Thursday April 5th, 2012

Haley Smilow (Guest Writer): You might say Eric Young Jr. has baseball in his blood. Growing up he became acquainted with the game early by watching his father, Eric Young Sr., play for the Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, and Cubs, among other teams. Eric Young Jr. (or EY2., as he is known) was a multi-sport athlete in high school, but ultimately decided to pursue baseball. He played one year of college ball at Chandler Gilbert Community College before following in his father’s footsteps and being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 30^th round of the 2003 draft. EY2 steadily worked his way through the minor leagues, posting solid batting averages at every level and catching the eyes of the Rockies’ front office, which resulted in his major league debut in 2009. In 158 career major league games EY2 has posted a line of .246/.324/.295 and spent time playing second base and patrolling the outfield. This year the 26-year old will again look to provide the Rockies with production off the bench.

Reporter Haley Smilow recently had a chance to chat with Eric Young Jr., and discovered his favorite foods, his go-to songs on his iPod, and what it means to him to share so many baseball memories with his father.

At what age did you start playing baseball? And did you eventually end up playing in a travel league?

I started playing at age 7. I played travel league (summer) from ages 9-12.

Who was your favorite team growing up?  And other than your father, who were some of the players that you looked up to as a kid?

Favorite team growing up was whichever team my dad was on. I was a big Ken Griffey Jr fan growing up. Read the rest of this entry →