Corey Bass was selected in the 20th round of the 2013 Major League draft by the Philadelphia Phillies out of North Florida University. He began his independent baseball career in 2015 and then this season joined the Windy City Thunderbolts as the starting catcher and I'm pleased to be joined in the press box right now by Corey Lamar Bass. Welcome, thanks for being here. Alright, thanks for having me.
Corey, you're in your first season with the Thunderbolts but like I said it's your second season of independent baseball. So you've kind of had the experience of affiliated ball, you've had some independent experience in the American Association and now in the Frontier League. How's this year treating you so far? Pretty well, pretty well.
Everybody seems to be on the same page and getting treated really well around the complex, buyer, manager, pitching coach and basically everybody in the town. Alright, we're going to go back to the beginning for you as I almost always do in these interviews. I like to get to the heart of guys. You've been playing baseball obviously for a long time, you wouldn't have made it as a professional if you hadn't but if you can go back to the early days of Corey Bass, how did the baseball become a part of your life?
Pretty sure I was forced to be a baseball player. My dad played baseball growing up and basically ever since I could hold anything I had a bat in my hand and a ball in the other and read me to be a baseball player. I played multiple sports growing up but I really took the baseball and my dad said I'd be the one dragging him to the field so kind of just stuck. Is that what ended up happening?
Did you grow a lot of the passion for the game as you were growing up? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Really that was the only reason to go to school was to get down with the day and go to the field and that was basically the only incentive I needed growing up. Alright, I'm going to give my public service announcement.
Any kids who might be listening go to school for other reasons than baseball as well. But if you're as good at baseball as Corey Bass is then maybe I'll work out for you. You did end up getting drafted in 2013. We'll get to that a little bit later but we'll stick with your youth for right now.
You said you played some other sports. What else did you dabble in aside from baseball? I played some football growing up. Mom put us in swimming.
It was actually pretty good at that but I definitely prefer to be out of the water. Let's see, play a little basketball but obviously a little height disadvantage and that's pretty much it. You seem to either be giving your parents a lot of credit or blaming them a lot for the person who do these things. Your dad made you do baseball, your mom made you do swimming.
But you developed a sense of at least liking these sports in the end anyway. When you were growing up you said you been doing baseball pretty much for as long as you can remember. Is that something that you think the constant playing baseball while you were younger turns you into a better player? Do you think that the fact that you obviously had a talent for the sport is what grew your love for it a little bit more?
I think that has a lot to do with it. I was always raised to give everything I have into anything I did and wasn't allowed to give up. Definitely not allowed to quit. Once I found a knack in baseball I just I was one of the professional baseball player playing in the major leagues.
Same story as a lot of kids and I was fortunate enough to grow up with a good household and a very supportive household and really pursued my dream that way. Once I got to high school that's all I could think about. Obviously first goal was to get to college and once I achieved that and looked for higher ceilings. So on.
You grew up in Orlando, Florida. Were you a baseball fan growing up with any particular team? I'm trying to think how old you would have been when the Marlins and Devil Race first century league. I guess the Marlins have probably been around for as long as you can remember in the Devil Race.
Was there any team specifically that you rooted for growing up? I was bred to be a Cubs fan actually. My grandfather would babysit me and all I remember is my first baseball game on TV was a Cubs game in his living room and remember him rooting for a Rammus and Sammy and all those guys and I was kind of I had no choice but to be a Cubs fan and not that they would choose anything else but a little bit of a race fan growing up too but that's about it. It seems like nobody would ever make the choice of being a Cubs fan because that's something you have to be forced into but it's serendipity that you ended up in Chicago now.
That's right. So you were a Cubs fan growing up. I guess you were growing up and I find it funny to think about this because I'd make a lot of jokes being from Chicago about how bad the Cubs have been through the years but for somebody growing up in the late 90s early 2000s you actually got a chance to see a lot of pretty good Cubs teams. They made the playoffs in 98.03 and then a few times again later in the decade so it's actually a pretty good team that you grew up rooting for.
Oh yeah that O3 team really really broke my heart and you and me both. It was good though. I got to see it every day. Get home from school and WGN was on and that's all I would do is watch that game and just reinforce that better taste in my mouth when we lose every game and lose every year but for whatever reason couldn't shake it.
