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In late July, infielder Ryan Costello was putting together a solid season for the Clinton Lumberjacks. In fact, he was on the brink of a promotion to High-A. After batting practice, he was called into manager Denny Hocking’s office and told that he had just been traded to the Minnesota Twins as part of the deal that sent lefty Zach Duke to the Seattle Mariners. Along with moving to a new organization, Costello also moved up a level, joining the Ft. Myers Miracle for their championship run. It was an interesting 2018 season for Costello. Recently, he chatted with Twins Daily and let us get to know him.Let’s start at the beginning. Ryan Costello grew up just outside of Hartford, Connecticut. Yes, he was a Red Sox fan. “When I was a kid, I was a big Nomar (Garciaparra) fan. Then I remember Pedroia came up. I was always a big fan of Dustin Pedroia.” As you child, he played soccer, basketball, flag football and other sports. When he got to be about ten years old, he said, “It was just basketball and baseball mostly.” He played Little League and other youth sports, but it didn’t take him long to come up with his “When I grow up” dream job. “Once I got to high school, that’s when I really started to realize that was what I wanted to do when I went to college. I wanted to play professional baseball and that was what I was aspiring to do. After my freshman year of high school, I quit basketball and just focused on baseball more and be able to work out more in the offseason and do more sport-specific stuff.” His high school team was good but not great. “Junior year, we went 13-7. Senior year, we were 12-8. My junior year we went on a run for awhile and made it to the semi-finals of the state. One kid on that team ended up going to the same college that I went to, so we ended up being college teammates.“ After high school, Costello stayed close to home and attended Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. “I went and checked out Central. I liked it. I had known about Central my whole life. I’m only 15 minutes from the school. I had gone to their basketball games and I’d heard that the program was good. So when the time came, a couple of weeks later, I hadn’t heard from many other schools. It was … I wanted to go there. I didn't wont to make them wait. I made a decision early in the recruiting process and it ended up working out.” As a youth, Costello and his family went to several New Britain Rock Cat games. As you recall, the Rock Cats were the Double-A affiliate of the Twins for many years. “I remember thinking that was pretty cool and thinking there were some big time players who came through Connecticut.” He was a part-time player as a freshman, and after a strong start to his sophomore season, a broken finger ended his season early. Then as a junior, he had a strong, full season. In 58 games, he hit .296/.423/.532 (.955) with 22 doubles and nine home runs. It was a process and a lot of work to develop his power. “I would say knowing myself and maturing physically too, getting bigger throughout those years definitely helped, getting stronger. We had a good strength program, so as a team we were always in the weight room, five days a week. Putting on some weight, getting stronger, definitely contributed.” In addition to the added power, Costello had a really strong approach at the plate. He walked 45 times and struck out 38 times. It was all part of his development and maturity. “(The development was) Maturity-driven, understanding that as the year progressed, in certain situations, they weren’t going to give me much to hit, especially in big situations in a game. I was ready to hit. I would tone it down and look in a specific area because I knew that they were going to try to flip me stuff and get me to chase. So that kind of led to more walks than strikeouts.” And that’s when the scouts started showing up to the small Division I school in the north. “It was more during my junior year. That was when I started getting more contact, getting some questionnaires. Was seeing more interest in teams looking to me becoming a professional baseball player.” The Mariners used their 31st round pick to select Costello. He found himself on a bus when his name was selected. “I’m not as superstitious as I used to be, but at that time I was pretty superstitious. I knew a couple of kids that were really good ball players that were on scouts’ radars that didn’t get picked up that year. So, I tried to treat everything as if I wasn’t getting drafted. So I was actually in Vermont, on a bus, playing summer ball when I got the call.” As a junior, Costello had some leverage and could have returned to college for his senior season. But for Costello, it wasn’t about the money, and he put a lot of thought into his decision to sign. “I knew that the money wasn’t going to be bigl I wasn’t going to be a Top 10 guy, where I was and where I was playing college ball. To get exposure and get cross-checkers to come take a look at you is a little bit more difficult.” Costello continued, “For me, it was just important to take the next step. I was willing to go a bit later instead of staying another year.” He made his professional debut a year ago with the Mariners’ rookie Arizona League team. In 2018, he began the season with the Clinton LumberKings. His manager was former Twins utility man Denny Hocking, and he really enjoyed the experience. “It was amazing. I connected