Callahan shares memories of time spent with Giants and Twins
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
With a gleam in his eye and a bright smile stretching 60 and a half feet, Ryan Callahan stepped onto the mound and threw out the first pitch of the Fall 2015 Fairhaven Lecture Series Sept. 14 with “The Timelessness of Spring Training and the Minor Leagues.”
The current series, “Standing the Test of Time,” explores traditions, institutions, and natural wonders and artifacts that have endured and stood the test of time in a world filled with constant change, new technologies, innovations, and fads that impact people in many ways, including how they communicate, what they turn to for entertainment, what kind of art they most appreciate, and how they care for themselves and others.
Callahan graduated from UW-Whitewater in December 2004 with a degree in elementary education, having pitched for the Warhawks baseball team for his entire undergraduate career. In 2008 he earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from UW-W and currently serves as its Director of Continuing Education Services.
Callahan signed on with the San Francisco Giants as a major league prospect and played portions of two years with the Giants organization, followed by two years with the Minnesota Twins.
Longtime Warhawk baseball coach Jim Miller recruited Callahan.
“I coached a number of outstanding pitchers over the years. If I needed a pitcher to throw one pitch to get one out, it would be Ryan Callahan. He doesn’t back down, and quite frankly, he’s got guts,” Miller said.
Callahan’s pitching velocity approached 90 mph and his performance also gained the attention of professional major league scouts.
“The first time I talked to a scout,” Callahan said at the lecture, “I thought I was going to be a millionaire in three weeks.
“The most exciting part of the pre-draft stuff was the hoopla. I was 22 years old and it was a great feeling… The one thing I want to do for the rest of my life was play baseball… or play baseball. That was it,” he said.
Callahan said he was called for a 2004 workout at Miller Park in Milwaukee with about 20 pitchers and 20 position players from across the country.
During the summer before his student teaching semester while he was working as a painter, he said he got a call from a San Francisco Giants scout offering him “only a $1,000 signing bonus” that he would have easily given back to the scout just to play ball.
After signing the contract, Callahan flew to Arizona and said he was thrilled “the Giants called me and I’m a professional player now.”
He said he was awed walking into the Giants locker room, seeing his name displayed and being issued an official Giants jersey with his name on the back.
While admitting his story is “unique because it’s me,” Callahan stressed that when it comes to the experiences of young players drafted into the major leagues “things really haven’t changed. The beauty of spring training is the history. It’s really neat to be part of something. The schedule really hasn’t changed for a long time.”
One fond memory, he said, was overhearing the “amazing stories” shared between old timers who had been in professional baseball for 60 years or more.
“They were talking about the best players to play the game ever. Everything was amazing,” he said.
Unexpectedly, Callahan was offered and signed a Topps baseball card contract – for $10 – but said he never cashed it and doesn’t think he ever will.
Callahan said his $950 a month salary was “cheap labor,” even with the $20 per day allotted for meals that was reduced if the organization provided food. At one point, he also had to pay $3 dollars a day to a club worker to do laundry and help get things ready for road trips.
“It wasn’t about the money but about doing something you’re passionate about,” he said.
After two years Callahan was released by the Giants and picked up by the Minnesota Twins where he said he discovered more of a family atmosphere – one that reflects Mid-western values.
Callahan talked about his time with the Giants and the Twins with fond memories – and a not-so-fond memory of his encounters with snakes while living in Las Vegas during his time with the Giants in Scottsdale, AZ and the Twins in Fort Meyer, FL.
Arizona, according to Callahan, was a “fantasy land,” not only because of the scenery but also because of seeing the likes of Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter and Mike Tyson in Scottsdale.
Upon arriving in Hagerstown, MD to play Low A ball, Callahan said he was thrilled to meet Willy Mays in the clubhouse during a celebration day in Mays’ honor.
Life on the road was taxing, Callahan said, including bus trips that lasted upwards of 19 hours, but it also allowed him to see many parts of the country for the first time.
“Going through Blue Ridge mountains at 6 a.m. was beautiful,” he said.
Callahan also said his time with the Giants and Twins was “the most diverse” environment he had ever experienced. “When I played in 2004, 45 percent of all the minor league players were not American born.”
He also talked about taking 45 minute conditioning runs through Dodgertown in Vero Beach, FL, and passing through the same space once shared by baseball greats like Duke Snyder and Jackie Robinson.
All lectures are free, open to the public, and held on Mondays at 3 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Fairhaven Retirement Community, 435 W. Starin Rd., Whitewater. Street parking is adjacent to the building.
Links to videos of lectures can be viewed at www.uww.edu/ce/fairhaven/all-lectures.
