Walk softly: Giancarlo Stanton's mighty path inspired by father
Mike Stanton would arrive home from the overnight shift at the post office to find his 10-year-old son Giancarlo on the couch watching television.
"Do you want to go hit?"
"No, I don't want to. I want to watch TV."
"We're going to go hit."
Good thing father got the final say. Fifteen years later, Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is one of Major League Baseball's most feared hitters because of his generational power, quickly becoming a face of the game.
But before he could reach that point, he and his dad would pull up to the parking lot outside a Mormon church in Sunland, California, to take batting practice on its Little League-sized field.
"He'd throw buckets and buckets to me, and he'd use it as his workout," Stanton recalled inside the Marlins clubhouse. "He wouldn't let me pick up the balls. So he'd pick up every ball, and he'd use it as his workout holding the heavy bucket, pick up the balls, switch arms or whatever. He'd have me sit there and think about where I want to hit the ball or what to do different in the next round.
"Having that schedule every single day, I didn't realize how hard it is to go sit in traffic, go to work, sit in traffic again, come home and then take me to go throw to me and then do all of that then come back, put me to bed. All those things over and over again. You don't understand until you do something similar or positive. You just think he comes home and he's got the restart button and brand new energy."
NATURAL ATHLETE
Many moonshots ago, before becoming a three-sport star at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, a 3-year-old Giancarlo went to a baseball clinic at a local park.
It wasn't his first love. Lying somewhere around his father's home is a photo of him as an infant. In it, he's using a walker and holding a football on the tray. Mike, who played high school baseball, would've tried football had there been a team. Since he attended a new school, it didn't have a senior class to support a varsity squad.
His son's 6-foot-6, 240-pound physique, which graces magazine covers and resembles that of a Grecian god, is incomparable. He boasts a football player's build on a baseball field. Like LeBron James in basketball, it often looks like a man among boys.
Here's the @Giancarlo818 cover story by @SI_BenReiter & video on the body paint process: http://t.co/fAQFVcLkhG pic.twitter.com/vSXj6qOjfJ
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) February 25, 2015
Though Mike watched as his son towered over him in height during puberty, he remained active, and he inspired a young Giancarlo.
Every summer, Mike and friends would hike across glaciers in the North Cascades of Washington. He would train on flat lands and hills at 2 a.m. with his backpack. Giancarlo and his older sister, Kyrice, were too young to join.
A young Giancarlo Stanton and his father on a fishing outing.
"When I started college, I started working out regularly," Mike said. "I was in better shape from 18-50 until I got arthritis. I was in quite good shape. I think he'd see me around the house with dumbbells on the floor and parts of the house. He knew I was active. I worked out regularly. He was aware of that when he would see me come back sweaty and doing stuff."
GROWING BOY
Nearly 20 minutes before a spring training game this March in Jupiter, Florida, Giancarlo invited his dad over to the batting cages.
New teammate Dee Gordon, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers to be the lightning to Giancarlo's thunder, asked the question we've all been thinking.
"How did you make him so big?"
"I always say, in high school for dinners it was protein and calories, both of which I wanted to be high because he was a three-sport guy," Mike said. "I wanted to make sure he got the right amount of protein for the bodybuilding and calories to size up."
Ask Mike what he's most proud of from a son who was last year's runner-up for National League Most Valuable Player and a NL Gold Glove finalist, and it's the work ethic.
Describing his son as self-made, Mike marvels at the discipline Giancarlo developed for three sports in high school. He took it to "his own level" by creating workouts and nutritional regimens upon the start of his professional career.
That doesn't mean he shies away from the occasional splurge on a snack. Giancarlo and Gordon had their moment in the social media sun earlier this month with a video showcasing the unconventional way the two-time All-Star eats Kit Kats.
Turns out he takes after his dad, who also enjoys the chocolate bar but doesn't eat them as often. Like parents do to their children when it comes to fruit and vegetables, Giancarlo tries to positively influence his dad's diet.
"I remember a time he actually took butter off my plate when I was with some people and him and he was taking us to dinner," Mike said. "He took away my butter until he left the table and I was able to get it back. ... That was not long ago!"
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Giancarlo Stanton and his father.
No one calls Giancarlo particularly loquacious. Watch pre- or postgame interviews and bear witness to succinct answers. He'll pause between responses, sometimes during one, to collect his thoughts and consider his words before they leave his mouth.
In this sense, he takes after both of his parents. It's a trait Mike wanted to keep his children from being aware of. He hoped they would act more outgoing, so they would see the importance of speaking in an important situation or in front of people.
"He's not overly talkative, but definitely his parents were reserved rather than timid," Mike said. "He has developed an awareness of how to balance serious with playful and lighthearted. I think he's got a sense of humor with teammates and buddies. He knows when serious is called for and [when] to be lighthearted. In that setting, he'll be that way, too. I don't think anybody would ever call him very talkative. Some people may say he's outgoing, but I think he's somewhere between reserved and that."
Giancarlo agrees. The composure he exudes, the even-keeled nature he emphasizes while speaking to media after a win or loss, parallels his father's personality.
Like his dad, Giancarlo's favorite moments on the field aren't necessarily his majestic home runs but his Web Gem-worthy defensive plays. Throwing out runners and making impressive catches prove his athleticism extends to the outfield, not just the batter's box.
