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Blue Sox Insider
Blue Sox Insider is your all-access pass to the Sydney Blue Sox. Each episode, Andrew Reynolds takes you inside the club with news, recaps, and exclusive interviews with players, coaches, and the people shaping the future of the Sox. Whether it’s breaking down the action from the weekend, chatting with stars on the roster, or sitting down with decision-makers off the field, this is the podcast for every Blue Sox fan.
Blue Sox Insider
Mike Roberts
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A new era begins for the Sydney Blue Sox as Mike Roberts takes over as manager for the 2026/27 season.
Andrew sits down with Roberts to talk about the culture he wants to build in Sydney, why the best teams operate with “one heartbeat,” and how fun, preparation and old-school baseball IQ can come together to create a winning environment.
Roberts reflects on a coaching career that has taken him through college baseball, summer ball and professional organisations, including his remarkable turnaround at Grand Lake, where an 8–27 team became a 33–9 championship side in just one season.
We also get into the baseball itself: his aggressive approach on the bases, creating pressure through steals, bunts and hit-and-runs, the importance of players learning from one another, and why building genuine relationships comes before everything else.
It’s your first chance to really get to know the man who will lead the Blue Sox in 2026/27, what he believes in, and the identity he hopes Sydney will take onto the field next season.
Single-game tickets for the 2026/27 season will be going on sale soon, so keep an eye on the Blue Sox website and socials for details.
What's going on, everybody? It is nearly that time of year again. Hard to believe it. It feels like we were just here previewing the Australian Baseball League Championship Series. And today we look ahead to the 26th-27 Australian Baseball League season. As you might have guessed by the episode title and the description, our guest today is the incoming manager of the Sydney Blue Sox, Mike Roberts. Now we'll get to know Mike quite a bit throughout this episode, but just to give you some background, Mike's the Wayne is coach in the University of North Carolina Baseball History. He's an American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, a three-time Cape Cod League champion, and one of baseball's foremost teachers of base running. Most recently, he took over a Grand Lake Mariners team that had won eight games in the previous season and led them to a 33-win year, a league championship, and the greatest single-season turnaround in league history. Now, after more than five decades of coaching in the United States, Mike's bringing his brand of what he calls backyard baseball to Blacktown. I hope you enjoy this chat. It was a fun one in getting to know this year's manager, Mike Roberts. Well, Mike, it's a pleasure to have you on Blue Sox Insider, our first show ahead of the 26-27 season. And what better way to start off the season of the show than with the manager of the upcoming season? Look, there's there's a ton that I want to get into with you. Uh I mean, obviously, sort of Blue Sox fans will be will be interested to hear about sort of your managerial style and and and a bit of your background. But I guess the obvious place to start is how did this all come about? I mean, what why why Sydney? Why the Australian Baseball League? And why now for you?
SPEAKER_01Well, the Australian Baseball League, I've I've been familiar with for a long time. I have been in pro baseball um on and off for the last 14 years with four different teams. And when I was with Pittsburgh 22 to 25, uh several Pittsburgh guys actually were in Sydney playing for the Blue Sox. Um and I talked to them quite a bit about it during their time there. Uh I think they were there in the 22-23 season and um uh enjoyed discussing that. And then uh Gary Van Tolt and Cole and Stewart uh approached me last year with the possibility of managing in Perth, and everything didn't didn't quite fall into place, but very interested. I learned a lot more uh as they were learning in their first year of uh managing and running uh uh franchises in the Australian Baseball League. Um as we continued discussion, and they came back again this year and said, you know, we'd like for you to consider Sydney for several different reasons that we'll get into. So uh it's been a kind of a constant conversation for about a year now. And when Sydney came up, uh I was definitely ready. I thought about it the last year after the possibility of going to Perth and uh really wanted to manage the the Sydney Blue Sox. So we're headed that way in a couple of months.
SPEAKER_00And you you've I mean, you've always been involved in coaching, you've always been involved in teaching. We'll get into that a little bit as as our chat progresses. But I think one thing that really interested you about Sydney was the ability to connect with community. And obviously, that being such a big part of what the Blue Sox are trying to grow, that certainly had to have been one reason why this looked like an attractive option for you, I can imagine.
