Jimmy “The Cat” Hayes

 

Yesterday I had the oppurtunity to interview Jimmy “The Cat” Hayes.  As one of my favorite STL guys, this is was an honor.  I hope you enjoy this interview as The Cat talks about being a Dad, being a Cardinals reporter, and his advice for other dads.  Below is the transcribed interview, and stay tuned for the podcast!  Enjoy!

Vince Mahtani (VM): You run a pretty busy schedule, between the morning show and FSM, you have to be going wall to wall. Where does that “me” time happen? 

The Cat: I get up at about 5:00 every morning, and then the day starts and then after radio, it’s not like I do a lot of show prep, but I get up early so I can shower since we are in a small studio, you don’t want to offend the other people. Mostly it’s just waking up. If you’re tired and you’re on 3 or 4 hours of sleep, it’s hard to string together a sentence. It’s hard enough for me to string together a sentence that other people can understand, but I try to get up early just so I’m awake for the show, and look up what I have to look up. And then once I’m done there, I go home and spend some time with the wife and kid (3yrs. old), take care of whatever needs to be taken care of on the home front, then I’m off to the ballpark. So yeah, the schedule is very tight and sometimes sleep takes a back seat. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

VM: Does your son get to go on trips with you or is he at home?

The Cat: Well, family of the media don’t get to fly with the team. But in Chicago, I have family there. My brother and Dad live there so it’s a great opportunity, especially for days games, for my wife and son to go to Chicago. So they got to fly up (to Chicago) and he got to see his grandpa and his uncle and his cousins, so I am very thankful they were day games. We have family in Philly too, so they usually make that trip. If we go to LA, they typically make that trip because we have friends there too. Also, it’s such a long season, not complaining, it’s just part of the job and travel is a such a huge part of it, and when you have a young one at home you miss so much, if it’s doable for my wife and kid, then they are on the road on a bunch of trips, just to try and break up the road trips just so we are together.

VM: Do you guys get to Skype of FaceTime when he’s (3yr. old son) not with you?

The Cat: We just got FaceTime. See, I consider technology to me my enemy. I am an old school guy. But I got an iPhone, and we got my wife an iPhone and now we FaceTime a lot. My son gets a kick out of that. That Daddy can be at the baseball game and he can see him on the phone. That’s a good thing.

VM: Has your son become better at the iPhone than you guys? 

The Cat: Not yet, but he’s pretty good at it. He loves Thomas the Train videos and truck videos. He can now find them on my wife’s cell phone. He can go on YouTube and find it. I don’t know how he does it. I can get there, but it takes me a little bit of time, but he is quicker at it. He could watch Thomas the Train or truck videos all day long. He’ll watch that for an hour. 

VM: The iPad is the best hold over when you go out to eat. We will set that up for our daughter and she can watch Dora and be quite for 20-30 minutes so we can actually have a grown up conversation.

The Cat: We have talked about getting an iPad just for that reason. But when we go out to eat all bets are off with him. He’s the most energetic kid we know of and he is fascinated by everything and I don’t know where he gets it from. He’s the biggest wise guy I’ve ever seen. So he likes to see things or do things just to amuse himself or make us laugh and quite frankly, when you’re at a restaurant, a lot of those things aren’t the funnest things to deal with. For example, he will take salad tongs out of the bowl and pretend that he’s using them, (to) the people innocently eating next to you, on their food. At home it might get a laugh, but not at a restaurant. 

VM: That sounds about right. Especially for boys. Your son probably watches games, does he think Daddy is famous? 

The Cat: No. He actually couldn’t care less that I’m on television. And here’s the thing that if you have a kid, you can bond with other parents; your kid will do something every day at least once that amazes you. The other day my wife told me they were watching the game and she says, “The game is over, Daddy is coming home,” and he says, “Not until after the post game.” But he doesn’t care to see me on TV. He likes baseball, and he does consider baseball players famous, but not me at all. He knows work is the baseball game. He always says to me, “You going to the baseball game Daddy?” 

VM: You’re a household name now. We see you on TV and every morning we hear you in our cars. You should tell him, “Daddy’s kind of a big deal.” Do you get to enjoy baseball as Father and Son? Do you have that Father/Son bonding over baseball? Or because it’s your work is it different? 

