Mother of Magic

World Series

Vanessa: I am here with Stephanie Santiago. Stephanie, as always, thank you for coming by, I am sure you are just as disappointed as everyone that the team lost the World Series in the sixth game, but I hope you understand that three years ago Colorado was a strictly mid-tier team, when it came to the stats and the win/loss record. Last year we made the playoffs, and this year we made the World Series. That's amazing and you get a lot of credit for that.

Stephanie: Well, I do and I don't Vanessa. It was not me being magical out there. There are nine people on that field at any given time, and more in the dugout waiting their turn to contribute. It is not just me.

Vanessa: But you are a bit magical, Stephanie. Come on. You make a huge point of the fact you will only play here. You are a team leader. You are not just the best pitcher is baseball right now, but you work hard with the rest of the pitching staff to up their game. Over the course of this last year, the team average ERA dropped two full points! People complain because the scores have gotten lower and lower because the pitching has gotten better and better! That's at least partly you.

Stephanie: You say that, but I think it discounts that we have a great pitching coach. Leo works just as hard with the team as anyone, and my favorite thing about him is he takes ideas and inputs. He does not think he has all the answers. He works hard with each pitcher to make sure that they are reaching their best selves, but within their own physics and geometries. He doesn't tell Nate 'Hey: DOn't pitch sidearm because that's weird. He embraces it and works it, and makes it better, And the teams we play hate it because they never see a sidearm pitcher in the majors.

Vanessa: And you act like you had nothing to do with bringing in Le Garten.

Stephanie: (Laughs) No. I did that, but again. Le is special because he is Le. He was the one that got interested in all the things he could while he was sick. I know Pat let the cat out of the bag on that, but Le talks about it. Hell: He goes around talking to other kids with cancer about it. Keeping your mind active and in the game. A positive attitude combined with modern medicine counts for a lot. That's the magic of getting better. Right? Attitude. And Le has it. While he was recovering, he was here, watching the games. Mapping it. Taking video inputs. He developed the programs we use for Pitching and Batting mechanics. Le is all about keeping your mind in the game. It's the same thing as recovering from an illness where it's technical, medicine, and attitude. Mindfulness. Thats how we went from mid-tier to here. We took natural talent and found ways to focus the mind too. Savant talents and focus equal world series in two seasons. Le is so good at teaching and communicating what his programs tell him he got the assistant coach position mid-season. That is awesome and well deserved. He talks about that with the kids too. He is not a kid anymore, or course, but he is still young enough and went through what they are going through recently enough they can hear him.

Vanessa: It is making a real difference. I was reading how much the recovery rate has improved at the hospitals you have visited, You bring positive states wherever you two go.

Stephanie: Le feels about it the way I do. He wants to give back. He hated charity and such. He understood it was required. Now though? He makes money and he spends his off time giving back. To the kids that need it the most. Those increases in stats you mentioned? They have a lot to do with Le proving it. Walking the road they need to walk. He can talk about how hard it was. The pain of the chemo and losing all his hair, and he can show them himself now. Recovered. He can talk about the science and the magic of attitude, and they can see it. They get better because they feel it. Its not a lie. It's not crappy bedside manner from a Doctor that may be great at medical science but lousy at talking to families or kids. I got into this because of how Cancer affected me. Losing my Dad. Le lost both his parents. He can speak to all of it, and that makes a huge difference. You see it in the numbers.

Vanessa: That is really awesome stuff. I need to get Le back on the show some time to talk about that.

Stephanie: I know Le would be glad to talk to you about it.

Vanessa: Speaking of numbers, and since this is a baseball show: Your batting at the end of the season was 550. Not only the best pitcher but the best hitter. I don't think there has been your equal since Babe Ruth.

Stephanie: Well, I cannot say I mind being compared to the Babe of course, but we are different. Pitchers these days are treated with kid gloves. You can't risk injury, so I had to write into my contract that they had to play me at both positions. I won't be pigeonholed.

Vanessa: Well, speaking of that, have you signed for next year yet? That is what keeps the state on edge these days: Has Stephanie re-signed up?

Stephanie: I haven't. I am sure we'll come to terms though. They just hate not locking me in, and the funny part is I am locking them in. This is my team, and this is the only place I will play. Nothing against LA or Saint Louis or Toronto or wherever, but this is my home. I won't play anywhere else, and I don't have to. I have enough money now that I could retire.

Vanessa: Making the World Series kicked in a whole new bonus structure for you, as I understand it.

Stephanie: Yes, and that means two things. My cancer ward in Fort Collins is getting more money, and my home I am building near there can continue being built. If I wanted to, I could retire on how I invested my money. And that is why I will not sign back up unless they meet me where I want to be met. No trades. Base pay. Bonuses for performance. And no taking me out of the game. I'll pitch and I'll bat. But Vanessa? I want to play. This is my state and my team and I have a responsibility to the fans and the kids that benefit from me playing. Because of the way my pay is structured. I don't actually cost the team that much money. I will sit out a season if they make me though.

Vanessa: If you sat out a season, the fans would riot. It would not just be your team like it is now, they would riot until they just handed over the team to you.

Stephanie: I invested in team ownership, and I will again, so I am a part over. Not much. Not yet. I will not let this team be traded out for parts by bad financial decisions. In a few years, I'll be on the board. My decisions will always favor the people of this state.