Austin Gallagher was a third-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007 out of high school. He joined the Windy City Cutter Bowl to the start of the 2015 season, or near the start of the 2015 season anyway. Sponsored on Independent Bowl the last couple of years, but he's certainly found a home here in Windy City. We thank you for joining me.
Glenn, Austin, Gallagher. Thank you for being here, Austin. Thank you for having me, Terry. I always start things off unintentionally just to work out this way by asking people about their names.
So you go by your middle name, Austin. Why is that? Yeah, well actually my father's name is Glenn, and I just thought it would be easier when people were calling the house that I go by my middle name, and I've just been going by Austin my whole life. That works for you then?
Yeah. Okay. All right, Austin. Well, we'll talk about your career through baseball and how you got into baseball in the first place.
Obviously, you've had a lot of success in your career. You've put up some big numbers at some pretty high levels, and you've been one of the best leaders in the Frontier League this year. But let's go back to the start when you were a kid. How did you first get into baseball growing up in Pennsylvania?
Oh, honestly, I was – well, my dad played professionally for the Blue Jays. I'd run the Blue Jays for a couple years. He was a pitcher. And, you know, once he found out that he was having a boy, honestly, I had a glove and a ball in my hand at day one.
Honestly, like I had a little glove, and with a Velcro ball, my dad actually captures me since day one that I was born. And ever since that moment, even right out of the womb, I remember my first slide. Like, when I was a kid growing up, I had a slide, and I'd always slide down the slide, and I'd get up, and I'd say, touchdown. So I was born growing up with sports and, you know, hitting a baseball and just being around, you know, like I said, baseball, basketball, football, that stuff.
It was just, you know, my passion and what I enjoyed doing. We see a lot of legacy in the Frontier League and any minor league, anywhere you go professionally. There's always players on some teams that have family members that play professional baseball. Like you said, your father played professional baseball.
You were growing up into a lot of different sports. Was there ever any extra pressure on you to pursue baseball as opposed to something else? Honestly, there wasn't at all. I just, I personally, with baseball, baseball was a sport that I enjoyed practicing the most.
And the way that I look at it is, in order to have passion for a sport, you know, you've got to be committed not only just playing it, but if you can be committed off the field, practice time, you know, putting your work in. And that's when I really started to enjoy the game and knew that's what I wanted to do. Football, like I said, I love playing football, but, you know, practices were definitely not as fun as game nights were. And, you know, same thing with basketball.
Like, I enjoyed basketball, but I just, I didn't feel the love for it. It was always fun to me. But baseball was one of those things that I enjoyed practicing. I love competing.
And, you know, especially when, you know, you tend to have a little bit more talent and have the confidence and success, it makes you like playing the sport a little bit better, too. Well, you've got that body 265-210, it seems like, and you've got athleticism as well. It seems like you really could have done whatever you chose growing up. In high school, did you look into baseball specifically, or at that point, when you were between the ages of 14 and 18, were you focused at that point on baseball?
Honestly, you know, growing up, it was always my dream. It was always my goal. You know, I wanted to make the major leagues only to play professional baseball. You know, kind of following my dad's shoes and everything to that extent.
But I'd have to say, it was probably up until my junior year. The start of my junior year was when I really, you know, once I started traveling and seeing all the competition around the world. Like, when I was a kid and, you know, growing up 12, 13, 14, you know, you kind of shine and you kind of stand out and you have the confidence you think it's just going to happen. But the real wake-up call for me was, you know, when I was a junior in high school and got to travel around, I was like, wow, you know, there's some really talented guys out here.
And, you know, it was kind of a wake-up call for me to say that, yeah, I may be the best in Pennsylvania, but if I want to be, you know, the best player I can be, I've got to put that little extra time in. So when I first started to do that, that's when I just set my mind. I was like, you know, baseball, I'm going to give that a full go and, you know, have just loved, and like I said, the work ethic and the practice, you know, I love that just as much as the game. So once you find that passion and that you're able to be committed to that your whole day, that's when it becomes fun.
