Scott Karl interview

[splitterpfj]

Scott was great on the phone, very pleasant, very open about his baseball career, and his current life.

 

I hope you enjoy it - feel free to discuss.

 

-Todd

[Mass Haas]

LINK to Home Page

Great job, really enjoyed it! Phone interviews aren't easy to transcribe, thanks for all the hard work.

[splitterpfj]

Thank you Mass, and thanks for posting the link...forgot that tiny little detail.

 

DHonks, feel free to discuss your reactions to anything he said, anything I asked, the things you remember about Scott's career, etc.

[Godspeed]

Nicely done. I have a soft spot for those (s)crappy mid 90s Brewers teams. The dark years don't seem so bad now that the playoff drought is over.

[bullox]

Great interview, great questions, interesting answers. Good stuff all around. Nice job!

 

Edit: interesting that Karl had a career ERA+ of 100 even. A solid guy that any staff could use.

[DHonks]

Splitter,

 

great interview. Being a teacher, I can only imagine how difficult it was to prepare the right info and questions. I enjoyed it. I know Scott had a pretty good year in AAA for the Pirates his last season (probably around 2005), but retired after the season, so I figured there was a reason

[reillymcshane]

great job. thanks. I love it when you can do things like this.

[sbrylski]

Funny - I took a break from studying for my finance test to read this transcript. What a beautiful segway back to my textbook.

[JimH5]

Great interview, and a good read.

 

I thought Karl had a reputation for being a little headstrong during his days. . .not the nicest guy in the world.

 

But he represented himself very well, and seems to be a good guy.

 

Thanks for doing the interview and posting it here.

[razzzorsharp]

If I remember right, Scott Karl was part of my rotation on Dreamcast while playing World Series Baseball. Could be wrong though...

[brewers4eric]

Thanks for posting the interview, it was an excellent read.

I seem to remember Karl getting off to a slow start one year and was pitching so poorly that there were rumors he would get demoted. He turned things around and pitched really well down the stretch.

[Invader3K]

If I remember right, Scott Karl was part of my rotation on Dreamcast while playing World Series Baseball. Could be wrong though...

 

I'm pretty sure I had that game, and remember Karl being a Brewer on the roster. My memory is pretty hazy of that, though. Anyway, nice interview. You did a good job asking him relevant questions that weren't just the usual rehash stuff that some of these interviews sometimes get into.

[JumpinMacFlash]

I really enjoyed this. I always liked Karl as a player. Not a worldbeater, but definitely a good pitcher who was nice to have on the staff. I was glad to learn more about him.

[joepepsi]

A couple years ago Jeff Cirillo was asked to name his least favorite teammates ever. Without pausing he said Scott Karl and iirc, Phil Nevin.

[chuckiehacks]

This makes it harder for me to dislike Karl as a person, but as a player he's one of my least favorites. My most vivid memory was Uecker calling a game during one of those nightmare seasons, with Karl continually going to full counts. Ueck was pretty brutal, wondering aloud why Karl didn't just groove one on the first pitch, instead of nibbling and grooving one on 3-1.

 

It was probably the most brutally-honest I've ever heard Ueck (at least in a story not involving Tyler Houston).

[splitterpfj]

I'm at a bit of a loss right now. I received an email from the owner of The Hardball Times, he saw the interview and liked it - he has linked it from his site.

 

I am honored, and completely flattered.

[TooLiveBrew]

Cool! Congrats, splitter, and well done

[1992casey]

A couple years ago Jeff Cirillo was asked to name his least favorite teammates ever. Without pausing he said Scott Karl and iirc, Phil Nevin.

Karl wasn't among them. Cirillo mentioned Jeff Juden, Phil Nevin and Juan Acevedo.

[joepepsi]

Oh, you are right! I am very sorry to run his name through the muck. I always got Karl and Juden mixed up. My bad.

 

Great interview splitter.

[splitterpfj]

First off, thank you to all of you for your kind remarks, I'm glad you liked it.

 

Scott, if you're reading any of this - thank you again.

[Brian the Automator]

Thanks for all the hard work, Todd. I always liked Scott Karl when he was with the team as well.

[valpocrewsader]

Great interview, all kinds of tidbits in there. The 28-man roster after the strike giving him his shot, the 4 major league Brewers coming out of Hawaii, the back-to-back home runs he hit -- all good stuff I didn't know before reading the article. Thanks!

[MNBrew]

I was a huge Scott Karl fan back in the day. I never knew why he totally lost it, but I remember the results getting ugly quickly when he did. Too bad. A couple Scott Karl memories:

 

- a great spring training day in the JS with an article talking about how the up-and-coming Karl had some of the same attributes as Greg Maddux; same day was a great article about Darryl Hamilton and how he just played the game smartly and had lots of promise -- he was another of my dearest favorites in those days

 

- I own a game-worn road #42 with Karl's autograph. Bought it at the Brewers' Clubhouse in Brookfield Square. Last Brewer to regularly wear #42. Since it was autographed, I figured I could splurge the $200 it cost at the time. The first and only other jersey I ever bought was Darryl Hamilton's.

 

- I remember going bonkers when Karl hit the homer on the road, then I just happened to be at his next home game when he hit #2. Hooked right around the RF pole.

 

Thanks, Splitter. Cool interview.

[splitterpfj]

Scott emailed me today, to say hi, and to wish everyone here good luck for the 2009 season.

 

-Todd