The Morning Formation Podcast
Hosted by KP Phillips—a U.S. Army combat veteran, former law enforcement officer, and seasoned instructor in tactics, firearms, and combatives—The Formation Podcast is built on the core pillars of Survivability, Situational Awareness, and the mindset to Adapt & Overcome.
Drawing from over two decades of real-world experience in combat zones and high-risk environments, KP leads authentic conversations with warriors, protectors, and everyday individuals who’ve faced adversity head-on. This podcast is more than content—it's a movement for those who understand that the fight begins before the event.
Through storytelling, lived experience, and expert insight, The Formation Podcast equips its listeners with the mindset, tools, and awareness to remain vigilant and prepared—whether on the battlefield, in the streets, or in everyday life.
The Morning Formation Podcast
Pitching Through Pain: A West Point Athlete's Journey to Pro Baseball
Tanner Gresham, former Army West Point pitcher now in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system, shares his remarkable journey of resilience and determination through baseball, military service, and recovery from Tommy John surgery.
• Son of a minor league baseball player who reached AAA level and briefly made the majors
• Chose West Point for its prestigious education and post-graduation opportunities
• Balanced the intense demands of being a cadet athlete with rigorous academics and military obligations
• Underwent Tommy John surgery that gave him "two UCLs" in his pitching arm
• Completed an accelerated 11-month recovery instead of the typical 14-18 months
• Posted a 2.70 ERA with the Trenton Thunder in the MLB Draft League
• Applied for the World-Class Athlete Program to continue professional baseball while serving in the military
• Working toward potential selection for Team USA Baseball at the 2028 Olympics
• Credits surrounding himself with like-minded people as key to his success
• Lives by the philosophy that the only two things you control are effort and attitude
Follow Tanner on IG: @Jommy.tohn and @tgresh
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Episode Powered By Act Now Education
Warriors fall in. It's time for formation Folks out there. I have a special guest on today. Today I have the pleasure of interviewing someone whose journey truly exemplifies the concept of adapt and overcome. Our guest today is Tanner Gresham, a former Army West Point pitcher who's now chasing his professional baseball dreams within the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system. Tanner's story is one of resilience, dedication and overcoming setbacks.
Speaker 1:A lot of these athletes that go through the Academy not just deal with the day to day grueling activities of being in a military Academy, but then they are also training every day, making huge, huge sacrifices when it comes to just their young adult life and what they're accomplishing at the end of it all. Because graduating from West Point is a very prestigious action. It demands excellence, not only academically and athletically, but also through military discipline. Furthermore, our guest today is recovering from, or has recovered from, Tommy John surgery. Our guest today is recovering from, or has recovered from, Tommy John surgery, a journey of physical and mental strength coming from a high level of discipline and just can-do attitude. So today I'm very, very blessed and honored to have you on the Morning Formation, Tanner.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining us today. Absolutely Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited. So let's just get started, man, and talk about where it all started for you. I understand that your father played in the minors and he reached AAA. How did his experience and his overall I guess approach to how he raised you shape your passion and your approach to the game of baseball?
Speaker 2:Yeah, my dad is a huge, huge impact on my life. You know, he played for nine years in the minor league system. He reached he reached the major league level, for I believe what he told me was three days with the Orioles and then he got sent right back down. But I think my childhood with my dad was probably like anyone you'd see out of a movie where you know the dad was a star athlete and coaching their kids the right way. And I still think he, to this day he calls me to, you know, ask me questions about what I've been doing, how I'm working out and things like that.
Speaker 2:But from a young age, baseball was the number one priority for him and myself and you know he never forced it on me, he didn't try to, you know, spoon feed me everything that he knew.
Speaker 2:But he gave me the opportunities to pursue baseball, and in the way that I wanted to. And so, um, again, from a young age, he coached me all the way up until I was about 14. Um, and it was long nights, long car trips with just him and I, um, you know, driving down to wherever you know United States of America to play the weekend tournaments and week-long tournaments during the summer, and so he was a huge, huge part of my baseball journey and he still is, even up through college. After every game I'd pitch, he'd call and tell me to give him a breakdown of what I think I did right, right, what I think I did wrong, um, and then and then he'd kind of get that sort of background coaching, I guess, and sort of the the dad's hand in the pot to kind of, you know, tell me you know to get over myself or or kind of you know, just bring me back to square one, if, if I had a bad day or something like that yeah, that's huge man.
Speaker 1:My dad had a major impact on me growing up too. My dad was drafted into the military in 1971, spent 20 years in, was a drill sergeant for five years. Army Ranger did all the crazy military stuff. So dads have those huge impacts on the boys for sure. In high school did you play other sports too.
Speaker 2:No, so I played. I played football up through middle school. I was actually a kicker, so it's not a lot of strenuous football activity, I guess you would say as a kicker. But when I was younger I swam and things like that and I was sort of an all around sort of sport kind of player. But once, once I got to the high school level is when baseball came my ultimate focus and, um, especially with travel ball and things like that, during the summer there was just not a lot of time for me to worry about other sports and really, really my passion for baseball grew so much that I didn't really want to play anything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know those travel leagues are really no joke, man. Man, I know it takes up a lot of your time, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:yeah, it was. It was every every weekend of the summer, um, and into the early fall, um, before you know, before school started and things like that. That was just constant. You know whether it's going down to Atlanta to play, to Florida, to Mississippi, louisiana, everywhere in the southeast pretty much um to just play games and and be with some of my best friends now tanner.