SPEAKER_01Definitely. Um, from my start of coaching at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and and being engaged, uh, at that time it was kind of a village, Chapel Hill was, and being engaged with the community and all the way through my career in the Cape Cod League, and again this summer out in Ohio. Um, I've really always enjoyed um what we called collegiately, it was called town and gown. Um, and because it was the town or the village, and of course, with the university, it was graduation and the gown. And so I've always gone by the term town and gown is how you engage with the community and with um college athletes or young professional athletes. Um and so with Sydney, as we've discussed uh over the last few months, one of the goals and one of the challenges for the Blue Sox is uh how do we engage more with the youth uh in Sydney? Uh how do we engage more with the youth coaches in Sydney? Um, and that's kind of my background and something I enjoy. Uh, I love the challenge. Um, and I feel like that uh Gary and Cole and Stuart thought I had the experience maybe to be able to bring uh that together. And I have a saying, Andrew, that you know, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And that's something I've kind of lived by. Um, and I think the community has to know that you really care about them. And those youngsters, when they're at the Blue Sox ballpark or the Blue Sox and the coaches are at their ballpark or where they're working out, that there needs to be a connection that we really care about them. Um, and we're not just there in a in a uh for an obligation. Um and that's really important. That's something we want to grow in the 26-27 season.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I mean you you you only have to look back to I mean recent times to realize your ability to do that in a small baseball community, right? I mean, for for just for a bit of background for our audience, I mean, you were the manager of the Grand Lake Mariners, uh, which is a summer collegiate woodbat team, and in Selena, which is a small town in Ohio, playing the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. I mean, that was a team last year before you took over that was eight and twenty-seven in 2025. And in your first season, you went 33 and 9, produced the best single season turnaround in league history, and won their first championship in 20 years. Those types of things don't happen. Yes, in collegiate baseball leagues, there's a lot of turnover. Things can be different, but those types of things don't happen unless what you're talking about come to fruition, right? People don't. I mean, I I I love that line that you've just given. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. I imagine that that moniker had a lot to do with that turnaround that you had at Grand Lake.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Uh in the end, the feedback I've received from the organization and from the players, um, yes, it had a lot to do with how we started the summer. And that's again how I tried to build the program also in Cape Cod in the little village of Katuit, which was even smaller than Celina. Katuit was 2,500 people, or Celina's 10,000. And again, it was connecting with the community and also making sure that every player understood that I, as the head coach and the assistant coaches, were there for them. We are there solely as far as the team itself to help them improve. And to do that, our coaching staff has to be available. We have to be at the field to for extra practice. So, for example, in Cape Cod, as well as in Celina, uh, with the amateur players, uh, the no school, I mean, we actually practiced five and six mornings a week. We would practice at 11, 11:30, 12. Um, they would take a break, we'd come back and practice again. Um, and then I would give them a break. And we didn't do your normal pre-game stuff, which pre-game in the sport of baseball many times has just become a ritual. I'm not much on ritual in regards to the sport. I want our time at the field to be a teaching time and for players to improve their baseball IQ. And another saying I have, Andrew, is practice is for the coaches to help the players. Games are the for the players to have fun and show if practice is actually working.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, I mean, and that's I think that's that that that's true in all walks of life, right? You spend you spend so much time preparing for the doing that by the time it gets to the doing, if you haven't prepared, you I mean, obviously you know you you know what the outcome is going to be. And we're gonna get into a lot of your of your of your Mike Robertsisms, Mike isms, maybe I'll call them throughout the year, because I imagine you're gonna keep coming up with some. You've already come up with a couple in the in the first couple of minutes that we've been chatting. But I I just just on that team at Grand Lake, because they're look, Brooke Knight and I spoke about this quite a bit the last couple of years, is that the the Australian Baseball League does kind of have a collegiate feel to it because it's a weekend league. You've got limited access to some of the players. There's a lot of players from a lot of different walks of life. Probably trying to get all of that to meld in one can be a unique challenge that's different to the everyday grind of, say, you know, a hundred and forty-game minor league season or a hundred and sixty-two-game major league season. You described that team at Grand Lake as having sort of one heartbeat. And that was a big reason why that team was able to have so much success, along with what you were able to do in terms of your teaching off the field before it came time to go on the field, which obviously you know it's uh the the fruits of those labor shown through. But but but when you talk about one heartbeat, I I assume that that means everybody singing out of the same hymn book, everybody showing up and knowing what they want to get out of the day. Can you just expand on what you mean when you say sort of that one heartbeat mentality?