By Kristen Corliss
The door creaked open – crreeeaaaaaak. I heard footsteps and I looked up and heard “Hey guys!” We all cheered, “HI!” Nationals catcher Riley Adams walked into the room. Some kids ran up to him to give him a hug or a high five. He greeted us and told us about himself. Riley said, “when I was three years old I picked up a baseball bat for the first time and started playing in my backyard.” He then read us a book. We felt so excited there were butterflies in our stomachs because a real baseball player was reading us a story and giving us attention. Riley answered questions about playing professional baseball. One kid asked how he felt about reading us a story. Riley said he felt happy to read to us. The feeling was mutual. He gave us an exciting announcement, Riley said that if we read over the summer, we would get tickets to a Nationals baseball game. That wasn’t the only thing. The Nationals also gave each of us our own baseball book! As you can see, we have A LOT of reading to do over the summer.
Below is an interview with Riley from our own Amidon Tigers:
Q: I remember you saying you picked up a baseball at age 3. Why is baseball so important to you?
Adams: There are a lot of things that baseball has that you see in life. Things don’t always go your way in baseball, and sometimes that’s what happens in life. It’s also just fun to be out there with your teammates competing.
Q: What do you do outside of baseball?
Adams: I like to hang out with my wife, take my dog for some walks and play golf.
Q: What is it like working for the Nats? Do you feel more pressure representing Washington DC?
Adams: Working for the Nats is awesome, and being in Washington, D.C. is great. We have amazing fans that make coming to the ballpark fun every day.
Q: What kind of things do you hear behind the plate?
Adams: I don’t hear too much. Every day it’s a different umpire, and it’s fun to have conversations with them. For the most part, we’re just trying to play baseball and compete.
Q: When you walk out on the plate, how do you feel?
Adams: I feel confident and excited to face the pitcher and to try to get my job done.
Q: Why do you like playing catcher?
Adams: You’re kind of the quarterback on the field. You have to work with the pitcher, call pitches and try to figure out how you’re going to get the other team out. It’s the most involved position on the field, so it’s the best.
Q: How do you stay calm when the bases are loaded and the game is tied?
Adams: The best way to stay calm is to just focus on your breathing, take some good, deep breaths and focus on the little things. Don’t worry about what’s happening around you and just focus on the task that you have in front of you.
