Overcoming Negativity and Leaning Into Faith

Rhett 0:00

So you played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays , the Texas Rangers , the Cincinnati Reds , kansas City Royals . I'm curious when you're stepping out on that major league field for the first time under the lights the crowd's going wild .

Jason 0:10

My heart is beating like crazy . I mean I'm just like so jacked I'm in the big leagues . I mean I'm about to pitch against the Yankees . I'm running out , I'm breaking down on my last sprint , my spike . I'm running out as I'm breaking down on my last sprint . My spike catches , it , catches the turf , and I go rolling . I mean I tripped and fall and I go rolling and I tried to play it .

Justin 0:37

I act like I was stretching when I was getting up and you went rolling on the other side .

Jason 0:39

Yeah , these thought processes start to come , and then you start understanding how to deal with those thought processes , because they're going to be there and that's the thing . I was like , oh , I'm not scared , I'm not scared . I would tell you , no way , I'm not scared . Yeah , but I was scared . And it's like , if you can identify , like the problem , you're like , hey , I am scared , but what am I going to do about it ?

Rhett 1:11

What is going on Armchair ? Authentic family . It's great to have you back for another episode of the podcast with Rhett and Justin .

Justin 1:19

It is our hope to have real conversations about real life with real people , our hope to have real conversations about real life with real people . Yeah , rhett , today we are talking with the one and only Jason Standridge . From a highly recruited high school prospect for college football to a first round draft pick in Major League Baseball , jason's journey takes him into the depths of overcoming negativity and leaning into his foundation of faith , as well as positive mindset he learned from his parents .

Rhett 1:49

Now , before we get into that conversation , though , we do want to take a moment and say thank you to every single one of you who have taken the time to rate and review the podcast . Ben , it's a great way to hear from you . It encourages us , but more than that , it really is the best way we can serve those who haven't found the podcast yet or on this journey with us . So thank you for rating , thank you for reviewing . Now , if you're new to the podcast , welcome . We're so glad that you're with us today . If you haven't already done so , would you follow us on social media , man ? That'd mean a ton to us . You can find us on Facebook or Instagram at Armchair Authentic , or you can find us on X at Armchair Auth Pod . That's Armchair Auth A-U-T-H Pod P-O-D . All right , guys . Now onto the conversation . You ready ? Here we go .

Justin 2:41

Jason , we're so just excited to have you with us in the Armchair Authentic Studios today . Getting to have you in person with us , me and Jason and Rhett . We all go so far back and a memory that I have it actually involves us three . One day this would have been .

Rhett 2:59

it had to have been 97 because you were in your senior year . You're going back .

Justin 3:02

We'll let Jason talk about this in a little while , because you were in your senior year . You're going back .

Rhett 3:05

We'll let Jason talk about this in a little while but this is when he's about to go to college to play football for Auburn . I don't know if you want to get me on this , I was so pissed man I was so like come on , jason , are you serious dude ? You were excited that it was Auburn Sure .

Justin 3:22

And once again , we'll get to that in a little while , but you end up getting drafted in the first round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays .

Rhett 3:28

Yeah , at that time , tampa Bay Devil Rays , and let me clarify I was upset because I really wanted you to play football at Auburn because I'm an Auburn fan .

Jason 3:35

There's a lot of people that were upset .

Rhett 3:36

And I was like yes , finally we're going to have somebody good .

Justin 3:49

And I know it is going to be so awesome and me , the Crimson Tide fan , felt a little let down . I tried to sway a little influence for Gene Stallings , like I'm going to be his like side agent to try to get Jason to agree . But the memory that I have is in that transition where you knew you're not going to play college ball football , instead go to the major leagues . Me and you were at Jason's house , yeah and okay , let's be clear , we weren't playing with toys , yeah but the creative side of us we were having the GI Joe men , because you remember we would do the stop motion .

Justin 4:22

I remember that , yeah , where you could have the GI Joe guy standing . You move a leg , you hit record , stop record .

Rhett 4:27

It wasn't your basement , but it was the downstairs area .

Jason 4:29

I don't know if it was a basement , it was like a little split that was mine in my brother's room . Yeah , okay , yeah , yeah .

Justin 4:34

So you went downstairs and we would make these videos me , you , jason and another buddy named jason and we're making these movies and all I remember is someone coming to visit the house .

Speaker 3 4:45

Yeah .

Justin 4:46

And your dad's talking to him upstairs and your dad comes downstairs and says hey , jason needs you to come upstairs . And he said hey , justin and Rhett , probably a good time for y'all to go ahead and head on out .

Jason 4:58

That's what dad said . He was nice . Your dad was one of the nicest guys your dad and mom that I've ever met .

Justin 5:04

But there was some business to take care of because evidently it was someone we don't need . Gi Joe's right here . He's like don't let your agent see you playing with toys .

Jason 5:14

You're in the major leagues .

Justin 5:16

And so me and Rhett got the hint and we left . And we thought wow , jason's life as we pulled off . We thought , that's a major event that's happening in that house , but for us three to be sitting at a table . I don't even know what you guys remember , but I remember that vividly .

Rhett 5:31

What was that moment like for you , man . Do you remember any of that Of ?

Jason 5:34

course I mean . Well , first of all , thanks for having me . I appreciate you guys even wanting me to be on here . I'm excited about being here , being able to start this conversation and , I think , really just rewinding and starting off , I kind of wanted to make a point that most people don't know , but I was going to go to Coach Dawlings and tell him I was ready to go to Alabama . I was in , you know , and it was a tough choice .

Jason 6:06

You know , I grew up an Auburn fan and and you know Jay Barker was from , was from Trustful and and he was the quarterback there and it was just like , oh man , is Jason going to follow in Jay's footsteps ?

Jason 6:18

You know that kind of stuff , and which was some big shoes to fill , you know . And I remember dealing with that and going through that and , man , I really struggled . I was like , well , there's really not a wrong decision here of where I'm going to go play football and go to college . But I really just enjoyed everything that Coach Stallings brought to the table . I just loved every bit of it . Oh , woody McCovey was a quarterback coach there and I just absolutely loved him . He just was just a great , great man . But , Coach Darlings , there was something about that staff that I really enjoyed and , being an Auburn fan , I still was like leaning towards this .

Jason 6:56

And so I remember I was a recruit for Alabama . It was during the Iron Bowl . It was the last game that was played in Birmingham , so all the recruits for Alabama are there . Um , we're waiting outside the locker room and , um , and I had told my mom and dad , I said , okay , I'm going to tell coach Stallings , I think this is where I want to go . And so they were like , hey , you know , and you know , we've been praying about it , you know , and that's obviously fast forward and through a lot , of , a lot of stuff , and , and I remember we're sitting outside and then the word comes that now the recruits can come inside , and , you know , into the locker room .

Jason 7:32

Well , then we get the word that coach Dullings has just retired , and so then everybody's like , wow , you know , that just changes a lot of what just happened . And I remember immediately thinking , well , man , I remember looking at my mom and dad thinking like , well , that just changes a lot . You know of what just happened . And I remember immediately thinking , well , man , I remember looking at my mom and dad thinking like , well , that , just that just changed a lot . You know , for me and so , and not that Auburn was my second choice , it was . It was just that that's where I felt almost kind of led . And then , when that happened , it was just talking about closed door , you know , and , and you know I don't even remember who the coach was followed Coach Stallings , but still , Nobody likes to talk about that guy , whoever that is .

Rhett 8:12

We don't hear anything from Stallings to Saban .

Justin 8:15

Seriously , it's like what . I'm a big fan and I seriously can't even recall after . Yeah , it is true , I don't know if it was .

Jason 8:26

It's kind of like what's happening right now ? You know , but we won't go there , Right exactly , We'll see . Yeah , we'll see . We'll see what .

Justin 8:32

DeBoer does .

Jason 8:35

But yeah , so a lot of people don't know that and so I've had to kind of tell people about that and they're like no way , you know . So Auburn fans would be like no way . And I'm like , yeah , that was kind of the way the trajectory was . But then when I knew that , hey , look , this is a closed door , this is actually where I need to be , and so that's when I made the decision to , hey , I'm going to sign with Auburn .

Rhett 8:55

Who was the coach at Auburn at that point ? Of course , never went . I can't remember Terry Bowden , Terry Bowden , yeah that .

Speaker 3 9:00

And then , Jimbo Fisher was our quarterback coach .

Jason 9:02

Okay , yeah , oh , wow , yeah , yeah , really cool , that's so cool . And then Tommy Bowden was actually he was helping out with receivers and so that was before you know he went and had a great career too .

Justin 9:17

Clemson right , yeah , yeah . And then he brought on Dabo on his staff . That's right , that's right . Dabo on his staff , that's right , that's right , dabo's been pretty good so .