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, happy to do so. So when I start uh at the beginning of any campaign with a with a team, as I did in Celina, when we get together the first week, I talk about, okay, you're from all walks of life, as you've just said. I want you to look at each other. Okay. I don't want you to think about anything, but I want to get to know that person. It's my obligation to get to know, just as the coaches and assistant coaches, it's our obligation to get to know. And then I'm looking for leadership. And so here's the example I would use. You know, in the military, everybody walks shoulder to shoulder. And so there at times I have had all everybody stand up and they stand shoulder to shoulder. And I will ask, okay, what do leaders do? And of course, with young college players, a lot of times they're very timid and they don't do anything at all. They just kind of look at each other like, mmm, what do leaders do? And if nobody moves, then I'll go line up with them and put my shoulder next to somebody's, and then I'll take a step forward. And I'll ask them, what did I just do? I stepped out because I want to lead. And what we're looking for is leadership that can help bring everybody together. You've got to have some leaders, and so again, we're from all walks of life. So, for example, 26, 27, um Sydney Blue Sox. We've got people coming from the United States players. Um, I actually have a picture coming from uh the Salina, uh the Grand Lake Mariners that's coming with me and signed a contract. We'll have obviously lots of native Australian players who love to play the game. And then one of the reasons I finally accepted this challenge was because we're gonna have somewhere between, I think, five and seven or eight players from Japan and Korea. And we're also gonna have a couple of assistant coaches from Japan and Korea. Um and the opportunity to bring multiple countries together, players from multiple countries, I think is uh is a thrill for me. And so we'll be trying to do the same thing to get everybody to respect each other, to care about each other. And the final ingredient with that, Andrew, is you walk in the dugout, and I keep looking to see when when uh players walk in the dugout, does anybody look at the lineup card? And when you get to a point where nobody looks at the lineup card because nobody's worried about who's playing. They got one heartbeat, they just want to go out and be one team, then I know that we've made some progress.
SPEAKER_00It is such an interesting challenge. And look, I'm glad that you sort of brought the team makeup to the fore. I was going to do it, but better to come from your mouth than mine. And that's why I asked the question, right? Because I mean, you speak about it, kids coming from all walks of life in different parts of the United States for a collegiate baseball team is one thing, but coming from Japan and Korea and affiliated systems in the U.S. with the Australian locals, you talk about the independent arm that you're going to bring down. That that's why I feel like that cohesion is so important. And when it comes to winning and losing, cohesion is everything. It's one of the unique parts of this league. It's it's not necessarily unique to this league, but it is it is different to a lot of what you would call development leagues throughout the world, in which it's all about the individual player, right? Trying to get from single A to A or A to AAA or trying to get themselves to the big leagues. Whereas it's one of the unique leagues where it's like we turn up because we want to win. Yes, we want to get better individually, but we want to get better as a group and we want to win. So whenever I was reading that about you, it felt like that was such a great fit, particularly because of the makeup of this team. And just on that, because I mean I do want to move on and sort of talk about your style managerially on the field, but what do you see as potentially being the biggest challenge in managing this side with guys from all over the place? Because it is such a unique challenge in the world of baseball. Because I did there's not a whole lot of places in the world where you'd be able to manage a team with that kind of roster makeup.
SPEAKER_01That's correct. Yeah. But maybe the only place is the Los Angeles Dodgers, maybe.
SPEAKER_00You hey, you said that, not me. You said that. And um, I'd like to make it a same, same, same budget to spend as well here here with the biggest. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Gary and Colin Scott would tell you. They told me that we had a budget just right under the Dodgers, just close.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all of it's deferred, too, by the way, Mike. All of it's deferred.