University high school in Orlando is that correct? That's correct. And did you play any sports other than baseball when you were in high school? In high school I did not.
All my best friends played football which I regret not playing now. It's kind of forced into the baseball field. It seems like you never have a choice in anything. Everything you're looking for.
That's right. And then a bunch of my friends also did weightlifting and the weightlifting coach actually wanted me to do that. He wanted me to skip the weightlifting practices, go to the meets and then go to my baseball practices and couldn't do that. So strictly baseball in high school but middle school doubled in a little bit of track and volleyball but I was managed baseball.
Yeah you were a Renaissance man growing up and then right up back you up a little bit. Is weightlifting a competitive sport? It is. I didn't realize I've seen it in the Olympics but I guess in my mind there's just like five people in the world who are really good at it and nobody else even knows.
And that's about it. Yeah so. I didn't mind in my high school we didn't have weightlifting competition. That's interesting.
Are there guys in your high school that you remember who were really good weightlifters? Oh yeah. Majority of them also played football and that's what they did in their offseason. We actually had a pretty good team.
Pretty good district of teams for weightlifting. Good part of Central Florida for all of that. And so yeah. And the weightlifting coach wanted to do for the team but he wanted to do the meets and not the practice.
Correct. He was my weightlifting coach. We actually had a weightlifting class and I was in there just kind of goofing around getting a free credit and started to become good at it. And he kind of wanted me to be real bad but I just couldn't give in.
Are you that naturally strong that he felt that even without going to practice you would be a good contributor to me? Oh yeah. I didn't realize. I didn't realize.
I didn't realize. I didn't realize. I didn't realize. I didn't realize.
I didn't realize. I didn't realize. I didn't know you were quite that strong. Kind of sneaky.
Yeah. I've seen it hit some home runs. So obviously you got the strain. Yeah.
Good in the weight room as well. So you were in high school. You're a very good catcher now. Were you a catcher all the way through?
I started. I was a source up grown up. And I started a little after I turned 13. 13-14 is when I really became a catcher.
And ever since then I haven't really played anything else. Got a couple of innings in left field in college but that's about it. Did you want to be a catcher or was that something you were fortunate in to? I actually my dad was coaching at the time and something happened where a catcher got hurt and I said hey can I do it?
And he said yeah okay whatever. And I actually kind of grew into that and I can't imagine myself playing any other position now. I get bored anywhere else. Yeah the catcher it seems involved so much in every aspect of the game.
What's the transition like for you? You started catching around the age of 13. Obviously at that time there's not as much to do as a catcher as there would be by the time you get to high school college and of course as a professional you're calling the games you're working with the pitchers. How do you grow into that sort of thing?
Baby steps. Primary word of catcher is catching the ball right and that's what I had to do first. And it took me a little bit. A good hand eye growing up but there's certain technique to it.
And I was fortunate to have a good catching coach. He actually coached for UCF and coached my travel team and kind of bred me to be a catcher under his wing. His name is Rich Wallace and he's actually up in Nebraska coaching now. And kind of just taught me the baby steps.
What I would teach an eight year old or anybody younger than that. And obviously once I got the handle on those little techniques and kind of stepped it up a notch. I always had a good arm so that came into play a little bit and that was that. I asked your opinion on this and maybe you have no idea but for some reason it's been on my mind a lot lately and so I'll see if you've got any answer to it as long as we're talking about catching.
Why are there no left hand of catchers? Just because it's just dumb. That's just good a reason as far as I can tell. It would make the pool bigger right?
And as long as it's restricted to right it gives the catcher the 5-9 right. Yeah right. But Larry Balka is the other catcher on the team. He's listed on the roster at 6-4.
You're kind of the more traditional size of the catcher. And do you feel like there's any advantage to that? Yes and no. I'm a little lower to the ground and I think my body's not as taxed as Larry's would.
He's got a lot more a lot longer way to go to squat down and a little more weight on me. So eventually I think that's going to take a toll on the bigger guys. But I don't think it's too much of an advantage for me because I mean there's guys in the big leagues that are 6-4 behind the plate and just as good as anybody else. But definitely an advantage that you're a righty.
Correct. I just wanted to make sure about that. You went to college at North Florida? Take us through that whole process.
