 Adam Aduvino is one of the most down-to-earth dudes in baseball. He's also one of the best at what he does, making it easy to root for him and exciting to watch pitch. Let's go for a ride with the True New Yorkers. Have you seen some of these posts? You're following up with these Yankee fans. You had one with David Cohn. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, network broadcaster, former Yankee. That was from Yankee Fan Festival from 94, 95. I actually had a ton of those pictures. People have pictures with Jim Lairitz, Kenny Rogers, Paul O'Neill, but the Cohn one was just too good. Had to put it up there. The Cohn one was cool because you could tell the joy in your face taking that photo. And it was one of your favorite players. Yeah. At that time, the players felt less accessible, I think, than they do now. So when you see one of your idols like that, you're kind of frozen in the moment, but I was so excited. I just remember that. You're getting a chance to see a lot of former Yankees. Has that been just that entire experience of seeing some of your idols and next thing you know you're getting dressed next to them? It's crazy. You got Pettit walking around, Asoriano, Reggie, just a lot of people that I grew up knowing about are watching or going to stadium and watching. They're a little bit different than other older players that I've met in the past, like with other teams. Since those are guys that I really grew up watching and rooting for, I'm kind of semi-starstruck by them. So I just say hi, shake hand, but that's about it. I don't know what to say. When you join the Yankees, you have these expectations, but now that you're actually in it, have they been met so far? Just that alone, getting a chance to see all these guys? Yeah, I think so. But you know that's the part of it that you forget almost like it's the Yankees and there's so much that comes along with that, but then you almost forget like that they have the ability to like reach into the past and like bring those guys around. And then when you see it, you're like, oh yeah, that makes sense. But it's still surprising to see Andy Pettit or, you know, Soriano or a guy like that walking around. Have you got a chance to talk to Reggie Jackson much? No, not at all. I've seen him, but like I said, just kind of focus on what I'm doing right now and not get too caught up in anything. He's probably somebody you could have sat down, which I'm going to allude to. The Babe Ruth comment, which you said during the offseason, and I think you're on any and every show that week afterwards. From a marketing standpoint, if I see somebody who says that and if I'm the GM, I'm like, wow, I want to go out and get that guy. Oh, really? Yes. That's confidence right there, man. And I know that the context that you said it in, but like I want that player on my team. Well, there was some writer who wrote some articles saying that that's the exact reason the Yankees shouldn't sign me because I got bad juju from that, which made me laugh. And then I was like, maybe they won't be terrible, but no, he was a baseball player, great player, legendary player from a really long time ago. Definitely probably the wrong guy to use in that example I was trying to make about what I was talking about. But that being said, like it's kind of been funny to see the reaction to it. I even saw that MLB, the show 19, they have like me facing Babe Ruth in the trailer. So it's kind of running away from running away from me a little bit, but you know, people, more people know who I am because of it. Should have been in marketing. Yeah. Yeah. Viral marketing. On social media, you do a great job with photos and videos, and it's very, very impressive the type of content that you do put out. It's very high quality. You do a killer job at that. Well, thank you. I just think like with Instagram for me, like when I first got it, I felt like a game to me. I was already taking a lot of pictures, but I was like, wow, now I can like post and see how good I can get each photo. And I used to basically try to get one great photo a day. And now it's slowed down quite a bit since then. But still, like I don't like to put anything up that isn't like representative of my standards. And so that's kind of the way I approach it. Like I just want to do good work in whatever I'm doing. Some of the Arielle shots that you have, you almost want to put them in a frame and throw them up on your wall. Well, yeah, thank you. But yeah, no, there are some that we have earmarked for that we want to keep and like make sure that have the files and get them printed and all that. Just because a couple of times, like I got really lucky and got something great and, you know, I don't want to lose that because of like a memory card malfunction or a hard drive crash or something like that. And all the photography over the last several years, a lot of the impetus for it is like going to a lot of cool places, playing in this in majors and then, you know, having this crazy life. And I just don't want to forget any of it. So trying to make sure I documented that in some way. One of those spots was out in San Francisco when you're playing at Johnson, you have this great photo. It's right over McCovey Covey and shows right field. That was very impressive. That was cool. And again, that's another place that baseball brought you to. Yeah. So the backstory behind that one, and it's funny because every picture has a backstory, right? But like the