SPEAKER_01That's right. You know, I think I I I go back to I'm a backyard baseball guy. That is my that is my saying, my entire coaching career. I want each player from Australia, from Japan, Korea, United States, whatever country they may come from, is I want them to be fundamentally sound and have beautiful baseball IQ. And the way to do that first is to make sure they understand that I want them to have a love for the game, fun. I want them to play for fun. So an example I could give you from many summers, and this summer was also true, is I had players write me notes and say, coach, at the end of the college season this spring, I hated baseball. I almost didn't come. Uh it maybe it was because they didn't play, they were redshirted, they played poorly, you know, some coach was all over them. Uh, they were worried about the portal was going to replace them next year, somebody coming out of the portal. Um and what I told them is that we're gonna have fun because winning will come once you have fun, then you work on fundamentals, you mold together as a team with one heartbeat, and you go out and play the game as if you were in the backyard with a wiffle ball, you're seven years old, playing with your brother, your sister, your best friends, and there's three on one team and four on the other, and you don't worry about somebody's got one more player because when you pitch, if there's a ground ball hit, you run and play first base, yeah. Or you run to home plate, and you are a multifaceted player. And so my goal is going to show them partly through my enthusiasm and my love for the game that we all can have fun and there's no pressure on them. I think pro players think there's a ton of pressure on them. My goal is to get them to realize there's no pressure. If you're prepared, there's no pressure. The only time there's pressure is when you're not prepared. And so that's the challenge I have is for everybody to have fun, no matter the score of the game, no matter the record, that when they finish the season, whenever that may be, that they look and say, Wow, I don't want to leave. I really care about these guys. I had the best baseball experience I've ever had, and that is my challenge, that is my goal, and I expect to carry that out.
SPEAKER_00It it's a subject in professional development, not only from a sporting standpoint, but from a human standpoint that I think has always fascinated me is we always tend to think of baseball players and athletes as machines, right? And every day is about getting that's that little bit better at your craft. But that point that you bring up is a perfect one, right? Because we've seen so many guys come down here from North America and Asia and wherever else who might have been, you know, they may have been via injury or they just weren't performing. Say it was a Japanese player who'd been demoted to the miners, came down here. And it wasn't necessarily what was taught to them on the field, it would have been something. But it was the life experience that they got by being down here for three months and learning something about themselves, learning probably many things about themselves that they wouldn't have known that they can then take back to wherever they go. And all of a sudden they're an NPB All-Star or they're a major league All-Star. I mean, Ronald Acuna Jr. was down here as a 16, 17-year-old kid, and you know, his head wobbled a little bit more when he left Australia than when it got here. So you talking about those personal experiences, I think is I think is important, and and having a team that feels like they're looked after, that yeah, you're down here for the baseball. You you've you you've come here to be a baseball player for three months in Australia. But if you can grow as a human being and take that back with you to whichever corner of the world that you're going to go to, you're going to be a better baseball player because of the personal experience that you've had, if it's positive.
SPEAKER_01Very well said. Very, very well stated. And Ronald Acunia happens to play for my former player, Walt Weiss, who played for me at North Carolina. And um, yeah, it it it's uh what I'll tell you is this will not be a team that every swing they take, they're gonna look at track men. This is won't be a team that every pitch they make is going to depend on vertical break. This is going to be a baseball IQ team, is a team that uses that to find ways to win. And that's not done much today. Um you know, if if a right-handed hitter has a left-handed pitcher out there and he's got a bunt three times in a row up the first baseline, go for it. Let's go. Let's go. You know, and you know, make that left handed pitcher suffer because they're loony anyway. And um, you know, let's do some things that force the action. Um, and the same thing with pitchers. If we need to throw four change ups in a row and You're the closer, let's do it. Let's roll four in a row. Because it's being done in the big leagues. Okay. And it's being done by people who are effective. And but let's take our baseball IQ and let's use it because I'm going to be looking, I'm telling you at every player in any report I make, the first thing will be do they love the game? Are they having fun? Okay. Are they there every pitch, which we can discuss, because you're only winning a championship if you got the entire team there every pitch, whether they're playing or in the bullpen or on the field, okay? And that did their baseball IQ in the eighth and ninth inning get us over the hump?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and look, I I mean I think the the mixture of those things is so important. I mean, you're right. It seems like the game is going so far in an analytic direction that at some point it's got to be pulled back to the fundamentals and and then and the IQs of things, which is, you know, I mean, uh all of those things work together. They all work in Sympatico. It's impossible to succeed at this game doing only one thing really well. So yeah, I'm glad that you I'm glad that you touched on that. I I do sort of want to move on to your managerial style on field, because you've kind of talked about, you know, your backyard baseball style and and really managing teams with with aggressive freedom. I mean, a bit of your background. You I mean, you you've written two books about base running and base stealing. You worked as a special instructor, consultant with with the Cubs, the Orioles, the Pirates, the Blue Jays. I mean, that team that we just spoke about at Grant Lake had, what was it, 125 steals in 42 games? You were 101 for 125, an 80% success rate. So it's clear that you give players a lot of aggressive freedom and a chance to I guess use anything that they are seeing. Use that baseball IQ. So what does that style actually look like during a game for for Blue Sox fans who would be wondering the style that this team will play? Are we talking steals, bunts, hit and runs, double steals, constantly forcing defensive decisions? What does that look like in practice?