Speaker 1:Did you always see yourself as yourself playing college ball at such a prestigious program? Did you have other colleges that you were considering as well?
Speaker 2:um, I would say yes and no. Um, you know my, my college recruitment. It wasn college recruitment. It wasn't big and grand or anything like that. I didn't until the summer before my senior year, that West Point, you know, kind of made the call and opened my eyes to that side of the house, I guess you could say, and everything kind of just changed from there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, playing at Army West Point that's a huge take. It requires a lot of discipline and commitment that not every college athlete faces. What do you think was the most challenging and rewarding part of balancing your academics, athletics and just your military obligations?
Speaker 2:you know, dive into that, that are challenging and things like that.
Speaker 2:But the most rewarding by far was was the teammates that I had all through all four years. Um, you know my freshman year there were numerous, numerous seniors that kind of took me and the rest of the freshman under their wing, um, and that that was. That was COVID year too. So it was. You know it was pretty strenuous on on COVID testing and practices were limited, games were limited during the season when it started and there was a time, there was a time where you know it was Wednesday, you would kind of sit in class and then get out early practice and then leave Wednesday night to travel to a game series that was Friday, saturday, sunday, wednesday night to travel to a game series that was Friday, saturday, sunday, and you're driving on a bus the whole way so that you know there was. There were 14, 15 hour bus trips throughout the week with my teammates and and you know it was probably that was probably the most rewarding is just getting to know 40 to 50 of, you know, my best friends to this day.
Speaker 1:Now, how often was it that you would travel cross country? Was it always on a bus?
Speaker 2:No, so. So COVID specifically was was strictly bus trips. Um, I know the farthest we went was to actually North Carolina. We traveled to Raleigh, um sort of back to back, back to back weekends, and then, um, the rest of the time after that was, you know, mostly, mostly by plane, once every restriction was upended and things like that. But I think the farthest we had traveled was to Lubbock, texas, to Texas Tech at the end of my freshman year and I was actually by plane, come to think of it. But then again I've been to so many schools you know Vanderbilt, texas, christian, um Stetson, you know anywhere that you can think of. You know big schools and things like that that were really good competition for our team what was the biggest name school that you played?
Speaker 2:at the time I would say Vanderbilt 100 percent. Um, you know they had won multiple back-to-back world series and and had a a rap sheet that you know longer than most people's driveways. So you know it was. It was pretty cool to be there and, granted, you know it's it's the middle of March in Tennessee so it's not warm by any means, but again it was. It was more about the experience and, you know, getting the guys on our team the experience that they needed to play an SEC team like that and getting the guys on our team the experience that they needed to play an SEC team like that.
Speaker 2:What was your ultimate deciding factor when choosing West Point At the end of the day?
Speaker 2:My dad told me that he went to UNC, charlotte in North Carolina, and he left after his junior year, after when he was drafted um in north carolina, and he left after his junior year, after when he was drafted um and and he told me that had he stayed in school, you know he would have finished his degree.
Speaker 2:And and that was kind of a deciding factor is you know, if I've finished my time at west point and I get the chance to graduate, then you know I'm set for the next 40 years of my life, and that was a recruiting tool that the coaches used as well. As you know, if you graduate from West Point, whether you move on to sports afterwards or you know you join the army, no matter what, you know the next 40 years of your life are going to be set because you know you spend your time in the army that however long you want, and then after that, you know there's such a prestige with, you know, the West Point degree that hiring I guess is kind of in the you know the top percent of West Pointers wanting to get hired. So you know, I think that was ultimately the deciding factor is just the opportunities that came after West Point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. I have such an immense amount of respect for you because I was enlisted in the National Guard for four years and then I went active duty as an officer and it was the same deal for me where my dad was enlisted, did 20 years, retired as an E-8. And he wanted me to become an officer because he said, hey, if you stay in for 20 years you're going to be better off, you're going to at least be a major, hopefully Lieutenant, colonel or more. And he said, son, I know what it's like to spend 20 years in and I know what it's like and I want you to accomplish and finish your bachelor's degree, your college, before anything else.
Speaker 1:And I can tell you, as a second lieutenant and as a lieutenant, I immediately went to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. And by the time I was 27 years old and I got out as an 03, I had experienced so much leadership opportunities, whether it was leading a convoy or leading a platoon in Iraq or a patrol in Iraq. A lot of the folks that were in my same peer group could not say the same. So you're 100% correct on that, like when it comes to just leadership in general and getting put out in front of the platoon or in front of the formation to have to command troops. So how does that work for you right now as far as your military obligation, and then you being in the minor leagues?
Speaker 2:being in the minor leagues.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, so at the current moment, I submitted a packet to join the world-class athlete program I'm not sure if you're familiar with that where it's a it's sort of a pathway for athletes that are in the military to attend the Olympics, and so recently it was capped.
