Nick Banks discusses adjusting to minor league life, his time at Texas A&M

Key quotes from Nick Banks interview

“I am about four hours away from New York City in a small town with a maximum security prison it.  It has been great to experience what I am experiencing and being around guys that played college ball, and getting to play with a lot of guys that I got to play with in the past.  That made the transition really easy, but it is definitely a lot different.  You don’t get as many fans as we had at A&M so that is one thing that I had to adjust to.  But all in all, being around great coaches and teammates has been really fun.”

“Going up north hasn’t been that bad, mainly because we don’t get to get out much.  We are usually at the field by 12:30, the game is at 7:00, and we don’t get home until around 10:30-11:00, then you go to bed and it starts all over.  I have had two off days since I have been here, so when we get our off days we pretty much just sit on the couch all day.  We haven’t really got out that much, but from what I have been around everyone has been nice and welcoming."

“It still doesn’t feel like it is over, I feel like I will be at A&M this fall getting ready for fall ball and everything.  But that has come to an end and that was the greatest three years of my life being able to put on the maroon and white in front of the 12th Man.  For that last game, before the game even started, J.B. Moss and Boomer White were right beside me and we told each other 'this wasn’t going to be our last game,' but it ended up being that way.  I cherish those past three years, and I even cherish that last game even though we came out losing.  It was the experience of a lifetime.”

“I think it is just getting started for Aggie baseball.  They have great coaches, Coach Childress, Coach Sealy, and Coach Bolt do a great job at what they do.  I see the future getting even brighter for A&M.  It helps with the guys that we have had in the past setting the foundation for the team.  Those younger guys are just going to be taking over and stepping into those roles.  I think that is going to be huge.  I know we have some great recruits coming in and just hope that they can keep setting that foundation and keep the Aggie tradition alive.”

“George Janca is going to be a guy who will step into a leadership role.  He got to start a few at the beginning of the season and things didn’t really work out the way he wanted them to, but look for him to have a really big year and step into a leadership role.  I think it is time for Corbin Martin to step up for himself too and help lead this team.  He is going to be a big key for the team this year and I think that if those two can set the tone for the team, the other guys are going to fall in right behind them and it will be a fun year for that team.”

“Having Kyle Simonds up here with me has been great.  We were really good friends back when we were at A&M so it makes it really easy.  One thing is that we live in a house of five together, and he lives in my room.  There are two beds in a room and he is right beside me, so we have seen a lot of each other the past two and a half years.  It has made it really easy and he is playing really well, so it always good to see other Aggies playing well.  The transition has been super easy, and it made it easier when I found out he was getting drafted by the Nationals as well.”

“I have talked to Tyler Naquin and Daniel Mengden about this process and both of them say what everyone says, 'It is a grind, but once you get to the top it is worth it.  All of those little things that you might nit-pick when you are down there become irrelevant when you finally make it all the way to the top.'  I think that is huge because it can get a little overwhelming at first.  You know, riding on a bus for seven hours every three days and getting home at 7:00 in the morning and having to turn around and play at 5:00 that day, it is tough. Sometimes you can tell people get a little down on it, but you have to stay positive throughout the process and everything will fall into place.”

“The bus hasn’t broken down on us yet so that is good.  We are only half way through though so I probably just jinxed that.  I think the worst bus story was when we were playing a game in West Virginia and we got done at about 11:00 and didn’t get home until about 7:30 AM.  Then we had to turn around and play a 7:00 game so I don’t even think I got any sleep until 9:00 that morning then I had to wake up at 3:30 to go to the field to get ready for everything.  That one was probably the worst one, I was probably a zombie all game.  You just try to make adjustments as you go along to fit into the minor league lifestyle.”

“It’s been a while since I had some good Texas barbecue and a breakfast taco.  I usually don’t even wake up for breakfast because I try to get as much sleep as possible.   But there is a couple good breakfast places around here that have some pretty good breakfast tacos, but my host family is really good about cooking a home-cooked meal on an off-day to make us feel like home.  It is very nice that I can get setup with a family like that.”

“One of the shocking aspects of this transition has probably been the culture shock a little bit.  You see a lot more international players, I have played against international players before over summer ball, but it is more culture heavy in that aspect.  It is probably half American, then you have a lot of Dominicans and a couple Venezuelans and stuff like that.  You kind of have to make an adjustment to work with them on communication, which is a big thing, but it is a fun process trying to do that.”

“Just being open-minded to different things and understanding where those players are coming from without making a judgement is huge.  It is fun because these guys have great personalities and they are fun to be around and they make the game fun.  They bring energy 24/7.  We were in the locker room at 7:00 AM on a travel game where we were traveling all day and they already had their boom box just blaring and they were dancing like they had been sleeping the whole time.  They are fun to be around and they make it easy.”

“At some point I think there is less pressure when you are in pro ball compared to college ball.  With college you are playing for something and you are playing with your teammates who you have been playing with since your freshman year, and the relationships that grow with the coaches also.  You want to do your best for the fans and you want bring that championship back and that SEC Championship back to Aggieland.  Sometimes when you are in pro ball it doesn’t feel like that. Obviously I want to win as much as possible, but right now it feels like there was more pressure at A&M than now where I get to relax and play the game that I love, which is a dream come true.”

“Coach Childress and I have a good relationship that started my freshman summer whenever he was the coach for Team USA and I got the opportunity to play with them as well.  Just being with him every single day, we really go close and built a great relationship.  Not only with him being my coach, but also as men.  He has helped me out a lot maturity wise from when I got in as a freshman.  I look to him as a mentor and we still maintain contact every once in a while but it is hard because we are both busy right now but I will be up there in College Station in the fall.  I will be ready to mess with him and that is what is great about him, he is not just a serious guy all the time like people think, he has a really funny side.”

“I am not sure about finishing school yet because I have a while to do that. I am planning on doing that, but I am going to have to find the time where I can just sit down and get things going.  I will be back in College Station in the fall working out with the team so I am looking forward to that.”

“My pro coaches haven’t really changed my approach since I left A&M. The first month they kind of just let you get comfortable and then if they see anything that they might like to change that they want to change they will help you out with it.  They really haven’t done much, the only thing is that a coach changed my hands a little bit to help with my direction.  But other than that, they have just been letting me play.  I think my biggest thing is making in game adjustments and getting acclimated and once you get that, you can just play the game you love. I think everything just starts to take care of itself.”

“One of the teams we were playing, the field was a little wet and we didn’t think we were going to get it in, but we came out an hour later and the field looked completely dry.  So this kid from the other team went out and had a water bottle and just started spraying it on the field as a joke and just walked away.  It didn’t look like he wanted to play too much, but we ended up playing that game.  That is probably one of the funnier things I have seen.”

“We just got back from State College which is a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, they play at Penn. State so that has been the coolest so far.  Really nice stadium and I know some people there so it is cool to see them.  So far, I will say that was probably one of the coolest.  Morgantown in West Virginia was pretty cool, too.”

“I have not played against any fellow Aggies yet.  I am still waiting for Ryne Birk, it is going to be really weird playing against him because we have played with each other since we were 11 so that will be fun.  I don’t think I play against Mark Ecker this year. He is in our league but I don’t think we play each other.  Maybe I will see him down the road, but other than that I am just waiting to see Birk.”

“The Syracuse people are definitely their own breed.  I don’t get out much, but on our off-days we will go to the Syracuse mall and there is nothing but basketball there.  They really take pride in their basketball.  It is kind of surprising because everyone knows the DoubleDays, too, so everywhere we go, it is kind of funny if they see guys in Polos.  They just assume we are players because that is what our dress code is.  The organization likes for us to be presentable, we have to be clean shaven but moustaches are allowed so it is kind of like A&M all over again.”

“Attendance is super slow for our team.  We probably average 50-200 fans, and there are fans from other teams that get 2500.  We are kind of on the bottom half, but the fans that do come to our games are special and really fun.  They make it really worth while.”