We are joined by Mikie Mahtook. Mikie was a member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in 2010 following his Sophomore season at LSU. He is a Louisiana boy turned LSU Baseball legend who helped lead the Tigers to a College World Series championship his freshman season. A first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays, Mikie has spent time at the big-league level with the Rays and Tigers. He is now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization after signing with the club this past offseason.
USA Baseball (USAB): Let's first talk about your decision to attend LSU In the first place. After your senior year of high school, you had committed to the LSU Tigers, the hometown team about an hour down the road, and you were drafted by the Florida Marlins, was there any possibility you weren't headed to Baton Rouge?
Mikie Mahtook (MM): A small possibility. My dad and my uncle both played football at LSU, my whole family went to school at LSU, so I was going to LSU football games and baseball games from a young age so that's where I wanted to go, that's the place I wanted to be. My situation was a little tricky as a football player first and then a baseball player second. Football recruiting got heated a little bit earlier than baseball did so for a little while there I thought I was going to play both in college but at the end of the day I made a decision in the middle of my senior football season I just wanted to play baseball in college and LSU came to me and asked me if I wanted to go to school there and play baseball there. I initially committed to LSU as a preferred walk on because they had changed the scholarship rules that year and I had taken so long to make a decision that LSU didn't have any scholarship money left.
So I committed as a preferred walk-on and then went through my senior baseball season and had a great high school senior season and started shooting up draft boards. I had never once in my life thought about getting drafted out of high school. My goal was to get to the major leagues, but I always thought I was going to go to college and then maybe get drafted and make it to the big leagues. But once I had that opportunity and scouts started talking to me, I had no idea what I was doing. My mom and I talked about it and thought we didn't really want to go so we gave them this really high number that they didn't even bat an eye on, so we thought maybe we should have gone higher. But we weren't really ready to sign so there were a few teams that were really high on me, but at the end of the day I called them and said I wanted to go to school and develop more as a player and I appreciated the interest and then I think the Marlins drafted me just as a courtesy selection that late in the draft. But it was a very cool experience that helped prepare me for when I would get drafted.
USAB: Had you had any conversations with big league scouts prior to that draft? Did you have a sense of where you might be drafted?
MM: Yeah, like I said I'd never really expected to get drafted and then all of a sudden you start getting at-home visits, and you start getting phone calls, and then you start having people come to games more often specifically to watch me. So we didn't really know what we were doing. We talked to some people in our hometown that had been drafted, going to ask them for some advice and what we need to do. And one day I had a conversation with my family where I said look I've never focused solely on baseball in my life it's kind of cool that I'm getting looked at to further my career as a professional, but I think for my development I need to go to LSU and focus strictly on baseball. Put football aside. Once I did that, I still kind of wanted to get drafted high, just to pump the ego just a little bit. But I knew after I told him I wanted to go to school that I probably wasn't going to get drafted as high as I thought.
USAB: You get to LSU your freshman year and you guys put together one of the best seasons in program history. You win SEC Tournament MVP. You get to Omaha, cruise through to the College World Series Final, and you come up with the game-winning hit in extra innings of Game 1 against Texas. What do you remember about that game?
MM: First thing I remember was it was extremely, extremely hot. I remember I had to get an IV in the middle of the game because I couldn't stop cramping. The game was actually on TV the other day and it was the first time I ever rewatched it and they said it was 107 degree heat index so it was steaming. After that I remember in my first three at-bats I struck out. Not good at-bats. My fourth at-bat I put the ball in play but I hit into a double play. So I'm 0-for-4 and I made 5 outs. And I'm thinking this is not how I wanted this to go. Then my fifth at-bat I ended up swinging at a pitch way in the other batters box but somehow found a hole for a base hit. And then I got the game-winning hit in the 11th and it was a surreal moment. Obviously you work all year to get to that point and you hope to have an opportunity to come up with a big hit like that and I was able to battle through a tough game and was able to come through so it was exciting. I think the coolest part about that was the way my teammates reacted after I got the hit.
USAB: Were there any moments that came back to you while you were watching the broadcast?
MM: I remember watching my swing and seeing that they are spinning me slider after slider after slider. I'm a freshman and I'm still trying to make adjustments. I know at that moment I told myself I have got to figure this out. I have got to put this ball in play. And then I finally put the ball in play and believe it or not after I hit into that double play I was able to exhale, even though it was a double play. Because I didn't hit it terrible, but I didn't hit it great because obviously it was a ground ball to the second baseman but I exhaled and thought alright, got a little of the barrel, I put the ball in the play, we have some action here. I'm okay. I can exhale a little bit. And then the next one I found the hole with a lucky hit. Then my last at-bat I tell myself just find a way to get this thing into the outfield and get the hit. And I was able to do that.
USAB: That was game one. What about the series clinching game? What are your memories of that clinching game and claiming the title?
