May 10, 2004
Amanda Burke, an all-conference and all-region midfielder on the nationally-ranked Texas A&M soccer team, will spend some time visiting this spring with fellow student-athletes in a regular feature here on AggieAthletics.com. Amanda sat down this week with Cory Patton, a senior outfielder on the Texas A&M baseball team. Patton had a great junior season for the Aggies after transferring in from Seward County Community College and leads this season's squad in home runs, RBI, doubles and slugging percentage.
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You turned down a draft pick last summer to come back to A&M for another season, which I'm sure was a really difficult decision. What was it that made you want to come back?
"There were just a lot of things going into it. One of the main reasons was that I knew we were going to have a good team this year, so I really wanted to come back and try to be a part of some kind of championship here. I didn't want to miss out on anything special here. There was just a lot of stuff that went into it. You know, I got married this summer, and stuff like that. So, it was just bad timing for me."
What's it like being the only married guy on the team?
"It's fun. I love it. Everybody still kind of talks sometimes about it. It's weird when I say 'wife' or something. She's good friends with a lot of the guys on the team. They know her really well. It's just one of those things everybody got used to I guess a little bit now. But at the beginning of the year, every time I mentioned the word 'wife' everyone was like 'Whoa!' But she's good, and it's pretty fun."
You've played on a bunch of teams throughout the years, but what makes this team special?
"This team has probably got one of the best team chemistries of any team I've ever been on. We all like each other a lot. We get along really well. There's not a whole lot of friction in the locker room, and that's a big plus for us because we've been struggling a little bit sometimes. If you don't have good team chemistry you could just completely fall apart. We've been able to stay in there, hang in there, and keep giving ourselves a chance, so I think that the chemistry right now is really what's holding us together and keeping us strong."
Some people view baseball as a really individual sport. What does it take to keep a baseball team a "team" instead of a bunch of individuals?
"It takes everybody to win. You can look at individual stats and say it's an individual sport, but it takes everybody on the team to win. We're down to 27 guys right now, and it takes everyone to win a game. If you've got the 9 guys on the field and the rest of the guys in the dugout just sitting around not helping out or being happy or just talking or whatever they do, then it makes it tough to go out there and win. It's an individual sport if you just look at stats and you can break down individual stats. But it's a big time team sport as well because it takes however many men you've got to win. There will be a day when a pitcher doesn't have it, and you've got to get someone else in there or pick him up...It's a big team sport. That's what I like about it. You get to pick everybody else up. If somebody has an off day then you get to turn your game up a bit and be a little bit better for them. I love that about this game."
What was it like being the starting pitcher for the Aggies for a game this season?
"It was awesome. Last fall, when I first got here, I pitched a little bit but I had a little arm trouble. So, I quit pitching. Then when I got back this year, my arm felt better and was stronger. I'd been trying to convince the coaches that I was ready to start throwing again, but we had so many lefties in the fall that I really didn't need to be throwing. I guess they just didn't want to take a chance on me hurting my arm again. Lately, I've just been trying to throw some bullpens and just having fun. I like pitching because I just like to be able to be in every pitch, and I just think it's so fun to get on the mound and just get after it and try to get people out. That's what I enjoyed about it in junior college. I never really experienced it until junior college. I didn't think pitching was all that fun until I got to junior college and did it all the time. It's something I love to do. I just love to get out there and have fun and compete on the mound and go right at somebody and try to get them out."
I heard you enjoyed playing the guitar. Do you sing, too?
"I don't play all that well. I like to play, but I don't play all that well. My brother plays. He taught himself how to play, and he taught me how to play a little bit. I don't sit down and play everyday like I should. If I did I'd get a lot better. When I do play, I sing...I try to sing. My wife likes it and tries to get me to sing for her. It's tough. I don't think I sing all that well, but she says that I sing all right. We like to go to karaoke places and stuff, and I'll sing. It's a lot of fun. I love to sing. I think it's a blast to sing. It's just that I don't know how good I am at it!"
Do you have any favorite performers?
"My favorite of all time is Garth Brooks. I grew up listening to him. It's funny now because when I lived in Owasso, Oklahoma, where I graduated high school, it was where his ex-wife graduated high school. She came to my high school a couple of times, so I got to see her. He lives there now. I've driven past him a few times on the road. From what I've been told, our high school team just put in a new locker room, and now that he's retired from music he comes out and practices with our baseball team. He has his own locker in our locker room, so I've got to go back and see that. I just love his music, and I like the way he performs."
One of Aggie sports' biggest fans, Cleo Whitlock, just passed away recently. All of the athletes here meant so much to him. What do the fans mean to you?
"Well, personally, they keep me in the game. There's times when we're losing or we're not playing so well and the fans start to quiet down, and I'm out in the outfield thinking, 'Oh, man. I just hope they're not giving up on us.' That's what I love about them. When they're up, all riled up, it gets me going so good. It's so exciting for me to come out everyday and play in front of them. I just have a blast doing it. Everyday you just come out and know you're going to hear them getting all over somebody, and that just pumps me up and gets the rest of the guys rolling. The first game you come out and play, or for the newcomers this year, you look up in the stands. You've heard about the types of things the fans do, and it doesn't set in until they've actually been here and been a part of it. They're just awesome. It's a great thing for me to come out here and play in front of these fans every game. It's seems that our fans know a little more of what they're talking about and have a little bit more of a clue about the actual game of baseball than other fans. Other fans are just out there trying to heckle you."
One day, whenever you are finished playing baseball, what are you going to miss about it the most?
"I don't know what I'd miss the most. I love it. I just love being able to come out everyday and play. Everyday I know that I've been given another opportunity to come out and do something that a lot of people have already had taken away and don't get to do it anymore. I'm thankful for everyday I get to play right now. It's a blast for me. I love this game with pretty much all my heart. It's what all I've ever wanted to do-to play this game. I'd love to be able to play this game until I was 40 or 41 and just be able to retire and say 'All right. That's it. I've done all that I can do.' I think that's what I'd miss the most about it-just being able to play it. I look forward to being able to play it as long as I can and hopefully teaching my kids about it."
Did any player surprise you this season?
"Absolutely. I've been surprised by Austin Boggs--but not too surprised. In the fall, when we were playing, I knew he'd be able to play third and hit for us and do a good job. Honestly, I didn't think he'd be able to do as good of a job as Cliff Pennington did for us last year, and he has. He started out hitting 9-hole, and he's slowly moved up to now hitting 3- or 4-hole. He's swinging it really well for a freshman, and it's a good thing to see him step up and be able to handle this kind of a league--to come straight out of high school and be able to handle the Big 12. I've been so impressed with him. He's a good kid, too. Me and Boggs get along really well. It's fun to watch him play."
With the baseball season being so long, how do you deal with burn out?
"There are times when you start to feel it. It happens to everybody. You've just got to handle it. There have been a few times this year when you start to get down--it's tough; you're tired. You've just got to handle it. Right now we've got 10 days off. The last few years I've said just play hard and get to that point. When you get to this point, you get to recoup and refresh and then you're ready to roll for the rest of the season. We've got seven games left in the regular season and then the Big 12 Tournament and then hopefully regionals, and so on. It's kind of a point right here where it just recoups you and gets you ready to go again. I like the fact that we take this week off for finals, and it's a good spot to take time off and not get burned out...I know I'm already ready to play again. I'm excited to come out and play on Tuesday."