Let's go back to your youth a little bit. You talked about your father being a professional baseball player, and he played during the 80s. You were born in 1988. So, and that was towards the end of the decade.
Your father was in and out of baseball before that time. But what was it like growing up for you then? Was there travel at that point where your parents settled into a certain location? Yeah, we've been in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is where I was born.
We've been there my whole life. Actually, my dad, he had started coaching at the high school, the Manhattan Township High School, which is where he went to high school, I went to high school. His brother is my brother. He started coaching there, and then he took his coaching career collegiately to Division III Franklin Marshall College.
And their first year, he ended up taking them into the postseason and into the World Series. And the very next year, he was offered a job at Division II, Millersville University. And he was there for like the following 10 years. So for me, that's kind of how I became into like the passion and the love of the game.
At an early age, I was surrounded by, you know, my dad's teams and the colleges and just being able to be around baseball, especially at a higher level. And just picking those guys' brains, seeing what they do, their work ethic, how to, you know, the knowledge of the game, everything. I just feel like that helped me at such a young age just turn into the player that I am today just because I had the feel. Like, I knew the rules.
Like, I knew things that kids didn't know at that age, you know, growing up. And it was definitely a blessing for me because I got to see work ethic from guys that were, you know, in their 20 years old at the age of, you know, 10, 11, 12 when I was really starting to understand the game. And, you know, for me, that's basically what I did in my life. Now, obviously, we traveled and stuff.
Like, we went to spring training, had some good trips down in Florida. But, you know, basically stayed around Pennsylvania and was Batboy and stayed around his college team basically the whole time. Now, Lancaster, is that in, is that closer to, I'm not familiar with my Pennsylvania geography, closer to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh? Philadelphia, yeah.
It's like right in between, it's southeastern Pennsylvania, or I guess it's considered south central, but it's kind of right in between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Was there a particular team that you rooted for growing up? Was it because of where you lived or where your father played? Well, you know, it's kind of changed over the years.
It's funny, like, right now I have season tickets to the Eagles, but I wasn't able to go to an Eagles game until I was 21 just because of all the fights and everything. But as far as for baseball, I kind of developed into, you know, like a Phillies fan. But growing up, for me, it's not that, you know, I was never a diehard fan at an early age. I was, like, watching players and teams.
So I'm not a Yankees fan, but growing up, the Yankees were always in the World Series. So they had Derek Jeter, all these guys, and it's just like, that was a team to watch. I mean, I'd go to Orioles games and watch Cal Ripken and all those guys play. But, you know, at that age, there wasn't a specific team.
But we would definitely go to the Bet, which was old Philadelphia, Philly Stadium, and then Camden Yards. So those were kind of the two teams, Orioles and the Phillies, and kind of back and forth from that. So now you're growing up as a baseball player. You get to high school.
You're obviously extremely talented. You drafted in the third round out of high school, and we'll get to the draft in a moment. But let's just go back to your last couple of years in high school. Where were your sights at at that point?
Were you looking to play college ball, or did you think you were going to be high draft pick and you were set to sign and play pro right out of high school? Honestly, at that age, it was just different. Like I said, by junior year on up, it was just the whole college and then the professional process. It's honestly month to month.
And that's the thing is that, you know, growing up, like I said, it was always my dream to play professional baseball. But at the same time, if my opportunity and the situation with the round and the money and everything wasn't right, then, yeah, I wanted to go to college. But I knew in the back of my head, ultimately, my goal was, like, I was set on that. I was set on playing professional baseball.
College, you know, like I said, I always wanted to go to college. And it's kind of funny, the school I ended up committing to was the rival to the school that my dad had went to school. He went to Clemson University and played football and baseball, and I signed to go to the University of South Carolina. So it was kind of funny that it worked out that way.
But, you know, it would have been a good experience, either decision I would have made. Well, take us through draft day. First of all, your mindset going in, where you thought you might get selected, if any teams were interested in you that you knew about in advance. And then when you got that call and found out that you were a third round pick, Los Angeles Dodgers.
Well, luckily, about a week before, I had a really good, I had a pre-draft workout with MLA. And, you know, I was pretty excited about that workout. It did really well. And actually, that day, I had a couple calls from the Yankees, the Indians, the Dodgers, and a couple others.
They just texted me, just said, hey, you know, be around, be ready for, you know, day one of this draft. And kind of as things were flying by, you know, you watch the first round on TV, and then all of a sudden everything's on the computer immediately right after that. After the first 30 picks, everything else is on the computer. And they just, you know, so I watched the whole first round on TV, and, you know, I was sitting in front of the computer, and that was just way too stressful.
So, actually, the funny thing was, after the whole compensation round, everybody was all selected, I ended up going out, and I was just, like, shooting baskets. I had to blow some steam off. I got away for a little bit, and, you know, as I'm just shooting hoops, you know, I got a call from Los Angeles Dodgers, and they just said, all right, we're going to pick you here, third round, here's the money, yes or no, just like that. And I was like, wait, what?
It kind of all sprung up, you know, real fast. But, you know, it was a great experience, and, you know, it was definitely one of the most unforgettable days of my life, that's for sure. Just, you know, just all the anxiety, the stress, and then the relief, and, you know, the excitement, enjoy everything in that day, it was just, you know, definitely one of the unforgettable moments of my life. Yeah, I know that's got to be difficult for anybody in that situation.
People forget all the time, an 18-year-old high school kid, and you're in a stressful position where you know you're going to get drafted, you don't know where it's going to be, and then you get the call, and it's immediately, all right, what do I do now? But I'm sure, getting selected in the third round helps make your decision. Let's talk about when you started your pro career, and obviously there are a lot of changes that occur when you start playing pro ball, especially when you're coming right out of high school, but one of the things that always strikes me is there's usually a cultural difference. For you, you're in Pennsylvania, you end up going out west, you played for a few years in the California League, but you started in Pioneer League, which is out west as well, so what was that like to you, adjusting, first of all, off the baseball field to a new location like that?
Yeah, well, that was, actually, that was definitely, that was definitely one of the craziest experiences I had in my whole, I mean, I had never been west of the Mississippi up until I was 18, like, every time I traveled, it was most, everything was just on the East Coast, so I hadn't, I hadn't experienced any culture like that, so to go out there, fly out there, and, you know, I had no idea, like, dry climate either, so I never forget, I'd fly out there first day, I'd get out there, it was like 115 degrees or something like that, so I'm going out for my first workout, and, you know, I'm running around, taking batting practice, taking ground balls, all that stuff, day one, trying to impress people, and I looked down, and I was like, I don't even have, my clothes aren't even wet, like, I was like, what, what the heck happened, like, what's going on, it was just so, so dry out there that it just absorbed everything from me, I had never experienced anything like that, and, you know, the next, the next morning, I wake up, and the middle of my lip is just cracked right down the middle, I was like, oh my goodness, where am I right now, that, and then, you know, also the culture, too, so, at, that league, it was mostly all college league, so, not mostly all college league, but that is more of a, like, college draft first year, guys, so for me, coming out of high school, they had told me, like, I was originally supposed to play in the Gulf Coast League, and then somebody got hurt, they needed me to play there, so, they sat me there, the thing about the, the, the Northwest, like, where I was in the Pioneer League was, in my town, at least, all the, all the restaurants and everything were closed at, like, 9, 10 o'clock, and, you know, I was going back to the college kids is that, you know, they were 21, so they could go into bars and get food, but I had, there was, like, one Mexican place that had, like, 24-hour drive-thru, and then there was a Walmart that was 24-7, so those were the two places that I could go to when I was 18 my first year, that's, that's about it, and then, you know, just everything with, you know, the whole Mormon community and the mountains and everything out there, it