PAGE A20, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
Former Campesinos manager takes
position with Cleveland MiLB affiliate
Daniel Robertson led the Campesinos
de Salem-Keizer to a championship in the
Mavericks League inaugural season last
year. This season, the former Campesinos
skipper will be taking role with the
Cleveland Guardians Single-A squad
Q: What can you tell us about your
new position with the Guardians?
A: I will be a bench coach for our Low A
affiliate in Lynchburg, Va. in my first year. I
will assist the manager in all things, assist
the hitting coach when he needs help, lead
the infielders in their quest to become the
best they can be, lead base running and
probably coach first base or third base
when we are on offense.
Q: What was your favorite memory
from last year?
A: To me the whole season is the great-
est memory. It was all a memory that I will
never forget. From the first Zoom call for
introductions to our last Zoom call when
we opened the rings together. The relation-
ships are for life and when you are working
hard everyday and giving it your very best
everyday that's how the respect is created.
That respect is what makes friendships
last. But how can you not go crazy about
Colin Runge’s home run in the first round?
That was a moment that made the hair on
my neck stand up. Big players make big
plays in big games.
Q: Your team had by far the best
record in the league. What do you feel
most contributed to your team’s over-
whelming success?
A: Hard work was the biggest contrib-
utor. Then the respect for each other came
after. How hard they worked at practice and
in the gym made it difficult for the guys to
give up on each other. Each game was a
chance for them to do something together
and all of them brought their best to the
group because they didn't want to let each
other down. Their will to win was their col-
lective driving force. They wanted to prove
to themselves that they were winners and
that was awesome to watch for five months.
Q: The Campesinos had the least
amount of transactions/turnover in the
league. What was it that kept your guys
such a close knit group?
A: They were genuinely interested in
each other. These guys were from all over
the place and with different backgrounds.
They took the time to get to know each
other and figure out what each guy was all
about both off the field and on the field.
They hung out a lot and we had a lot of
team functions. We were tight from the
start and that's why we played well. When
you’re playing well you don’t have to make
any changes because I trusted every guy on
the team to do what the game was asking
them to do. That trust allowed our coaching
staff to identify areas to grow in and then
we got to work. We were just focused on
improving as a group and bringing people
in and out would have disrupted that focus.
Q: Which player on your team
reminded you most of yourself from your
playing career?
Former Campesinos manager Daniel Robertson gives instructions during Mavericks League
tryouts last April
FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes
A: I think the whole team embodied
what I was as a player. Our offense didn’t
give one at-bat away. Even when we were
up by a lot they still battled at bats until
the game was over. Every guy ran the
bases hard. They knew how important
runs were and they became unbelievable
when it came to manufacturing them. They
had a lot of different ways they could beat
you. Whether it Chung and Ybarra hav-
ing 10-12 pitch at-bats and winning them,
Rick’s quiet confidence and willingness to
get better even when he was playing great,
Runge and Morrison's relentless attitude
day in and day out, Cruz/Nunn/Prater’s
energy was awesome when the days got
long, Bayard/Whitfield/Rey/Kozak were
never willing to give up and never backed
down from a challenge. The pitching
staff of Nealy/Crowson/Fultz/Herrera/
Rosales/Baxter/Laurita/Walker/Aulger/
Asa/Ostroff/O’Connor competed every
pitch and took pride in not making things
easy for our opponents. And they were like
that in their bullpens and pregame work. I
would see Herrera an hour before the game
with headphones on sweating in the bull-
pen already. He probably threw a whole
game in his mind. Every guy wanted to be
at the park to play baseball and nothing
else mattered and that's all I ever wanted as
a player was to be playing the game I loved
and playing at the very best level I could
play it at.
Q: Is there a decision that stands out
at some point during the season that you
think back on that had the largest impact
on your team?
A: Every decision from our staff
impacted our season in some way shape
or form. I think the biggest decision at
first glance was building a staff in Daniel
Turpen and Patrick Durbin. They commu-
nicated with the players at an elite level.
This allowed me to put the players in their
best position because the staff had them
ready to play. From a lineup standpoint,
when Jeff Chandler decided to retire that
was a blow I was worried about. The first
weekend he was gone we struggled badly.
It was a morale thing and not an ability
issue. But when Nick Ybarra went to the
leadoff spot we really took off. He was an
electric player that could hurt you in so
many ways and his quiet confidence fueled
his teammates and got under the skin of
his opponents.
Q: Any final thoughts on the sea-
son, the hopes for your future career,
thoughts on the fans etc.
I thought it was a great first season.
It had challenges but everything in life
has those. I just hope that the players and
coaches that were a part of the first year
earned their place in the league's history.
I know we put some pressure on the acts
to follow but that's how hard those guys
worked. The fans were great and they
brought good energy. I always appreciate a
good heckler. For my career, I want to see
how far I can go and continue to get better
in hopes of helping the next generation of
players learn and play the game at a high
level. I learned a lot in my experience in
the Mavericks League. So much that I will
always remember the first experience and
all the good and bad that went with it. This
league will always be a part of my history
and I hope I can be a part of the long his-
tory the Mavericks League is creating.