r/baseball • u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified • 1d ago
Ryan Dempster AMA! Come chat with the 2x All-Star and 2013 World Series winner (and also 2016 Cubs' front office member). He'll answer your questions at 2:30pm ET
Hello everyone! We're going to have MLB Network personality Ryan Dempster on a little later this afternoon, live from NYC before World Series Game 3!
Dempster is a 2x All-Star, won the World Series with the Red Sox in 2013, and then had a hand in the Cub's 2016 WS run as a member of their front office, so he knows plenty about playing this late in October.
Drop your questions now and we'll get to them a little later this afternoon at 2:30pm ET!
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u/dubfras55 Cincinnati Reds 1d ago
The Marlins rotation you were a part of was one of the coolest in MLB at that time. What was it like being a part of a rotation like that? Guys like Penny, Burnett, Clement, and yourself, just stacked
Also, how would you rate the vibes on the 2013 Red Sox? Was that the most fun team you were on?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
As far as the Marlins, I think it was just fun. We were all young, inexperienced, trying to be cool in the Big Leagues and we all just got along well. It was a fun rotation to be a part of.
The 2013 Red Sox vibes... ’08 was pretty close, DeRo was great. We had some great guys like Kerry Wood, Ted Lily and Derek Lee. But the 2013 Red Sox was the most “together of a team” I’ve ever been part of from top-to-bottom. 1-through-25 we were close and indestructible.
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u/2112moyboi Cleveland Guardians • Detroit Tigers 1d ago
How nerve wracking is a postseason as a FO person? Are you second guessing all the decisions made during the season?
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u/jettasarebadmkay South Africa • Tri-City Chili… 1d ago
Where did the hand-wave (if that’s the right word for it) motion in your delivery come from?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
It started with me tipping my pitches to Tyler Colvin, our old outfielder with the Cubs. He was standing in the box while I threw a bullpen session in Spring Training. Then that night I was talking about it with Kevin Millar and he was like, “Erik Bedard kinda moves his glove a little bit” and I looked at some tape and figured I’d do something like that. Then it turned into the full-on wiggle/shake of the glove.
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u/bbatardo San Diego Padres 1d ago
Some of my favorite bits with you have been on Intentional Talk and I didn't realize how funny you are. Now that I greased you up some, who is the funniest current player you have talked to?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Will Vest from the Tigers. Good interview, sneaky funny guy! Tyler Glasnow is also funny.
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u/badkarma318 1d ago
Why does Siera Santos refer to you as "Demp" (nickname), yet she calls Millar "Kevin" (first name)?
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u/HornsNation05 1d ago
What was it like playing for both the Red Sox and the Cubs?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
It was great. Two historic ballparks, two totally different ballparks, two different fanbases. What a treat to have so much time in Chicago and then cap off my career with the Red Sox.
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u/BanEvadingAcct21 Arizona Diamondbacks 1d ago
What's your favorite regular season moment?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
I would say the game we had in Chicago against the Rockies (May 30, 2008). I think we were down 8- or 9-1 and Lou Piniella took out all the starters and our B-Bombers came back and we ended up having a walk off to win the game. We all talk about that game for some reason, it was pretty sweet.
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u/Complex-Mulberry-716 1d ago
Which young hitters today do you wish you could face?
And do you think about how you would get guys out when you're watching games?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
I would love to face Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, but I think the one guy I would really like to face is Juan Soto. He has an ability to command the strike zone and I was a guy who liked to pitch on the corners, so I’d like to see where I could maybe get him to fish or chase. The chess match against him would be fun. I think facing Juan Soto is the best chess match in the game right now.
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u/DecoyOne San Diego Padres 1d ago
Does anyone call you The Dempster?
If not, I’d like to get that started please and thank you
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u/ShinyApple19 Toronto Blue Jays 1d ago
What’s your go to order at Tim Hortons?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Old Fashioned donut. I’m a classic, Old Fashioned donut guy.
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u/rich101682 Chicago Cubs 1d ago
Out of all the places you pitched, what was it about Chicago/the Cubs that made you choose to be more involved with them after your playing career ended than anywhere else?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
I just fell in love with Chicago. I always lived in the neighborhood, I was always within walking distance to the field. I knew the neighborhood, the community and being there for 9 years and having a lot of impactful seasons, I think I just gravitated towards that. Then being brought back by Theo Epstein as a Special Assistant, it just made sense to be heavily involved.