Jason 9:24

Dabo was a grad assistant when I was getting recruited at Alabama Right , and so I just loved . I thought he was just awesome . And then now you see what he's done , and that's exactly if my son wants to play football in college , I would probably say you need to go to Clemson , because that man's going to love on you . He's going to , he cares about your heart and obviously he wants to win . He wants to make you a better ball player , sure , but he cares more about you being a man , a father and a husband . Yeah , then he does , you know , being a successful football player so he can build a culture .

Justin 9:55

Yeah .

Jason 9:56

And I think that's what dad was done there .

Justin 10:01

So that's fun when we're actually hearing the behind the scenes story .

Rhett 10:02

I don't know how many people know that or how many you've shared that with in this kind of environment , so I'm pretty honored that you shared that man . I've only shared that with two people .

Jason 10:09

I'm just kidding . Back that up a minute . Back it up even past that before you committed to Auburn .

Justin 10:16

Yeah , Walk us through a little bit of that . What got you into football and actually becoming the starting quarterback for a major high school ?

Jason 10:24

and actually becoming the starting quarterback for a major high school . Yeah , you know , we grew up in Centerpoint . Huffman area . Let's go .

Justin 10:30

Yeah , I'm from the point baby , all of us , all of us , all three man Alabama .

Jason 10:34

Yeah , that's right .

Transitioning From Homeschool to High School

Jason 10:36

And so , you know , coming up into the park system , you know you're playing football , baseball , whatever , and I was not very good at basketball but I was . I just had a tendency to be a little bit better in baseball , football , and so doing that and just coming through school wise , I was homeschooled till the ninth grade . So the ninth grade was the very first year I went to a public school that was at at Trussell , and that was my ninth grade . That was my uh , it was junior high , cause I eighth and ninth grade was considered junior higher then . And so , um , so that was the first time that I'd ever gone , you know anywhere else and ended up playing for the school .

Jason 11:19

Um was actually a defensive back , I was a safety um in ninth grade and grade , and um , I was kind of the backup quarterback , you know , if they needed me , but I didn't , I didn't play at all . And so , um which was interesting because I'm not a defensive guy at all uh , but that was just the way , that was just the way it worked , you know , on that team and then , and then getting into high school , that was like that was our first taste of high schools 10th through 12th , and then Coach Wood , which is actually just , he just got inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame . Wow , that's amazing . I just I was able to be with him the other day . They were giving him an award or whatever , and trustful , but he gave me the opportunity as a 10th grader , a little skinny little 10th grader , and said , hey , we're going to let you be the quarterback .

Rhett 12:09

And then I guess the rest is history , you know , and so yeah , was that jump from homeschool to public school , and a really big one ? I mean , was that like a oh my God , what did I just do ? Or did you feel like you were already set up in the relationships you know cause ? Let's be honest , like most people , if they're listening homeschool , they already have a preconceived idea of whatever that is . Of course it is .

Jason 12:31

I mean everybody , I mean Tim Hawkins makes fun of that all the time .

Speaker 3 12:34

Oh yeah , yeah , right , right , exactly . And there is some there is some there is some truth .

Jason 12:40

There is truth , there is real truth , but but the you know for , for , for , but the you know for for . For me , you know , playing sports , I mean I was sociable , you know , I I'm , I had friends , you know .

Rhett 12:52

so it wasn't like your mom and dad had you well connected .

Jason 12:55

Yeah , I'm hearing it wasn't like I was , you know , wrapped up in a closet .

Speaker 3 12:59

You know all the time , you know , and so and you didn't have real good social skills .

Jason 13:03

And so I think the the amount of work was possibly a big jump , you know , and going , I mean , you know you got school , then you go straight into practice and it's just like a long day , you know . And so my son is getting getting a little bit of that right now , cause he was homeschooled um past three years , and so he's just understanding , you know , like man , these days are long .

Jason 13:23

I need to get to bed early , you know instead of like , let me stay up and watch some TV . So yeah , there was a little bit of a jump , but not as much as if somebody doesn't play sports . I think now you're talking about a huge culture shock , you know , and so , and you know , being introduced to things that you're just like OK , I've heard about this .

Rhett 13:42

Yeah , well , that was my question , like okay , I've heard about this , but I've never seen it before . So talk about . I mean , I know you're a man of faith , so when did that transition happen ? What was that transformation like ? Growing up in a Christian ?

Jason 13:51

home . You know it was just , I mean , god was talked about in every situation . You know , if you go back to I mean , look at Exodus , and when God tells Moses to talk about , talk about me when you're laid down , talk about me when you get up , talk about me when you're walking , when you're talking or when you're eating . And I think in our house , our household , that was done and so my parents modeled that , and so I knew who Jesus was at an early age . I don't really know if there's like this defining moment that I would say that I really really understood who Jesus was . I think it has just kind of evolved , that it just kind of just has gotten there and it's grown .

Jason 14:33

I think there has been ebbs and flows in my spiritual life that have that I've been like man , I'm really dry , like I don't , I don't really I'm not really experiencing who Jesus is right now . And it could have been because of me . It could have been like , hey , I wasn't spending enough time with him or I wasn't making him a priority , and so I would think that probably over the past 15 years I've really started to notice who Jesus is and what he means to me , and understanding that man . All he wants is just me to just hang out with him . All he wants is just me to talk to him and like , and , and I picture , I picture God just in a sitting in a rocking chair and we get to climb up into his lap and he gets to just kind of hold us .

Jason 15:20

And then there's times that I've just been like God . I just need you to hold me , because I'm struggling in this area and I'm really having a hard time here , and I need you just to . There's nothing greater as a dad , you know , than holding your child and just there's no , there's no fear in their minds . You know , it's like dad is there and it's like man . We can do that and we can just climb up in God's lap and just knowing that , like there is nothing that I have to worry about because he's got me , you know , and it's like I don't have to worry about any outside , you know , fear at all , you know , and it's just that feeling of like security .

Rhett 15:54

You know it's such a good analogy I'll never forget . When I tell people all the time I didn't know what the love of the father that's here he's got me .

Justin 16:28

I'm not thinking about what I'm going to eat , where I'm going to go , what I'm going to wear , like it's so good and I think it's a huge testimony too , you know I've met a few when we're talking about high school , I mean to come from homeschool , entering into big public school , big football team , even in your town , if you will , the notoriety that can even begin to come with it , the pressures that can hit . We talked a while ago about the different schools that were pursuing you .

Speaker 3 17:04

You ended up making a commitment to Auburn .

Justin 17:05

So here's this season . You're gearing up , you're getting ready for college life to go pursue being a quarterback for a major SEC I mean university here . We're a little biased over here SEC's king .

Jason 17:19

Yeah , that's why everybody wants to come join us , right ?

Justin 17:21

That's very true so true , and I admit , my SEC love lets me actually root for Auburn as well , so I'm actually a weird Alabama fan . But here you are in life , you're 18 . You're ready to make this shift to college and then a complete shift that catches everybody off guard ends up happening with

Drafted by Tampa Bay in First Round

Justin 17:43

sports . Can you talk about where you were when you actually find out that you have been drafted in the first round by the Tampa Bay devil rays of the major ?

Jason 17:54

I mean major league baseball here to start , it goes into , you know , after , after I signed the letter of content to go to Auburn , I signed a scholarship or whatever , and so we signed that it's in February of 90 . No , that would be 97 . Then fast forward into the baseball season in spring . I knew , obviously I knew that there was scouts that were coming . They had been coming since I was , since I was a sophomore , into my sophomore year and into my junior year . So I knew that I was getting looked at .

Jason 18:33

I was never getting recruited to play baseball in college because I was going to college to play football , and so you know the full scholarships there , you know , and I wanted to play both and Auburn was going to allow me to play both , and so I kind of knew that I was going to kind of transition into that and obviously football would have been , I mean , number one but I would have been able to play both .

Jason 18:56

So , fast forwarding into my senior year of baseball , I just thought , ok , it's just going to be another . You know , people are going to come and watch , they're going to want to see how hard I throw and all this kind of stuff , and so , and then they started talking to me about hey , um , how much money would it take for you not to go play football ? I didn't know how to answer that . I was like what does that mean ? This is so crazy because I was thinking about this today . So many things as a young person , you're just oblivious to right , and then as you become an adult , and then as you become a father , as you become a husband and then a father , and then it's like there's so many things that you're more aware of that you just had no clue about . And so I just had no clue about . I didn't understand how the draft worked . I didn't understand how major league baseball worked . I just knew I wanted to be on TV playing ball you know , and so that was just my dream .

Jason 19:52

I was like I would love to play baseball . I'd love to play football . You know I would . I just want to be on . I want to be on a baseball card , like that was like you know those , those you know as a kid yeah , that's what you want .

Rhett 20:02

That's the dream . Yeah , well , there was no social media .

Jason 20:04

There was not I mean , like that was it baseball card was like that was awesome .

Justin 20:08

That's your social media . That's right . Bubble gum and a card .

Rhett 20:11

That's your profile pic and everything I mean .