was just, you know, looking back at it now, I just wish that I could go back at a time, you know, that I've kind of experienced the world and, and know the community and everything like that, because it was just such a beautiful, beautiful area and great experience, but, you know, when I was 18, I was just totally overwhelmed and, you know, had never seen anything like that before. Let's talk about on the field a little bit now, you're coming out of high school, 18 years old, like you said, it's a young league, it's a rookie level league, but it's a lot of college guys playing in the Pioneer League, so what was that adjustment like to you on the field? Well, for me, on the field, the biggest part was, my whole life, I had always, you know, succeeded, especially in high school, like, my last year, and, like, my senior year, I think I hit, like, 587 or just had some crazy numbers, and to be kind of thrown into the fire with a lot of the older guys, I just immediately put myself in that situation of, you know, I'm going to figure this out, like, I'm going to figure out how to succeed, and, you know, like you said, it was kind of like they just threw me into the fire, and, you know, I felt like I responded, you know, I felt like I responded pretty well, but at the same time, it's one of those things that you go in there and, you know, you understand that you're developing and everything, but at the same time, as a player, you want to succeed, so playing every day, being with that competition, everything like that, it is, it's a different level, just because I'd never experienced that, you know, I'd only played high school baseball and played some showcase tournaments, so I had no idea how, what my body was going to feel like, especially after playing, you know, one week in a row, so, you know, it was definitely a great experience, and, you know, it was definitely, it was definitely interesting to start, you know, that way, and I'd definitely say the biggest adjustment was obviously, you know, playing every day, but not succeeding as much, and learning how to deal with your failure, and, you know, stay positive about every day that you have. Well, I've got your numbers from your minor leagues in front of me right now, I just want to point out a few things, you talk about hitting about 587 in high school, and you go to Ogden the first year, hit 284 with 346 on base percentage, and people talk all the time in baseball about how you'd be successful and fail seven out of ten times, it's a funny game in that way, when you're a superstar in high school, guys have some pretty crazy numbers, you don't fail that often, so hitting 284 probably was a little bit of a shock to you, it was a very successful season to most people looking on, but 300 points lower to what you did earlier that spring, so that's kind of a funny way to think about it, but you did, you progressed fairly quickly the next year, you were in the California League, which is high A, so you're a little bit older at this point, a little bit more experienced, but you're still, I would say, a lot younger than the people in the California League, what was that like for you, making that adjustment to playing baseball in California?
Well, honestly, it was quite funny, because when I got called up there, the manager sat me down, and he basically told me, look, you're coming in, you're going to fill in for this guy that's hurt, you know, you'll probably be here a week and a half, two weeks, and then I don't know where you'll be after that. He's like, you can do well, and then, you know, maybe you get a spot, or you can, you know, go out there, tear it up, and then they still send you back down, you know, whatever happens, you know, you just have the mindset of going out there, don't put any pressure on and just play your game, and, you know, my first couple games being out there, it was, you know, I tried to really, you know, impress people, and I played a little bit too much out of my comfort zone, and I played a little, I went to go get the game instead of let the game come to me, and then, you know, after I had that conversation with my manager, it was just basically like, well, no matter what I do now, like, don't look at it as I'm going to stay or I'm going to go, and it just kind of took the pressure off, and from then on, I, you know, went on a tear and, you know, put together a pretty successful year, but I think that was when I had really kind of started to understand what it was like, that it's not about, you know, necessarily the hits or, you know, your numbers in particular, it's about the process, and then also, you know, just being able to go up there, and, you know, regardless of whether you struck out or you haven't had a hit for, you know, your previous three or four bats, that you can go out there and, you know, push all that aside and try to compete and try to go out there and be as successful and as level-minded as you can. Well, we're going to zoom ahead just a little bit in that we've been going kind of blow-by-blow year-by-year here in your Dodgers career. You ended up spending six seasons in the Dodgers organization.