Speaker 2:I believe she's a captain, captain Sullivan was a member of the US Army rugby team in Paris, and so it's a way for active duty soldiers to to train for their sport while serving on active duty and ultimately end in the pathway to where you are in the Olympics, are in the Olympics. And so, in my case, once my, you know, once my packet is approved by the hand of God I guess you could say at this point, you know, I once, once that happens, I will return to Florida to play with the Phillies for the foreseeable future, and then, once 2028 comes around, when they're selecting teams for the Olympics, I'll try out for the USA baseball team and then participate in the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. And so that's kind of the pathway that I guess you could say, and there's some other, there's some other pathways that my teammates, my former teammates, have taken, but in my case that's, that's how I'm traveling have taken, but in my case that's that's how I'm traveling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, that's been huge man with college right now. Um is there's so many different pathways for folks out there, even getting commissioned into the military. You know, the thing that you just mentioned, I'd never heard about before, um and I think overall with nil being a big deal in college ball right now, in college sports in general, and then this year the West Point quarterback. There was a little bit of talk behind him being able to draft, but he wasn't able to and he's not able to, and from the last I heard, he's going to go into the military as an officer and serve his time, which is very commendable. At the same time, has that NIL stuff even touched the academies at all? An officer and serve his time, which is very commendable at the same time, has that NIL stuff even even?
Speaker 2:touched the academies at all? No, not at all. And I think I think even I think it's a good thing. Honestly, you know it because that was a that was a huge part of why we were so successful at West Point. You know, because, specifically for baseball players and things like that and coaches will get offered a ridiculous amount of money to attend a school for one or two years to then get drafted later on. But you know, at West Point you're there for four years and you're not leaving unless you're paying a hefty amount of money. That you know that not a lot of people want to look at twice. And so I think you know that not a lot of people want to look at twice. And so I think you know having a set group of individuals for four straight years at one school and not having to rebuild a team or rebuild relationships with coaches and things like that is very crucial to why we were so successful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know that camaraderie is so important. And now in college sports you're seeing not a lot of camaraderie. It's taking teams. You know in college football it's taking teams at least four or five games to figure out how to gel together and how to work together, versus, like what you said, having teammates for several years and understanding how everybody functions and what's everybody's role. I want to get into the adapt and overcome part of your life where you had Tommy John surgery just before your senior year. Can you talk to us about your recovery process and how you managed to make such a strong return in 2024?
Speaker 2:Yes, sir. So in April of 2023, I was actually pitching against Navy and I felt some weird things that day, and then the next day I got an MRI and found out that my UCL was torn off my bone actually and so I went through the surgery about a month later and started my rehab process. I went through the surgery about a month later and started my rehab process. West Point actually sent me home for the summer to rehab with a doctor that I knew at home. From that point, I think I spent around eight weeks in a brace while I was at home during the summer.
Speaker 2:I wanted to say, when I started off, it was probably 10 to 12 hours of, you know, lighter rehab just because I was coming off surgery, so they didn't want to, you know, kill me, I guess you could say, in the first couple parts of it. But once I got back to West Point and things started to kind of mesh together and I had a sort of a schedule I guess you could say is to you know, go to class, go to practice and do my rehab and things like that, um, and you know so I had a wonderful, wonderful trainer. A shout out to Julie Uh, she's an awesome, awesome trainer that works at West Point and um, you know it was her and I were in the training room at the baseball field, probably 30 hours a week. Room at the baseball field, probably 30 hours a week, maybe 40, um, on some, on some weeks, and it was just a constant, constant battle to try to get back to where I was and, if not better, and the the hardest part about it was, you know, in in a full reconstruction of your UCL, the full Tommy John surgery, um, it's, it's a 14 to 18 month rehab, no matter what, um, and I only had to. I only had 11 months to do it because West Point doesn't offer red shirts.
Speaker 2:You know, once, like I said, it's, it's four years and you're gone, um, and so I had to do it in 11 months, um, from May to basically April, before the season ended and before I graduated, and so, in that in that case, you know, I talked with my coaches and my in my training staff to basically understand that I I've got to work a lot harder than a lot of people to try to get this done and get back to where I was and get back to square one where I was and get back to square one. And so again, the the 30 hours in the training room, um, even more time, even more time, kind of by myself and trying to figure out, you know, going through the struggles of rehab and the setbacks and things like that, because you feel great one day and you don't feel so great the next day, um, and there's just a lot of challenges that come into that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really what life is all about, man. It's picking yourself back up again, brushing yourself off and getting back on it again and over the years. I mean I'm in my mid-40s now and I've had injuries. Just doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I tore my Achilles, tore my pec muscle completely off, had to get it reattached, huge setbacks.
Speaker 1:And what tells me that you're a true professional is that I honestly didn't take my physical therapy seriously. I didn't take it seriously. I was like, whatever I'm Wolverine, I'll recover, but being so young, you're able to do that. But what you don't realize, in the long run, man, if you don't take that rehab seriously, it'll come back to bite you. So that just that you were raised right at the end of the day, tanner, as far as your discipline and being a true professional overall. So, with that being said, your injuries a lot of times kind of change the way that you approach the game in general. Did, would you think that your pitching style, or were there aspects of your game that you refined or adjusted for a better performance after your surgery?
Speaker 2:Um, I don't want to say my mechanics or anything related to my pitching specifically changed that much, um, but one say one thing I will say that changed was my preparation and my post-preparation.
Speaker 2:I guess you could say, because I had gone through so many hours and so many weeks of rehab, that I kind of retrained my brain almost.
Speaker 2:I guess you could say to understand OK, if I prepare a certain way and I do certain stretches and I do all these things properly, then I'm going to feel better on the field, um, when I'm actually performing Um, and and by that time my, my coach, my pitching coach, um, he kind of, you know, we went through some videos and things like that during my rehab process to kind of understand, like, where do we need to start to get you back better than you were before?
