It took former Arizona and St. Louis Cardinals baseball player Colt Sedbrook approximately six years to return to Tucson to watch an Arizona baseball game from the stands.
A first-year head baseball coach at Boulder High School in Boulder, Colo., Sedbrook was in town to coach his team in the sixth annual Chris Moon Memorial Classic last week.
Sedbrook said his team just had to participate in the classic so he could come back to Tucson, especially knowing that Arizona had a home series.
Sedbrook was part of the UA’ s baseball program from 2006-08. In 2007 he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 42nd round, but decided to continue his baseball career at the UA. In 2008, he went pro after the St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the 22nd round.
The Wildcats’ game on Friday was Sedbrook’s first visit to Hi Corbett Field, where he answered questions from the Daily Wildcat about his career in baseball.
Daily Wildcat: What do you miss most about being an athlete at the UA?
Sedbrook: What I miss the most is walking from class to class — that aura that you feel as an athlete. It doesn’t matter if they know your name. It’s just by what you wear. Whether it’s Arizona Baseball, Arizona Football, Arizona Basketball … people know who you are. It’s a special feeling. We take it for granted when we’re there, but as soon as it’s gone, you really kind of put the value into the whole process and the opportunities that the UA is willing to give.
DW: After watching Arizona play, do any of the players remind you of yourself and your style of play?
Cody Ramer. He’s a bulldog. I think he reminds me of myself a little bit. He’s a hard-nosed guy. Just seeing him take pre-game and seeing the way he goes about his business — I like the way he plays, and he does a good job playing the game.
DW: What was the first thing you noticed that is different with the program from when you were part of it?
The walkout songs are the number one thing. I wish I had a walkout song. Lopez wouldn’t let us have walkout songs. Even the smallest things like the gear and the hats. We had red Nike symbols instead of the white Nike symbols.
DW: Compared to all of the coaches you had throughout your entire baseball career, what makes coach Andy Lopez different than the rest?
Coach Lopez is one of those guys who I will forever be grateful for. The first day of practice that I had he kicked me out, because I wasn’t paying attention to detail.
It got to the point where he made me become a man. He was true with you. He was a guy that got on you for the little things, and he made sure you knew that you were not only letting yourself down, but your teammates down too. His style of coaching is what I’m trying to emulate as a young coach.
DW: How do you describe the difference between college ball and professional ball?
The difference between pro ball and college ball, especially at the UA, is that people who surround you care about you so much more than the people in pro ball. … In college ball, they’re going to actually work with you and make you become a better player and hopefully a better student.
If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that people at the UA care for the athletes. You don’t get that when you go and play pro ball.
—Follow Rose Aly Valenzuela @RoseAlyVal