His dad's greatest lesson to "really be myself" has stuck with him all these years -- through his major-league debut June 8, 2010, to his record-breaking contract this past offseason.
"I say the biggest thing is just learning from everybody," Giancarlo said. "There's no one person that's going to give you everything you need to be successful. The negatives and positives you learn from everything in the world. He's got a shorter fuse than I do. He doesn't show it anymore, but he's very reserved and observes everything. That's what I'm most like him."
As kids, neither got into serious trouble.
Miami Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton poses with his father prior to a game.
Part of the athletic clique in high school, Giancarlo spent his time throwing a football around the park or shooting hoops at someone's house. Extracurricular activities revolved around competitive sports and innocent fun.
Recently, Mike grew nostalgic after noticing "Mike S" engraved in the middle of the slope of the driveway at Giancarlo's mother's house. Near a fire hydrant just down the street from Mike's house, Giancarlo and five buddies once again left their marks on the fresh concrete.
Though years have passed, their names can still be made out, not yet faded enough to erase the memory of the adolescent Giancarlo.
"I was just bad," Giancarlo said with a smirk. "I would talk a lot of crap, wouldn't listen on purpose just to push my limits. I was told I was a very bad kid -- not by my parents, necessarily, but by other people. They were like, 'You were so good, but you were such a little brat.' That I can't fully remember, but I'm just glad I grew up."
ALWAYS A FATHER
Mike, who has been retired since 2009 after 35 years working for the United States Postal Service, spends his time taking and picking up his two granddaughters from school. There is also a 2-year-old nephew for Uncle Giancarlo, who doesn't get to see the family as often because he's more than 2,300 miles away at work.
So Mike plans baseball outings to see his son in person. Miami will visit Arizona, where Giancarlo blasted homers 99 and 100 of his career, and San Diego in late July. Mike would also like to be present for another All-Star Game earlier that month in Cincinnati.
Last season, Mike attended 40 games. He catches the rest on his cable's baseball package.
Then came that fateful night Sept. 11, 2014. Mike and his sister sat just to the right of the visiting dugout at Miller Park when a fastball struck Giancarlo on the left side of his face. As then-manager Mike Redmond and director of team travel Manny Colon walked over to update them on his condition, Giancarlo got sent off on a stretcher to a local Milwaukee hospital.
Multiple facial fractures and lacerations as well as dental damage required stitches and surgeries. The horrifying sight played before a father's eyes.
Mike traveled back to South Florida to stay and care for his son. Friend and Marlins reliever A.J. Ramos, who lives with Giancarlo, remembers Mike asking if they already had eggs so he could whip up some breakfast.
"He stayed with me," Giancarlo said. "It was like the old days. He would be there cooking when I got downstairs, was there whenever I needed. That was huge for me and him, too. I know he would've been in panic mode not knowing instead of being hands on."
DON'T CALL IT SURREAL
Twenty days ago, Giancarlo was struggling. His average dropped to .228 after going 1 for 4 against the Chicago Cubs to open the month. He would rattle off homers in the next three games, but his average was just .230 after a hitless performance to close a series at hitter-friendly Coors Field.
Earlier that day, less than 24 hours before Giancarlo's fifth anniversary in the big leagues, Mike visited his hotel room. He had recently watched footage from Giancarlo's first full-season in 2011, when he blasted 34 home runs. Mike told his son he saw a young man who was focused and locked in. He offered words of encouragement.
Since June 8, Miami's slugger went on a torrid streak with seven homers in 12 games. It pushed him into the big-league lead with 25 home runs and 63 RBI through 67 contests. According to Elias, he is just the fourth player in the past 10 years to reach 25 home runs this fast, joining Albert Pujols (49 games in 2006), Alex Rodriguez (63 in 2007), and Jose Abreu (67 in 2014).
Giancarlo is already the Marlins franchise leader with 179 career homers in parts of six seasons. With more than half the season to go, Stanton is on pace to finish close to 60 long balls. Only five players in history have reached that summit in a season. It has been done eight times total, just twice outside the Steroid Era.
"Hate to use the word surreal, but it's a really special treat," Mike said. "Surreal is overused, that's why I say that. It's a special treat. I should probably sit and meditate to really realize that he is who he is and he's done what he's done as my son because it is otherworldly. It has unreal aspects of it that he's gone so far and he's put in the work and improved to get to the highest level even with the gifts he had coming into the draft.
"Very proud, and it's a special way to be a fan to have a son play in 162 games a year. Talking about going out to games and stuff, I realized just in this little portion of the season I should probably make a point of each year going to the series that's his anniversary. I was there the day before this year, but I should make a note about the anniversary is special, Father's Day in coming years. To go to Marlins Park and see all these Stanton jerseys, the number of people that have his name on their shirts .... As crazy as it sounds, probably haven't soaked in 100 percent and realized just how great it is, to have him succeed and doing that, doing baseball as a career."
When Giancarlo was a kid, the two caught games at Dodger Stadium. Mike brought headphones to listen to Vin Scully call the game in his ear.
Shortly after being taken in the second round of the 2007 draft, Giancarlo's pro career began. Mike has been in the stands ever since. At every level, he rooted for his son as the one they call "Big G" progressed to where he is now.
"Obviously, you feel your father in the stands, but I like to think that he still listens to the radio just like he did when he'd take me," Giancarlo said. "It's like I grew into the player he would take me to go see and watch."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