The Cat: If I’m home, I like to watch baseball. He would rather watch Pokeo, which is his favorite show, or what he says, “I want to watch my show,” so I don’t think he’s to that level yet. Although we do play a lot of wiffle ball, so I know he likes baseball, but to sit there for 3 hours, he’s not quite there yet. And I think deep down, he sees baseball and he thinks “Daddy’s work.”  That’s what takes Daddy away. He asks me all the time, “Are you going to go to the baseball game today?” That’s his association with work. I don’t think he totally embraces (baseball), but he will. 

VM: We tweeted out to have people ask questions for The Cat. So, first question, how did you get the nickname “The Cat”? 

The Cat: It’s the worst story for any nickname ever. It happened accidentally, and to speak well for the preparedness of my partner Tim McKernan, in that his dad has a long time friend by the name of Johnny Latten, Johnny “The Cat.”  I don’t know how he got his nickname, but it was Johnny “The Cat.”  So, when I first started doing radio and I was on with Timmy, he called me Jimmy “The Cat”. It really didn’t mean anything or have any actual meaning, except that it kind of sounds like Johnny “The Cat” that Tim was around growing up.  And because I was new to radio, when I did the next appearance, someone heard that and said, Jimmy “The Cat” and next thing…it stuck.  And I don’t think it was ever totally embraced by Fox until Joe Buck started saying on the broadcast, when he did them, Jimmy “The Cat.” So from then on it stuck.  But it doesn’t mean anything.   But it shows the power of Tim McKernan. 

VM: Right, and always (Tim McKernan) in cahoots with Joe Buck. 

The Cat: That’s right.  Back then I don’t know if they were that close as they are now.  But you have two powerhouses, Joe Buck and Tim McKernan, embracing a nickname it’s probably going to stick. 

VM: Yeah, it’s stuck and everyone refers to you by that. 

The Cat: That’s good. 

VM: Now, you don’t have a twitter do you? 

The Cat: I actually do have a twitter account that Producer Joe set up.  I actually don’t remember.  I haven’t tweeted on it yet.  But I do tweet lineups and news of the day for the Fox Sports Midwest Account.  And the reason I haven’t done it myself, I think if you’re going to be a full time tweeter, it takes a certain amount of commitment and it just doesn’t dawn on me.  I don’t want to give you the false impression that I don’t enjoy making things about me, obviously I do.  But I can’t imagine just because I had a delicious roast beef sandwich it would never dawn on me to tweet that. Or if I’m at Giantoni’s, my favorite restaurant, I wouldn’t tweet that.  I don’t think I would be a good tweeter. Because in my down time, I don’t think anyone cares.  Let’s say I’m in Chicago, and I find out someone is hurt, or someone is back in the lineup…Freese is back in the lineup, I’ll tweet on (Fox) Midwest account because I think that’s something that Cardianls fans are interested in.  Not so much that my cab was stuck in traffic on the way to the ball park. 

VM: I often wonder while I’m tweeting if anyone cares what I’m having for lunch and the picture I attach with it.  Does anybody care?  Probably not, but it’s what we have become a custom to do. 

The Cat: Right, I’m an old guy, it never really stuck in my brain that I’m supposed to tweet, “Boy, I really enjoy watching the vintage NBA games on ESPN,” when I’m watching it, I’m just watching it.  I’m not telling someone.

VM: Did you play baseball in high school or college?  Where did your love of sports happen? Is that between you and your Dad?

The Cat: Well, I grew up in Nyack New York, Rockland County, as Tim likes to point out, I’m an outsider.  I actually played lacrosse all through high school.  But I always loved baseball. I grew up a Yankees fan, my Dad and my brother and I would go to Yankees games.  Every once in a while we would mix it up and go to a Mets game.  In fact, my Dad actually sang the National Anthem at a couple of Yankee games.  If you could imagine a kid who just loves baseball, to be there on the field while your Dad is singing the National Anthem, that was something.   But my whole family grew up Yankee fans.  I obviously have become a Cardinals fan.  And it’s weird in my family, on my wife’s side, they are all die hard Phillies fans and on my side they are die hard Yankee fans, but both have a healthy respect and love for the Cardinals, based on the fact that’s how I make my living. 

