- 6 months ago
Former Red Sox & Co-Chair of the The Jimmy Fund Brock Holt Joins the 23rd Annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon
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00:00wei afternoons andy hartnick fitzy stevens at fenway park and our next guest here on the wei
00:08nesson jimmy fund telethon according to my notes says he's the co-chair of the jimmy fund but you
00:13may know him as the brock star brock holt brock how we doing we're doing good we're doing good
00:17love love the these two days every year um obviously when i played here um it's an important
00:25thing that that that we're doing and um i'm just happy to be back back in a part of of what we've
00:31got going on i mean you when you played you you were mr everything like if there was a position
00:35that needed to be filled in infield outfield behind the plate on the bump wherever you were that guy
00:40and when we got here a little while ago there you were in the back andy there he was in the back of
00:44the bank answering phone volunteering i got 25 dollars from miss patricia so thank you if you're
00:49watching yeah way to go patty yeah she crushed it yeah 25 dollars um she was a big red sox fan she
00:54knew who she was talking to and awesome um she even told me she loved me after the phone call
00:59was over so um got to know her really well in the in the 10 minute conversation that we had
01:03so you were formerly the jimmy fund captain for five years and now in a little bit of a different
01:09role here as the co-chair tell us a little bit about that job that role what this year has been like
01:14yeah so um was captain um garrett whitlock captain now um i was captain for for four or five years i don't
01:21know the exact number but um something that i was really passionate about whenever i played here
01:26um and obviously you know looked for a way to to come back uh me and my wife lakin did a lot of work
01:33um you know while we were here with the jimmy fund um and then still tried to to stay involved
01:40whenever i left and um you know unfortunately when larry lichino passed away um they reached out to me
01:46and asked if i wanted to to do this and and fortunately um you know me and me and tc or
01:52were able to to take it on and and and you know carry on that legacy kind of in that role and
01:58um this year's been great you know we announced um you know the co-chair last year um at the telethon
02:04and it's been a great year of of growth and you know i'm still kind of learning and um i'm just happy
02:10to be be back involved um as soon as i left boston i was trying to find my way back
02:14in some way shape or form and um here we are and and you know hoping hoping we can do a lot of good
02:20work what led you though at first to i mean it seems like everybody involved in the red sox and
02:25with a lot of boston teams has some level of involvement with dana farber jimmy funder
02:29a great cause in town but what led you to forge such a quick and now seemingly lifelong connection
02:35with the jimmy funder yeah it was easy it was easy um my first spring training in 2013 with the
02:40red sox um at least the sherber brings you know all the teenagers down and um that's kind of my
02:45first instance where i got to to know kind of what the jimmy fund is dana farber you know how the red
02:51sox and and the jimmy fund co coincide and um uh david ross i believe was the captain at the time
02:58will middlebrooks um and you know just kind of kind of learned from there um took some trips over to
03:04the to the clinic and and got to know some kids um and it was just something that that clicked right
03:10away for me and something that i was uh extremely excited about being a part of and trying to help
03:17however i however i could um so something i fell in love with um pretty early pretty early on in my
03:25in my career here um in my time here and and very fortunate to still be a part of it and you weren't
03:30even a dad at that point was not even a dad no no we had griff in 2016 so um a couple of years later
03:37um so but just i built some really good relationships um to me that's what life's about
03:43right like getting to know people and and trying to make an impact and um you know you'd be surprised
03:49whenever you you put yourself out there how how how your impact uh impacted as well um and built some
03:58relationships that i i still keep to this day and um you know it's just it's a special place that
04:04does special things and and just happy to be a part of it so when you were on the phone with miss
04:07patricia what's the sales pitch to try to get people to donate because obviously you know dana
04:14farber the jimmy fund they they need the money now as much as ever and it can go to so many important
04:19things but sort of what what is your pitch to our listeners is why they need to donate well i think i i
04:24don't know that that people need a pitch right like they tune in um you hear the stories you know
04:30we have patients on all day we have people we have doctors and um i think it's the stories everybody's
04:35impacted by by by cancer um and i think these two days are super special because of the stories that
