ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Welcome to the first edition of Inside Lobo Baseball, an interview series with players from the team. There will be no topic too big or too small as we take you behind the scenes in order to get to know the players a little bit better. Up first is 5-foot-8 infielder Jared Holley, who was voted one of four 2015 captains by his teammates.
Jared Holley: First off, let me say that I think I’m the shortest captain in Lobo history.
GoLobos.com: You really think so?
JH: (Laughs) Yes, I do.
GL: You’re from California. What first drew your attention to UNM?
JH: Ryan Barba was the volunteer assistant in 2012, and he got me out here. He went to Chatsworth High School where me and Chris DeVito went. He got me out here and then I got Chris out here. When I went back for winter my freshman year, you know you always go back to your high school, I talked to Chris about this place.
GL: So Barba, you, DeVito. It’s a Chatsworth pipeline. Who’s next?
JH: (Laughs) I don’t know. That’s on Chris I think.
GL: Your teammates and Coach Birmingham voted you a team captain this year. What does that mean to you?
JH: It’s a huge honor. I was talking to Coach B about it, and he said unanimously that I was one of the guys they wanted. Over the winter I took it upon myself to regulate the guys on and off the field. I look out there and I see (former Lobo catcher) Mitch Garver (who’s taking batting practice on the field), and that’s who I looked up to when I first started playing. That’s who I want to be like. I want to follow in his footsteps. You look at him now and he’s the best hitter in the Twins organization. I was hitting with him in the cage yesterday and we had a good talk.
GL: What’d you talk about?
JH: Just about what he does hitting-wise and what made him better. He was telling me that being in the minors he has learned a lot about catching. He hasn’t learned too much about hitting because he had Coach B here. I have Coach B here now so maybe one day I’ll be the best hitter in the Twins organization just like him. (Laughs)
GL: So you want to pay it forward and help the younger guys like he helped you?
JH: Yeah. Now I’m looking at Al (former Lobo Alex Allbritton) out there hitting, and he was the person I played infield with and probably spent most of my time with as a freshman. I took probably even more from him than Garver. But talking defense and doing things the right way, Al and Garver were always there for me and kind of led me to where I am now. I remember when I got nominated for that shortstop award (the Brooks Wallace Award), looking back I wouldn’t have got that if it wasn’t for Al.
GL: During your time here you’ve had the occasional bad luck with injuries —
JH: (Laughs) Oh man, no more this year. I think this fall was the first time I played the entire fall. I think that’s going to carry over. I rehabbed my legs over the summer so I’m feeling good.
GL: Now how are you going to avoid getting hit by more pitches?
JH: You know, last year I came down. I think I had 15 my freshman year and then last year it was eight maybe?
GL: That sounds about right. You’re tied for ninth in program history.
JH: Ninth all-time? Well I got two more years to get there. I might as well go for it. I just need to not get hit in the head again though.
GL: So what can fans expect to see when they come out and watch you and the team this year?
JH: We’re probably one of the most exciting teams I’ve ever been on. If somebody hits a double we’re going to be in the dugout getting rowdy. And he’s going to be on second base doing some kind of gesture over at us, and we’re doing a gesture right back at him. We’re a really good group of kids. We work really hard. We’re here working out every day.
GL: So tell us about yourself off the field. What do you do for fun?
JH: Well I live with Drew Bridges, and we make hilarious Vines. You need to follow Drew and Jared on the Vine app. We make some of the best Vines in history. We’re not famous yet, but we’re getting there. They’re only like six seconds long, but it shows kind of what we’re like when we’re just hanging out. They’re basically all about me. They’re hilarious.
Drew Bridges: I think everybody knows that the two of us are clowns off the field, and a little bit on the field. We like to have fun. This year we got together, Vine came out, and we were like, “Okay. We’re Lobo baseball players, but we’re also going to become Vine famous.” We might’ve started a little late, but we’re trying hard, and even though we only have like 40 followers, the goal is still there.
GL: So are these Vines usually spur of the moment or do you spend time thinking about what you want to do in them?
DB: Most of it is we just do something then we realize, “Oh we gotta do that again.” We’ll do something to each other, then we have to try and repeat that. So let’s get a six-second video, send it out and see what the crowd thinks. Then a lot of times we think of stuff and then totally forget about it. (Laughs) So we probably could become Vine famous if we could remember everything, but we’re content with what we are right now.
GoLobos note: For an example of Drew and Jared, check out the Vine below as poor Andrew McWilliam accidentally got in the way of one of their Vines last season.