with Denny really well. He really knew how to take the different personalities that were on our team and understand how to communicate with them, and I was one of those guys. Clinton, Iowa, isn’t the nicest area. We were a team built for that. We had a lot of tough guys, college guys. He was really good about bringing a positive environment every day. We just rolled with the punches of the season. Having him at the helm of the team really gave up a good environment to play in.” For the LumberKings, Costello played well, hitting in the middle of their lineup. In 101 games, he hit .266/.360/.486 (.845) with 24 doubles, 16 homers and 70 RBI. He participated in the Midwest League All Star game with Kernels’ representatives Jared Finkel, Alex Kirilloff, and Royce Lewis. On the day he was traded, he was participating in batting practice when the team’s other first baseman told him that he was now playing first base. When he came into the clubhouse at the end of batting practice, he was called into his manager’s office. “What’s going on? Did I do something? Did I upset him?” These were the thoughts that entered Ryan Costello’s mind. When he got to Denny Hocking’s office, he saw the entire coaching staff and his roommates sitting in there. He was a bit confused. “I had no idea the trade deadline was coming.” Hocking said, “Do you know why I took you out of the lineup today?” Costello responded, “Well, did I do something wrong?” Hocking giggled. Costello continued, “Well, either I got promoted, or I got traded.” “Which one do you think?” “I’m going to say promoted.” “Nope. The other one.” For any young player traded, there are a couple of emotions that come into play. Obviously it’s difficult leaving one organization and all of the relationships that have been developed. At the same time, there is another organization that likes you enough to acquire you. “It’s a little of both. You always hear that being traded is a good thing in the minor leagues. It means that an organization likes you. They want you. Obviously it’s still tough. I had just spent three or four months with this team, built some great relationships. Initially, it was a bit up and down for me. I didn’t really know how to think about it at first because I knew it was a good thing, but I was still sad that I was leaving my boys and that coaching staff that I had really blended well with.” Along with the trade, Costello also received a promotion from Low-A to High-A, being sent to the Ft. Myers Miracle. Costello wasn’t completely shocked by that news. “Not really to be honest with you. There was talk with the Mariners that I was possibly getting promoted soon. When I found out about it, Jeremy Zoll called me and before I could even process anything, he filled me in on some details and told me I was going to Ft. Myers. When he said that, I was still trying to process everything that was going on, and by the time stuff slowed down and I realized I was headed to Ft. Myers to play for the Miracle, I wasn’t too surprised.”] When he got to the Miracle, there were a couple of familiar faces. “From the Midwest League All Star game, I had met Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis. So coming in, I knew they were on that team. So it was cool rolling in there and having some relationship and were on a first-name basis and knew who each other were off the field a little bit.” First professional season. Traded to a new organization. Earning a promotion. And, Costello joined a team that was about to go on a very strong run to end the season. He was ready, and h was excited for the opportunity. “It was really awesome. It’s definitely cool coming into an environment where you’re thrown into pressure right away. I remember the day I got there, I was in the game and I think we were two games back at the time. I got filled in on what was going on. Everything matters right now. Every pitch. Every play. Every at bat matters. I took it as a blessing coming from, I think we were 8 games back in Clinton. I had the opportunity to play some playoff baseball this year, might as well take advantage of it.” And he certainly took advantage of it. In the final game of the Miracle season, a win that gave Ft. Myers the Florida State League championship series, it was Ryan Costello’s three-run homer that gave them a lead that they never gave up. “That was awesome. That was a high during the moment, and eventually to have the season end that night and end on such a high note, it was pretty awesome.” Ryan Costello added four home runs (during the regular season) to finish the season with 20 home runs. “It was kind of a goal. It was something in the back of my mind. It was something I knew I could achieve if I put together a good season and stayed consistent throughout. I had written down some things for myself going into the season that I wanted to check back at the end. Hitting 20 home runs was on that list.” While he hits for power, he doesn’t want to be deemed solely a power hitter. He notes, “I would like to be more of a well-rounded hitter. I’m not all about hitting home runs. Mentally I try to stay line-drive driven and let the other stuff happen. But as the season went on this year, I was getting close to the 20-home run mark and I was like ‘this is pretty cool.’ I wouldn’t say that I consider myself just strictly a power hitter. I would like to be a more well-rounded hitter who can hit for power.” Like many, Costello was a shortstop on his high school team. In college, he played primarily third base. However, in his first professional season, he made 110 starts at first base and just four starts at third base. Over the course of the season, he got more comfortable at the new position. While he had a solid first full professional season on the field, he thinks that his greatest skill at this point is in his head. “I would say my ability to stay positive through tough times and understand that it’s part of the game and ups and downs are going to come. But if I can stay more level-headed and put myself in a position mentally to be successful, then things will kind of work themselves out a little bit.” As he enters the offseason, there are several things he plans to work on. “I want to improve my batting. I want to get stronger. I want to be a bit more consistent in the box. The second half this season this year didn’t go as well as I would have liked it to. I think that was an adjustment to playing so many games and a couple of things in my swing or in my approach. So, I’m going to take a step back and look at that and break it down from the bottom to the top and try to come back and be just a little more consistent at the plate.” But he also will spend some time away from the game of baseball before jumping back into his preparation for 2019. “Golfing and fishing. My dad has a bass boat and has had it since I was a kid. The first thing we do when I go home is go fishing. I’ve been home for seven days, I’ve been out fishing about four of those days. I live about five minutes from a river, the Connecticut River, so we go fishing on the river a lot.” Ryan Costello was a late-round pick, but he had a very solid first full season as a professional baseball. He has a lot of positives to build from as he looks to year two. Click here to view the article

In 1989, the Minnesota Twins used their 52nd round draft pick to select a catcher named Denny Hocking from El Camino College, a junior college in Torrance, California. Drafted in a round that no longer exists, Hocking not only became the lowest-drafted player to play for the Twins, but he spent 13 seasons in the big leagues including 11 seasons with the Twins. Since his retirement following the 2005 season, Hocking has continued to have an interesting life in and around the game of baseball. Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with Hocking who is now the manager of the Clinton LumberKings, the Midwest League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.“It was opportunity that I made the most of. That’s all!” That statement from former Twins utility man Denny Hocking is certainly true and maybe even an understatement as he continues to work in the game nearly 30 years later. Hocking grew up in Torrance, California, were he was a great athlete. He had basketball scholarships to a couple of the California colleges, but he chose to stay home and continue playing baseball. He joked, “I thought I could play baseball a couple more years.” Hocking chose to play at El Camino College and pursue a degree in journalism. He played several positions on the field, but primarily he was a catcher. “I played everywhere but pitcher, shortstop and first base. I caught every other game. Catch, play right. Catch, play third base. Catch, play center. And I think every time the Twins came to see me I was catching. I think I was drafted purely on arm strength and athleticism..” Hocking was a very good athlete, and he had a very strong arm. It was enough to catch the attention of a Twins scout. “Draft Day was probably a little different for me than it was for Royce Lewis.” Hocking surmised. “I had no idea about the draft.” The MLB Draft was a little different in 1989. It wasn’t a big production on TV, and the internet wasn’t even covering it. I mean, the internet was still in its infancy. Hocking learned that he had been drafted when he “got something in the mail.” Hocking recalled, “You’ve been drafted in the 52nd round by the Minnesota Twins. But what does that mean?” Hocking acknowledges that he had no idea. “Minor Leagues? I had no idea. That week, we got in the car and went to Inland Empire which was San Bernadino at the time and watching a minor league baseball game. I drove up to Visalia to watch the Twins farm team play up there. It was the year that Chuck Knoblauch was drafted and he was there.” Soon after, the Twins scout came to the Hocking home and said, “Congratulations on getting drafted, but we don't’ want to sign you.” What? Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a drafted player, but when you hear the rest of the story, it does make a lot more sense. “He wanted me to go back (to school) and play shortstop, and I wound up going back and strictly played shortstop my sophomore year. Two of my friends who hit left-handed taught me how to hit at the junior college level. I was hitting left-handed for less than a year when I put an Elizabethton Twins uniform on and went and played professional baseball. It brings back a lot of memories” Back then, there was a system called Draft-and-Follow. Whereas currently teams need to sign their drafted players by July 15th, teams used to have until the following draft to sign their drafted players. In this example, Hocking could go back to El Camino, play the next spring and then sign with the Twins before the 1990 draft. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Right-handed pitcher Mike Trombley was a teammate of Denny Hocking for many years. Of the utility man, Trombly said, “Hock was one of the most talented guys on the Twins team. Switch-hitter with a rocket arm and a good glove. He could play so many positions. Why was he a 52nd-round pick? Simply put, he was overlooked.Once you saw him play, we all knew that. Hock was also a great guy in the locker room. Funny. Trombley also shared a store about Hocking. “We were playing a spring training game in Ft. Myers and (Jose) Canseco hit a rocket to Hock at second base. It skipped off the hard clay and hit Hock in the mouth. Trainer and coach ran out there to help him. There was a lot of blood. They couldn’t understand what he was saying because of the injury, but Hock was trying to tell them he had a dip in his mouth. Funny now, not so funny when it happened.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you consider the round in which Denny Hocking was drafted, he really didn’t spend a lot of time in the minor leagues.He signed in May of 1990. In 1992, he had hit .331 with over 180 hits in Visalia. Not wanting him to be selected in the Expansion Draft, the Twins added Hocking to their roster. He spent 2013 in Double-A. He was ready to go home for the offseason after a solid season at AA in 1993 when his manager, Phil Roof, gave him some great news. “We were in the Double-A playoffs. I got taken out of the game, late in the game. I got to the clubhouse and called my girlfriend, who’s now my wife, and said why don’t you pick me up after the game tomorrow. Then after the game, the manager told me I was going to the big leagues in Texas, and I was like ‘What?’ I had to call her back and say, you need to get a flight to Texas.” Over the next couple of seasons, he went back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues. However, starting in 1997, Hocking had a stretch of six straight seasons in which, as a utility man, he played in over 100 games. In fact, in 1999 and 2000, he played in over 130 games a year with no more than 65 at any one position. In other words, it isn’t like recent Eduardo Escobar seasons where he comes into the season as a utility player and winds up being an everyday player because of an injury to Miguel Sano or the suspension of Jorge Polanco. But Hocking earned the respect and the trust of legendary Twins manager Tom Kelly. “TK was always known to be super tough on the young kids. That’s one way to look at it. But the way that he really was, he wanted you there early. So, if we stretched at 4:00, be sure to be there at 2:00. I’d show up at 2:00, and I’d be one of the last guys to get there. When I played and Kirby was there, I have no idea what time he got there, but he was probably there at noon. He wanted you to be early. When you got to the field, don’t sit in your street clothes. Put something uniform on to start getting your mind ready to play a game that night.” Hocking continued, “He just held you accountable. I could rattle off thousands and thousands of things that he would hold you accountable on. I played for two managers with the Twins, both TK and Gardy, and they were both from the same cloth. You knew what their expectations were for each and every player, and as long as you met those on a daily basis, it was status quo.” Did knowing that make it hard to play for those managers, or did it become easy because the expectations were clear? “You just know how to prepare. I would walk into the field, walk into the clubhouse and look at the lineup, and if my name was on it, I’d say ‘OK, today’s my day to play.’ And if my name wasn’t on it, I would take it as, ‘OK, I’ve got six innings off today, but if it’s close, I’m going to get an opportunity to impact this game.” Hocking knew his role on those Twins teams and not only accepted them but took it as a challenge and performed. “I remember. I played a lot of second base when Todd Walker was there. Todd, I felt, was a very good defender, but I don’t think TK saw him like that. But Todd could flat-out hit. By May 1st, I knew my role. I was going to go in to play defense at second base when we were winning games. TK didn’t have to call me on the bench. Fifth inning would come around. I’m starting to stretch. Sixth inning, I’m really thinking about getting loose. Seventh inning, OK, he’s probably going to call on me soon because of the score. Todd would have an at bat in the seventh or eighth inning.” Hocking then said that it became a non-verbal communication between him and Tom Kelly at that point. As Walker was walking to the plate, Kelly would look down at the end of the bench, and Hocking knew to look down at Kelly. Kelly would nod at him, and that simply meant that Hocking would be entering the game as a defensive replacement the next half inning. “I knew why I was on that team, and he trusted me in that situation. And that’s what I preach to these kids. Be a trustworthy player. I know that if something happens to this team on a nightly basis, it’s not due to lack of preparation or lack of effort. Sometimes it’s just not going to work out.” In that series in Cedar Rapids, Hocking had a fielder that wanted to make a play. Ben Rortvedt lined the ball to the outfield. The fielder thought he could catch it and was going to dive. As it was happening, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to make the catch, so he just tried to knock the ball down. It got by him and a single turned into a triple. He came into the dugout and explained the play to his manager. Hocking told him that he would never be mad at a player who is trying to make a play. It can be a learning opportunity. The fielder was prepared, and he gave 100% effort, it just didn’t work out. Hocking gives a lot of credit to his manager, Tom Kelly, and the expectations that he set for his roster. Those are the traits that he has carried with him into his coaching and managing career. “I manage a lot, and I communicate a lot as I learned through TK and Gardy.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Running around the clubhouse during several of Hocking’s Twins years was first-year Cedar Rapids Kernels manager Toby Gardenhire. Ron Gardenhire was a coach through Hocking’s first several years, and he later became the manager, so Toby was able to get close to the players and learn from them. Hocking noted, “I remember Toby always running around, catching a lot of heat from the guys. He grew up in the clubhouse. I remember seeing that he got hired and thought that was awesome. I watch what he does, and I’m impressed. There’s a ton of talent in that other clubhouse, but I’m impressed with how they work and how they play for him. You can watch a team, and they take on direct mannerisms of their manager, and I see a lot of his dad in him. I think he’s got a bright future. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shane Carrier was with the Kernels when Clinton was in Cedar Rapids. He went to the same high school that Hocking’s daughters are graduating from. “I played the music in the batting tunnel when he would come and hit in the offseason.” Carrier said, “I was 12 or 13, and he would help out a bit. He was always around. He is a cool guy. He’s funny.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the Twins let him go after the 2003 season, Hocking spent a year with the Rockies and a year with the Royals (splitting time between MLB and AAA). He had other options for the 2006 season, but he didn’t want to spend any more time in the minor leagues and it was important to him to spend time with his young family. When retired, he didn’t jump right into coaching. He knew the right people and got a job at MLB.com covering the Angels and Dodgers. He spent time on air with Jim Rome, and he later met Andrew Siciliano (Red Zone Network) and appeared on-air with him once a week for a 15-minute hit on baseball. It turned into a regular show on Fox Sports Radio, a job he held until the company had some layoffs after an ownership change. At that time, he figured he’d better get a job. A good friend of his was working in media relations with the Orioles at that time. He told Hocking that former Twins general manager Andy MacPhail was coming to Anaheim, and he could set up a pregame on-field meeting. That day, Hocking saw MacPhail in the dugout and walked toward him. MacPhail saw Hocking as he approached. “Denny Hocking… 52nd round draft choice… as a catcher.” Hocking responded to his former GM, “How do you remember me? Out of all the kids you drafted, and all the kids you’ve seen play in all of your years, you remember my draft round and what I was drafted as?” MacPhail answered him, “I remember the guys that did things the right way. That really made me feel good, and I said, ‘Well, if you think that way of me, I’m looking for a job to get into coaching.’” A series of e-mails were exchanged, and Hocking was named a hitting coach in Frederick, Maryland (Double-A). He noted that during those three years, “I would see my family for about ten days from Valentine’s Day to September 11th. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I had to be closer to my family. I just had to be closer to home.” He contacted the Angels. Since then, he’s coached in a variety of roles in the Angels and more recently in the Mariners organizations. This is his first year as a manager in the Mariners organization for the Clinton LumberKings. It’s not always easy. Part of why he returned was to be closer to his family, and now back in coaching, Hocking will again have to miss some important events. “The sacrifice that you make to be away from your family. I have twin daughters that will graduate this year. I will be back two days before they graduate, and I’ll see my son’s last days of middle school. I’ll be able to be there for important days like that. But.I’ve missed my daughters’ proms, homecomings, things like that. One of my daughters is currently training for the U20 National Team for women’s soccer. If she continues to do well and makes the cut,the World Cup is in France in August, and I will not be able to go and support her.” Of course, the other side includes the relationship and team-building that he can lead as a manager. “All I try to do is create a good environment and make these kids want to work and make them feel important and impact their lives. I see that. That’s the rewarding part for the crappy part.” It’s clear that Hocking has been influenced as a coach and a manager by his years in a Twins uniform playing for Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire. He has had a long and fulfilling career in baseball and clearly still enjoys it. Nearly 30 years ago, the Twins drafted him in a round that no longer exists. It’s a great reminder about hard work, being prepared and setting expectations. Hocking carved out an impressive big league career, turned into a radio voice for a few years and now is giving back to the game through coaching. Click here to view the article