Speaker 2:And so, in terms of a baseball standpoint, increasing my velocity was never a problem and it was never a question as to this is what we want to do. It was just changing the way that my brain worked to help me prepare for pitching outings and then recover from those pitching outings. And in that came, you know, the increase in velocity, the increase in strength and things like that. And so, again, I think the focus on the rehab was probably the most important factor as to why I gained I don't want to say talent, but I gained some knowledge as to, you know, improving myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I would say taking it serious too, because a lot of times people aren't going to invest their time and effort and energy into you if they don't see you meeting them halfway and showing up and giving it all that you have. But what about the mental aspect of it all, like, what mental and physical training routines have you found to be most effective in recovering from surgery and now competing at the professional level?
Speaker 2:Mentally. You know there was a lot of struggles at the beginning because you know I had never had a major setback or a major injury like this in my life. Now I've broken bones here and there, but you know I was a kid and things heal fast when you're a kid. But at the time you know I was struggling a lot mentally because, especially during the summer when things were kind of slow and you know I live on the lake so it's hard for me to go out on the lake with a brace on and, you know, a fresh car. So you know there are a lot of challenges with, you know, staying inside and being, you know, so cooped up, what it felt like, and then again like I didn't have use of my right arm for much of anything other than holding a fork for a very long time. And so you know it was challenging, was challenging and I had some some really personal struggles with that. And then once, once I got back to West Point, things kind of got a little bit better because I knew there was a road ahead and I knew at one point I was going to be back on the field, but then again it was just the.
Speaker 2:The time away from baseball was probably the most challenging. Is you know I watching the first ball was probably the most challenging? Is you know I watching the first? I want to say eight to 10 weeks of the season where my teammates were doing all the work and I couldn't do anything. You know I was. I was just sitting on the on the bench, uh, cheering my teammates on as best as I could and and helping them as best as I could, um, at the time. But the, the struggles were definitely definitely true and hard.
Speaker 1:Now, when you found out that you had to get Tommy John surgery, what did the doctors say? Did they say, yeah, you will have trouble pitching? Did they? What was? Would you equate the overall success and recovery to the quality of the surgery itself, or what did it look dire as far as like what the doctor's outlook was with Tommy John? Just for those folks out there that aren't really familiar with Tommy John surgery, because a lot of times that can be a really debilitating injury, right yes, sir.
Speaker 2:So, um, what? What happens is the, the ligament on the inside of your arm that connects your humerus and your ulna, um, it, basically it usually tears in half. So what mine did? It tore off the humerus rather than tearing down the middle, and so it didn't necessarily tear it. Just, you know, it kind of almost snapped. And so what?
Speaker 2:The doctor said that you know the outlook was still the same as any other regular full reconstruction over UCL. However, you know, he told me that there was going to be a different surgery. And I asked him I said is this going to cause me any problems? Is this going to change the way that I throw? Is it going to negatively affect me in the long run? And he said no. And obviously I had to trust him. He's the one with the doctorate and you know the medical, you know the medical training to understand that this is going to be all right.
Speaker 2:But the initial reaction for me was was pretty heartbreaking, just knowing that there was only I want to say there's probably four weeks left in the season. At the time, my junior year, and we were going to a regional. That year we were going to play at Virginia against some very good teams to a regional. That year we were going to play at Virginia um against some very good teams and just just having that news that you know I'm going to be out for a year or more was was pretty heartbreaking and debilitating at the time, more than the surgery even itself, um.
Speaker 2:But then again, you know, the doctor did a great job, dr Donahue, out up at West Point, and basically what he did was he reattached the original UCL to the bone and then took a ligament out of my wrist that is pretty much the same tensile strength and the same density as my UCL, retied it on itself with some sutures and then drilled it and anchored it into my bone. That wraps around the original UCL. So people like to say I'm bionic now because I have two UCLs in my right arm. And then again, I don't know if it affects anything, I don't know if it changes. You know the anatomy of my arm, I guess you could say, but again, he's the one with the doctor and I just I was just yes, do you feel like Wolverine?
Speaker 1:Sometimes one with a doctor, and I just I was just yes, you're like, do you feel like Wolverine? Sometimes you feel strong. No man before. Before I move on to talk about your professional transition into the big leagues, what advice would you have for anyone out there, either in the military or maybe in sports in general, that that have this type of setback when it comes to injuries like, what did you learn either being at West Point or just throughout your life that kind of helped you through this? What advice would you give to motivate or inspire others who are having an injury setback or something like that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, the biggest thing and it came from my dad too, because he had numerous injuries throughout his nine-year career and he said, you know, the harder you work now, the less you have to work later.
Speaker 2:And so that was probably the biggest thing for me that the harder I work now and the more pain and suffering that I go through, it's going to work out in the long run and it's going to benefit me in the long run.
Speaker 2:And again, you know, spending 30 to 40 hours a week in the training room is pretty mind numbing and it's pretty, pretty hard to go through, especially when you know, again, you don't, you don't have the capabilities to even do that much with working out.