04:41are being told and people start to kind of understand you know what the money goes to as far as
04:47researcher or or or clinical trials or whatever it may be um and you know these two days every year
04:54are are amazing how people from all over the world come together and and uh and donate you know
05:00however much to to to help this cause yeah it's they donate money they donate their time
05:06and we know the people that work at dana farber just you know it's it's their job but they're just
05:12the the countless hours of sweat and research and time and effort they put into it because
05:17as we've come to learn over the years and i'm sure you've been privy to this as well it's not just the
05:22quality of the medical care that they get but the entirety of the care treating the patient for their
05:27for their diagnosis as well as their concerns and then the way that dana farber and thanks to the
05:32jimmy fund treat the whole family and everyone attached to them as well as spectacular and i think
05:36peerless yes yeah the the culture that they've built over there is is second to none it's you walk
05:44in the buildings you just feel good um and it's it's a place that no no one wants to be but from
05:52from the guy parking your car to the to the guy hopefully curing cancer one day it's like everyone
05:58in between is there for you um and the times that i've been over and you know obviously when i go to
06:05the clinic it's it's you know how can we how can we get the kids mind off of off of their treatment
06:11we're doing arcs and crafts and stuff but when you go visit the adult patients and you can have
06:14conversations with them it's this place saved my life this place is awesome like if it weren't for
06:21for for dana farber and and my doctors my nurses like i wouldn't be here and um it it's amazing to hear
06:29like i haven't spoken to a single person that's gotten treatment at the at dana farber the jimmy
06:35fund and and they've not been positive about their experience and then the people they've met along
06:40the way and you mentioned big two days in the city of boston for the red sox for ness and weei but
06:46also you look up at the map we get over here if my eyes are right i think we're up to 47 states
06:51have made a donation 37 30 37 sorry yeah bad math math is hard math is hard you get it as long as the
06:57math is good on the tote board yeah going up three quarters of america that's pretty good already
07:02right but uh 37 states and we hear stories of people coming here for treatment and obviously
07:07donating from so it's not just you know boston this is sort of a national thing and did you
07:12did you experience that see that take that with you in your career and then you'd realize maybe how
07:17special this place is when you when you left for a little while yeah i mean i i i felt the specialness
07:23if specialness is a word yeah math and english math is hard we're good
07:27yeah specialness um i felt that whenever i was here um and you go and you visit and there's like
07:34you said there's people from all over the world coming here to get treatment um so i i knew
07:40after i left how special of a place place this was and that's why i continued to you know obviously
07:47wanting to help but you know those relationships that i spoke about earlier those relationships carry
07:54carry on past me playing for the red socks right so it's like how can i continue to be involved
07:59even when i'm not here and um you know now i'm here and and co-chairing the thing with tc and couldn't
08:06be more excited what was like when was the moment that you knew if there was even like that moment um
08:11you know playing here for the socks where you just like the electricity of fenway the people the city
08:16you know it's a town but it's a city you know it's not like anywhere else that you just sort of like
08:20fell in love with the city and what was that what was that certain something that just made you say
08:24like i love this place man it's it's hard to to think back to to one moment um but i mean this was
08:34basically my first experience as a big league player i i got called up with pittsburgh in 2012
08:39i made a september i got a september call up so i was up for a month for pitts with pittsburgh and
08:44then i got traded traded here that off season um and then went to spring training started in
08:50patucket and then i was kind of the up and down guy in in 2013 got called up when someone would get
08:54hurt got sent down when he'd come back and you rode the lou merloni express for a while i did i was i was
09:00on the on the the one way back and forth from patucket and there were times when i would come up
09:05and wouldn't even get activated and i'd just go back the next day you know so um uh that first year was
09:10rough but i mean just getting to play at finway park every day um you know obviously uh 14 15 when
09:17i was up majority of the time we you know last place in the division but places packed every night
09:22um yeah i think i think probably once we started winning um you know 16 won the division 17 won the