Jason 20:13

That's right and so going through that , and then , and then my , my senior year , just all of a sudden it's like everything is starting to change . People are starting to tell me , scouts are starting to tell me , hey , you're going to get drafted . And I'm thinking , like what does that mean ? I didn't know anything , I didn't understand . And so then starting to understand a little bit more as I'm going through that , and then the very end of my senior year , they're telling me , hey , you need to make a decision . If you're going to go play baseball , if you're going to go play football . I'm like I've already signed a scholarship to go play . And then they just keep on prodding you about .

Jason 20:49

Like I remember there was a couple of guys that would pull my dad off to the side and like , hey , we need to know how much money it's going to take for him not to go . And you know my dad's like , you know he doesn't know how to answer that . So , anyway , so my stock just drastically rises . During the week of an All-Star game at the end of my senior year , I started throwing a lot harder , just things just started happening . And then so scouts are coming out of nowhere and then they're starting to tell me hey , what's the difference ? What's happening ? Why are you throwing ? You know , and I'm like , look man , I'm just a kid that plays , that plays sports , and I have no clue .

Justin 21:31

I mean I try to throw it as hard as I can to that mitt right there and it's coming out a little harder .

Jason 21:36

And so , and then , and then that was when they were saying , well , now your , your draft status is going to rise . And so again I'm thinking like , okay , well , what does that mean , you know ? So there , so people were telling me , hey , you're , it's going to be like in the first couple of rounds . And I'm like , whoa , you know , and I thought it was going to be like , 10th round was the earliest , or whatever . And so , um , you know , and I always thought , well , once I started thinking this , I'm like , well , if it's enough money for me to not go to college , there was a couple of guys that had already gone to play and coming back and playing and that didn't work out in baseball , and they were coming back and playing football in college . Josh Booty was one of them , lsu , and I don't know if you remember a guy named Chris Winkie that did it Florida State , florida State . So it had happened , you know . And so I was like , well , golly , if I mean I take this money , this life altering money , yeah , and then I can just , if it doesn't work out , I'll just come back . So now we've got the draft and I know that I'm not going to go past a certain pick because the Boston Red Sox had told me they were going to take me If I was available . I was going to be this pick .

Jason 22:47

I had a lot of people over family , a lot of family , some friends or whatever over the house on draft day . So the phone rings and my dad picks it up and they asked for me or whatever . And this is so funny because you're dating yourself , because it's legal to have a house phone . Oh yeah , and now the draft , everything is done , everybody can see it . So it's just crazy , just how that works , or whatever . But I remember handing the phone to me and then my scout telling me and I knew him , his name was Skip Bundy . He's since passed away , just an awesome man , um , but he was a scout for the , for the devil race , and or it was the old devil race . Now it's just the race . They dropped the devil , you know , and I think I think once they dropped the devil , things started happening .

Justin 23:35

Really really good for him . Yeah , and so good team was that you're doing ? Yeah , no , that was I don't .

Jason 23:39

That wasn't my doing , um and so so I Skip , you know he was on the phone and he said , jason , we just drafted you the last pick of the first round . And you know , I'm just like I'm beside myself . I dropped the phone and I'm just like hugging my dad . I think Skip was still talking , but I was just like , yeah , and it was so funny because all these people were around and I was down in my room .

Jason 24:06

Down that room we were talking about you know , in the basement where me and my brother , you know , shared the room until I got married and that was where I was , so it wasn't even up there with all the people you know and all our friends you know , and family .

Jason 24:16

But then I had to go upstairs and tell everybody what happened and so , yeah , so it was just , so , yeah , so it was just . It was a really cool moment , very vivid , of being able to kind of picture that and kind of run back through that and just see and seeing how that worked . So then when this happens , well , then they come and they offer you hey , we're going to come visit you , we're going to come offer you the money that slotted for that , you know , that pick or whatever . So then they come and they're offering me this money that I'm just like there's no way I can say no to this . When me this money that I'm just like there's no way I can say no to this . When I finally say , okay , yeah , I'll do that , I won't go to , I won't go to school .

Jason 24:51

So then now obviously Auburn finds out and they find out what , what has happened , and I'm talking to them , I'm talking to the coach and I don't remember how it , how it happened . I don't know if he called me . I think that's how where I think they called me . The recruiting coach called me . We started talking about it and we're trying to figure this out , or whatever , I was like hey , listen , this is what , this is what's going to happen , yeah , and so they were not happy , I bet , but they understand too .

Rhett 25:12

At the same time they did . I was the only quarterback .

Justin 25:15

Stop defending Auburn .

Jason 25:24

I . They were not happy . Well , that's the truth . I was the only quarterback that they signed that year , and that's why we suck . That was not what they wanted .

Rhett 25:31

So I'm enjoying this conversation , justin's got a big smile on his face right now . Yeah , this is good , Thank you .

Jason 25:35

Jason . Yeah , so it was one of those things where it was like , hey , this is , I don't really have a choice here . So they were gracious about it . It was not anything where they were mad at me personally . They knew and you know and so , and then I started thinking about the NIL money now .

Rhett 25:50

And I'm thinking like good grief , man , it's a new day . It's a new day , right .

Justin 25:55

If I could have been a part of that NIL money like okay , I get the choice , you know , and so your program used to get shut down for that . Yeah , exactly , and now exactly we recruit .

Rhett 26:04

Yeah , exactly , alabama's just got good lawyers .

Jason 26:07

Anyway , we won't mention whatever you guys , I'm ganged up on all of a sudden from that point , knowing that this was what I was going to do , um , they , they flew me and my family down , uh , down to tamp . We , we signed , we signed a contract , that experience , you know , and I'm 18 . And I'm like I've never done some of these things and been around some of these places , or whatever , and really surreal . Then I come back home and then turn right around and I'm gone . It was about a two week turnaround from the draft to when I left and went , went down to play , you know , and it was just kind of like one of those just things that just kind of happened and I wasn't really ready to do that because I was thought I was going to go to school . You know , you just have this idea of like well this is what I'm going to do .

Rhett 26:56

That's an immediate you're not going to college with more people your age and that kind of thing thing . Now you're entered into manhood with probably a lot of crazy a lot of crazy and , and now you're entered into this , oh my gosh yeah , I could only imagine .

Rhett 27:08

You know , the movies probably don't do it justice . And what's going through your mind now you're in the major leagues , you're around , you know grown men and you know who knows what . Yeah , and you're thrown into the fire . Yeah , what's that experience like ? Because I mean , you know that's kind of like homeschool to public school . Now you're kind of like you fast forward your life .

Jason 27:24

This is the way I look at it . If you really believe what you're being taught and you really buy into what you're being taught , especially as a follower of Jesus , you have got to understand that no matter , no matter what situation you're ever going to be put in , there's always a way out . Right , and I mean that's what , that's what Jesus tells us , I mean that's what God tells us in his word . And so you really don't understand it until you're actually there and you actually get put into a situation that you're like wow , this is , this is everything that I've been taught , told about . But now I'm actually living , you know , and I'm in the minor leagues . You know , that's you leagues . You go straight to the minor leagues and we were living in a hotel , so what ?

Justin 28:05

does your process look like in that You're living kind of the hotel to hotel ? What begins to happen after that season ?

Jason 28:12

Yeah . So I was in rookie ball that first year in 97 . And I finished off that season winless 0-6 . And I'm thinking like man , maybe I'm not supposed to be doing this , it was just awful .

Jason 28:25

Then go to spring training , which was my first spring training was 98 . That would be my first spring training End up going to another short season , you know , because you have a long . The season , the minor league season is about 144 games and it starts right after spring training . And then there's a short season which is like for the younger guys , you know , like coming out of high school , or younger guys are coming out of college and they want to send them there . So I was in an extended spring for a while and then went to my up in Princeton West Virginia was the place and , man , I got my butt handed to me . It was one of those years that I didn't know if this was where I needed to be and didn't really started thinking about like , well , maybe I need to do something different , maybe I need to go back and play football . So I'm like man , I was winless my first year and then the second year I was just getting crushed .

Jason 29:19

And so I'm like man , I am not very good at all , you know , and so so , yeah , you start doubting , you start doubting yourself and and , um , you know , being a first round pick , there's a lot of politics involved there , because now they've invested some money in you , so they're going to give you chance after chance after chance , you know .

Jason 29:36

So they're going to kind of , they're going to try to push you until basically you fail , you know , and um , there's so much failure in the game of baseball and that's what , in baseball , is such a great teacher to me about who you are , and it really there's a lot of spiritual stuff in baseball too , because of all the things that we face , that we face as believers . But just , the day in and day out , grind , I just , I'm like I got to keep going , I got to keep going , I got to keep going . Grind , I'm like I got to keep going , I got to keep going , I got

Maintaining Faith Through Challenges

Jason 30:03

to keep going . Luckily , the very next year , which would be 99 , I had my best year statistics wise that I had ever had .

Rhett 30:14

You know ever no reason at all , just things just started happening . Well , you didn't give up when you probably could have and I'm sure you're on a contractually obligated too but like what was going ? Through your mind as far as in the downtime of going what the crap . I know you shared a little bit of that , but like what were you learning from ? That , I guess , is my question .