Speaker 2:Or, you know, even sitting there at practice, all you can do at practice is just sit there and watch and again, so I think, just focusing all of your time and attention on your rehab and kind of shutting everything else out, and at the end of the day, you know, you know treating yourself in a way that you know it's not going to affect you mentally negatively anymore. Because a big thing that I would do, you know, if I was down or something, or just you know not having a good day, I would kind of go back and watch my old film from when I was pitching just, you know, not having a good day. I would kind of go back and watch my old film from when I was pitching and it kind of got me back in the mindset of you know, the harder I work. I'm going to get back to that point at some time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's huge. You definitely want to get all your work done when you're younger, in your 20s, and you're able, and you don't have all the distractions, all the variables out there. That's actually really excellent advice that your father gave you with that. Now, from my understanding, you spent some time pitching for the Trenton Thunder in the MLB Draft League, where you recorded a solid 2.70 ERA. What was your biggest takeaways from that experience and how did you prepare to get into the Phillies system overall?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the Trenton Thunder is a great, great place. I loved officially graduate Because I was an August grad because of my surgery that hindered me from completing some summer training and so in between those trainings I was with the Trenton Thunder and again, they run it very professionally. They run it so well that it almost mimics any minor league team that you can think of, where you're playing five, six games a week and you get one off day. And again the coaching staff in Trenton was so professional and they had so much experience that I think that allowed me to sort of understand the ins and outs of a higher level of baseball.
Speaker 2:And then again you know there's always that you know you go to the MLB draft league and you know are you going to perform, am I going to perform well enough to live at this level, and things like that. And you know, even meeting all my teammates there, that I still talk to most of them today too. It was pretty eye opening in a sense that you know this is kind of how baseball operates at a higher level, the more than just college and more than just at a D one level. Um, and so I think you know, having those three weeks kind of prepared me, to prepare me mentally more than anything, rather than physically, to kind of understand. Like you know, in order for me to be successful at the next level, I have to work just as hard as the guy next to me that's trying to do the same thing to get drafted and get signed by some team out there that believes in him.
Speaker 1:And it's, it's so competitive, so competitive, especially in baseball. Yeah, and now that you're with the Phillies minor league team, what do you think has been the biggest adjustment, transitioning from college to professional baseball?
Speaker 2:to professional baseball. Um, I, I wouldn't even say that it's a challenge, honestly, but it's more of a benefit because, you know, at West Point especially, being a cadet athlete is practically impossible. Um, I myself, you know, I I wasn't the greatest student at West Point, um, and I, you know, I attest that to how much I spent focusing on baseball and things like that. But you know, once I, once I got down to Florida for the first month that I was there before I went out to basic officer training. I was there for about a month and what I noticed and what I saw was that there was so much different than college baseball.
Speaker 2:Like it is, it is cutthroat, it is, you know, you do your work and you you can go home. That's pretty much it. And so the only thing I had to do was focus on baseball. I didn't have class, I didn't have, you know, anything else to worry about, and and some of my teammates I had, I had known from, you know, mutual friends and things like that with the Phillies and things. But again, I got to wake up and I got to go do baseball and I got to come home and do nothing. So I just think, again, the attention to detail just increases to a high level, and the coaches and staff that are there, they pay so much attention to you that you don't really have that much room to do anything wrong. Um, and so you know, my, my short time with the Phillies definitely opened me up to to focusing more on my craft and focusing more on my, my, my sleep, my, my workout routine, the, the way that I eat, and everything that you can think of that comes with, you know, a professional level.
Speaker 1:So you know what that that actually makes me want to go back to talk about your West Point days. Take us through what the what an average day in the life of an Academy scholar athlete might endure from start to finish. What time are you waking up, what time are you going to bed and what are you doing? Everything in between.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so for my, for myself I can't really speak to the rest of the academy but how I operated was every day I woke up about 630 and we had morning formation around seven, and then we go to breakfast and things like that and started classes, started 7 40 every day, no change, never, never a day off. Um, it was always starting at 7 40 but hang on.
Speaker 1:When you showed up the hang on. When you showed up the formation, you had to wear what?
Speaker 2:uh, usually it was acus or ocps, if you want to call it that. Um, but certain days we wore the formal uniform and and things like that.
Speaker 1:Uh, just kind of depending on on the day, so it wasn't like rolling out of bed and just putting on whatever and wearing your your sandals and going down there and standing.
Speaker 2:You had to like look strapped, you had to have your shit together right, yeah, you, you, you had to, you know, be clean, shaven, everything like that, at least look presentableable if anyone's important was walking around. And then again your uniform had to look sharp, everything like that. And then once class started, you kind of got left alone, I guess, a little bit. And then class probably went until 12 noon before lunch, and sometimes, depending on the day, I would have a break, an hour hour and a half break before lunch, where I would just walk down to the field and kind of just sit there and just not do anything, kind of relax. And then after lunch then I had usually one to two, sometimes three classes, I think, earlier in my freshman year, both semesters. I had upwards of 19 to 20 credit hours for both semesters.
Speaker 2:So my freshman year was non-stop, it was just class, class, class, class. And then by my senior year I was down to like 14 or something like that. So the the times in between classes have got greater and things like that. But then once, once class was over, usually around three o'clock, it was practice, no matter what, 3, 30 to 7, 30 ish, depending on, you know, if we had a lift before, after, practice usually ran until about 7, 30 and even, and even, in the winter um, sometimes practice wouldn't start until eight because we have a covered. We have a covered field that can only be practiced at at a certain time, because other teams are trying to practice in the same facility, because it's, you know, negative 10 degrees outside um, and and so that it just went on like that for the whole fall semester and into the early spring semester.
