Q&A: Stubbs on Reds career, retirement and more

The Reds Hall of Fame presented by Dinsmore introduces its Signature Series for 2024. At select home games throughout the season, a former Reds player will meet fans and sign autographs in Williams Family Champions Gallery inside the Reds Hall of Fame and at the Hall of Fame Shop in the First Star Fan Zone.

This weekend, the Reds welcome back Drew Stubbs. A member of the 2010 and ‘12 National League Central division champion Reds, Stubbs was an outfielder for the Reds from 2009-12. Possessing a strong combination of power and speed, Stubbs hit 59 home runs and stole 110 bases in his four seasons with the Reds. The club leader in stolen bases each season from 2010–2012, Stubbs finished in the top 10 in steals in each of those seasons.

Prior to his visit, Stubbs spoke with the Reds about his playing days in Cincinnati, his life in Austin, Texas, since retiring, and much more.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

When you think about your time in Cincinnati, what comes to mind first and what do you recall most fondly?

I ended up playing for seven different organizations throughout my career, and I get the question a lot as to where was my favorite stop. And it’s a pretty easy answer for me because with Cincinnati, and I’m not sure it’s this way with every organization, but with myself and a lot of the guys who were homegrown within the organization that broke into the league around the same time, it seemed the Reds treated a lot of us like family. If you look back from about 2008–10, you’ve got myself, Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart, Joey Votto, Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto, Devin Mesoraco, and the list goes on.

So many of us were young and doing it for the first time. That’s what sticks out for me the most, was being able to experience playing in the Majors for the first time and doing it on a team that had a lot of youth and a lot of excitement. The team hadn’t been good for some time and we stepped in and won the division in 2010 and 2012, and even in ’11 had a very competitive team. So looking back, those are some of my most memorable years throughout my Major League career.

Are you still in touch with any teammates from those Reds ballclubs?

I’ve been out of the game for about six years. A lot of the guys I mentioned before have transitioned out of the game as well. At first you get your feet on the ground as to what your next steps might be, and then you start to look back. I mentioned to the Reds when I came back last year for the first time that my day-to-day is outside of baseball, but it would be fun once, twice or more per year to have a reason to come back like I’m doing this weekend or get together with some of the guys. Bruce and Paul Janish were some of the guys that came up together.

We’re all Texas natives so we’ve had some excuses to see each other and do some stuff since then. Sam LeCure was a college teammate of mine. He’s doing Reds TV stuff now and is a huge personality, and I still stay in touch with him. Chris Heisey, Mesoraco, Cozart. I talked to Frazier the other day. There’s always stuff that pops up that reminds you of an instance that we shared together or maybe you’ll see something about someone on TV and it’s just a reason to circle back and catch up. We had a lot of guys that were fun teammates and really good players, and we got along great.

This current Reds team plays a style of baseball that I think would have lent itself perfectly to your skill set. What has impressed you the most about this current crop of guys?

I came up last July when Bronson (Arroyo) got inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame, and it was the first time I had gotten to come back and see a lot of familiar faces in the locker rooms, front office and around the ballpark without being an opposing player. It was also my first time getting eyes on a lot of the young guys. And you’re right, the evolution of the game today has encouraged base stealing, prioritized defense, and a lot of the things that were a huge part of my game. They’ve got some talented and very athletic guys. I think I would be accurate in saying a lot of the fanbase and media did not expect them to make the push that they did last year, and I think that goes to show that baseball doesn’t care about how long you’ve been there or what you’ve done, its about what can you do in this moment.

I know David Bell and his staff were great at cultivating those guys and setting them up for success once they got up there, and you could tell in watching them throughout the middle and end of last year that they were doing it because they love the game and love playing with each other. And there is a level of excitement when you’re doing it for the first or second time as opposed to later in your career because everything is fresh and you’re not really influenced by anything. You’re just happy to be there and happy to contribute.

How much do you think you would have benefited in this new era of baseball?

It’s hard to quantify when you try to overlay what the numbers would look like, but I do know it would be favorable for anybody and everybody looking to steal bases and be aggressive on the basepaths. But you can’t really second guess and wish what it would have been like -- I can’t tell you how many conversations I had with guys that were a generation ahead of me that were like, ‘If I had this or that or made the money you guys did’ -- so it’s always going to be improving for the player with how you’re compensated or what the rules allow you to do. The pitchers may not be happy with it, but as a base stealer and somebody that used their legs as an integral part of his game, it would have been a lot of fun to have the current rules in place when I was out there.

What are you most looking forward to most about coming back to the ballpark and being in Cincinnati this weekend?

From age 6 to about 33, baseball and/or sports were the focal point of my life. Especially for my college years, that’s all you’re focused on is how can I become the best version of a baseball player that I can. And then that’s gone. So everything that you pour your heart and soul into kind of dissipates, and you go on to raising a family and potentially starting a new career in a different industry. For me getting to come back, the biggest thing is seeing a lot of familiar faces in the front office and around the ballpark that have been there for so long and were very instrumental in a memory-making time for me. To get to interact with them, see the fans that were so supportive, even some of the coaching staff that were around back then. And just being around the ballpark.

For me now, living in Austin, I’ll go to a handful of University of Texas games a year and get to take my kids, but other than that, I’m not with any consistency going to major league ballparks. This is a great opportunity to revive that feeling of doing what I did for a long period of time.

What have you been up to since retiring?

I formally retired in spring of 2018. I was looking for a favorable opportunity to continue my career. I still felt good, still felt like I could play. But didn’t want to just spin my wheels to kind of hang on. And it felt like the time was right, we were about to have our first child. She just had her 6th birthday a couple weeks ago. We also have a 3 1/2-year-old son. It’s been nice after my playing days where I can be there every day. I started about three-and-a-half years ago working for a commercial title company.

I just happened to be an investor in a lot of commercial real estate deals in and around Austin while I was playing and have transitioned into this career to start chapter two or three of my life or however you want to look at it. So that’s kind of my day to day now. And as a hobby, I’m trying to play as much golf as I can. That’s kind of filled the competitive void that I gave up when I walked away from baseball.

Baseball doesn’t define who you are, but being a Major League ballplayer is not something most kids get to say about their dad. When do you think your kids might start to understand what you did for a living?

I remember some of my older teammates who had kids of the age that could come down to the clubhouse before or after the game and be around and see their dad play. It’s a trade off you make. Do you start your family earlier and give up some of your free or social time or do you wait? We just happened to wait until after it was over for me. I brought my kids up last July and that was their first time being immersed in a couple days of going to a game, being on the field, and doing those types of things.

Maybe they’re getting to the age where they’re starting to understand, but luckily all forms of media will be readily available for them to see highlights, whether it’s YouTube or whatever else. They’ll see some of my memorabilia around the house and myself or my wife can show them video clips of what it looks like. And then actually take them to a game so they get a feel for the sounds and smells and feelings of being around the ballpark and start to hopefully understand that.

Click here for tickets to the Drew Stubbs Signature series event and information on upcoming players.