Jason 30:27

You know the organization still believes in what you can do . They wouldn't have drafted you where they drafted you if they didn't . So there's a potential there that , hey , we see this and we're not just going to give up after , after a bad season . Um so , but as a player , it's very difficult because , um man , it's just like everything you put into a season and you don't have the season that you want . You're just like , wow , man , that was a , that was a rough , that was a rough time . In the Christian world we talk about seasons a lot , you know we talk about like going in and out of seasons and stuff like that .

Jason 31:02

And really the baseball season , you know , in my life it was in season and out of season , you know , in season or off season , you know . And so in season , when you're there and you're you're dealing with the grind man , it can be really tough because it's just you feel good about what you're doing , you feel good about your preparation , you feel good about what your body feels like . Everything is just like clicking , but then you're just not getting the results . To me , I have a tendency to do the same thing , spiritually too , you know , and I start thinking about , like the performance religion . I start thinking about like well , god , then I'm doing all this right , then I fail here , and then it's like , so God's not happy with me if I do this . And I always equate it to like climbing a ladder . You know like , oh , I'm climbing this ladder and I'm getting closer to God , and then I sin , and then I'm back down the ladder again and then I got to climb it back up and you know , it's just that performance religion .

Jason 31:50

So you're thinking about , like man , I've got to , I've got to continue to keep going , keep at it , keep at it . And so and I just think the a lot about yourself too . To me , you find out who you are when you're going through some really tough times and you find out what do you really believe , being well grounded and we're talking about years and years of what my mom and dad taught me it starts to pay off and you start to see the dividends of of like OK , this is where my ground is , and as long as my stake is in the ground at the cross , then nothing else can move , that Nothing else can shift . And so if I put my stake over somewhere else , there's a possibility that's going to crumble or that's going to move , and you just have to make up your mind . You're like man I'm either going to trust God or I'm not going to trust God .

Jason 32:39

Man , there's been times that I haven't trusted God and it's just been catastrophic . Like man , why do I keep on doing this ? Why don't I keep on making the same mistake ? I mean , I pitched for 21 years and that was a lot of difficult , and sometimes you're just like guys , that's where I'm supposed to be , you know like , and you just start thinking like God , come on , just give me an out . You know like , just just give me something . You know .

Rhett 32:58

I don't need angels in the outfield , I need angels on the mound . I need that kid . I need that kid Flapping wings . The kid flapping his wings on the side .

Jason 33:08

That's what we're doing right now . That was on TV the other day .

Speaker 3 33:11

Was that angels in the outfield .

Justin 33:12

Angels in the outfield .

Rhett 33:14

All the things that your parents have instilled in you from the Word of God and your faith in Christ has been your anchor . But a lot of people get out into those scenarios and they just fall like the wind . I mean they are gone . Yeah , that's gotta be hard , cause there's gotta be some people listening who are maybe feel like they're on an Island and they're around a lot of just darkness , if you will , and they're just trying to struggle Like how do I keep my faith , how do I keep grounded , how do I keep moving forward ? Maybe you're not on a professional baseball team , but the environment , the work , the business or wherever you are , there was times that I was the .

Jason 33:48

I was the only guy on my team and you really have to figure out what is it that I believe in ? Because , like you said , there's people that have that , their foundation washes away , but what was that foundation built on ? It's really difficult when you go through those things and then you start doubting and you start down , well , like , do I really believe what I've been taught and why do I believe that ? And then when you don't have enough people that are speaking into that and speaking into your life , that's where it can start to become really cloudy and really murky , really cloudy and really murky . And then not only are you struggling , but now you have the outside world that is influencing you about , like , hey , this is what you should do and this is what you shouldn't do . And now just I mean with social media and there's just so much there that it just can just cloud our , our judgment , as bad as it is . I think there was times that the performance religion it kept me from wanting to do anything that kind of my flesh wanted to . And so , knowing that , like , hey , I don't want to disappoint God , I don't want to disappoint my family , I don't want to disappoint my coaches or my teammates , so I've got to just continue to keep going as bad as that sounds there was something there that God was using that to like hey , I got to stay , stay here , even though , like that's not theology that I would that .

Rhett 35:07

I would that . I'd preach , you know , but you feel like you had accountability , though , to people Right .

Justin 35:11

Yeah , the foundational part of that is good because it actually makes you not sway . You're not living by that foundation in the sense of the legalistic side , that's right . But it is nice when you have the principles that you know you can't bend from because you've been taught this and there's a healthy side to that . Yeah , these are a lot of the slumps , keeping with the baseball terms , the slumps that you've been through and even the story you've told so far .

Justin 35:34

There is the streaks , there's the slumps , there's all this stuff that you had just had your best statistical year yeah so now we got some street going , we got some momentum going , you still have it's the same battles . You've got the battles when you're going through the downtimes , but success breeds a whole new level of the battles that you're going to face . You have that great year .

Jason 35:55

Take us from that point . That was 99 . I was in Charleston , south Carolina . Get called up to the next level , which was another single A team , which was actually in St Petersburg , did really well . I kind of felt like it was almost like I felt worthy to be picked , the number one pick from a couple of years ago Kind of felt like , okay , well , here's the reason why they did this . You know this is for people that are listening out there , that you see these contracts on TV and you see these guys that just get you know millions and millions of dollars of contracts . Man , they're humans and they still have these emotions and they still . I mean , the reason they do what they do is because they love what they do . When you put that much into something , it means a whole lot to you . So it's not just like , hey , you're giving me , you're giving me $50 million , and I'm just like man , I can relax . Yeah , it's like Whoa , no , no , there is something in you that says I've got to prove my worth of what I am now .

Unpacking the Identity Crisis

Jason 37:01

Now we start getting into identity . Now we start absolutely , and so now we start getting into this identity thing of like , this crisis of like , who are you ? I'm not a baseball player that loves Jesus . No , I'm a guy that loves Jesus that plays baseball , like that is my central , that has got to be central , and so , and if it's not now , everything is out of whack . And that's the point . A lot of guys , um , that I've played with , I've seen it , you know they get out of the game and let's just say they've had great careers .

Jason 37:31

I mean , they were just . They were really , really good , and now you're done . Well , you're not that guy anymore . Now you're the guy that used to do that , but that only takes you so far . And then people , people start forgetting who you are . And then it's like well , who are you ? Who you are is whose you are .

Justin 37:46

Me and summer were . We were out the other night and we were talking to this young girl and we were . I mean , she just kind of had this vibe about her . You could tell she was musical .

Speaker 3 37:56

Yeah .

Justin 37:57

We were like you remind me of Alanis Morissette . And she says who ? And I'm like who ?

Rhett 38:04

Did you start singing some songs ?

Justin 38:15

It's like rain . I'm naming .

Jason 38:16

And she's like no , never heard of her and I remember leaving thinking you know , I don't mean to speak here for Alanis Morissette .

Justin 38:20

But if your identity is so wrapped into that heyday , that wonderful time that you had that brought the notoriety or the success and you can name that in different areas , if you don't have a foundation there , they will forget you in that heyday moment . There's another generation . They could care less . It was that reminder of this person who's world renowned at some point in life that another generation comes and they've never heard .

Justin 38:46

So I think about someone who you're living in that identity . When that day comes , you can't stand on that . It is shifting sand and the storms come . Think about it .

Rhett 38:56

A lot of people in professional athlete careers . It's like you grew up playing baseball . You played in high school , you either played in college or you you get drafted in the first round , like you did . It's like this is all I know . But for you , going back , it was like your parents did a great job , saying , no , this is who you are , it's what you just shared . You get to play baseball . But no , jason , you're a man of God , right , and this is who you are . This is who God's called you to be . You get to play baseball , so go have fun and enjoy it while it lasts , if you will . But a lot of these guys , and even women too , you get into this . Whether it's a business owner , ceo , executive you go up the ladder or a professional athlete . It's like you're saying man , it's so important . Identity is like who are you as a baseball player ?

Jason 39:40

you , being specific , you know , am I a power hitter or am I just a ? Am I an own base guy ? You know , am I , am I ? Am I a speedster ? Am I , am I a guy that's got really good defensive skills and that's what I'm going to do in my home run hitter , you know . And then there's a pitcher You're like it's not my power pitcher or my guy that's going to , it's going to throw more strikes and get more ground balls and pitch to contact , you know .

Jason 40:09

And so , you know , as you start to try to navigate through that , you start trying to figure out , really , who am I in the vocation that I was in ?

Jason 40:13

And so that became kind of tough because you know , you're reading articles and your people that are telling you , hey , this is who we think that you can be , this is who , this is the type of pitches we want you to throw , you know . And so then you're just trying to figure everything out , and then it just started getting a little bit better , and I think one of the things that I lacked the most in my career was the mental part . I never liked to talk about it . I didn't really like to talk about the mental part of the game because it kind of scared me , because I to talk about the mental part of the game because it kind of scared me , because I didn't feel like I was very smart and I felt like I was kind of inadequate of like being able to understand that . It was just more like hey , I'm just going to just throw the ball , you know whatever , like a Neanderthal , you know , like , like .

