A Blog of Toronto Blue Jays Prospects Interviews, Evaluations and News

140 Characters with… @DeckMcGuire

140 Characters with… @DeckMcGuire

September 4, 2011

Deck McGuire kindly accepted to do an interview with JaysProspects.com

Deck McGuire, the Toronto Blue Jays 1st round pick in 2010, is no stranger to doing interviews, (including one here on JaysProspects.com). While travelling with the Fisher Cats, McGuire agreed one of our infamous, “140 characters with…”. The first part of the exchange started at 11pm and lasted until 2am, and then we subsequently finished it up over the last two days, wrapping up the trivia Sunday morning, following the Fisher Cats wrapping up their playoff spot.

It should be noted that McGuire is not only a great pitcher, but a tremendous guy as well. With that, here we go:

@dougplourd: Deck, thank you for agreeing to do 140 characters! You have been so gracious to @JaysProspects and we appreciate it! Ready?
@deckmcguire: Absolutely! Hit me with it!

@dougplourd Topps sent you a TON of cards to sign for the Bowman Draft product. How long did it take you to autograph every card?
@deckmcguire Um, it was about 4,000 cards and it took in the neighborhood of 4 hrs… Much too long, but it was fun.

@dougplourd Did you want to keep any for yourself? Or do you have family members buying your cards on ebay?
@deckmcguire They let me keep six! I’m pretty sure the fam hasn’t started snatching up cards on Ebay quite yet…

@dougplourd When you were growing up, who was the major leaguer that you looked to and said “I want to be that guy”?
@deckmcguire Smoltz and Randy Johnson – Smoltz was a stud! Johnson was the most intimidating pitcher in my lifetime… Plus great mullet!

@dougplourd You have had a great 2011 season. What is the one game that stands out?
@deckmcguire Has to be my first professional start on Opening Day in Dunedin or my start in Richmond in AA. Richmond is my hometown!

@dougplourd Cocoa puffs, cocoa krispies or cocoa pebbles?
@deckmcguire Krispies hands down!! A huge bowl and a date with ESPN College Gameday on Saturday mornings in college!

@dougplourd While at Georgia Tech, who was the one hitter you faced that you had the “oh s¥it” moment when they stepped in?
@deckmcguire Gordon Beckham from UGA. He was a jr and I was a lowly freshman. Plus he was having a MONSTER season.

Travis d’Arnaud recentlly won the MVP of the Eastern League, but has also won the respect of Deck McGuire

@dougplourd Who is the one guy you have played with this year that you look at and say “he has it!”
@deckmcguire Our catcher, Travis D’arnaud! He is a stud all the way around. He handles our pitching staff like a 15 year vet and he can hit a little bit!

@dougplourd If I say Ricky Romero is the #1 starter and the Jays rotation in 2014 is him, you, Asher, Nicolino and Syndergaard…how many wins for the jays?
@deckmcguire I’m gonna say around 95… But we have ridiculous depth in the quality of arms and bats we have in the organization.

@dougplourd No disrespect to alvarez, comer, norris…etc… Dinner party, and you get to invite 3 celebs?
@deckmcguire Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine. The definition of winners. Grew up watching them shred the NL East!

@dougplourd You received a pretty sizable signing bonus from the Jays. What was the first big purchase you made?
@deckmcguire Yukon Denali… My old ’96 Explorer just had nothing left. It battled to the end but it was time for a change.

@dougplourd Did you ever hear a private convo where your dad said…”Porch!!! I wanted to name him porch!”? Is there a story behind “Deck”?
@deckmcguire I’ve heard just about every joke about my name there is, but it is actually my mom’s maiden name and my middle name!

@dougplourd Besides the Rogers Centre, the ballpark I can’t wait to pitch in is…..
@deckmcguire Fenway for the history, and Camden Yards because its close to R.Va!

@dougplourd What is the last book you read?
@deckmcguire Lone Survivor. It is about a US Navy Seal and his time in the service. Awesome book. A must read!

@dougplourd Take one pitch, and it’s yours….Strasburg’s fastball, Gooden’s curve, or Wakefield’s knuckleball
@deckmcguire Gosh that’s tough. I’m saying tie between Smoltz slider and Mariano’s cutter
@dougplourd Those were not options!!
@deckmcguire Oh, well out of your mediocre options I’m taking Gooden’s hammer
@dougplourd Mediocre? Nice!
@deckmcguire Haha just kidding

@dougplourd Funniest guy on the New Hampshire squad?
@deckmcguire Nestor Molina. Period. The end.

@dougplourd If you could have one superpower, it would be?
@deckmcguire I wanna be able to fly! No more bus rides!
(Doug’s note: when we started this 140, Deck was on a 7hr bus trip from Trenton to Portland. He really doesn’t like the long rides.)

@dougplourd Do you know what a Fisher Cat is?
@deckmcguire Yeah! Those things are scary!

@dougplourd Who plays Deck Mcguire in the “Deck Mcguire Story”
@deckmcguire Matthew Lillard. He is Billy Brewbaker in Summer Catch. Everyone says I look and talk like him

@dougplourd Last one, then trivia time! Have you ever had to pay to ship anything? Or can you just hand it to Dad and say “can you take care of this?”
@deckmcguire Haha, I wish it worked like that, but I have to go to FedEx Kinkos like everyone else

Alex Anthopoulos will soon realize Deck is not only a winner on the mound, but also on Twitter trivia

@dougplourd Ok, time for 3 Up / 3 Down trivia. Your category is “GA Tech Alumni”. Please, no google cheating. Are you ready?
@deckmcguire Lets do it!

@dougplourd Joe Rogers Sr, class of 1968, is a co-founder of what Southern based restaurant chain?
@deckmcguire I’m going to have to go with Popeyes. Or Denny’s?
@dougplourd ooh, sorry, we were looking for Waffle House

@dougplourd Which GA Tech alum has the most career PGA Tour victories?
@deckmcguire Easy one! Bobby Jones. He is plastered all over our athletic association
@dougplourd correct!
(Doug’s note: Technically, there was no PGA Tour back in Jones’ day, but that was the answer I was looking for, I worded the question incorrectly.)

@dougplourd ok, last one. Who are the 3 GA Tech pitchers to be 1st round selections?
@deckmcguire Kevin Brown. Myself. And Jed Bradley. BOOM!
@dougplourd Yeah baby! Well done! 2 out of 3 is the new standard, congrats! Quick question, was there a lot of celebrating last night?
@deckmcguire I do what I can! And there may have been a little bit….

Trivia Results:

Bryan Longpre 1 out of 3
Deck McGuire 2 out of 3

@dougplourd this has been a lot of fun. I hope you enjoyed it as well. Continued success, and thank you very much.