Speaker 1:It's a lot of rigorous schedules and discipline man involved in that. It's not like a traditional college, that's for sure. Not at all. I just want to make sure people understand that. Yeah, now, when you were at West Point, you excelled both as a starter and a closer you excelled both as a starter and a closer. What have you learned from embracing the?
Speaker 2:different roles on the mound and which role do you feel most comfortable right now? So, as a closer, you know you're relied on a lot more. You know whether I'm pitching every day or every other day, you know the whole team relies on you at a very important time during the game. You know whether it's coming in the eighth or ninth inning and it's. It's a close game and things like that. And with starting, you know you, you kind of get a little bit more of a leash, I guess you could say with with the coaches and the rest of the players. You know you kind of kind of go out there with an open slate and you know if something, if one bad thing happens, you know it's fine. But you know, as a closer, if one bad thing happens, then it could spiral very fast in a matter of a couple pitches. But you know, as a starter, you have a lot more leniency with. You know your pitches and what you can do against certain players and things like that. But I, you know, if I had to pick personally, I would.
Speaker 2:I would say as a closer, um, just because you know you, you know that one day, whether it's today or tomorrow, you're going to go into pitch during the game.
Speaker 2:So you're always, you're constantly ready and you're mentally prepared to go into a game at any moment. Um, and then what I like to say is you know, put me in a game so I can go and blow somebody's doors off, because, as a closer, you know you can go out there and throw as hard as you can. You know, obviously, with some command and and other, you know baseball terms in in play. You know, but as a, as a starter, you know you got to increase your longevity throughout the game. You know, but as a, as a starter, you know you got to increase your longevity throughout the game. So you know, when you're the third time through the order, people have seen you, they've seen you pitch to them. You know three times now. So you know they're prepared for you and you're prepared for them. But as a closer, you know you're a brand new face that nobody knows and you know you get to go in the game and kind of do your thing pretty quickly, um, and almost show no remorse to the team that you're facing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's, that's a, that's a huge all eyes on you situation right there when you're the closer. I remember watching the world series last year when the Dodgers and uh man, like some of those games, we were literally on the edge of our seats. Yeah, you know, and I was thinking, man, that's, that's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think I think because of that I fed off that pressure more because you know as a starter, with that, that leash, that you get it. You know you could have a bad inning or something like that, but as a closer, you know if, if you have two bad batters like you're out of the game. Um, because they don't. They don't want it to spiral or snowball or anything like that.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, every pitch matters when you're that closer, for sure. Um, we talked earlier about balancing military service and professional baseball and I just want to make sure we cover that. As far as you know you you being the west point graduate and you're a commissioned officer as well um, managing those dual commitments of military service and pursuing the professional baseball career, what challenges or opportunities do you see? Do you foresee moving forward overall, balancing those two out?
Speaker 2:Um, in the future, you know, I think it's just the time commitment that's gonna, that's gonna be more of a factor than anything.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, as of right now, it's as I'm waiting on this, this packet to be approved by the world-class athlete program spend two hours in the gym, working out and go to bed and get right back up for the next day, and so, even when I'm back with the Phillies and performing at a high level, it's just again going to be the same thing. It's constant attention to baseball and when the offseason comes around, there could be some military obligations that I have to pursue during the offseason. There could be some military obligations that I have to pursue during the offseason, which is rare in my case and the case of the World Class Athlete Program. But again, there's just going to be a lot of things that I'm going to have to endure, whether taking away from my time and giving it to someone else. I would personally prefer to be left alone on some occasions, but again, it's part of the job and it's part of the thing that I signed up for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no doubt Commitment man when I had to go to war. It was hard, it was really hard. Like I left, I got out of OBC, got to 25th and Schofield and then it was like 30 days, they're like you're going. And I was like 30 days, they're like you're going and I was like what? I was like where's my, where's my time in garrison? Where's my like play army time, like I don't even get that. I mean, my butter bar is still, like you know brand new so it was.
Speaker 1:It was a shock for me, but I was like, hey, man, like this is what I signed up for I gotta go do it. Um, so, as far as the world-class uh that you're talking about, is that available for all sports or just baseball?
Speaker 2:So it's any Olympic sport that you play. You know wrestling, they have, they've got swimming, basketball, rugby, all kinds of things and so if you're either not in the military or in the military, you can apply for the program. So you can be out of the military and you're on an Olympic team and you're like, hey, I want to join the military but also keep playing my sport, you can apply for the program. And it's the same thing for if you're in the military and in my case, as an academy graduate, there's a. There's a long list of people that have joined the program, but then again there's a long list of people that went other routes, that have played the professional sports and things like that, and so I think it's a huge opportunity for anyone that can join and a huge opportunity for myself in order to continue to play and continue to live out my dream.
Speaker 1:It is such a nontraditional thing that you're doing, man, like I mean it is a little confusing but at the same time, like I'm just so curious about it and I'm so envious of like the amount of the amount of discipline that you have and maturity that you have at such a young age, I wish I had that Now. Are you going to get stationed at an active duty station or where do you have to report to?
Speaker 2:Yes, sir.
Speaker 2:So once my packet is approved and once I get an answer back on that, I'll be located at Fort Carson, because that's where the world-class athlete training facility is, and so they have a specific unit out there and a commander and all that good stuff, and so I'll actually move out there.