Jason 40:53

Oh , that's all I'm going to do you know , but really not until later in my career when I started understanding that , like , I am afraid , I am afraid . I am afraid to throw the ball over the plate because I've just backed up third base three times in a row . I'm afraid to throw the ball over the plate to the number four hitter because I'm afraid that if I do , he's going to hit a home run . Then I'm going to be out of the game . And so , you know , these thought processes start to come and then you start understanding how to deal with those thought processes because they're going to be there . And that's the thing .

Jason 41:22

I was like , oh , I'm not scared , I'm not scared . I would tell you , no way , I'm not scared . Yeah , but I was scared . And it's like , if you can identify , like the problem , and you're like , hey , I am scared , but what am I going to do about it ? I'm not going to let the fear cause me to do something that I don't want to do . So I'm not going to be afraid , because what's going to happen is I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this and I'm going to be successful . You know , and obviously the positive , you know , trying to trying to figure all that out , you know , and it and it goes into our spiritual life too , you know of like man I've got . God has not given me a spirit of fear , but a power of love and a sound mind . So I know that I have to go into this situation . I don't have to be afraid . Now am I going to be afraid ? Yeah , probably that's what God tells us . Hey , don't be afraid .

Jason 42:06

Exactly it's okay to be human and have these emotions , yeah . And so I think , just the real talk , the authentic talk I love that word . Authenticity , especially in the Christian world , to me is like , man , let's get real about the things that we deal with . Let's don't try to push away like , oh , I'm not supposed to worry so good . Or oh , I'm not supposed to be afraid , or yeah , God tells us not to do those things . But those are the emotions that God gave us now , because there are some healthy fears , you know . And so let's talk about those things that are real , that we're dealing with ?

Rhett 42:41

Did they give you any kind of emotional coaching as far as , like you know , in the world's eyes , like the , maybe the psychology of ? Okay , we know you're going to have these thoughts . Here's how you need to like focus . If you can go , you can go take a .

Jason 42:52

You could go take a really good high school pitcher . He could pitch in the big leagues , he could . The thing that's going to separate him is when he gives up a homer , he gives up a double and then he gives up another double . What does he do then ? There's that it's because it's the physical part is like you get drafted because the physical part's there , you know , and it's like , hey , we think that you can do this now you can , you can hone some skills and you can be in the zone a little bit more or whatever . But yeah , it's just up here , it's all of them there .

Jason 43:24

It's minimizing the mistakes , but it's . I always tell the kids that I coach and I was like you got to have a thought process like Dory , that's so good , she forgets really fast . She can remember some things from a long time ago , whatever , but you have to have a really really short memory because guess what the next pitch is coming , or guess what the next , you know the next at bat is coming , and so , um , I love that analogy and I think it's so it's .

Jason 43:53

I mean , kids are just like oh , that's funny , you know , but it's really true . It's like I've got to forget what just happened because I can't do anything about , I can't dwell on what just happened .

Justin 44:02

Because we prematurely will eliminate ourself , because our mind gets with us and it's like I'm not this player , I'm not this worker , I can't do this and no one else is thinking that , but it's happening in between your ears .

Rhett 44:15

So you obviously did really well with that and have learned , and I'm sure it's still a growing process . But you went on to play for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays , the Texas Rangers let's go . I was really excited when I heard you were with them . Because I was in Texas at that time . I was like I can see Jason play the Cincinnati Reds , kansas City Royals , and then you start . We find yourself kind of like overseas at this point , which is really cool . But like you obviously get through , you know the A's , I don't know , did you play double , a triple ?

Jason 44:41

A .

Rhett 44:42

And then you find yourself in the major leagues . I'm curious when you're stepping out on that major league field for the first time under the lights , the crowd's going wild . I apologize that I don't know that game , that date and that time , but walk me through like you're walking out of the bullpen and calling you to the mound Invited to this show .

Jason 45:01

It was really cool . It was in texas , it was in arlington , okay , um , we , uh , we're playing in arlington and and this is another time too that I was I wasn't really having a great , a great season . Um , I had started off really really well , um , and then ended up having a really bad game . Um , I got charged , got in a fight .

Rhett 45:22

Yeah , so what team ? Is this what team are you with at this point ?

Jason 45:25

This , this is in triple a Okay , this was the . Durham bulls this is North Carolina , okay , so I ended up getting in a fight that was an oh one .

Rhett 45:33

So hold on . Did the guy charge you or you charge him ?

Jason 45:35

No , no , no , he charged me .

Rhett 45:36

Okay , so Like we can't just bypass that .

Jason 45:42

What did you do ? Were you mad at him ?

Rhett 45:43

You threw the pitch at him . You were like , hey , I'm a man of God , but I'm going to take you out .

Jason 45:47

Sometimes you got to David and Goliath here . I know how to throw this ball right at your forehead . Baby , let's go . You don't ever want to throw at the head right ?

Rhett 45:53

No , no , I know , I know .

Jason 45:55

But you have the next guy , cause I got two quick outs . The very first two batters of the game get them out , boom , boom , like four pitches . It's going to be a good game . And then five , five runs later . Just kidding , just crushed , whatever . So then I get out of the ending , go back out there . First two guys , boom boom , get them out real quick , and then three and it was a double homer , homer , I think it was . So I mean I'm just getting hammered and I'm just like man I am . I'm just , and you know I'm not throwing strikes , you know I'm not doing really well Throwing a lot of pitches . You know , going deep into the council guys , he comes up , nobody on base .

Speaker 3 46:45

My catcher wants me to go .

Rhett 46:46

I mean he gives me the finger not yeah , not one .

Jason 46:47

He gives me the actual finger . Okay , yeah , and , and so he wanted me to go hard in okay and so I was just trying to go hard in just to just to get him off the plate yeah , back him off a little , drill him right in the back , right in the right , in the center of the back .

Jason 46:59

So you know , as a kid I'm thinking , I don't think , I don't know what's gonna happen , happen , you know , whatever . But he just he thinks about it for a second and then throws his bat down and takes off his helmet and starts running after me . I'm like , oh my goodness , this is happening .

Rhett 47:15

Like . I've seen this . I see this growing up . I've seen this Nolan Ryan here we go . This is actually happening

Major League Debut and Facing Clemens

Rhett 47:20

.

Jason 47:20

You know , and I'm'm just , and I've always thought like what am I going to do in this situation , you know .

Jason 47:23

So I started kind of thinking what I'm trying to like get my glove off . You can see in the video I'm like trying to trying to shake my glove off just and I'm like I don't know what to do . And you know , so my catcher catches up with him and grabs him as he kind of like ducks and does this like move or whatever , and I'm like I was going to try to uppercut him if he kind of went down . And so my catcher grabs him , falls over him and they're like at me , so , as they're coming down , my catcher's on top of him , and so he grabs my leg , pulls me down , I fall down , I grab him , I flip him over and I just get about two or three and then everything is just .

Rhett 48:08

The whole team has got to come out at that point . Oh gosh , yes , oh man . The crowd is going wild .

Jason 48:12

Cameras are flashing . This is amazing .

Speaker 3 48:14

You made the headlines there , so that's a good story .

Rhett 48:19

So I've got to imagine your mama or your daddy calls you .

Jason 48:21

I'm like , okay , we've got to talk what I got to imagine your mama or your daddy calls you , I'm like , okay , we got to talk , what's going on ?

Speaker 3 48:27

I called him and told him what was going on .

Jason 48:28

And so it was , you know , and I was . I mean , I was dating , I was dating my wife . I called her and tell her what was going on and I just remember and this is something that really bothered me Because I was not a guy , that I was not a fighter but in the situation , knowing more now about the game and I didn't know about it then , but knowing more about the game , I would have let that just roll right off my back and just been like I don't care .

Jason 49:01

But I really had a hard time after . But I really had a hard time after that . I really had a hard time . I couldn't pitch inside to guys because I was afraid that if I pitched inside they were going to think I was throwing at them and so I had this like mental block . But I remember I was , I had this big , huge , just like whatever it was somebody had . It was just kind of like a scrape on my , on my , on my face from the fight . And I just remember there was a little kid that he was a front office guy and it was this little kid that was walking in the clubhouse and he looked at me and the little kid was looking at me and I just remember the shame that I felt . And I felt this shame thinking like man , I'm not supposed to be fighting and I'm not supposed to be . But I mean , obviously , as a kid I was thinking like , oh man , I just disappointed this little kid and it really wrecked me for a little while and I couldn't pitch inside and I was really ineffective for a while .

Jason 49:57

But that same year I get called up to the big leagues and so Texas coming running out of the bullpen uh , I'd never thrown in relief before . I was always a starter . So , warming up in the bullpen and I'm just my heart is beating like crazy . I mean I'm just like so jacked , and so I'm in the , I'm in the big leagues , I mean I'm like this is just amazing .

Jason 50:20

And so , um , I just remember coming running out , running out and running out , and Pudge Rodriguez was my first at bat .

Jason 50:26

Oh wow , he hits just an absolute rocket to our shortstop . He couldn't handle it or whatever , ended up getting out of the inning because I came out I think it was two outs , I think I only had to get one out and the guy got a pop out to left field and I remember , as , as Pudge rounded , he rounded um second base or third base and I was coming off of the mound and here's a guy that I've just been watching . You know , really my whole career , my whole as as a kid , I've watched this guy and he comes running around and and and he just said , hey , nice job , kid . And so it was like one of those things . I was like , wow , dude , this is pretty cool . And now , seeing how guys are , that was just so typical of a guy , that's a professional , that he knew that that was my first outing ever in the big leagues and it was just like one of those just the tip of the cap , you know and it was just like wow , that was kind of cool .

Rhett 51:23

So you were with the Devil Rays at that point playing for them .

Jason 51:25

That's right , that was in 2001 . Yeah , 2001 .

Rhett 51:29

I had just moved to Texas then , so I hadn't been to a game yet . I would have loved to have seen that . I remember one of your starts getting a call from one of our friends , robert Smith .

Justin 51:41

Robert and Pam such an amazing , just lifelong mentor , seasons up close and seasons from afar , but I remember him reaching out . I think they had a watch party going to watch you on that night and so , even from those moments of being afar , it was really cool to see just that progression of you , starting from high school football , of going to watch you play these games and the next thing you know you're playing in the major league on TV having friends have a watch party , which once again it shows some of the slumps that you went through earlier .

Justin 52:16

You had to go through the mental battle then , even the success that comes . What was that experience as a whole , Like even some of the success ? What's your mind going through in these moments ?

Jason 52:27

In that particular game . I was so jacked man , I was just so ready . I was facing Roger Clemens . Yeah , I mean , here's a , I mean a future .

Speaker 3 52:36

Hall of Famer . This guy , this is like this is the guy that I've been watching .

Jason 52:39

Oh my gosh

First MLB Game and Team Mentality

Jason 52:40

. And so just knowing and I'll have to tell you a quick story if we have time so so at the beginning , so all my family are there , of course , my dad's got the video camera and he's you know , he's filming me warm , would I ? Would run from the , from the foul line to center field , um , just warm it up , you know , just kind of going through my preparation and getting my body loose or whatever . Well , I had I usually would do like you know , three or four , you know sprints or whatever , and my dad had just turned the video camera off and I was going and doing my last , my last run , but I had I'd never , I had never worn spikes on artificial turf . And so when I'm running out , my last , very last sprint out there , I'm in the big leagues . Yeah , I mean , I'm about to pitch against the yankees , you know , yeah oh , you're starting .

Jason 53:42

This is like this is like this is the ultimate . So I'm running out , it's , I'm breaking down on my last sprint . My spike catches . It catches the turf oh my gosh and I go rolling . I mean I tripped and fall and I go rolling and I tried to play it . I tried , I act like I was stretching . You know when I was stretching . You know when I was getting up and you went rolling on the other side .

Rhett 54:06

Yeah , and so you get some .

Jason 54:09

I did that on purpose . I heard this guy up in the stands like . Oh we saw that and I'm like oh yeah , and so it was really funny , but it was something that kind of calmed my nerves a little bit .

Rhett 54:24

You , it was really funny , but it was something that kind of calmed my nerves a little bit .

Jason 54:26

Oh then , it did how much more embarrassed , can you be ?

Rhett 54:27

Oh , exactly I mean how ? Much more embarrassed .

Jason 54:30

I'm supposed to be a professional athlete and I just tripped over myself .

Rhett 54:33

It's that moment where you're hoping ESPN's not doing this whole little spill on this pitcher .

Jason 54:37

Oh my gosh .

Rhett 54:38

Really focused in on you .

Jason 54:40

They didn't care nothing about Tampa Bay at that time on you . They didn't care nothing about tampa bay at that time . Oh man , but I remember that like it was yesterday and I was like dad , please tell me that you have that . He goes . I just turned the camera off .

Speaker 3 54:50

I was like no , I would have loved to have been able to share that , but you know if I would have done that now .

Rhett 54:58

That would be 200 people to have that , we'd pull it up right now . That's right , yeah so it's crazy that there's not film . Probably some film somewhere , but that's awesome , it's fun .

Justin 55:06

We went to New York City one time and we actually wanted to capture everything , but you couldn't . You didn't have a phone to do that . We had to go buy a video camera in New York . City because it just wasn't as widespread in those days .

Rhett 55:18

That's right .

Justin 55:19

I'm actually thankful for that with some of the past stuff .

Rhett 55:21

How many innings did you get through on that start ? Derek Jeter is the first batter of the game .

Jason 55:27

I struck him out and I was like that was my very first strikeout in the big leagues and I was like are you kidding ? I just struck out Derek Jeter and I turned around and I'm like Did anybody see this ?

Jason 55:38

Oh my gosh . Anyway , I ended up going six and a third , six and a third , no runs . We're beating Roger Clemens three to nothing . And then my closer comes in and blows the game . They had told me that I was only going to go a certain amount of pitches because it had been so long since I'd started and they just pulled me out . I was in the seventh inning . Esteban Yan was our closer and man , he gave up a three-run double to Luis Soho and we ended up losing four to three . And I'm like , man , you don't ever get the opportunity to beat Roger Clemens in your first game ever . You know just the idea of like , wow , you can't get that back , you don't get a redo .

Rhett 56:21

Here you are , if you will , at the pinnacle of a moment that you've dreamed about as a kid , and you just live this moment . Now I understand you didn't win the game , but the moment opening up , striking out these Hall of Famers , if you will , when you're laying your head on the pillow at night what's going through ?

Jason 56:39

your mind . I think you probably could have said a bunch of different things than I would have said all of the above . Yeah , because I think there was a lot of stuff that was going through my mind , especially at the end of the game . Here I am . This is supposed to be a highlight , we'll lose the game , and I am just , I don't know . I didn't know . I think I was young enough to not know . Like what am I supposed to feel ?

Jason 57:04

I talk about this all the time , about being a good teammate . When you're a good teammate , it doesn't matter what you do individually , but it's what your team does . You know , that is where you , a hitter goes , uh , four for four with a homer , and then he drives in . You know three or four runs , but then you lose five to four . Um , is this guy happy that he , individually and personally , did something well , or is he upset with his teammates ? Hey , man , you win as a one , as a team , and lose as a team , um , and then , no matter what you do , you can be happy for yourself . But same goes for if I go 0 for 4 with four punch outs and I didn't do anything to contribute , but then my team wins , am I down in the dumpster ? Am I happy for my team ? So there's this Be a good teammate , be a guy that you can come back from striking out or having a bad inning and somebody can pat you on the butt and say , hey man , you're okay , keep your head up and you can respond in a positive way , not a hey man , get away from me . So at the end of the game we lose , I come out of the clubhouse and of course , my family is just like you know , they're just like you know , and and then I'm kind of it's almost like I'm kind of telling them like hey , you know we lost . You know , like I don't want to , you know , and it but and it almost took away some of the almost , took away some of the joy that I would have felt . But I was trying to be a professional , I was trying to understand the game and and , um , I was still excited for what I did . I mean , I was still excited to be a part of what I just did , like man , this was really cool . But I was just devastated that we didn't win the game , you know , and it was like the storybook ending that didn't get written .

Jason 58:56

My dad always told me . You know , as a kid is like man number one you need to always let others praise . You Always let other people tell you that you've done well . You don't ever go and like toot your own horn . You don't ever go tell people how you know how good you've done . So that was always in my mind . Like every time I did something well , I always remembered . You know I don't need to go tell people , but when people tell me I can , I sure hey , thank you so much . I appreciate that . You know when we receive that .

Jason 59:24

But one thing that my dad really instilled in me in an early age is believing in myself and believing in the ability that I have the hard work you put in and the preparation that you put in , and believe in the process of that and believe that like , hey , you can believe that if you want to go win or if you want to go do this or if you want to go do that , believe that you can go , do it . You know , and just that positive , positive mindset and I think that that carried that carried me through I mean , that's carried me through into adulthood of just knowing that , like knowing that , like my dad instilled this in me of like , hey man , believe in yourself and believe in in , in who you are and your ability . It's really just having the positive mindset of like man . If I want to go out there and do that and accomplish that , I'm going to have the drive and the will and the determination to be able to go do that .

Justin 1:00:17

Well , that's a story that I've actually told really about you for years . I remember when I met my wife Summer , when we were dating and I was telling her I have a friend named Jason and it's after you had gone through the process of high school football . You're being recruited by these , all these colleges to play quarterback but then you get drafted in the first round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays , a major Baseball all these crazy things . You were never told you're not supposed to actually go accomplish that and I love hearing the story from you about what your dad instilled into you because it impacted me . When I heard that story from afar , someone said exactly what you just did . I would tell students when I would go speak or play music for them . I would share your story to them to encourage them about the positive mindset and how you can disqualify yourself and go ahead and eliminate saying I can't do this because I've just been told I'm not supposed to or my mind is telling me that you're an imposter in this .

Jason 1:01:17

That's a true story and I mean that's and that's something that that carried me , I'll always carry . I mean I'm passing that down to my kids and just making sure that they understand that if they want to do something they believe , believe that you can go do that . I can never understand why somebody would discount anyone and say you're too small , you're too slow , you're too big , you're too tall , you're too short . You know , like , whatever it may be physical , mental , whatever it may be , it's like no , don't let anybody tell you that you can't go do something . I just carried that with me and just knew that , like man , that is the mindset that I want to have in really anything that I do .

Justin 1:01:59

You alluded a while ago . You were talking about you were dating who your wife is . Now you were dating during this season . You guys get married . You're talking about instilling this in your children . So there's this next chapter that begins to happen , where you're playing in the major leagues and now you're actually going to go play , which you played for a while in Japan .

Jason 1:02:18

That would start in 07 . So I was with Kansas City .

Rhett 1:02:21

And I was with Kansas City .

Jason 1:02:22

Okay , and we , I was up and down . I was up and down in the big leagues and in AAA and ended

Baseball and Family Adoption in Japan

Jason 1:02:34

up going . I had a had a pitching coach a couple of years before that had played in Japan and he even told me . He said , man , you would , you would love it over there . Well , my goal was not to go to Japan , my goal was to play in the big leagues . I mean , the ultimate place to play is the major leagues . So in 07 , they were going to send me down from Kansas City , send me back to the minor leagues . Well , I refused my assignment , I didn't want to go back . So I asked for my release . I knew I had some interest from Japan Over the past couple of years . They had , they had wanted me to come over , but I didn't want to go if I had the job , you know , at home . So anyways , long story short , ended up getting a , getting a job over there , go over to Japan . I mean , me and my wife had no idea what to expect . I mean , I'm getting all kinds of information before I go , but getting over there I actually had a former . Well , he wasn't a , he wasn't a teammate , he was a , he was a really good friend that was over there on the team that I was going to play for and so it was an immediate connection that I knew that I was like , hey , this is going to be , it's going to be great . You know , loves the Lord . His name is CJ Nikowski . He's actually he does the commentary for the Atlanta Braves right now Really cool and had some success over there in 07 , then went back in 08 .

Jason 1:03:55

Did not do well at all , like really really bad season , and during this time my wife was pregnant with our first child . So Cash came in August . I come back because I didn't play very well in 08 . I come back to the States in 09 , bounce around with a couple different teams , ended up going to play Winter Ball in Dominican and Venezuela that year . Did pretty well . I got another job and then ended up going back over to Japan in 10 . So I was there from 07 and 08 , and then went back in 10 all the way through 17 . And that's when I retired .

Justin 1:04:31

I got to ask any championships in there .

Jason 1:04:33

So there's , two .

Justin 1:04:34

There's two back-to-back , yeah , two back-to-back championships .

Jason 1:04:37

That was in 14 and 15 . And , yeah , we won the . It was the Japan series , which is the world series I have heard in Japan .

Rhett 1:04:46

it's like so serious , like these . These crowds are incredible .

Jason 1:04:49

The college football it's just insane . It's pretty insane .

Rhett 1:04:53

And so you're probably you wouldn't say this about yourself , but you're probably becoming a celebrity on the team , I would imagine .

Justin 1:04:59

We also have to acknowledge to our listening audience that not only was he the professional player in Japan , where it's huge , but Jason ain't ugly either . Well , I was going to say that .

Rhett 1:05:10

I was going to say that , but I was like I don't know how to say that in a man way .

Justin 1:05:14

That's how you say it . You say he ain't ugly .

Speaker 3 1:05:17

In a man way , he ain't ugly .

Rhett 1:05:26

I mean , just look him up on Instagram , it's enough . He's the Tim Tebow of baseball , let's just put it that way right now . I mean , like here we go . Good looking , dude , popular . I can only imagine the challenges that come with that .

Jason 1:05:31

Obviously , that's , that's here and and um , you know another country . You just don't know what they're saying about you . Yeah , you don't know how to speak Japan . Japanese ? Yeah , so you don't know how to speak Japan Japanese ? Yeah , you don't either . I definitely don't . You don't know how to speak .

Rhett 1:05:44

Japan . Hey man , I just speak America . I'm sorry , I speak America , I'm sorry . My Alabama's showing right now that's right , that's okay .

Jason 1:05:56

You speak .

Rhett 1:05:57

Alabama . I've been in Alabama way too long , it's like it's really scary .

Jason 1:06:02

All your Idaho buddies are just like what in the heck .

Rhett 1:06:05

This guy was my pastor for what .

Jason 1:06:07

Oh , yes , I love it . Hey , we're authentic on here .

Speaker 3 1:06:11

We're authentic , oh man .

Rhett 1:06:13

It's not armchair authentic if Fred doesn't make fun of himself . That's right you don't have to speak Japanese to see people adoring you .

Jason 1:06:20

That's right . And you know people adoring you , that's right . So , and you know , and it was really cool because you really felt like , um , you felt like a celebrity over there . Uh , that's the way they kind of make you feel . They really make you feel , they make you feel like a rock star . It's really crazy . And so that can start to creep in too and you could let that , you know , go into places that you're just like hey man , this is , this is not , this is not healthy . You kind of start thinking about yourself in a way that maybe you shouldn't .

Rhett 1:06:43

How does that affect your family , your marriage , your kids ?

Jason 1:06:46

If you have a wife that can speak into your life , then she can knock you down a couple notches , which is great . And so you have to have somebody that is really listening to the Holy Spirit and saying like , hey , I need to tell you something . So , as a whole , that's just one of those things where you just have to battle . It's just like anything really . It's just different when , when there's a different thing , there's just creates different challenges . You know , there's always something that's coming up .

Justin 1:07:11

And you're growing a family at this time , which is it's . It's a process that's going on here . Can you talk about , as your family's growing , what that's looking like ?

Jason 1:07:23

My son was born in 08 . We go back over there in 10 . We want to have more kids , you know , and we struggled getting pregnant again and couldn't figure out what was going on , did some you know infertility stuff . And I'm not making light of that because my wife really had a hard time with that and really just struggled , just really in doubt , and that was something that you know she shared with me one time and I and it just broke my heart thinking that that's the way we are as humans is we can start doubting , we can start thinking about things the way that , really the way the enemy wants us to think . I remember her telling me one time she was just , she was crying and she just says , you know , I just don't know , maybe I'm not a good mom and maybe God doesn't want me to have any more kids because I'm not a good enough mom . I thought it just broke my heart . It's almost so elementary . But then when you're going through it , man , it just seems so real and of course I'm speaking into it Like are you kidding me ? You're a great mom . Just the vulnerability . I know that's very , that's a very private thing , but that is something that she would sit here and she'd , she'd tell you the same thing . But just knowing that , like those things are real and just knowing that , like as human emotions , and you know we feel those things Just fast forward . You know , god really blessed us tremendously with children .

Jason 1:08:29

We had always wanted to adopt . My wife had always wanted to have a Asian girl , whatever it was that God kind of instilled in her . That's what she wanted , you know . And so we had talked about adoption and we were more like I was leaning more towards , and we were both leaning more towards wanting to adopt . After baseball it's always like this thing of like , well , god , this is not the time , like , hey , my time is , you know , whatever , that was not what the Lord had for us . And so we had reached out to an adoption agency . It was almost kind of like a government-run DHR type thing that they're in charge of placing kids .

Jason 1:09:06

Adoption is not a big thing in Japan . It is in China , but it's not in Japan . In Japan it's more of like a blood relative that would adopt you , but there are multiple , multiple orphanages that kids can be adopted , but they just are not . And then it's really sad , but there's a lot of people that parents that take their kids to orphanages and leaves them there and says there's one day we may want to come back and pick them up , and it's like just , I don't understand that mindset and it's just one of those things . It's just like , wow , man , that's just not , that's just so unfair for that child or whatever . And then they're not , nobody can adopt them , cause it was one of my teammates that wanted to adopt a little girl over there and the family said no , because there's a possibility we may want her one day . And I'm just like , oh man , just devastating stuff . It's so heartbreaking .

Jason 1:10:05

And we got a call in this was in 2013 . Really wanted a little baby girl , and that was kind of what we had kind of put out there or whatever . And so we got a call that there was a little girl available . Would we want to come and meet her ? And so she was born two weeks before that . We got the call and then we went to go meet her . So she was like four weeks old when we met her . When we met this little girl , we knew like , man , this is what God has for us . She was living with us two weeks later after we met her , and so it started off with almost like the way they did it . It was like a foster parent type thing , but they had to do a home study and and and all this , all this stuff , and I really felt like the status of being a ball player . Um , it helped with that process and God uses whatever he needs to use .