VM: You being a reporter and on TV, do you feel “I’m a reporter first, then a radio show host? How do you label yourself? 

The Cat: I wouldn’t even know how to classify myself.  I just know I spend my days trying to make sure I do the best job I can for whoever I’m working for at that moment.  You know? The radio show is a lot of fun, it doesn’t require a lot of work.  And I’ve been working with Tim and Doug and Producer Joe a long time now.   When I’m there, that’s what I’m committed too.  But otherwise, Fox is my primary job.  I also do some stuff on MLB Network.  And I just try to make it all work and make sure I’m doing the best I possibly can for whatever I’m doing at that moment, so that all the guys dumb enough who employ me continue to do so.   I do everything I can for Timmy.  You know, Timmy is a great boss and doesn’t ask a lot of us, but when he does ask I try to do my best.  I do whatever Fox requires of me that day.     I try to give every ounce of effort to that.  And that’s the way I go about my day.  And then I’m balancing that with the real boss in my life, that is my wife. She’s the most important of all. Of all the bosses I report to, she’s the most important.  So, I just try to balance that day to day. And sometimes it’s easier than others and sometimes it’s tough.  But all I can do is try and that’s what I do. 

VM: Yeah, I’ve found the struggle of doing my job, and starting Dad Life, to still be home for wife and kid. And I think that’s so over looked.   And that’s why I started Dad Life.  Too many dads just aren’t there for their kids. That’s a great answer.  Another question from Twitter is, “Who is your favorite Cardinal to interview?” 

The Cat: Let’s see..of all time?  It’s hard to say.  They’ve been such a good group of guys to interview.  I know that’s a cop-out answer.  There are a lot of guys, who if they know that it’s not going to be a plain baseball interview, embrace it and get involved with the nonsense. Kyle Loshe who’s been on the radio and our pregame show on Fox Sports Midwest, is great. But I can’t think of anyone. They are all really good.  To me the funniest guy on the Cardinals, and I don’t know if the average fan knows it, is Jake Westbrook.   I mean, he makes me cramp up laughing sometimes. And then you get to a point with these guys where you can kind of joke around with these guys.  Same with Matt Holliday.  Then you end up doing a post game interview and it’s almost hard to do. It got to that point with Scott Rolen where we joke around all the time, and we get to a post game interview and he’d be in character and you couldn’t even get a legitement post game interview out of him. Holliday punched me in the chest as he was leaving the post game interview.  I like that, I think it’s fun.  And sometimes, it’s just a straight three questions, and sometimes the guys joke around with you a little bit. But all of the guys, so many stand out, I don’t even know where to start to even say who I like to talk to. 

VM: I’ve seen you and Holliday interact, and again, this is from a fan sitting on the couch, but it looks like he’s actually having a good time.  And he seems very funny. I’ve seen the video of him and Skip, when they are sitting at your table (at Spring Training), and for like 40 minutes you guys just kind of B.S.-ed around and it was hilarious.  And he seems like a very genuine guy.  I remember when Rolen was here, it’s hilarious to watch Rolen.  Many people think because of his demeanor that he’s serious, but he’s a very funny guy and very sarcastic and it’s fun to watch that personality play out on TV. 

The Cat: I always compare Holliday to Rolen in the way they feel about the media.  They’re not anti-media by any stretch, they just hate doing, especially television stuff, where they know they are going to be asked questions about themselves.  That was the case for Scott Rolen.  He would do it, and then he would joke around.   And I think the same goes for Matt Holliday.  He’s the last guy that wants to talk about how he had a big day and how important his 2 run double was.   But he does it.   And he is a really funny guy.  It’s just the media part of it.  He’s just uncomfortable standing there in front of a bank of cameras and microphone talking about himself.  He, like Westbrook, is a very funny guy and if you just talk to him, you will end up laughing because he just has that kind of personality. 

VM: Last question, this is geared towards new dads, or dads with younger kids.  Your son is three.  What advice do you have for dads with young kids?  I know that this is a hard question and extremely on the spot, but what advice do you have for dads who are trying to be a better parent? 