You spent several years at Inland Empire in the California League, which we talked about. Some of your best memories in the California League and the Midwest, wherever you played, you had your ups and downs, of course, but you were a highly regarded prospect, and you had some really good seasons out there. How did you feel overall about your time in the Los Angeles system? I felt like, you know, I felt like I put together some pretty good seasons.
You know, it's funny, though, as you get older and, you know, you start to develop, it's like, man, I wish I would have done this game and being around it, is that, you know, I had put so much pressure into myself at a young age to produce, because like you said, I was always the younger guy, and I was always with older guys, and instead of, you know, concentrating and just trying to be the player that I am, I was always putting pressure on to get hits and all this and that, so for me, you know, if there's anything I look back on, I say, you know, I wish I had a couple more, you know, more successful home run seasons, but the way that my career had went with them, you know, I felt like it was pretty successful, and I had a lot of good memories and a lot of good years. You ended up playing through 2012 in the Dodgers organization. You got released after that, and what's next for you? And we know, of course, what happens next, but what are you thinking at that point in your career when you get let go by the Dodgers?
what was next on the radar for you yeah i mean honestly that process it was that was one of the most hectic times uh of my career just due to uh you know not knowing what's gonna happen i obviously wanted to play um i had i had a couple uh actually had a couple frontier leagues contact me at that point when they found out about the release and then uh you know just kind of weighing out my options seeing what's gonna happen and luckily the uh the phillies in 2013 ended up signing me um so they gave me an opportunity to come out and play for them which was yeah it was a relief at that point in my life you ended up playing in 2013 and 2014 actually we're around several different independent leagues when when did independent baseball become the the goal for you not necessarily the goal but knowing that that was your best option and a lot of guys are faced with the decision when it's only independent teams calling all right what do i do now do i want to play independent baseball or do i want to move on to something else or do i want to wait to get a call from an affiliated team what were you thinking and when you ended up in independent baseball um you know it goes this goes it goes back to maturity again like my whole goal um i felt like each each and every year i had been improving and kind of learning new stuff about my body about stuff i have to do to you know succeed and what i need to do to go to the next level and you know i'm not gonna lie the first thing that you know was on my agenda um and my mindset when i got to independent ball was tear it up so you can get picked up i mean that's that was that was my mindset but now you know as i've kind of aged playing independent ball um the biggest thing that you know i look forward to is you know you're playing the game you're getting paid to play the game you love and it's take all the extracurricular stuff out focus not on you know week or month by month but day by day and uh just enjoy and live for live for the moment live day to day at bat to at bat and i just feel like looking past all the extracurricular stuff if you can enjoy playing baseball and you can enjoy every bat you can i mean i you can turn that into your big leagues i mean for me it doesn't necessarily matter like if i'm an independent ball or if i'm a high a or low a or triple a like it's not necessarily the major league so it's still minor league baseball so that's the way i look at it is that you know get your you know try to get consistent bats and you know have fun playing the game you love take us through the last couple of years you move around several different teams you spent some time in the american association you were close to home and you were in the atlantic league were there any specific situation you thought was best for you over the last couple years um honestly the atlantic league was uh that was definitely one of the most challenging leagues i had been in um not just the competition but uh you know just just the whole the whole environment of it i mean there were a lot of ex-major league guys and uh a lot of really good talent in that league um and you know that was just getting consistent bats and that's one thing that i'm kind of blessed of when i'm being here and playing for these guys here is that uh you know i was able to you know have the opportunity to go out and play first base every day and get consistent at bats and uh you know it's just been a joy to me uh to be given that opportunity so you had a very brief experience in the frontier league prior to this year playing last year for rock and give three games in gateway is that right yeah yeah it's uh it's funny you know sometimes i'll go through a rough three game period and this last year you'll see of them you've gone through some three game periods this year and obviously it hasn't affected your stats overall which are very good uh but what happened when you got the call from ron diga this year how did you end up with windy city and uh first of all were you aware of the organization and secondly what were your memories of your brief experience in the frontier league um well it's kind of funny thing like when i was the whole situation that happened when i was here uh last year for a brief moment was the the team i was with in the atlantic league had traded me to rockford and as i'm driving out um there were these atlantic teams were calling me to come back and play at my at my stage it was you know it was kind of kind of dumb of me to uh you know i had a mindset that i wanted to go back and i kind of wanted to prove myself and show that i could play in the atlantic league again that was ultimately the reason that i had ended up back there but um this year um when i got here it was actually it was actually kind of funny my dad was through that whole process was the one that was helping me out um with uh you know finding the right team and just from looking at when uh at that point in the season you guys were the team itself um was always in one run games and you had great pitching it just seemed like you know it was like a perfect fit you need that one bat and uh you know i actually ended up contacting ron himself actually through email and he's like heck yeah we'll bring you on and you know ever since that everything kind of worked out and you know it's been nothing but positive since i've been here it's been a great experience do you do age out of the frontier league after this season so let's look ahead for you going forward to next year or even a few years into the future what comes after this for you um this offseason i'm still uh hopefully gonna be given an opportunity to play next year um i think in the in the further future um ideally i want to i want to try to be a professional hitting coach um you know i love hitting i love being around the game especially at the professional level um but right now i mean after having a year like this year just being able to play every day and succeeding everything it kind of gives me that confidence um that you know i still like playing the game of baseball like it's not it's something i still want i still feel like i can compete and have fun playing so i'm gonna try to i'm gonna try to play um for the next couple years and then kind of see what happens from that but uh you know like i said eventually um right now every the past every offseason since i've been 18 since i've been in professional baseball i give baseball lessons at my dad's uh my dad has a baseball academy in lancaster back home um and that's what i do i teach younger kids i give them you know pitching fielding hitting lessons all that stuff so i'm around the game whether i'm playing it or during the offseason so that's that's my plan my goal hopefully uh you know latch on to another team next year and play you know play as long as uh you know i can have that jersey on my back and then uh you know once that's up hopefully move on to you know being a hitting coach or you know wherever the future may lead well i'll keep you here for just a couple of more minutes we'll move away from baseball for a moment let anybody listening get to know austin gallagher the man a little bit better so some of your favorite things to do outside the game of baseball what are your hobbies what do you like to do on an off day uh i love fishing uh that's probably my biggest passion i like i enjoy fishing and fly fishing in particular i kind of got myself into that the past two years um uh anything outside really um on an off day yeah actually i've been over to to ron's place quite a few times we went fast fishing at uh at his lake and stuff like that but uh you know i uh i like to play basketball i always go to the gym and pull around before i lift weights playing playing some hoops uh i have season tickets with the philadelphia eagles like i had said earlier so tailgating and you know going to nfl games that's always you know one of my biggest my biggest hobbies i'd say if i'd say if there's any sport in particular i like watching it's nfl football i really enjoy that and i keep up to date with that um you know other than that not a whole not not too too much um this past year it's kind of funny my hobbies i i kind of i like i like trying a lot of new things um this past year i picked up yoga so i started doing yoga the past the past year um you know boating anything out on the water like i just i love the outdoors camping uh you know my dog doing stuff with my dog but uh yeah anything outdoors as long as it's uh not 20 degrees out all right i'll let you go on this one then you've been talking about your love of the philadelphia eagles how do you feel about what you're doing with the team honestly it's every year has been something new and exciting and uh you know with all the moves and everything that he's made he's been initially criticized by getting rid of all his talent and everything supposedly but it turns out that the next year every move that he's made has been a good move and a better move for the organization of the team so this year i'm really excited especially after graftford was 10 for 10 i mean that was a good note so there's a lot of question marks a lot of people like that but i mean he seemed to be making the right moves and you know hopefully uh hopefully it'll be a good successful year well austin gallagher i'll let you go but i really do appreciate you spending this time with me so good luck to you the rest of the way of course to the team as well all all right thank you very much