Speaker 2:That'll be kind of's, all that good stuff, um, and so I'll actually move out there, um, and kind of that'll be kind of like my home station. I guess you could say um, and then once I go through some some certain things and um, I'll get back to florida with the phillies, um, almost indefinitely, um, I'll kind of be out with the phillies playing baseball and my off seasons will be um, pretty lenient as to, you know when I'll have to go back on things like that and I don't I don't know the full scale of of everything, cause I'm not officially in the program yet but um, you know, in the in the off season I'll I'll have my time to continue working and working on my craft. Um, so yeah, I'll be out in Colorado is the main thing.
Speaker 1:That's so cool, man. So do they give you a branch and everything.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, so I'll. I'll keep my branch as a military police officer, um, but I'll just kind of be under a unit that I guess I don't practice military policing.
Speaker 1:Now was that your first choice.
Speaker 2:It was out of West Point. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:Okay, Okay cool. So why military police?
Speaker 2:At the end of the day.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say anything bad about the other branches at all, don't get me wrong. I don't see anything wrong with being in the army whatsoever, but this was just something I was always interested in. Um, my grandfather was a Marine, um, and he was in Vietnam and things like that. And my brother, when my, when me and my brother were younger, we always talked about doing something related to the military. He wanted to be a Marine Corps pilot and I don't know, I was just, I guess, too young to really understand, I was just following whatever he said, cause he was my older brother, um, and so, you know, at the end of the day, like I've thought about it before, if, if I wasn't doing the military and I didn't go to West Point, like, maybe, be a police officer, so I was like you know that that seems interesting. And then again, the other branches that are out there, they just didn't interest me as much as military police, I guess, you could say. And so that was really the main reason.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean, at the end of the day, I know for a lot of people that just go enlisted, they don't know what they're doing. Yeah, and there's so many conversations I've had with people and I'm like, why did you choose the Navy, or why did you choose the Air Force? Well, I went to the Air Force and there was nobody there. So then I walked by the Naval recruiting office and somebody was there and I just signed up and it's like, really, that's how it happened and that's how it usually happens, man. So I mean, you're not wrong. Anyways, at the end of the day, you're in a great place, man. I mean it's so refreshing to talk to someone that's got the level of maturity that you have and professionalism that you have. You're going to be a great leader, uh, no doubt in my mind. Um, looking ahead, though, uh, what are your immediate and long-term goals within the phillies organization and and what's your plan to achieve them?
Speaker 2:yeah, so I I think a long-term goal, uh, no doubt in my mind, is to make it to the big leagues. I think that's any kid's dream that starts playing baseball and at the end of the day, probably my dad's dream too is to see me make it and to see me play a game in the major leagues. But you know, short-term goal is honestly to just get get back to playing and just get back to doing what I love most. Get get back to playing, um, and just get back to doing what I love most, and with that you know we'll come. We'll come sometime, kind of returning to the the highest level that I can be at, and training again to at a level that that the phillies want and things like that. And so, again, just just getting back on the field right now is probably the most important goal for me. Um to, to just experience, you know, my first game at a professional level and things like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's one step at a time, yeah, one step at a time, for sure. And so if you were to go professional, let's say the Phillies were to bring you on the main team everything what would that? You would still have to fulfill your military obligation, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, at the end of the day, it it would. I would still have to fulfill my military obligation, but if you know, if my packet gets approved and things like that, my, my playing with the Phillies and my training to play professional sports technically would count as my service time. So they, they're like, they coincide with one another. Um, and you know, at the, at the end of the day, if, if I make it to the professional level and you know, god willing, they, they invite me to come to that, to the major league team, then you know there might be some other conversations of, of things that need to happen in order for me to continue playing at the major league level. Um, but again, at the end of the day, I signed up for for something bigger than myself, than just you know baseball. So if that were to come to it, then that's what needs to happen.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm talking about, man, something bigger than yourself. That's why I chose to join the military. That's why I chose to get commissioned, that's why I chose during a time of war, because I wanted to do something bigger than myself. I wanted to serve my country. So God bless you for that.
Speaker 1:You know, your generation gets a lot of crap about being weak, being soft. You know, um, what's your advice for folks out there? Cause you balance a lot. I mean I hope people understand that. Like being a college athlete but then also doing it at an academy where, like, you're expected to show up to formation, uniform has to be perfect, everything has to be perfect. You have to be super organized. What, what advice would you have? I mean, I thought it was great what you said earlier about paying your dues early, but what other piece of advice would you have now that you're a little bit ahead of folks that are just getting out of high school and going to college? What advice would you have for them to achieve the amount of success, the amount of resiliency that you've had over the years, if you had to talk to folks that are just slightly behind you? Let's say, you're standing in a platoon and you're talking to a young E4 and they're looking at you like, hey, leader, I want to achieve. What advice would you give to them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think about it in kind of a way, like you know, it's say you know someone's fresh out of high school and they're kind of figuring out what they need to do with life. The biggest thing for me was surrounding myself with people that wanted the same thing, whether it was going to college or playing sports at a professional level or anything like that. I've always gravitated towards people like me and tried to stay away from people that aren't like me. I saw it so much in high school where you know I would spend summers with my travel ball teammates and they ended up being better friends than anyone I had in high school. And even now, like the, the 40, 50 guys that I met at West Point on the baseball team, they're pretty much the only people that I talk to on a daily basis Beside, obviously, besides my family and things like that and I think just continuing to surround yourself with people like that will help you understand that if they're going to push you to do something, you're automatically going to push yourself to do the same, and that was a big factor as to why I think some might say that my success came so early and at such a young age.
