Baseball profile: Rocco Baldelli—Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Baseball Digest, Sept, 2004 by Rick Sorci

FULL NAME: Rocco Dan Baldelli

AGE, HT., WT.: 22, 6-4, 205

Born: September 25, 1981 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island

HOME: Cumberland, Rhode Island

STATUS/FAMILY: Single

NICKNAME: I don't have one. My name is pretty weird anyway.

LIFE OUTSIDE BASEBALL: It's pretty normal. I hang out with the guys back home.

SPORTS HERO WHEN I WAS YOUNG: My dad was my sports hero. He played high school sports. I thought he was unbelieveable when I was little.

PEOPLE WHO INFLUENCED ME THE MOST: I'd say my mom and dad. I was pretty much a home-body and I'd be around my parents more than anyone else.

BEST ADVICE ANYONE EVER GAVE ME: I never really had one piece of advice. My family has been on me about everything. They stayed on top of everything. My dad does say that no one is going to look out for you except yourself.

PLAYERS, PAST OR PRESENT, I'D PAY TO WATCH PLAY: In the past I'd say Roberto Clemente. Right now, I'd pay to see Vladimir Guerrero.

HOBBIES: I just got into hunting last off-season. I was hunting for deer, but didn't kill anything. But I had a lot of fun going out there.

TYPE OF CAR: I drive a Range Rover

FAVORITE ACTOR: I don't really have one.

FAVORITE MOVIE: Smash. You might not have heard about it. It was out recently and it's a different type of movie, it's a British movie about a theft.

FAVORITE TV SHOW: Wheel of Fortune

FAVORITE MUSIC: I like all kinds, but really enjoy classic rock.

FAVORITE FOOD: Mexican

FAVORITE BALLPARK: Yankee Stadium

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM OUTSIDE OF BASEBALL: New England Patriots

PLAYER I LEARNED THE MOST FROM: I've learned a lot from the guys up here. But the guy I've learned the most from is Karl Allaire, a friend from hack home. He played 10 years of professional ball in the Astros and Angels organizations. We talk all season long and I spend every day with him in the off-season.

THE TRUE SIGN OF SUCCESS: When you think you've got it all and you're still not content or satisfied.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE A BASEBALL PLAYER NEEDS: A short memory.

CHARACTERISTIC I ADMIRE MOST IN A PERSON: Honesty

BEST TIME OF MY LIFE/WHY? I'd say driving to school with my dad every day from first grade through high school. I didn't get my driver's license until I was a senior in high school. It was a long drive, between a half-hour to 45 minutes each way. He would drive me there and then pick me up after school. We had a lot of talks and became very close.

IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT BASEBALL IT WOULD BE: I'd make them whiten the baseballs instead of darkening them by rubbing dirt all over them before every game.

IF NOT A BASEBALL PLAYER I WOULD HAVE BEEN: I'd still be in school as a student right now if I wasn't playing baseball. I don't know what I'd do after that.

TOUGHEST PITCHER I'VE FACED: I really don't want to say, but it's Roger Clemens.

BEHIND MY BACK THEY SAY: I don't know. I don't have any idea. Probably something bad.

LIFE AFTER BASEBALL: It'll be different because I never had another job. I've never done anything except for what I'm doing now.

MY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: I haven't been too disappointed with things in my life so far. This year started out a little slow, but it's a little early in my career to have a biggest disappointment.

MY MOST EMBARRASSING BASEBALL EXPERIENCE: I got hit in the head with a fly ball. It happened last year while I was playing center field at Seattle. I didn't get a good read on the ball off the bat. I put my glove up but lost sight of the ball. The ball then went right over my glove and hit me in the head. My teammates thought it was pretty funny.

MY MOST MEMORABLE GAME: Probably my first game in the major leagues. I was too excited to remember much about it, but it was awesome. (Baldelli's first major league hit came in that game--a double off Red Sox right-hander Pedro Martinez on Opening Day, 2003.)