MM: So we had to come back to win the first game. DJ LeMahieu hit a 2-RBI double in the ninth to tie it and then we won in extra innings. Then in game two we had to face Taylor Jungmann and he threw an absolute gem. I think they beat us 5-1 and we had no shot against him that day. He was just on. So the third game, we walked into the clubhouse and had this weird confidence like we knew we were going to win. So we were loose and having fun. No one was really tight. And then in the first inning Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer and gave us all the momentum.
They actually came back to tie the game but then I hit a double in the sixth inning to give us a 5-4 lead and then I think we ended up scoring four more runs in that inning to clinch it. But we entered that game with this confidence that we knew we were going to win. Coach Mainieri talked to us before the game and said "If I had told you before the season you had one game to win the World Series would you take it?" And we said yes, obviously. We were in that situation and we knew we were going to win. We had our horses ready to go and we had that confidence and I think we ended up winning 11-4.
USAB: So what were the next two years at LSU like? You are a Louisiana kid, your parents went to LSU, your dad played football at LSU, you won a College World Series as a freshman. Are you Big Man on Campus at that point?
MM: Coming back to campus was pretty cool. We don't have a Major League Baseball team in Louisiana so LSU is almost like the professional team here. People love baseball in south Louisiana, especially LSU baseball. So people recognize us, people want to talk to us, it was kind of cool because I had never experienced that. It was something we had to learn how to juggle to take these new responsibilities and be mature with them and we were good about it. We had our fun and enjoyed it but we knew there were bigger things we needed to do. And that next year we started out 32-6 and we were number one in the country before we had some injuries and lost some pitching depth and we struggled a little bit. We got it back together at the end of the year but ran into a buzz saw in the regional against UCLA with Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole.
Then my junior season was a bit of a lost season. It was personally my best year statistically, but we were 36-20 and didn't make the postseason. It was a tough pill to swallow but it is what it is. It was tough to go out that way, but definitely some good moments.
USAB: I know you still keep in touch with the LSU baseball program. Partly through the No. 8 you wore during your time there. Since you left it has become tradition that the number is given to a player that symbolizes leadership and dedication to LSU Baseball. Some guys who have worn No. 8 since your time at LSU include Alex Bregman, Jake Fraley, and most recently, two-time USA Baseball alum Daniel Cabrera. How did that tradition come about?
MM: LSU football has a similar tradition with No. 18. It started with Matt Mauk and it is an honor to get No. 18. The players vote on it and it is not necessarily the most talented player on the field but more about the character and how much they loved LSU. The person you want to play at LSU. I thought it was a really cool idea so I left after my junior season and Mason Katz was still on the team so I called him and said I wanted to do something like football and asked what he thought about it. I told him I knew No. 5 was his number but I asked him if he would want to wear No. 8 and he said absolutely. So he wore it for two years and I think he hit 17 homers his senior season and he passed it down and we wanted to give it to someone who could lead the team but also have passion and energy for LSU and to represent the number well. I think the few people who have worn it have represented it the way we wanted it represented.
USAB: So you passed it down first and chose who you passed it to. Has it remained that kind of fraternity between guys who have worn the No. 8 jersey?
MM: Antoine Duplantis passed it to Daniel Cabrera and Antoine just broke the LSU hits record a few years ago. Antoine is from my hometown and I actually used to hit in the cage with Antoine and his little brother who is now an olympian. So I have known those guys most of my life.
I stay connected with the guys, I live in Baton Rouge so I work out at the facility all the time so I talk to those guys about any questions they may have. But most of these guys are pretty set. They know what's going on and have an idea of what they want to do and where they want to be and what they want to become. That is part of wearing the number is taking that responsibility and leading the team. Cabrera, before the season got cancelled, was having a great year and doing just that.
At the end of a year if they can't figure out who should get the number next year, they will call some of the older guys that had the jersey for their input. It has turned out to be a pretty cool thing.
USAB: That is a really cool tradition. Obviously the number still means a lot to you, and it took four or five years into your pro career to get the number back. Did that mean a lot to you to finally get number 8 with the Detroit Tigers last year?
MM: I tried to get it even in the minor leagues. I tried to get it in High-A, but someone was there, an older player who already had it, so I couldn't get it there. Then I tried in Double-A, but couldn't get it again. Then I got to Triple-A and the number 8 was retired because of Crash Davis with the Durham Bulls. So I can't get the number anywhere and it is frustrating.
Then I get to the big leagues and I'm a rookie so I'm not going to ask for a specific number, because you can't do that as a rookie. So then I just decided to embrace wearing No. 27 which is the number they gave me. And then I got traded to Detroit and Justin Upton was wearing No. 8 at the time. And then Justin got traded so in the offseason I asked our clubbie what he thought of me wearing No. 8 now that Justin got traded and he said yes so I was fired up. I actually just got that jersey framed. I only have No. 8 jerseys framed in my house so that is pretty cool.