SPEAKER_01You just stated all of it.
SPEAKER_00Is that we'll run I answered your question for you. Sorry, Mike.
SPEAKER_01You did. Hey, you know, I like teachers that answer their own questions.
SPEAKER_00I you you won't find me anywhere near a managerial post on a baseball field. I can tell you that. I'm I'm I'm I'm comfortable in the booth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we want to run when teams don't think we're gonna run. Okay. We want to butt with one strike, not just with no strikes. We want to safety squeeze when we need that additional run. Uh we're gonna cheat swing, and I won't even get into what that means. Um it's an honest way of cheating with the bat, but we're gonna cheat swing. Um we're gonna are we gonna double steal? Are we gonna try often? We are, and people are gonna yell at me, not them, but I want them. The only way they're gonna get better is they they've got to make some mistakes. And um early in the year, we may see a lot of that. Um one of the things I'm hoping that uh Gary and Cole and Scott have done is they've sent me some um very aggressive players. Guys who want to attack the game. Maybe they're not real mature and maybe they don't understand when to attack it, but I'm hoping that I have a bunch of guys who really want to attack the game. Um and yeah, the style's gonna be different now. It's you know, uh, we're it's like Josh Naylor last year in the 25 season for Seattle. Josh Naylor stole 32 bases and got thrown out twice. And Josh Naylor is it runs you know like a like a tank. But he yeah, he stole 32 bases. Nobody thought that was ever possible. You know, everybody's gonna run, okay. Everybody's gonna run at certain points, okay? And my job is to teach them when to run and when to take advantage of different situations. So yeah, what are you gonna see hit and run, butt, cheat swings, and a lot of things offensively? You are. Um and you know, again, like I I will tell the team, you know, if you want to win, show me you want to win. This is not winning for the coaching staff. This is winning because you're a team. And to do that, then you got to work together.
SPEAKER_00It's yeah, I mean, that that that base running angle fascinates me so much. I mean, the the the Naylor example is very apt, but I mean, like Yadier Molino was a 70% base dealer when he was in the big leagues. Yadier Molino, I mean, I'm I'm a I'm a St. Louis guy who've been a Cardinal fan my whole life. He's got no business stealing bases, but he was a 70% base dealer because of his baseball IQ, because he knew when to be aggressive, and obviously that's that that's something that he coveted and learned learned coming up, which you feel like there maybe is a bit of a dearth of that uh in coaching now, because you know, if you're if you're a bigger guy who's a catcher, or you you know, a lot oftentimes I feel like players can get pigeonholed, especially, you know, in the era where you've got 200 strikeout guys leading off, which I don't think we ever thought we would see in the game of baseball, having that ability to have that little bit of of of aggressive freedom is what is what makes this game so beautiful, right?
SPEAKER_01It is, and you know, I'm an old catcher, you know, and Yachty's an old catcher, you know, and catchers better have good baseball IQ. Um and uh when I was with the Cubs, uh Anthony Rizzo would get his 15 steals a year, and he runs like Yachty, but he would get them at crucial times. Um if you're a uh Cardinal fan, you gotta love Victor Scott, who was up and playing center field for them, and he played for me in Cape Cod. Uh, of course, Victor could fly and uh still can. Um but whether you are a flyer or not, I mean, my son, you know, wasn't a 6'4 runner, but he understood base stealing and he led to major leagues in base stealing one year uh when he was playing. So again, it's teaching them. And if you come to practice, I won't get into it in our podcast, but you're you're gonna see a different style of base stealing. Um, I'm gonna bring uh something that I've been teaching for 50 years that will be a different style, and my son was the first one to do it in the major leagues. Um, and uh you'll kind of see a different style of base stealing.