Why North Florida? What else were you looking at when you were in high school? Sophomore year of high school I actually we were talking previously about my catching coach on that travel team. He was actually a coach at UCF and he bred me to be the catcher at UCF.
Sophomore year I committed him in the back. Not quite. They offered me a scholarship at UCF out of my sophomore year and I I've verbled. Didn't sign any paperwork so I was committed there.
And right before my senior year of high school the coaching staff was fired and new coach came in didn't take a liking to me. He said all right well you haven't signed anything we'll see you later. And kind of had to start the whole recruiting process over again. So there's a little bit of a panic mode going in right there because most schools had their guys already.
And shortly after that happened a few schools called the coaching staff from UCF went up to High Point University in North Carolina. They called me. Wanted me to go up there. Elon University in North Carolina and then North Florida.
And money had a lot to do with it because of the out-of-state tuition and the private schools up north. And I would be able to use my bright futures for Florida State and Florida and your little cheaper. Most of the school is paid for. And to be a little selfish my family got to come watch.
So it seemed like the right fit and looking back I wouldn't change it for anything. That had to have been very interesting to be committed to a college essentially since you're 15 years old. And suddenly everything opens up for you. And I'm sure you were very happy with the decision to go to Central Florida the time that that was your choice.
But there had to have been something exhilarating about it too to suddenly think okay now I get to actually make a choice for myself and really open things up as opposed to being locked into a decision I made when I was 15. Oh honestly UCF was the school I wanted to go to. It was 10 minutes away from my house. Both my parents graduated from there.
Went there, watched baseball games growing up and I was so narrow minded I didn't think of anything else. And there was no real excitement from me. Not or no real excitement getting that scholarship taken away. No that wasn't exciting.
But definitely kind of cool seeing the other schools called for you and showing interest in. I'd never even heard it in Florida honestly until they called. So in their only two hours away. Well you've ended up going to North Florida you spent four years there so obviously you must have found some advantages to it once you were there.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah right on the beach. Oh it was nice. I'm not all that familiar with Florida is the northern part of the state.
Weather wise is it pretty nice there. Oh it's a little cooler during the fall and the winter but for the most part it's Florida. It's hot and humid. So this hot humid Chicago summer hasn't.
Oh I'm right at home right now. Oh yeah. You spent four years at North Florida you put up some good numbers there and you played in 26 games as a freshman I got your stats here. 2.59 that year 3.33 on base percentage 2 homers 12 RBIs and your bats your games played increased every year so obviously the coaches took a liking to and you kind of moved up as the the years went on.
But at North Florida what was that like for you. For a guy who was pretty much set on going to a different school for all that time were you able to fit in there pretty quickly did you think? I did. I came into the school committed to one of the legendary coaches of college he's been around forever.
His name is Dusty Rhodes. He coached a few major leaguers and started at Palm Beach State, Jucco and then came to North Florida and basically started that program since that school opened up and I was real excited he was real old school come in freshman year and I remember this specifically when we went on our visit my dad asked him because there were rumors that he was going to retire my dad asked him hey you're gonna be around you're gonna retire anytime soon. No no no I'm here the whole year or all four years halfway through the year. Hey guys it's gonna be my last year and so that happened and we had a new regime come in and smoke with all kind of big time coach came from LSU wanted championship there and came in and it was a little little shell shocking with the whole change of pace he's a little more laid back and definitely knows his stuff and looking back I didn't really appreciate it as much as I do now and like you said earlier I fit in I worked hard for both regimes and had to work a little harder than most people especially with the bat because growing up I wasn't good at all the numbers say otherwise but if you want to see me in the box I was in my own head I was my own worst enemy completely different than how I am now and I was praying that somebody hit my bat back then so yeah I read an article in the Daily Southtown earlier this year I think what was I was a terrible hit for the first 25 years of my life that's right and I read that I read that article at the time I came on I thought any 25 right now your whole life he did put up good numbers in college three 23 hit your sophomore year is a senior hit 297 six homers 31 RBI so obviously you're doing something right I was strong and we had metal that we've established but as an actual hitter I I wasn't even close to being ready for professional baseball and catching and throwing is what actually got me drafted and it was a rough ride rough ride at the stick so I'm looking up north Florida right now there is one graduates of University of North Florida or one former north Florida player you didn't actually graduate from there who is currently in the major leagues can you name him currently in the major leagues North Florida same as Chase Anderson Chase Anderson a little bit before you came he actually ended up transferring to Oklahoma so I got better off asking Jake Fisher about that one yeah there you go currently with the Milwaukee Brewers the North Florida a good baseball school you were talking about the coaching you see like nothing ever quite has worked out you lose your scholarship at Central Florida North Florida the coach who recruited you has gone halfway through your freshman year or announced halfway through freshman year at least but I just went through some of your numbers things worked out for you in a lot of ways there you were drafted in the 20th round by the Phillies were you expecting to get drafted?
I was expecting to get drafted just not by the Phillies I actually thought I was going to be a text ranger and they called and said hey we're going to get you in this next round end up falling through and then the Cardinals called and said hey we're going to get you in this next round and we're going to fall through and that was a that was kind of a stressful couple of days and as a result my parents stressed way more than I did so they took us to the gun range the family took us or took the family to the gun range and we just started firing off rounds and all of a sudden my phone started going off and said hey you're drafted and so we started hugging in the gun range everybody's looking at us like oh this guy's really getting ready to kill everybody in here and the Phillies actually barely even talked to me so this kind of a surprise but it was pleasant surprise that's for sure yeah it's always interesting hearing different guys draft stories because you hear a lot of them like that guys just they hear one thing and that they're expecting to get picked up in one place and it doesn't quite work out that way you ended up playing with the Phillies and you were with the Phillies with a couple of guys who are with the Thunderbolts roster this year since you're a Dan Child you played fan Amarillo with Clay Chapman who's on the Thunderbolts now he's you came to the Thunderbolts with a lot of guys we've seen before and we'll talk a little bit more about coming to the Thunderbolts later but you were with the Phillies what was that experience like for you when you first started playing affiliate ball oh it was nice I really wanted to be a professional my whole life and being around all of those guys especially the former big leaguers the Hall of Famers and seeing how they went about their business and the current guys that were grinding out with me it was real it was a nice change of pace I mean the college game is awesome you know there's a lot of camaraderie and you know you're trying to win a championship and and all that but professional baseball is just I hands down appreciate it so much more because you have to be your own coach yeah they have the coaches there but you have to get yourself up every day you have to work out every day you have to get your body right eat right and do all these little things that you take for granted in school because you're in school and you have to go to class and you know that's hard enough as it is to get up for class but once it becomes your job you take on a whole other level of responsibility and I really took a liking to that and ever since then I definitely see myself in baseball for the rest of my life professional baseball that is after you were drafted you went to Williamsport playing in the New York Pen League what was that like going to Pennsylvania after you'd spent your life in Florida big weather change the community was gone that was nice but Williamsport was a cool little town especially seeing the little guys come about halfway through the season playing the little league world series there which hands down nicest field I've ever seen in my life other than a major league stadium those kids are real blessed to play on those fields but it was cool there's a lot of history in that league getting ready the best thing about professional baseball is that you get to see all these other other states and fields that like I said former big leakers came through all the famers came through and a lot of history there and it's really humbled you you were released by the Phillies after the 2014 season as we've established you've been kind of put in that position before where suddenly you're back on your own you're trying to figure out a way to stay in the game what was not maybe not your first thought after getting released I can imagine that was an unpleasant one but immediately after that you've got to start thinking all right what comes next what was your first line of thinking there honestly my first thought when I got released was awesome because I wasn't really playing at the time and I wanted to get released and head somewhere new right away and just really kickstart my career and get more at bats and all that but as soon as I came home you got to fly home the next day came home sat in my room for about an hour and then I got a phone call from the manager from Amarillo hey we want you to come play for us you know one of your friends Casey Serna played for Amarillo a year before that and put in a good word for me and I said okay let's go let's get the paper we're going and told my parents right then and like wait you just got home and okay so what are you gonna do you're gonna drive there you're gonna fly there and like oh I'm driving started getting my plans ready and went from there so I wanted to play as soon as possible so you went over to Amarillo was was that you're well I'm interested in how familiar you were with the independent baseball system at that point when you got released by the Phillies I imagine your first hope was that you get picked up by another major league organization but you got the call from Amarillo and is that something you really jumped on then knowing that you wanted to play independent baseball the reason I jumped on Amarillo is because they were number one the first call that I got but two they're in the association and I knew a lot of older guys that came from the association the guys I played with and said good things about it talent wise competition wise and I knew it