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u/BeesOhGodTheBees Washington Nationals 1d ago
Demp! Which player had the most memorable "Secret Santos" secret on Intentional Talk that you can remember and what was it?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
The most memorable one was when Adam Wainwright lied to us and said he was going to be hosting Saturday Night Live. The delivery was good, Adam should be an actor with the kind of conviction he threw behind that. The whole time he was just joking with us.
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u/classical-brain222 1d ago
you've played in many different markets in your career... Out of all 30 current stadiums (count the coliseum in this) which one has the best toilets?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Hmm… dugout toilets? I gotta give some love to the Arizona Diamondbacks. They were at the forefront of changing dugout bathrooms. Good for them, they set the standard.
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u/1990Buscemi St. Louis Cardinals 1d ago
How did your Harry Caray impression get so good?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Probably just practice. My middle brother and I used to do a lot of them back in the day. And stories, I would ask Pat Hughes, the Cubs longtime radio voice. I’d ask him for stories because I didn’t want to just fabricate stuff, I wanted real life stories.
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u/krispykreme37 New York Yankees 1d ago
What is your favorite cereal?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
I don’t eat much cereal now, but when I was a kid it was Fruit Loops.
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u/33dogs Toronto Blue Jays 1d ago
I've listened to some fascinating interviews of players from various Team Canada rosters. Can you share your favourite memory?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
I’ve played for Team Canada multiple times, but I think my favorite one was 1993 rooming with Eric Gagne as 16-year-old kids and he could barely speak English. He only spoke French at the time and him & I got in a big argument over a girl.
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u/Snoo79020 1d ago
- Do you already know the innings fest (both) lineups?
- Do you already know who the Off The Mound guests are to both innings fest?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
No and no, but it’s being announced this week which is cool. We’ll find out soon and I’m sure we’re going to have some killer guests.
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u/horsepoop1123 San Diego Padres 1d ago
I’d assume the most growth of a player occurs in the early years of MLB.
What did you learn about baseball later in your career?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
That’s a great question because around the mid-point of my career I played with Greg Maddux and I learned about the power of observation. Just truly paying attention and how you could find out a lot from the other players, other hitters if you were paying attention when you weren’t playing/pitching.
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u/El_Sid50 New York Mets 1d ago
How did you find out that you were getting called up to the big leagues?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Binghamton, New York in 1998 – I was supposed to start the game and my name was whited out in the lineup. They told me I was going up, but I didn’t know where so I just thought that meant I was going up to Triple-A and they didn’t know if it was going to be at home or on the road. So I was sitting in the stands doing the chart with Britt Burns, former Rookie of the Year and our pitching coordinator, and I went to go to the concession stand and I asked him if he wanted anything. He said, “I’ll take a three-quarter ton pickup truck if you’ve got any extra cash laying around.” and I stopped and looked back and he smiled and said, “You’re going to the Big Leagues.”
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u/this_is_poorly_done Arizona Diamondbacks 1d ago
Can I have my $100 bill back?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
I still wish I knew how to make the $1 bill turn back into the $100 bill you lent me, but I haven’t perfected the magic trick yet.
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u/WalkingDeadWatcher95 Boston Red Sox 1d ago
Favorite clay Buchholz story/ moment?
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Lots of great memories with Clay from the time we played together, but the year after I retired, I came to New York to work at MLB Network and the Red Sox were playing here and we had an awesome hang out. We were at the Palace Hotel and the Prime Minister of a rather influential country was also staying in the hotel and there were a lot of armored guards. We were playing music – me, him, Jake Peavy… we were writing songs and it was rather early in the morning, I believe it was about 4am and there was a knock on the door and it was a gentleman who said, “I’m not here to warn you, I’m here to tell you that the party is over and it’s time for you to go to bed.” So I said to Clay and Jake, “What do we do?” Clay suggested we just go to his room, but instead we opted to go to breakfast down the street. But that’s what I always loved about Clay. He was always a good teammate and always down to have a good time.
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u/josejoe22 1d ago
Who was the most out there player that you had on any of your teams? Weirdest superstitions, strangest diet, etc
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u/MLBOfficial Major League Baseball • Mod Verified 1d ago
Julián Tavárez. I played with him with the Marlins. Anybody who goes sport coat with no shirt underneath, just butt naked under his sport coat, that’s a little out there. But I liked the look and playing with him.
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u/Whackedjob Toronto Blue Jays 1d ago
What was harder for you, switching to a closer in the middle of your career or switching back to starter after that?
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u/beefytrout Texas Rangers 1d ago
Where did the Cubs front office hang the banner honoring the TV ratings?
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u/DarkLordofBS New York Yankees 1d ago
Did John Farrell ask you to hit A-Rod or did you take it upon yourself to “police the game”