USAB: Let's get to your time with the Collegiate National Team in 2010. It was a loaded roster, with Gerrit Cole, Sonny Gray, George Springer, Jackie Bradley Jr., Brad Miller and plenty of others. Do you still have relationships with guys from that team?
MM: We keep in touch. Obviously life happens, guys get married and have kids so it's not as much as when we were 20, we don't have as much free time. But whenever we do see each other the conversations are easy, you always have that bond. I'm actually now doing these daily zoom calls with amateur athletes and bringing on other athletes and George Springer came on and did one the other week. And these are relationships you build when you are 20 so they last a long time and it is really a cool thing.
I think that is one of the coolest things about playing for Team USA is that I got to play with these guys that you don't necessarily get to play with ever again. I think the only person I played with again after Team USA was Brad Miller. Brad Miller and I are really really good friends. So you may not get to play with them all again so you have to embrace it when you're together and it was a really cool experience.
USAB: What were your favorite memories of that 2010 Collegiate National Team? Anything in particular stick out either on or off the field?
MM: We had a lot of fun together. We got to go to Tokyo and I had never been to that part of the world so flying together and getting to hang out with each other in Tokyo was really cool. One thing I remember is that we were at the tournament in Tokyo and we were playing Japan, the host team, and the place is packed. All with their fans because we are obviously nowhere near home. So the first inning Springer hits a grand slam. We were going nuts, it was crazy, and we ended up winning the game 4-1 and it was the only runs we scored. But that entire game was so intense and you got to see how much their fans really loved baseball and that was really cool.
We ended up playing Cuba in the finals and it was a hard fought game but they ended up walking us off in extra innings. And that Cuba team was stacked. They had Cespedes and Jose Abreu and those guys. But those two games are what I remember most about that year.
USAB: After playing on that team with so many other talented players, what did you learn and how did you grow as a player after that experience?
MM: I grew a lot. Like you said that was the first time I played on a team with that much competition outside of college and it was awesome. The outfield was Jackie Bradley Jr. in center, George Springer in left and I was in right. So you get to play in the outfield with guys that are going to be first rounders, guys that are going to be in the big leagues.
And then in the Trials you get to face pitchers who didn't even make the team who are now big leaguers. Pitchers that are aces in the big leagues that were on our team. We had to face those guys at Trials. And just to see how those guys approached the game and competed on the field was really great to be a part of.
USAB: So a lot of us are in this holding pattern waiting for baseball to resume. Tell me, what is life like right now?
MM: Being back here in Baton Rouge I actually have some nice facilities I can take advantage of. I have a batting cage I can use so I hit every day. The neighborhood I live in, there are still three or four guys that still play professionally so we kind of have our own little mini spring training in the neighborhood. Kevin Gausman lives right around the corner from me and we will go to an empty lot or the edge of a golf course and long toss. He actually bought a portable pitchers mound so he'll set it up in his backyard and throw bullpens.
Other than that it is like being a kid again. A lot of home workouts. Just trying to find out whatever you can do around the house to stay in shape. It has been tough but it has been kind of fun too. Fun trying to figure out how and where we are going to get these workouts done.
USAB: Anything outside of baseball?
MM: I mentioned earlier that I started this project with a mentor of mine it is called the Champions Rise Challenge. Professional athletes aren't the only athletes affected by this COVID-19 pandemic. More so than us it is these amateur athletes who lost their season and maybe lost their opportunity to get recruited. And not having the resources a professional athlete has can be kind of scary. So we decided to have these daily zoom calls, it is free to sign up, and we are trying to get as many athletes, nutritionists, coaches, all influencing these younger kids. Coming on to donate their time to these athletes.
We are also encouraging parents to come on because when you're young you look for someone to lean on you want someone to help direct you. So if these parents are doing the same things the kids are doing, they are able to help them grow and get through this tough time. It has been awesome. The feedback has been great. We have a week and a half left but we are so excited about it we are looking at ways to maybe continue it even further than that.
USAB: Lastly, let's talk about your foundation, The Mikie Mahtook Foundation. It can be found @MahtookCares on Twitter and @MahtookFoundation on Instagram. Tell us about the foundation.
MM: I started this foundation in 2014 to honor my dad. He was Mikie Mahtook Sr. He passed away unexpectedly when I was four years old due to cardiomyopathy. The foundation promotes and educates about the prevention of heart disease. We have recently moved into the testing sector. We are in the process of partnering with another organization that is able to test for free. We want to be able to detect heart disease so these kids and their parents can get diagnosed and get treatment.
I was four years old when my father passed away and I had twin sisters that were two. So all of a sudden my mother was a young single mother of three and that kind of thing can rock a family. So if I can help just one family prevent a loss like that, then we are doing something right. It has been great, we have a lot of plans for the future, and we have some ambitious goals for it. In the next two or three years, it is going to be a household name.
Give Mikie a "follow" on Instagram and Twitter at @MikieMahtook8!
