In the second year of his stint with the New York Mets, former all-star outfielder Curtis Granderson is in the middle of a growing lineup that needs to be able to support one of the best pitching rotations in baseball.
For Granderson, the 34 year-old right fielder is in midst of a resurgence of sorts, showing the power stroke he displayed during his time playing for the New York Yankees. To this point, Granderson is batting .245 with five HR and 13 RBI but his recent swings have yielded more home runs than usual, but it has nothing to do with Granderson trying to hit more home runs.
"I feel like I've been taking the same swings I've been since the start of the season, looking for pitches I can handle, trying to drive them," said Granderson. "Sometimes they happen to get out of the ballpark, sometimes they don't."
Many factors, such as the weather tend to affect home runs, something Granderson is aware of with each at-bat. But, the former member of the 20-20-20-20 club understands that the confines of his home ballpark are not affecting his power stroke, as he does not just play at the ballpark in Queens.
"It's just baseball, a lot of people say you're a home run hitter, and I always classify myself as not being a home run hitter. People ask what's changed, you know sometimes the elements happen that way, but you go ahead and you don't play all of your games in the same stadium," said the Illinois native. "The cool thing about this sport is you're gonna go into different stadiums that have dimensions and I've hit home runs in other ballparks and I've hit home runs at home, so it's one of those things that when you get a chance to get in a situation to drive the baseball, sometimes it goes and like I said, sometimes it doesn't."
One stadium that Granderson is familiar with is Yankee Stadium, having spent four seasons in pinstripes. During his time with the Yankees, Granderson notched two 40 home run seasons, one of the elite power hitters from 2011-12.
Now, that he changed boroughs and plays for the crosstown rivals, Granderson compares both organizations.
"The Yankees is obviously a team that's been around for a lot of longer, historically, they've got a lot of recognition both United States and throughout the world. The Mets, obviously haven't had a chance to do that because haven't been around as long. But both organizations are first class, do a great job of keeping their players ready to play, doing everything they can for their fans to know they're going to put a great product out their on the field."
In addition to baseball, Granderson is a huge wrestling fanatic, having followed the sport since his younger days. Although he did not get a chance to meet special visitor and former WWE/WCW World Heavyweight champion Goldberg, Granderson looks back fondly on being wrestling fan the shows he has been able to see.
"I was a big wrestling fan growing up, if we weren't gonna be gone, I'd look forward to attending it [Legends of Wrestling], got a chance to see Wrestlemania in Detroit, arguably the best sporting event I've ever attended, got a chance to see TNA Bound for Glory before, big wrestling guy, grew up on it and love to see it when I get an opportunity to," said Granderson.
To listen to the full interview, you can do so below: