All Thing’s Considered’s Lorna Benson interviews Minnesota Twins third baseman Corey Koskie about the the effect of the unknown has on him and his family's financial security. The idea that Major League Baseball could contract the team weighs heavy on players.
SPEAKER 1: It's almost like playing my first couple of years in the Major Leagues and in the Minor Leagues because you never know what's going to happen in the next season. You can get cut from your team in spring training, and they can bring in another guys. And I've had to deal with this kind of situation for seven years.
I'm familiar to this feeling of not knowing what's going to happen, but this is a little unique because not knowing if there's going to be actual team there. So it's a little awkward now since we bought a place here in the Twin Cities, and we got a place in Fort Myers at a spring training facility.
We're at the point now where we can finally almost settle down somewhere and don't have to move from apartment to apartment. And now, we might be looking back and doing that again.
SPEAKER 2: So how are you dealing with this? You say it's a familiar feeling, but what are you doing day to day?
SPEAKER 1: Well, I just go about my normal routine. I go to the gym every day. I work out and answer questions there about this. And every night, me and my family, we just pray about it to hopefully-- God to take us where he wants us to go.
SPEAKER 2: What have you been hearing from other Twins players and other Major League Baseball players around the country?
SPEAKER 1: Well, my teammates, we all want to stick together because we're a tight group, and we've come up through the system together. So we all want to be in Minnesota Twins next year. And you just hear comments, not from ballplayers, but other sports media personnel.
They're talking about how disappointing this is for the team [? that ?] [? has ?] the success that we did have last year. And we're an up-and-coming team. And for them to do that would be a ridiculous kind of thing. So Major League Baseball's got their agenda that they want to accomplish, but we just have to wait and see.
SPEAKER 2: Well, assuming the Twins do play next season in the Metrodome, how do you think the looming threat of contraction will affect play on the field?
SPEAKER 1: I don't know how much it will affect it because as a team, we've heard for so many years how bad we are. And we play hard. And as a matter of what goes on off the field, it might affect the fan turnout and this and that, but I played in front of 5,000 fans for my first two years here in Minnesota.
So that won't affect it because we got a job to do, and we got a job to win some ball games. But also, on the other hand, I think if we win more ball games than we lose, I think the fans will be there.
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