was a good league and as soon as I got the call I was like okay perfect this is gonna work out real nice you know I'm gonna get a lot of the bats affiliate teams are gonna come calling and and so on and as long as I kept working hard you know I was hoping things would work out so after the 2015 season you were traded over to the Windy City Thunderbolts how did you get that news well the Amarillo team folded and the manager was going to Lincoln and he asked me hey I'm leaving do you want to stay in Amarillo said no field wasn't the best it was actually one of the worst field I've ever played on in my life and I knew a lot of my friends weren't coming back as well so I said okay well I've got this team interested in in the Frontier League one of my good friends Ron Biga said he needs a catcher what do you think I said okay yeah give him give him my number and we'll see what happens from there so Biga called me and kind of squared things away and came on over you've come to the Frontier League and I mentioned before a lot of guys here who you have played with in some capacity before either in Amarillo or in the Phillies organization did you know some of these guys were gonna be over here when you joined the team no I had no idea um uh Biga called me actually a couple days after the season ended 2015 and I signed right away and kind of didn't look into it after that and a couple weeks before spring training came around I get a couple of texts and hey we're gonna be playing together like really okay sweet so um I mean that made me more excited to come up here and try new things and like we said just earlier the Cubs are here so made my decision a little easier have you been able to make it out to really feel that oh yeah yeah it's oh man it's a mecca I love it that you've been to really feel before this summer never really yeah that's a pretty cool experience it is it is so one day I can definitely play with those guys yeah you've got numbers in the Frontier League you've caught more than 50 percent of base Steelers this year your numbers this year have been incredible compared to what you've done in the past you set your new career high in RBI's by the end of June you've already quadrupled your career home run total coming into this year so as you look at those numbers I mean what's been the big boost to you this summer this offseason was the biggest change for me both physically mentally and just overall baseball savvy hooked up with a guy named Danny Garcia who actually played in the big leagues with the Mets back in 2003 I think came up when he was 23 years old played second base only played a year due to injury and whatnot and played a little indie ball after that but he really taught me how to use my legs we talked about me being strong in college and I got tired of being the strongest guy on the field and not having the most pop on the field I mean I would hit little singles through the right side and I got tired of that and that's one of the reasons I got released by the Phillies because I just couldn't put up offensive numbers and he really taught me how to use my legs correctly and I mean the strongest part of my body especially since I squat every day multiple times a day you know and taught me how to use them right and then taught me how to use my hands a little better and my mental approach at the plate changed a whole bunch simplified and he told me to get stubborn with it and do that 400 times a year and don't give in one time and that's made a big difference what's your goal for beyond this year obviously I'm sure you would like to get picked up by an affiliated team and I mean we all around here hope that happens for you as well but thanks if it doesn't what comes next uh grind I need another huge off season yeah my numbers are really good right now and I'm very very satisfied with them but at the same time I want more um I mean I want to hit at least seven more home runs before the end of the season and I want to lead the league in doubles we're just gonna be tough with Carter Bell over there and just doubles King um and Juliet but I want to just keep pressing the envelope and see how much more I've got in the tank and really get as strong as I can use my body in the most efficient way possible um getting a little older so I got to train a little different but at the same time I feel great I mean the best shape of my life baseball wise um so hopefully do that and um ideally get an invite to spring training somewhere and if not maybe try to find another team um where I can get more eyes on me I'm not really sure where the future's gonna um take me but I know uh just need to prepare as well as I can and like I said see where it goes from there let's look long term you said earlier that you'd like to spend the rest of your life in professional baseball after your playing career is over are you looking to get into coaching or you're trying to stay involved in other ways absolutely I want to be a major league manager one day and uh so I want to be in the big leagues one way or another no all right before I let you go how's the season gonna end for the Cubs there's just a need to be the Cubs oh come on world series let's go okay all right just wanted to hear it from you yeah Corey Bass thanks a lot for spending some time with me I certainly appreciate you gave us some great stuff today I got it I wish you the best for the rest of this year of course the rest of your future as well and the best for the team I appreciate it thank you