The Cat: I would have a bunch of advice.  And I’m still flying blind at this. But I don’t think there is any set of rules that you have to follow. I think a lot of parents have to figure it out for themselves as they go.  You know, everyone gives out advice, we always seek out advice and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  So, I would say, love the kid and support the kid.  Don’t worry about the little things too much.  And also, here’s a couple of pieces of advice; put your pride on the shelf.  There are times, like when I had to play the role of the bar bouncer when we were at Diebergs a couple of months back because he was acting up.  And I ended up bouncing him.  I had to pick him up and he’s punching me because he wants a toy or something, and I realized here’s a store full of people.  They don’t know who I am, they just see some kid wailing on their dad, as the dad is carrying him out. Don’t worry about that.  If the kid acts up on the plane, nothing you can do about that. If the kid breaks something at the house, those are the little things.  Don’t worry about the little things and just love your kid and do your best.  I really don’t believe there is a set rule that works for everybody.

VM: We read baby books and it was hard to realize that every child is different.  We don’t have two kids, but when we do, those two kids may be completely opposite and what worked for the first time might not work for the second. 

The Cat: Here’s a good thing. We have a lot of friends that we’ve made through activities with kids, so we all have kids the same age and we’re all friends.  And everyone we know in our little group, their kids nap at 1:00(pm).  And we feel like the bad parents and it’s our dirty little secret.  Our kid doesn’t take a nap.  And here’s why.  If he took a nap at 1:00(pm), he would be up until 3:00 in the morning.  This kid is non stop motion, and if he naps, he’s up. So we don’t give him a nap anymore.  It’s not like we tried, we don’t even bother with that. We just let him run himself out with a full day of activities and hopefully he’s in bed at a reasonable hour and we can relax and sleep ourselves.  That’s a rule that most of our friends would say, “You’ve got to train them to take a nap at this time.” Ok, it doesn’t work for us and that’s one rule that goes right out the window. And I think parents need to asses each one of those things and how it works for them. 

VM: I agree! I really appreciate you taking time out of your day and interviewing with us.

The Cat: It’s important for me and a good thing and that’s why I did it. Can I tell you one other thing before I go?  To me it’s the number one thing for me, aside the fact that I realize I’m not going to be sleeping very much as the new dad, but here’s the number one rule I think all parents, especially as young kids should bond on this.  Here’s how my life has changed, especially with the travel I do.  It used to be as I traveled, and I’m on a plane and the kid behind me is kicking or screaming, I used to think to myself, “the parents got to control the kid, what’s going on here?” Now, based on the fact that I’ve been that guy who can’t control his kid on a plane, my worldview has changed.  So my point is, if you have a kid and you see, even if your kids aren’t with you, and you go to the airport, and let’s say you’re on Southwest Airlines, and you see that dad who has a three year old who you know is a suspect to act up on the flight, I always give the guy a look like, “I got your back.”  If I’m on a plane, and there’s a kid acting up in the row over, I let the parents know, “I got your back, I’m with you.”  Your whole worldview changes and people who have percostious or kids who don’t behave so well on planes, need to bond, unite and support each other.

VM: I agree.  Yes, I absolutely agree.  That is something I have found out as becoming a dad to my daughter, I view parents differently.  Before, I would be out at a restaurant and a kid is screaming I used to think, “Somebody shut that kid up!” and now I’m like, “Oh man, I feel so sorry for those parents. I know exactly how they feel,” and it doesn’t bother me. Yes, I think parents should unite and have each others backs because that’s all we’ve got. 

The Cat: Exactly!  We are the only ones who understand and have the patience for that sort of thing on a planes.  But we need to stick together. 

VM: Yes, I agree. Well said. Jim, I really appreciate it and enjoy Colorado. I hope we can sweep, and I hope we can do it again, I hope to talk to you soon.  

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*Here is the link to the Matt Holliday and Skip Schumaker video from the ITD Roll Morning After Show on 590 The Fan, KFNS: http://bit.ly/MPlSKS

*Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @DadLifeSTL and our blog at InsideSTL

*Let us know what you think about The Cat.  Who else would you want us to interview?

Until Friday…

—
Vince Mahtani
@VinceMahtani