SPEAKER_00I I I did want to touch on that a little bit. Um and I mean you you you mentioning your son, obviously, Brian Roberts, who is a 14-year big leaguer. Any any thoughts on on bringing him down, on having him a part of of what you're doing? Does he have any interest? Has it been discussed at all?
SPEAKER_01I don't even think I've told him I'm going.
SPEAKER_00Well that answers that, I suppose.
SPEAKER_01He's uh he's broadcasting some for the Orioles right now, and he's got three boys, and two of them are golfers, and so he doesn't have any baseball players in his family. He's got all golfers.
SPEAKER_00Um so tell you what, tell it tell him that Christmas time and summertime in Australia is is pretty dang good, and we got some pretty beautiful golf courses here in New South Wales, so I think he might be able to coax him for a week or two.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm I may tell him that because he homeschools the three boys so they can leave anytime they want to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it'd be it'd be fun to have him down, and I'd uh I'd have him in the booth anytime at Blue Sox Stadium for sure. It'd be fun to pick his brain just as we're picking yours today.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you. I'm I'll mention it to him soon. I'm going to see him. Um, but I don't even think I've told him.
SPEAKER_00Uh look, let's let's talk a little bit about this the the Sydney team. And obviously, I mean that there there will be there will be so much rostered turnover, but what this ownership group has done such a good job of the last couple years is identifying local Sydney talent. I mean, Jalen Ray was on pace to hit 400 last year before he got hurt. Joe Stevens, who was at Purdue, had a great season playing third base. There's a few young guys coming back from college, obviously having Cohen Wynn at your disposal. Uh for you know, a potential uh starting pitching piece who's pitched in the KBO, and then obviously a very Australian heavy bullpen as we think it's gonna be this season. Look, it's not as though you're inheriting a local group that doesn't know how to win already, right? I mean, this is a team that's won back-to-back minor printers or printerships, rather. They've been the best team in the regular season for two teams running, so or for two years running. So is the goal for you to get down and pick those guys' brains a little bit about what they feel like has has been working from a Sydney perspective before you start to amalgamate, amalgamate everything else? I'm just fascinated as as to what your mindset is in taking over a team that has had success in winning games. They just haven't been able to get over that ultimate hump of winning a championship.
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, without a doubt. I I mean, I'm just as excited about learning, I mean, meeting and learning from the Australian players as I am, you know, the Asian players that are coming in. And as we talked about earlier in the podcast, is that um, you know, the challenge is taking a little bit from from each continent and and and putting it together. But yes, they've been very good. And obviously last year, I mean, I looked, they didn't steal many bases last year. I looked at the stats. They did hit, I think, around 30 home runs in a in a 40-game schedule. Um, so I think it'll probably be, you know, a little different makeup on it, but do we want to build on that and try to get through that final series? Uh absolutely, uh, without a doubt. And I hope we do have some veteran pitching, both starting and relieving coming from Australi from Australia, uh, that will help us get off to a to a solid start.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, look, I know I do I know you'll it'll take you some time to get used to the the roster once it actually does come through, but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with with some of the arms that you'll have at your disposal from a from a local standpoint uh in that Sydney bullpen. And I mean, in terms of and it's a kind of bringing the two things together that we've that we've chatted a little bit about in terms of you know, those overseas players with the Australian guys in in bringing a team together quickly, in talking about you know, encouraging guys to be leaders and and encouraging players to have fun. One thing that's so unique about this league, and is is is similar, I suppose, in in collegiate leagues, is just how fleeting the season can be. It feels like it starts and then it finishes, particularly in this league when you only play on weekends and it's a 10-week season, you know, the the holiday period is over there, everything's a little bit hectic. It almost feels like it's opening day, and then we we're playing game three of the ABL Championship series, right? So how do you navigate that in knowing that you do only have such a short amount of time to make a difference in these guys' baseball playing lives and their personal lives and in their baseball playing lives, because you've done it and in the Cape Cod League, you did it last year with Grand Lake. How do you navigate knowing that you do have such a short window of time with these guys and being able to maximize what you can do in terms of pushing them forward in their careers and personally?
SPEAKER_01Well, yes, the the 40 to 44 game schedule I've been used to for 25 years now in the summertime.
SPEAKER_00It's a it honestly, Mike, it's a skill set in and of itself, being able to manage guys in those types of schedules compared to a 140-game or 162-game season, in my opinion, is a completely different skill set.