backstory behind that was that was on an off day. And a couple of years ago, I started going into the fields on off days just to get a little workout in and feel like a little more accomplished so I could then relax the rest of the day. So on that particular day, like I went and talked to the clubhouse manager who was there and I said, hey, like, can I fly my drone? And he's like, no, but if I were you, I'd just go and do it. He's like, you'll be fine because there's nobody here. So I took the risk and rolled the dice. And but it got a great picture and I was up and down like in three minutes. So I was pumped about that. If you had a preference between photo and video, which one would you do? Photo for me, video I love doing. I love the idea of making a like a short film or whatever and editing it and thinking about the whole storyline and everything that I want to portray. But I think like if you take a really great still photograph, there's something special about it, like freezing a moment in time and then having to kind of explain the backstory is kind of a little different like still pictures can be interpreted a lot of different ways by different people. And I like that too, the open nature of it. For all your social media accounts and everything that you're doing, do you have a tape on what baseball players can do to make the game more fun? Because it seems like they're more conscious of that right now. You know, I think that's a tough one. I think when you get to know people like off the field, I think that always helps. But some of the other sports like basketball is just so tied in with pop culture in America these days. And baseball just doesn't seem like it has that same traction. But I think that it could it really could because there's a lot of players that fit into that type of a mold where I think people would really want to get to know them better. But baseball is so regional and nobody's really developed like that insane social following. And hopefully guys like Judge and other people can kind of start to change that a little bit and become bigger names. It's interesting what you say about the regional aspect because in basketball, you could be a huge Russell Westbrook fan. Yeah. Yeah. But live in Maine. Yeah. And baseball, it almost seems like if you were to be a huge fan of, say, Mike Trout or any player, not where you live, the culture, at least for fans, it almost kind of comes off as your traitor because you are not rooting for your hometown team or that everybody else is rooting for. Yeah. Baseball fandom is very generational like that. You usually root for like who your parents are rooting for and etc. So a lot of it is based on region. But I also think like just the way the games market it to like, for example, like in basketball, just to use that again, because it's very popular. You know, there's a big, there's a lot of highlight culture where like you see like all on social media all the time, like amazing plays, amazing dunks, amazing blocks, you know, what they're wearing, things like that, that catches people's eyes. And in baseball, a lot of times that hasn't been the case. Although I think now there's been more of a push to it lately, like people like pitching ninja on Twitter, showing like guys throwing amazing pitches. A fan might be able to identify a little more with an individual than a team. If you see like an amazing pitch and you're like, wow, like, I love the like this guy's ability or a guy who hits a lot of really far home runs or has a certain style on defense, like a happy bias or like Didi, for example, has a certain style to them that I think people like can't get enough of. So I think like a lot of it is like what you're showing, you know, what people are showing. But I just think you've got to be yourself. I mean, that's why I post my photography. It's not for any reason, except like that's just how I like to express myself. One of the things that you just mentioned was the fact that when you do video, you get to document something, tell a story. When you had Tommy John surgery, the 16 weeks after you actually documented that using the GoPro and one of the things that really sticks out about that video is that a lot of people hear about Tommy John surgery. They know about it, but they don't actually see what happens behind the scenes. And you did a great job at documenting that and showing that to people. Thanks. Yeah, for that, I mean, I didn't know what I was going to get out of it. I remember as soon as I got the surgery, being on the plane and thinking, man, like I really like should have documented how nervous I was the night before and the immediate aftermath, but I did it and being kind of bummed about it and being like, you know what, I'm just going to start now because my rehab starts basically tomorrow when I get into Colorado. So that's what I did. And I just took a couple of clips every day, like basically detailing what I was doing over time and every day, give me a little side project. So I would go home and edit a little bit, add something, edit it, add something, edit it, you know, and I just felt like the vibe of it was like this lonely vibe that a lot of people don't realize how lonely you are. And it's like such a mental battle to like get back. So that's kind of what I wanted to portray in the video. Looking back, how fortunate are you to be in this situation? And I've gotten to this point because a lot of people have Tommy John surgery and sometimes that's