad was very unique. And then running around the stadium and being a part of a time that won't return again, which is not bad or good, it just it was what it was. That stadium and now being around the evolution of it, what it's become, the growth of it. So Dodger Stadium, you know, and like, I got to bring Carol and Lexi there. I got to sit next to Vin and call Major League games there. He was the booth next door. I've gotten to do a Fox game in Dodger Stadium in his chair. So that stadium is just so, so much of my life.
I love PNC. It's spectacular. It's overwhelmingly beautiful. I love San Francisco's ballpark. It's unique. I love Seattle. I loved my games in Oakland when they bang the drums in left field and 5,000 people would be there and the flags to be waving. I've called games in Fenway, I've bat-boyed (is that a word?) at old Yankee Stadium and called games there.
I don't know that I have a for-sure baseball memory. The stuff that I've shared with them has been incredible, but I'd say probably my most favorite baseball memory, which encompasses like a coming of age, where I was old enough to understand the game, was being present and understanding, and being close to being drafted myself, and my father won his 300th game.
Carol: With the Angels.
Daron: And I was on the field. I was part of the clubhouse staff. I shined shoes. I cleaned stuff up. I was part of that world. I also happened to be a high school baseball player down the road, I could drive. He had been limping to the finish line, which anybody at that age does. And that night, he threw a complete game. He hadn’t thrown a complete game in forever and a day. And to be out there and to see him do it, to see him seek me out when he won it. For me, as far as taking in a game, that's probably my favorite baseball memory was my dad's 300th. Then, but there's so many, I almost feel like I'm slighting 100 others, including my personal memories. Lexi and I going to a Reds game after. And even when we went to the Dodgers game, having the Angels people look up at me like, you're here hanging over the the bullpen? The bullpen coach waving at me, like we miss you.
Graig: So do you think… like you were never gonna not love baseball. But it sounds like, like anybody else, baseball has given you love and then punched you in the face and then given you love and kicked you in the nuts. So do you think this whole family dynamic really ignited… where do you think you would be if that didn't exist?
Daron: Not the same place at all. It's almost like, and I’ll use faith as an example, I'm a new Catholic. I wasn't a cradle Catholic. And I did realize going through the training and the classes that I came through the other side on fire. Like on fire for my faith, and I watched people around me be like, wow, I've been a Catholic since I was zero, and it's kind of cool that you're that on fire. That's what they did for me with baseball. I've been a baseball fan since I was zero and I've loved it since I was zero, but kind of like, ehh I'm a baseball fan.
The Angels became my favorite team because of that 300th win time, the Angels signed me out of college, they gave me my first big league job as a radio announcer. Even when I was sitting here announcing Diamondbacks games, I was checking on the Angels. I was the fanboy calling everybody like, why have we traded Trout yet? Then I got to be their announcer, and I was like, I can't believe I'm announcing for my favorite team. And then, like you said, that's the kick in the nuts.
For sure yes, for sure. And theirs was more innocent. Like I've got a lifetime around it, you know, I've seen it. I've seen what the game can do to families on the negative side, I see how hard it can be on a marriage and on the negative side, personally and as a son. So with all that involved, there's a purity to it that which brought me back to why I actually love the game, if that makes sense. Especially at the highest level. I love my job with these kids. It's amazing. And that wasn't going to go away. But loving the big leagues, I was good. I was like, I'm good, I'll take a break. I'll just interview the young Bobby Witts and we'll build stuff around them. I love all levels of the game.
Lexi: Hey I came up with my baseball answer. I have to give some shout outs first. I went to Cooperstown. Going to my first baseball game as a fan back in 2021, so actually getting to go to a game and seeing Shohei Ohtani, my favorite player, in real life, I thought I was going to pass out. I was so excited. I got to meet Joey Votto.
Going to the surprise Reds game. And the Brewers thing was really cool, too.
I'm gonna go with the first memory that popped in my head when you asked me. I think the time I was maybe the most giddy… So I never played softball, I never played baseball or anything growing up so, I've been a fan watching it and never actually being a part of any of it. Daron gets to interview a lot of cool players and I got to come along a few times. One of the times was he interviewed Mookie Betts and Corbin Carroll on the same day and I got to come along and shake both of their hands and that was really, really cool. But the coolest part of that was, after he interviewed them and I got to meet them and I was starstruck, he walked me over to the dugout where the Dodgers were warming up for their game that day.
And I got to be standing in the dugout overlooking the field with Max Muncy and JD Martinez and David Peralta all walking past me and I was like, shaking. I didn't know what it would look like to be standing in a dugout, in a professional dugout, with players overlooking Clayton Kershaw throwing pitches like five feet away from me. And then I talked to the on-field reporter, Kirsten Watson. And I was like, I watch you on TV every night. And then as if it couldn't get any cooler, I walked out and Dave Roberts was crossing paths with us. He was like, ‘Ohh hey! And who's this?’ I was like, oh my gosh I’m talking to Dave Roberts and him asking me questions and he’s the nicest guy ever. And so feeling like I was observing a team and being part of it, that was one of my coolest memories. That was the first one I thought for favorite baseball memories.
It was just so cool. I wish like, in a different life, I could have been, like every little boy is like, I want to be an MLB player one day. I'm like I kind of wish I could have done that. The funny thing is that I'm like so not athletically inclined. My bucket list is to stand on a field one day I think. Just like when you watch it, and then getting to be in, it is just seems so cool. And so that was the closest I had ever come to that. Where it feels almost otherworldly when I'm watching on TV. And then I'm here and they're just walking right by me and tying up their cleats.
Bauer the dog, and Kiefer the Sutherland
Carol: So since you brought up the dog, I have a question. Is it Bauer? Is he named after Trevor?
Graig: Jack. (Bauer from 24)
Daron: I've been to that one time. Baseball got me in to see the recording of that show. Was very drunk that day.
Graig: Jack Bauer or you?
Daron: No, Kiefer Sutherland. I was there that night.
Graig: Yeah, that sounds about right.
Daron: Our stage manager, at Dodgers games was like, I got you guys passes, I'll bring you in. I don't know how Hollywood works, but he was our stage manager (for the game broadcasts). He was with me at the Angels for that half year, I brought him over. But he got us in, and I've never like, you know, seen the whole blocking of shots and the whole thing where it's not a studio audience show. We're way out to the side. And they had to call it an hour in because he had drank way too much the night before.