SPEAKER_01I would agree. And the the most important thing for me is I need to be available. And the coaches need to be available. Uh, we're we're not coming for a vacation. Uh we're coming to be available to those players. And I want them to know that we're there for them. And, you know, if it takes extra BP, extra extra BP or extra ground balls, you know, extra time to work on changeups every day, you know, we're gonna be there. And I again I I think the players must see that the coaches are there for them. Um and certainly we're gonna be there for the community as well. Um and I think again, that's the key. We kind of started our conversation that way, is my responsibility is to each player there and respon and to the community to be available and to pull everybody together. And I think if they see that and feel that, then they will are much more likely to buy in early, early, and then if we have some success early, hopefully, then it kind of takes itself from there. Uh but I have to be locked in and available to those guys.
SPEAKER_00And look, I mean, you you mentioned it there, you've been sort of doing the collegiate summer rounds for, you know, a couple decades. I mean, you you mentioned it there, you were a catcher, you were three-time all ACC catcher at North Carolina before you took that job in your 20s, uh, and you know, I mean, had had a career there that that spanned a a couple decades. I it's probably worth noting that your coaching life far outspans your playing career. I mean, I guess notably you played in the Royal system for a couple seasons and they were they were decent seasons, but you you walked away sort of to attend graduate school and become a coach. How certain were you that that coaching was your calling? Because it's it's clear that that has come to fruition. And particularly coaching at the level in which you had. I mean, obviously, we've talked about some of the connections with big league organizations you've had in terms of base running consulting and that. Um, but it really does feel like uh college has been your calling. And I think you you obviously the success you had at North Carolina, the ability to um to take these collegiate summer programs and get these these fleeting moments, these short seasons, and and allow guys to connect. I mean, what was it that drove you into that in saying that because that that's a I would imagine it's a very hard thing to do as a player is to put your hand up and go, this isn't my future. My future is being on the other side of the white lines. I I just wonder what it was for you and in you that made you make that decision at such a young age.
SPEAKER_01Um my faith, uh, for one, I I felt like that um, you know, God was saying, um, you know, you're playing, you're actually playing well. I made the all-star team both years I played pro baseball, but I felt like there was something missing that it was all for me, and that pro baseball was not very team oriented, which really bothered me a lot. And um so I feel like you know, something was bugging me. And so I walked in and I said, you know, I'm leaving and walked out of spring training, went back. Um, you know, I didn't have a 4-0 and make $1,600 on the SAT. So I had great really good grades in undergraduate school, but it took me a few months to get in graduate school. Um and then um got opened the door. I was offered two head coaching jobs within three days uh at Florida Southern College in Lapeland, Florida. Um I think it was on July the 2nd and on July the 4th, 5th, or 6th, I was off at the University of North Carolina, and Florida Southern had just won the Division II national championship. So, really, about 18 months after I walked out of pro baseball, I was offered two college jobs. So I think, you know, you know, God was leading. He he he said, get out of here, go do something and help other people. You know, go help others. And that's really been my career. And even in pro baseball, um, I was offered managerial minor league positions. I turned them down because again, I wanted to combine amateur and pro, and there weren't many people in America combining the Cape League with a pro gig in spring training, April, May, August, September around the Cape Cod League. So I was seeing all the best players in the minor leagues and all the best college players. So I was really fortunate uh to be able to continue that path. Um it was just and it's the same thing today. Um I didn't coach college guys in the summer of 2025, um, ran into a conflict with some new leadership in Cape Cod. And so I was out collegiately, and I decided after the summer of spending 21 nights a month in a hotel roving professionally that I wanted to go back and coach um college players. And so I went looking for a job. I I got in a plane and went looking for a job and somehow landed in Celina, Ohio, a farming community. Um that was beautiful. Um but the challenge in Sydney is again combining not necessarily college and pro, but it's combining different cultures who all love the game of baseball. And I I believe that that this is where I'm meant to be this this winter, is the door open twice, and I think God wanted me to walk through it.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I think that's that that's such an important. I mean, then that's why I asked the question, just to give fans a glimpse of the fact that I mean this is this is not something that you've decided to do on a whim. I mean, this is the culmination of a coaching career that you have had that has spanned decades, and this is just simply a new challenge that is in the same realm of things that you've done previously. And I mean, that's the beautiful thing about baseball. I mean, I never imagined that baseball would bring me to Sydney, Australia. A young kid from Little Rock, Arkansas, who found himself calling Australian baseball league games. I never imagined that that was that that was a pathway. And I'm sure whenever you started out, you knew that you had a calling uh to go in a direction. But as you started the conversation with, you only get there through hard work and determination, right? Nothing is given to you. I you know, the the the harder you work, the luckier you get, right? And that it's it's an important distinction that you make there in talking about you know, all of these different facets of your career and pulling from the pro side and the college side and the amateur side and the international side and all of these sorts of things. And it really does feel like the next right move for you because of all of those different challenges that you've undertaken, you've clearly succeeded at them, and this is just a new challenge.