Jason 1:10:59

There's so many cool stories . I mean I could sit here and we could talk all day about stories , you know , but I think the biggest thing is Japan is a . It's really a godless country . There is just it is less than 1% , you know , a Christian and it is just a . It's a dark place . It's a very dark place . You know , here I am , I'm in the limelight .

Jason 1:11:18

I mean , there's articles , you know all the time about us , you know whatever and so they want to know why we have one and we want to adopt a Japanese child , you know , and I was able to share the gospel more through the adoption process of my little girl than I was on the field at any time , and that was super powerful , because people were just wondering why do you , what ? Do you want a Japanese kid ? And they just didn't understand . They didn't understand the process , they didn't understand the love . They didn't understand all that stuff and I'm like , well , sit down , let me tell you a little bit about the Lord . And so there was articles written about that . There was this one cool article that was like I won't do it justice . It was like I won't do it justice but the way that it was written , it was translated for us but it was like the love of the Standridges , travel over the Pacific and it was something like and meet their little girl , something crazy , the way that they and this is a non-believer writing this and it's just like this .

Jason 1:12:22

And I remember we had a church that we were going to and there was a lady that had . She was bilingual and she could man . It was so cool because she translated the story for us that they wrote in the paper and I remember sitting there reading it because she translated it and sent it to me on my phone . So I'm going through this and I'm reading it and this was like late at night . The kids you know Cash and Kane were asleep . She goes by Kane , so my middle name , her middle name together . Hers was Carol , mine was Wayne , c-a-y-n-e .

Speaker 3 1:12:54

That's her name .

Justin 1:12:55

I love it .

Jason 1:12:56

Yeah . So anyways , I was sitting there reading this thing and man , I'm sobbing as I'm reading . I can't even read and I'm having to take a minute . I'm reading it to my wife and it was just surreal . This guy that wrote this doesn't know Jesus , but the way he wrote it it was like it was Jesus all in it . There's been a lot of cool things that have happened on the field Really cool things happened on the field but nothing really compares to being able to hear your kids laugh .

Jason 1:13:22

Nothing really is compared to being able to sit down at breakfast and talk about Jesus to your kids and them asking questions about the Lord . That's a great fulfillment as a man , you know , and just being able to see your kids growing and then they're making these dumb choices and you're , like man did I do that , you know ? But then realizing , like man , I just I love you so much . You never understand the love that you have , that your parents had for you , until you have one of your own . And then I remember when I went , when I saw my son for the first time and I held him , and then I realized what my dad was telling me . Like man , you're never going to understand what that love is until you experience it . And then you never understand the love of the father , until you're a father yourself . But then you're just like whoa , whoa , whoa , whoa , whoa , whoa . What I feel , and it's times you know a million you know , whatever infinity , yeah .

Jason 1:14:12

I really enjoy being a dad , being a husband , man , it's just so much fun .

Justin 1:14:15

You have such a beautiful family . You've used your talents , your abilities , even just to provide and also walk in the calling God has for your life 2017,

Transitioning to a Life of Purpose

Justin 1:14:27

. You retire , you come back home to the States and now you're full time being a husband , a dad . What's some of the aspirational things that are in your life right now ? What are you dreaming about ?

Jason 1:14:38

Man , I don't know . I feel like it's just kind of day to day and I just feel like I don't know where , I don't know where I'm at . Um , you know , I got into some real estate stuff and then I invested in a roofing company and when I retired I told , I told Joy , I was like man , I don't , I don't want to do anything for two or three years . I just want to just be a dad , I just want us to . We bought a motor home and we traveled around and it was just so much fun you know , and so there's just something about that that I that I just love um , just being being with family .

Jason 1:15:06

We spent a lot of time together . We really do . We may spend too much time together , I don't , but I mean we really like each other and we enjoy it , you know , whatever . And so I think the God's got me somewhere . There's a transition . I feel like I was just talking to a buddy of mine .

Jason 1:15:18

I feel like there's a transition in my life right now that there's something that God's trying to stir . I don't know where that is , I don't know what that is , but I have a passion to be able to just speak into other men's lives . I really have that passion to be able to do that , and I don't know what that looks like . I don't know if it looks like something in player development or something like that , but something about that just being able to speak into a young man's life and to be able to just give him life-giving words , advice and encouragement , and that kind of gets me going . You know , it makes me excited , and so I don't know what that . You know where that's going to lead , but I'm just , I'm just praying that God's going to . You know , leave me wherever , wherever I need to go and so right now I'm just kind of open . So I've been very fortunate , very blessed , to be able to have that opportunity to do that .

Rhett 1:16:05

I appreciate you sharing that and I hope , if you're listening to this podcast today , I hope that just blesses you to know , wherever you are , the greatest joy you could ever have is a relationship with God anchored in that , no matter what storms come your way , and a relationship with friends and family .

Justin 1:16:20

That's right Living way and a relationship with friends and family . That's right Living your life to pour into others . It's amazing how fulfilling that is .

Jason 1:16:25

There's so much value in that . It's just , it's super cool . You know we sometimes we sit around and we're listening to worship , music or dancing as a family in the den or something like that . Me and my wife will look at each other . You know our little adopted Asian little princess , you know we'll look at each other and be like where , where do you think she would be right now If God did not bring her to us ? You know , and we and God didn't lead us to her . And just man , sometimes that just breaks me down and just thinking like man , would she know Jesus ? As a father , you know , like there's no greater joy than knowing that your kids are walking with the Lord , you know , and so as they get older and they enter adulthood , you're like man .

Rhett 1:17:05

So as they get older and they enter adulthood . You're like man , you just want them to follow Jesus , you know . And so , man , what a great thing it is . Well , I know I speak for Justin , but thank you so much for your time . It's an honor having you on the podcast . I can't believe it's been this many years since we've connected , but I'm grateful the Lord has brought me back in Birmingham , even if just for this moment . It's been cool .

Rhett 1:17:18

Yeah , so how can people get you know , maybe in touch with you , follow you ? I know we kind of threw the little shameless plug of a bad roofing . Put it out there . Seriously , this is , you know , like I'm sure there's people who would love to maybe follow you on Instagram or what's the best way that they can connect with you . I mean , I've got .

Jason 1:17:32

You know , I don't I'm not a huge social media guy Um , I've got a page and people have reached out . You know , I've got like a Twitter page . I've got an Instagram , facebook page , whatever , and so I think my Instagram is at Jason Standridge , I believe , and then I believe it's the same thing . No , I think Twitter . Well , not Twitter , it's X now right .

Rhett 1:17:51

Yeah , that's right . You're a Generation Xer , aren't you ? Yeah ?

Jason 1:17:55

I think that's at Standridge55 . I believe that's what it is , but then yeah . So , I mean , I just don't do a whole lot of posting or anything like that , you know , and like keeping up with stuff like that .

Justin 1:18:08

Well , I was wondering what you had for dinner last night and I couldn't find it .

Jason 1:18:12

Yeah , I didn't take a picture of that Well about that .

Rhett 1:18:16

But on a serious note though , man , I mean , like , if you are in the Birmingham Alabama area and you're looking for a roof , how can they reach out to you on that ?

Jason 1:18:21

So we have a website , it's abide roofcom and you can reach out .

Justin 1:18:26

So my business partner , travis Lloyd , he's the , he's the guy , he's the , he is the roofer we can take care of your stuff man , jason , might not be on the roof like his amazing partner is , because Jason really is probably busy at the house with the dance parties . Cause I know I know everything that people have heard from you today . We love you just for your authenticity . Like you get Jason Standridge , anywhere you are , you get the real deal guy and that's what's always drawn us towards you and we're so grateful for really the testimony that you embody .

Justin 1:19:02

And I cannot think of a better person when you say you want to mentor the rest of your life mentoring to these young men . I can't think of a better person who does that than you , and we're grateful to have you today on Armchair Authentic .

Jason 1:19:15

It's been a pleasure . It's been fun getting to catch up with you two , and so I just appreciate you guys letting me tell the story .

Justin 1:19:23

Check out what's happening on the next episode of Armchair Authentic .

Teaser: Finding Community and Support in Struggle

Speaker 3 1:19:27

I got through that season . It was a slow , slow process over the course of the year and it was the following year that I ended up at Refuge in Montana . When I was on that trip , it was the first time that I felt seen by people in that world . I felt like nobody else was in this world that was having to do it the way I was doing it , and I found that not to be the case , and so did they , and I made friendships on that trip that I still have to this day . We communicate often , usually weekly , and it was like okay , I'm not the only one , I can do this , I'm not crazy .

Justin 1:20:06

Thank you for listening to Armchair Authentic with Rhett and Justin . We had a great time with you today . Hey , we'd love to hear from you , so reach out to us on email info at armchairauthenticcom . Hope you have a great week . We'll see you next time .