Speaker 2:I think, just understanding that the people around me have the most influence on me, whether it's you know, your family, parents, brothers, sisters and teammates, and even if you're not on a sports team or you're not looking to play sports, there's still a group of people out there that are like, minded, like you, that are probably closer than you think, and so they're going to help you, no matter what. Do you do better things in life than you know, succumbing to some of the distractions that are around today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think a lot of your success is, you know, contributed from your parents, as well as the community, the coaches you had over the years. From what it sounds like they raised you right, man, and that's huge. That's really important. My dad had a huge impression on me because my mom really wasn't around all that much, but he was just a tough ranger and at the end of the day he was like he was like drive on, you know, and that's how I always, that's how I've always been. But I want you to keep me in mind too, man, when you're in LA in 2028, I'm just outside of LA, over here, so maybe we can link up. I can get you lunch or something, man, if you got any time. Absolutely, yeah, I would love to. This has been an awesome conversation. You're the first academy athlete that I've ever interviewed, so it's been a tremendous honor for me. But was there anything that I didn't cover in this interview that you would like to talk about before we wrap things up?
Speaker 2:Not that I can think of.
Speaker 2:Maybe besides, you know some people that might not understand the intricacies of Tommy John surgery or baseball itself.
Speaker 2:Again, I think you know I can't answer every question and I don't want to get too deep into the weeds about the interconnections between baseball and my brain, because that's pretty much all I think about on a daily basis, whether it's watching videos or highlights and things like that. But you know, I think that there's a lot of connections between not just sports and injuries and things like that, but just everyday life. You know, you go through a lot, of, a lot of things every day and, whether you play sports or not, like some sort of resiliency will show itself if you just you know, work hard and you think about the, the future rather than the present because that's what I believe got me to where I am is, rather than focusing on the hardships of now, I thought about, you know, if I work hard, but, just like my dad said, work hard now, it's going to pay off later, and ultimately it did. And I think focusing on the future because of what you're doing right now is really going to impact anyone, whether they play sports or not.
Speaker 1:The two things that you said in this interview that I absolutely love and I want to underline again for anyone out there listening was be aware of who you surround yourself with. Again, like they always say, if you're hanging out with five idiots, you're the sixth idiot. You're hanging out with five professionals, you're the sixth idiot. Um, you're hanging out with five professionals, you're the sixth professional. And then also to um, what you just mentioned right now, I mean that's, that's huge as well Paying your dues. A lot of young adults don't want to put in the hard work while they're young. And you blink, you're 30, you blink again, you're 40 and you're like what the hell have I done with my life? You know, and so it's. I mean that's great advice. And for folks out there interested in following you and following your journey, what platforms are you on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm on Instagram mostly and I'm on there pretty often. So my Instagram is just tgresh G-R-E-S-H. Or my baseball Instagram is just jommyton it's Tommy John. But just flip the first two letters and me and my friend actually started it when I went through Tommy John surgery and he had done it the year before. So we kind of joined forces and made and made our own little like sort of collaboration Instagram, um, and we did some interviews on there, we did a lot of videos, that kind of showcase sort of the, the recovery process and things like that. But uh, those are probably the two most most used platforms by me.
Speaker 1:At first I thought that was your real name. I was like, no, a weird name. Yeah, I was like what is it? What are the chances that I realized that Tanner? Was your real name but um did he also have the same setback with the same injury?
Speaker 2:yes, so, uh, I want to say about six months, six to eight months before me, um, the October of our junior year, uh, he went to the same surgery and so I again I think that was another factor is I saw the things that he was doing and you know what affected him negatively and how I could, you know, change that once I went through it. Um, and so I just kind of again I like you said, like surrounding yourself with the people that are going to affect you most, like I was kind of forced into being surrounded by him, um, you know, through the surgery and things like that, but at the end of the day he was still my teammate and I, I talked to him every day and, um, I love that guy to death. But you know, I saw some of the things that he was doing that negatively impacted him, and so I just wanted to flip it and I wanted to see like, okay, if I do this differently, maybe I'll end up differently.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, man, that's huge. Surrounding yourself with the right people that's huge has everything to do with where you're going to end up and what you're going to be doing and your influence overall, Tanner. It's been an absolute pleasure For anyone out there listening. Please follow Tanner's journey. I'm going to make sure that I put your Instagram in the show notes, both your personal and your baseball one. I am so interested and so all in on seeing where you go from here. Man, you have a tremendous start right out the blocks and I'm I'm hoping to have you back on the show at some point, man, when you're in the big leagues and don't forget about us little podcasters down here and give me another opportunity to just follow up with you. I think, at the end of the day, you're going to win, no matter what.
Speaker 2:Thank you, sir, and I would absolutely love to return the podcast. No matter what, no matter what time, whether I'm successful or not, I definitely just I just want to get my story out there and let people know that. You know, no matter what, there's only two things you control it's effort and attitude, and I take that with me every day. So man.
Speaker 1:I love that effort and attitude. What a great way to wrap it up for folks out there. As always, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused and stay motivated. Warriors fall out.