SPEAKER_01It is, and I want to throw BP to players from Japan and Korea. I love throwing batting pracks and from Australia, you know, and I I want to show them also that, man, it doesn't make a difference what age you are, you can still throw good BP.
SPEAKER_00There's uh yeah, I mean, you you'll you'll have the ability to throw a very, very multicultural um batting practice session for sure. And I mean, the the unique part about this league, and I mean I speak about it all the time, is where else do you get to see a 17-year-old kid from Australia potentially pitching to a future NPB All-Star or KBO All-Star or Major League All-Star? It's just a it's a league that those of us that are intimately involved with it love it so much. And I think sometimes people within the Australian baseball community can look at an outsider, I'm gonna call you an outsider for just a second, Mike, can look at somebody coming down from North America or wherever it may be and say, what does that person know about this league? It it can be very insular at times, right? And the the Australian Baseball League wouldn't be unique in that aspect. I imagine that it's that way in many pro leagues across the world. But you're the type of person, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you're the type of person that this league needs because of the things that we've spoken about. Because it does take a very unique skill set to come down and do what's being asked of you. And I think that's that's largely what gets lost. So look, I'm I we we can ramble on and wax lyrically forever about this, but I I I think what you've been able to exude and and tell the Blue Sox fans today, I think is going to fill them with a lot of hope and anticipation for what is to come this season, not only because of what you have done and your credentials in being able to be here and coming down and managing this team. But the fact that we started this conversation, you talking about what you want to do. It's not as though you're coming down here to rest on the laurels of what's been done. You're very much coming down here to put into practice the culmination of what's happened in your coaching career and try and push this team across the line for the first time in the new ABL, which, oh, by the way, has i i i is something that you'll hear quite a bit in the next six months.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure, and that's good. I I, you know, uh light me up with it. That's fine. Um, you know, I'm ready. And and um the thing is, a lot of the uh locals from Sydney and uh and around the country of Australia, you know, I have more of an accent than they do. My accent really, I got one of these real southern draws, boy. And um, but yeah, we we are coming uh to have a great experience with the community and with the team and with the organization, from the broadcasters to the trainers to the clubhouse guys to everybody that works in the stands or volunteers. Um our plans are are to be a one heartbeat, one team, and that's everybody involved. Um, and we're not gonna leave anybody out. Whoever comes will be welcome uh with open arms, just as I feel like I've been welcomed already. Um and I want them when they meet us, I really want again to go back to know how much we care about them. Um and we want to win, but when we depart after the season, the most important thing is that we've given our all to the community and to the Blue Sox, and we've all had fun. And we look at each other and say, wow, we don't want this to end. This has been a blast.
SPEAKER_00Here, here, look, I couldn't have said it better myself. And and Mike, I think hopefully after listening to this chat, fans feel as though they know Mike Roberts a little bit better. I know a lot of Blue Sox fans have been reaching out to me in the last couple of months just trying to get any inkling of information about the about the upcoming season, and obviously some of that information will come thick and fast, starting with starting with this chat and your appointment as manager of the Blue Sox for 26-27. Look, Mike, I know you're a busy guy. Really, really appreciate you giving us some time. This is this has been a lot of fun, and look forward to catching up when you're uh when you're in Sydney.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Um we're flying over November the 9th, and we can't wait to get there. So um there'll be a lot of team building between now and then, and I'm looking forward to you know learning more about everybody on the roster and making contact soon. So thank you for the time, Andrew, and you know, go Blue Sox. We're ready to go.
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