MLB Network Sat down with Howie Kendrick

Howie Kendrick sat down with MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds.

On the morning of Saturday, April 18, MLB Network’s Play Ball which was led by Harold Reynolds had a sitdown interview with playoff legend Howie Kendrick at Kendricks place. For those that missed it, we have you covered with a break down of what was discussed.

Reynolds and Kendrick started things off by going over Howie’s love for photography. He has been practicing the art for nine years now. He thought he could do it and just jumped on in. The Network showed some examples of Kendrick’s pieces and he explained he loves his family pieces. This just goes to show how good of a person he is off the field.

Reynolds and Kendrick then went on to discuss some of the top players Howie has played with over the years. After all, he has been teammates with Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and Juan Soto.

Kendrick explained the thing he loves the most about Trout, is how he is a great person off the field, due to the fact he was always in a good mood. It also helped that Trout got along with Howie’s two sons. He stated, “You never knew if he was 0-5 or 5-5”. Then Kendrick started to compare the young phenom, Juan Soto, to Trout. When asked about Soto, Kendrick stated that he has, “a lot of the similarities that Mike has”. This should come to no surprise. Soto is only 21 and already proved himself as one of the most feared sluggers in the league.

Next, the interview briefly covered Howies 2019 playoff heroics, mainly his NLDS Game Five grand slam and two-run shot in Game Seven of the World Series. Reynolds asked the important question, what was going on in Howie’s mind when he was in the on-deck circle before he hit his grand slam? Kendrick had the perfect answer. “I was talking to God on Deck”…”I said to god, hey man if you’ve got anything for me, nows the time.” He added, “When I hit that ball it was just pure adrenaline. I will remember that for the rest of my life just because it was such a huge hit. And it lifted us. It gave us a chance to go to the World Series.”

His at-bat against Kelly was a similar situation to his at-bat against Will Harris in game seven of the World Series. When he waited for his at-bat against Harris, Kendrick said he was. “Talking to god again.” If you’ve got something for me, again nows the time.“ He added, ” First pitch I’m looking heater and he got one down. When I hit it, I could tell Springer wasn’t going to catch it”… “Once it hit the foul pole, Same emotion as the dodger game”…”It was such an exciting moment to be in the World Series. I will never forget that.”

Next, the two went outside and joined Kendricks two young sons Owen and Tyson. There Kendrick broke down the two’s swings.  Kendrick put emphasis on holding your finish at the end of your swing. He used Ken Griffey Jr. as an example of being excellent at doing this. After the two young sluggers took practice rips, the four split up into teams of two to play Wiffle ball. Tyson the youngest and his dad faced off against Owen the oldest and Harold. Tyson and Howie led off the scoring, with five runs in the bot of the first. Tyson went deep four times while his dad added a homer of his own. Down to the last inning, Harold and Owen tied it. But Howie came up clutch once again, hitting a solo shot to end it. Should we even be surprised?

After, Kendrick and Reynolds went to Howie’s garage to talk about his love for cars and his amazing home run celebrations with adam Eaton.

Eaton and Howie both came up with the celebration. Eaton asked Kendrick about making a home run celebration and Kendrick answered with,” How about we just drive cars?”. Such a simple answer to an awesome celebration.

The interview ended with Kendrick going over what he’s been doing during the quarantine. He explained that he’s, “Been able to work out three-four times a week.” Howie has accomplished this by doing some tee work and trying to get in the cage. He added, “Biggest thing is trying not to get sick.” Aren’t we all, Howie?