Fatherhood, Baseball, and Life Lessons
SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Fatherhood, Baseball, and Life Lessons

Published on June 15, 2025 under Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


Baseball and fatherhood go hand in hand for many families across the country. Most boys learn the game from their dads, who often learn it from theirs, and so on. Both baseball and fatherhood require Leadership, planning, and teamwork. The relationship between the two goes much deeper than a game of catch with the old man.

In celebration of Father's Day, I sat down with a few members of the Rocket City Trash Pandas to talk about their roles as fathers, sons, coaches, players, and everything in between.

For Trash Pandas' Manager Andy Schatzley, baseball is a family affair.

"My dad is the best coach in our family," Schatzley said. "Whatever level I reached as a player is one hundred percent because of him. Whatever level I reach as a coach is one hundred percent because of him."

Growing up with a dad who coached was never an issue for Schatzley, who says his father was a natural leader who seamlessly balanced coaching and fatherhood.

"I feel like there was never a time in my life where I wasn't around him, or I wasn't around other coaches, or I wasn't in the clubhouse or the locker room," Schatzley said. "I was just very, very, very much a part of his day-to-day."

Raised to lead from an early age by his father, Schatzley has been coaching his entire adult life. He made it through the college ranks and into the Minor Leagues before becoming the manager of the Trash Pandas in 2022. He says the lessons he learned from his father about life apply to coaching as well.

"There was never a point in his life when other people were not coming first," he said. "If there were one trait I could hope to emulate from him, it would be that."

That attitude translates to Schatzley's coaching style. He says that managing a ball club can be similar to fatherhood in the way that he feels protective of his players, sometimes leading to some fireworks and the occasional ejection, like the one on June 11. In a tight ballgame, Schatzley gave the umpires an earful in defense of outfielder Joe Redfield, who appeared to have made a spectacular diving catch in left before it was ruled that the ball came loose.

"You watch your kids or your team respond and really lay it out there, and then you feel like something is taken from them, and that is what elicits whatever that parenting type of vibe is. So yeah, I think you feel protective and responsible."

Schatzley, a father himself, talked about balancing baseball and fatherhood, something he watched his dad do. For him, his wife is an essential piece of the puzzle.

"I manage being a dad through my wife," he said. "There is a lot of pressure involved in this industry, and the stress that this has on families is, hands down, the most difficult piece of it. The time apart is the most difficult piece."

He was quick to point out that it is not at all difficult to talk about the opportunities afforded him and his family through baseball. He said he has some very special baseball moments with his kids and that sometimes it is important for him to focus on the quality of their time together over the quantity of it.

Schatzley again emphasized his wife's role as a parent, saying, "I married the most unbelievable person in the world... Anybody who feels good about their family situation in this industry will tell you that their spouse is not 100 percent of it, but that they are 110 percent."

When asked about one lesson from his father, Schatzley answered, "Leadership is not about you. Parenting is not about you... It is about what is in the best interest of the people that you have the responsibility of leading." Schatzley said his father had a "certain reverence for that concept that was just palpable" and that he does his best to do the same, putting players, staff, and others above himself.

Assistant Coach Rod Barajas had a long career as a major leaguer, and now his sons are trying to carve out their own careers.

"My dad instilled in me that if I wanted something, I needed to work for it," Barajas said. "I try to tell my boys the same way. You know, this is something you want, whether it's baseball or education or whatever it is, it's on you, you know."

"Don't let anybody tell you you can't do this," Barajas continued. "Just trying to instill that fight in my boys and my girls, and, you know, try to make sure they never take no for an answer."

Growing up in California, Barajas said his dad made sacrifices to help him succeed, which helped teach him how to lead his own family.

"He was an unbelievable man," Barajas said. "You look behind the scenes; I was the youngest of four kids... I felt like, you know, life was just great. The sacrifices my dad made, I never saw the hours and the cutting back that he had to do so that I had everything I needed to play the game of baseball... Taking care of your family and making sure you are there for your loved ones are number one on the list."

When it comes to coaching, Barajas said it is very similar to parenting. As a father of eight, Barajas feels he is well-equipped to deal with all the different personalities in the clubhouse.

"What works for one might not work for the other," he said. "As a parent, you have to be able to kind of evolve your parenting style, and the same thing as a coach."

Barajas said that it is important to be able to change the way a message is delivered for different people. It is just as important, he says, to let them know that it is his goal to help them find what is best to help them succeed.

"You need to make sure you're ready for it, jump on it, and attack it with everything you have," Barajas said in his message to his kids. "I got lucky. I got a chance to play with a team that did not have a full organization yet with the Diamondbacks... They cracked that door open, and I slammed it down."

He said that setting them up to be ready when somebody takes a shot at you is important, whether it is his kids or his players.

"There is nothing guaranteed in this game, so if you want it, you need to make sure you are ready for it."

For Trash Pandas pitcher Sean Poppen, balancing professional baseball and fatherhood starts with his wife.

"It's really my wife that kind of bears the brunt of it," Poppen said. "I'm gone on the road for a week at a time... I started the year in Mexico, and she was at home with the kids."

Now, Poppen's family is in North Alabama, and he said there is something so special about being able to put his kids to bed every night.

"My youngest, every night, she always yells, 'I'll see you at baseball!'" Poppen said. "It's something to play for, something cute to go home to."

"They're also little menaces," Poppen added, laughing.

Reflecting on his own time as a "little menace," Poppen said his parents taught him everything, pointing primarily to his father's patience. "My dad is a very patient person," Poppen said. "I feel like baseball is definitely about patience... You can't let anything get to you and rile you up too big for the moment."

He said that counts for both baseball and parenting. Whether it be committing to a routine and waiting it out or being willing to give up on one that is not working, Poppen said, taking time to process things is an important skill he learned from his father.

"Just like baseball, there's a struggle at times," he said. "You figure out new ways of dealing with it and working through it."

When it comes to being the dad of a young baseball player, Poppen said he always wanted to avoid the "horror stories" of dads who are too loud, too involved, or too critical.

"Now, I'm still that way, but I get it a little bit," Poppen said. "When there are two outs, and we need one run to tie the game, and there is a bang-bang play at second, and one of the random volunteer dads calls him out, and he's probably not out... At that moment, you're like, 'No!'... And then the moment passes, and you come out down the road... I mean, this is an 8U baseball game. It literally doesn't matter."

That patience, Poppen suggested, is always a work in progress.

All these lessons apply in baseball and life. Fathers help instill values such as putting others first, working hard, and having patience, which Schatzley, Barajas, and Poppen took to heart. As fathers, they hope to have a similar effect on the next generation.

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Southern League Stories from June 15, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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