Yankeebiscuitfan’s Dutchblog interviews Roger Bernadina

Roger Bernadia former outfielder of the Washington Nationals and now playing for the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Colorado Rockies organization was prepared to do an interview with me for this blog.

First of all I would like to thank Roger for the fact that he has taken the time to answer my questions. Because of the time difference between the Netherlands and the West of the USA and the tight schedule of Roger’s team, the interview was done in two stages. I really appreciate it that he was willing to answer my questions between the games in his spare time.

On my first question about how Roger started to play baseball, he explained that he played with a plank and a tennis ball, in other words street baseball, which was played in the Netherlands in the thirties and fourties of the twentieth century and which was also played in the US by kids. Roger thanks his mother for always being there for him. Day in, day out. Thanks to her he has tuned from a street baseball player into a Major League player and thanks to her he became the person that he is now.

When Roger came to the US after he had signed a contract with the Montreal Expos, he had to deal with regular life himself without much advice. Of course he got some advice of roommates and other Dutchies like Vince Rooi, but in general he had to figure out things about life in the US and about playing the game himself.
During his years in the minors prior to his call up to the Bigs, he spent quite some time at A level (A Full Season and A Advanced). And then all of a sudden in 2007 he was promoted to AA and even to AAA. The hitting coach of the A Advanced team in Potomac, where Roger spent the 2006 season, helped him and according to Roger that was the reason for his surge through the higher regions of the minor leagues. After Rogers was called up in 2008, he played 26 games for the Nationals in which he batted a modest .211. The next year he only played three games in the Bigs because of a broken ankle. In 2009 he spent most time on rehabbing and played a total seven games, 2 in the Gulf Coast League and 5 at AAA Syracuse. Roger returned to the Nationals in 2010. In 2012 he had his break out year as he played 129 games and hit .291. Still the Nationals acquired Denard Span to take Roger’s spot in the outfield. He did not get an explanation but he thinks that the Nats saw a bench player in him rather than a regular.

Before he signed a contract with the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Roger went to the Netherlands. He was asked by ADO from The Hague to play for that Hoofdklasse ( = Dutch Major League) team. After ADO he played for Sparta/Feyenoord from Rotterdam before he joined DOOR Neptunus, the other team from Rotterdam. In 2006 he played for that team in the play offs after the regular season in the minors was over. Despite his presence with the club from Rotterdam didn’t make it to the Holland Series.

A few years ago, I asked Jeremy Guthrie (who was in the Netherlands for a clinic for kids, organized by Rick van den Hurk, which Roger attended too) of which minor league club he had the best memories. Guthrie claimed that minor league was the worst he had experienced. I asked Roger what his experience was.
It is very hard to make ends meet in the minor leagues.  Most of the time players share an apartment because they cannot afford to live there otherwise. According to Roger, even the travel schedule is worse compared to the Majors.  In the Majors you fly to the next city after a game in a plain that is chartered by the club. In the Minors, your team takes the earliest possible flight to the next destination and still has a game to play at night.  Of course this may not be the case in leagues below AAA, because the area that those leagues cover is a lot smaller. Road trips are made by bus. The Pacific Coast League, where Roger is now playing for the Albuquerque Isotopes, covers an area from Tacoma in the Northwest of the US (state of Washington) to Nashville (Tennessee). Those trips simply cannot be done by bus.

On my question to Roger if he would join team Netherlands in the upcoming Premier Twelve tournament (the new World Cup tournament of the Word Baseball and Softball Confederation) if Major League Baseball would allow MLB players and AAA players to participate, Roger said that he had not made up his mind yet. At one hand he would like to play, but at the other, the season has been long enough.

I always wonder what a player considers the highlight(s) of his career, so I asked Roger that question. This is what he said: “There has been a couple. Of course my debut with the Nationals. The play offs with the Nationals and my first multi homer game. “

I asked Roger if he ever had considered to play in Japan. When I look at Wladimir Balentien, who has played in the Mariners’ organization and played a total of 170 games in the Majors (130 with the M’s and 40 with the Reds), I think that Roger would be a fit. Wladimir reached the status of a half god in Japan after he broke the homerun season record of Sadaharu Oh.  Roger played a total of
548 games in the Bigs, so I think that he could very well succeed in Japan. Roger claimed that he has thought about playing in Japan and if the opportunity will occur he will certainly consider going there.

Since Roger played in both the Dutch Hoofdklasse and in the Minor Leagues in the USA, I was curious if he could tell at which level the Dutch Hoofdklasse is, compared with the Minor Leagues: A Advanced or AA according to Roger.

As a player Roger always stayed focused to get to the Major Leagues. Every day he wakes up with that very same idea. Because of that he stays motivated and that makes it a lot easier to stay sharp during the long seasons in the Majors and Minors. The most important lesson that Roger has learned during his years in the Majors and the Minors is that baseball is a stone cold business. If you get a shot to play at a higher level, you have to grab the opportunity. You will never know if someone else will take your job and how long the club will have patience with you. Chances do not show up every day.

Roger advices young kids that have a dream to play in the Majors, to finish school but to keep believing in themselves and let nobody stop them to reach their dream. Eat, sleep and breathe baseball. To finish school is important because only a very small percentage of the minor leaguers make it to the bigs. If you do not make it, your diploma is your insurance policy.

Once more I would like to thank Roger for the time he spent on this interview next to the busy schedule that he has with his baseball club.