09:31division i think when you win here it's when you is when you get it um and you know fortunately i was
09:37able to to play on some some pretty dang good teams and and play with some some some really good
09:42players so um just special place uh a place that i never wanted to leave for you know obviously you
09:50know business side of things doesn't work out but i would have i would have stayed here as long as
09:55they they let me in um but like i said found my way back i wanted to ask your perspective because
10:01obviously brock holt is known as the great utility player and it it's only been like 10 years but it
10:08seems like baseball is in a different mookie bets is playing shortstop center field you know rafael is
10:12playing center field second base there's almost like a different it's almost more like high school
10:17or travel where all these great athletes are being asked to play different positions have you
10:21do you like that have you do you see where the game is going do you like where the game is yeah i mean i
10:25think i think people the guys are so athletic now that it's it's it's not as difficult as it once was
10:31i mean um it's it's not an easy thing to do by any means um i had to do it because i wasn't good
10:38enough at one single position to stick around you know so i had to i had to move around to to stay
10:43jack of all trades and i i mean i if i wouldn't have done it i probably wouldn't have had the career
10:48that i that i had so you know when when they asked if i could play first base i said yes i i just that's
10:54just what i had to do um you want to do it now well i don't i don't know that that it would be as good
11:00as it once was that's like the belichick effect in a lot of ways like you know like you got to make
11:05the team somehow yeah and like whether it's on special teams you got to play you know like you
11:09and julian edelman here at the same time like guys that are just like you want me to return kicks
11:13you want me to play defensive back you want me to be wide receiver do i have to kick an extra point
11:16play first base whatever i just whatever it takes it's a boston attitude yeah i just wanted to be on
11:20the field and help however i could um and you know it gave me more opportunity um you know i i came up
11:28as a second baseman shortstop when i got here dustin bajora was the second baseman i'm not playing
11:32second base for the boston red sox right i'm sure he was very inviting and i don't well he was dustin's
11:37great he's he's one of my best friends and and probably the guy that i talked to the the most uh
11:42now now that we're we're done playing but um i didn't want to play second base like if you're a
11:49boston red sox fan if you're on the boston red sox like you want dustin bajora playing second base
11:53as many times as he can as many days as he can so for me it was like can you play third yes i can
11:59play third have you ever played outfield yes but no i've never played outfield other than a slow
12:04pitch softball game one time but i'll try it sure um then if they throw you in detroit on sunday night
12:09baseball game and you and you and you play outfield for the first time um but i i mean that's just
12:15something that i had to do and i grew to love it i grew to love it because you know you you see the
12:20game from from different angles and and it's it's it's fun it's fun playing right field one day and
12:26then you know i'm like dude i'm so far from the action and the next day i'm playing third base and
12:30i'm like can i back up a little too close way too close just want to ask you the last question um
12:35so i know obviously your dad now as well um do you you know what's what's your kids level of
12:41baseball involvement like and do you ever tell your kids like hey listen your dad played every position
12:44out there so yeah no grouse and get out there and get it yeah yeah i i mean they don't listen
12:48to me very much uh when it comes to baseball um so i try and i try and teach them i'm coaching both
12:54of their teams and um it's a thrill for me um i i'm glad that that that both of them enjoy the game
13:00and love the game and that's where i'm trying to keep it right now as as young as they are i want
13:04them to to want to go to baseball practice want to want to go to the games and just enjoy it
13:09and it's one of those things where i am coach on the field but i try and be dad whenever we
13:13whenever we get off the field um uh but they're they're for me that's that that's life now i'm
13:21i'm dad and and i wouldn't wouldn't want it any other way there are two things i wanted to be when
13:26i grew up and that was a dad and a professional baseball player and i've i've gotten to do both
13:30of them and and um it's you know very fortunate all right brock uh brock holt the uh co-chair with
13:37tom carron currently of the jimmy fund before we let you go you want to turn around and read that
13:41there's no math involved you want to just turn around and read that big number behind you before
13:44we go to break let's do it 605 900 931 well done well done we are moving on up
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