it. Yeah. Well, I think, you know, it's not just the injuries. It's just baseball in general is a short-lived thing. I'm 33 now. I signed when I was 20. So, you know, I'm not a math major, but that's 13 or 14 years, depending on how you look at it. And you just don't know how that's going to happen. And everybody that I came up playing with, for the most part, I stopped playing except for a few guys. And so I just feel fortunate to have been through a lot of ups and downs performance-wise, but also injury-wise and to still be going and doing what I love to do and believing that this is going to be my best year and, you know, always like having that enthusiasm towards the new season and hopefully I can keep going. But that's the biggest thing for me is just the longevity of it all is what I'm most proud of. And the Tommy John aspect of it was kind of like I knew I could come back, but like come back and still be effective as a different question. So that took a lot of effort and belief like inter-belief for sure. And you give a lot of credit towards the lab that you got in Harlem. For me, it was more of like a place that you can go and work on your on your craft and not be on anybody else's time. The beautiful thing about the lab situation is that I could go any time of the day. I can go in the middle of the night when I have the itch and I don't have to rely on other people's schedules. And I had like a target and a bucket of balls. I could do my throwing and I don't need a partner and I can go get my mind in my mind right there. And then at the same time, it's a place that you can open up to friends and to other people who have shared goals and try to use it as you know, a great resource for them to get better. So that was kind of the thing about the lab. I mean, all of the technology stuff, like that's just me embracing any possibility of a way to get better. So I was willing to do that. But for me, just having the space was the most unique thing. I'd never been in a situation like that before where like I had something that was my own and I could use it as I wanted. You open it up to people who are in a similar situation and like-minded people. Baseball is an art form and something that you're always working towards. No matter what level you're at, there's always time that you can improve on things. And so I just wanted to create an atmosphere of like everybody's kind of on equal footing here. Everybody's working towards getting a little better. And this is a place where you can be yourself and have fun. There's not any critical like I on you, except for helping each other out. But the whole secret like lab part of it is kind of funny because there is a bus station right outside and there are people sometimes like what's going on in there? And I love that aspect of it, that it's something happening in a place that you wouldn't expect. You're not going to have it all too much longer. Yeah, I mean, it's probably going to end up me and Chipotle or an escalator down to an underground shop, right? So yeah, so the original lab location will be no more. But I still want to continue to train the same way and continue to try to find a place somewhere and make the lab 2.0 and basically try to keep it around because I think it's a good thing, a useful thing. And for me, and if I want to be my best, I actually think I kind of need something like that. So have you spoke with any of the Chipotle people yet? No, that's my father-in-law situation, but it's pretty funny. I'm sure for the rest of my life, I'll be going past that storefront and just thinking, like, they have no idea that I used to like train in there, you know? Your father-in-law is a good negotiator. The way that you were able to get in there was a signing on our Nato bat, right? Yeah. Yeah. All right. So when you do talk to him and he eventually talks to the Chipotle people, yeah, you got to try to get a lifetime Chipotle card. I know, you know, our friend Alex Katz has been telling me that for years. Got to get the Chipotle card, got to get the lifetime deal. And we'll see what we can do about that. If you did, that would be, that would be amazing. Built on burritos, what do you think? It seems like wherever there's a Chipotle, there's a Starbucks. Always. Now we're going to go to Starbucks. Perfect. Get a little something, even though we have some in the car right now. I need a refill. You always go with the black coffee? Always. Grande iced americano, but a quad americano, so extra shot. And then I'll just sip on it all day, keep my caffeine level at like the perfect level right below a jitter. I get coffee every day, I mean, but Starbucks, for me, it's just that it's a consistent place. If I'm somewhere I don't know about any like really cool coffee spot, then I'll go to Starbucks. One of my favorite things to do, go to Chipotle, get a bowl, and then I end up getting tired. So I'll just walk next door and I'll go to Starbucks. You get the itus from all the meat, and then you wake yourself back up with a coffee. And then I top it off with one of the Rice Krispie treats, which those are amazing, which somebody recently told me, and it might be you, that you justify that by saying it's basically a bowl of cereal. No chance. But I like the effort, though. Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, calories are better than no calories. That's for sure. You know when there's certain people that you click with better than others? Yep. And sometimes you're like, wow, I wonder why. Do you ever check to see when it's somebody's birthday? Sometimes I've I've noticed that like after a while, but I don't generally seek out people's birthdays too often. But yeah, sometimes I have noticed that, like, you know, the most awesome people are born similar to me. If that's what you mean. Hey, when's your birthday? November 19th. Well, there you go. November 22nd. Yes, three days. That's no wonder. There's something to it for sure. My wife believes in all that, too. I mean, she's an October and so all our kids were born basically right right near her October, November, pretty close anyway. So our whole family is like within two months span of birthdays. Basically, if there's anybody on the team that you get along with really well, don't ask them their birthday and then just a month later. Check it. Yeah, check it out. Check out the roster. Okay. What about like a half birthday? My uncle is May 22nd, which is exactly my half birthday. And he thinks that's the greatest thing. He always tells me happy half birthday on his birthday. And I'm like, you're trying to remind me that's your birthday. I'm well aware. Do you try to text your friends and like your family happy birthday first thing in the morning, or is it kind of like that situation? Like you're texting and you have no, you don't even realize till later. I try to get the text out early because I think that that shows, you know, especially somebody that I care about shows that I'm thinking about them on their birthday. But of course, there's been times where I've forgotten and then had that moment and then have to be like, well, I tried to get, get, get to it earlier, but I was busy and I wanted to make sure I had enough time for my schedule and, uh, but so here basically I'm saying happy birthday now and see how that flies. My wife is good about telling me ahead of time, like, you know, tomorrow is so-and-so's birthday. It's like, oh, okay, gotcha. Have you ever had a full conversation with somebody not realizing it was their birthday? 100% definitely. Yeah. That happens in baseball sometimes. I don't try to look up everybody's birthday. The Rockies, they would send us a group text about people's birthdays, but there's been some times where he was late on it and then I didn't know. And then you're talking to somebody the whole day and then they're like telling you, oh, you know, yeah, you know, my family's in town. You're like, oh, that's cool. Oh, you know, uh, going out for a dinner tonight. Oh, really? All right. Yeah, cool. Why, why is everybody in town? Well, today's my birthday. Oh, should I have known that? Sorry, man. That type of thing. One of the best parts about birthdays is that like when you go to like certain stores or you sign up for all these memberships and apps on your phone and then next thing you know, you're getting all these birthday emails. Oh yeah. Enjoy this free cup of coffee. Yeah. And that's why like when they ask you your birthday, originally you're like, is this going to pay off for me or should I lie? But you better tell them the truth to get that free. Or I guess if you would just get a free thing on a random day, if you told them a fake birthday. Because they never really checked. It's not like they're looking up your birth certificate. Yeah, that's true. Would you go back into the app and keep changing your birthday? Do you find a way to get free coffee all the time? Keep creating a new app and getting a, wow. This is a loophole Starbucks. I'm sure you've probably done this before. We had to go out to you with teammates, but you go out somewhere and you tell the waiter it's a waitress. Oh yeah, to embarrass them. Yeah, I'm too sensitive for that. You can't do that to me. I don't like people singing happy birthday to me. I embarrass my wife one time. They started singing happy birthday to me at dinner at a nowhere to blow up the candle like within three seconds of the song. And she was like, what is wrong with you? You won't let us celebrate you. And I'm like, I've just felt uncomfortable. I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you. Italian love it. What's the go to dish? Veal parm. Veal parm. Yeah. Do you make it yourself? No, but I could. I mean, maybe I could, but generally no, I trust the veal to the professionals. I don't have the full accent, but I'm, you know, on some stuff. Calmar, mozzarella, capicola, mortadella, like ricotta cheese, people will say like ricotta. And you're like, I don't think that's spelled that way. But where's the H? Yeah. Yeah, I always feel weird. I don't know which way to pronounce it. My dad will say bruschetta and I'm like, I say bruschetta. Like, you know, they know what we mean, you know, I don't want to offend them by trying and being wrong. Then there's certain things that how I always heard it when I was little was Vasta Vajúl. Vasta Vajúl, yes. Yes, that's one. What about Ajeda? Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. That's just something that like is just in the in the lingo of like Brooklyn, I think, you know, like this traffic is giving me a lot of Ajeda today or, you know, things like that. We used to definitely say Ajeda, no doubt. I've had people for sure be like, what, what are you talking about? And it's like, you know, Ajeda, like, you know, anxiety kind of like nervousness. Isn't it funny when you meet somebody who's from Brooklyn or I found me from Brooklyn and right away it's like, oh, I'm from Brooklyn. They get so excited to find out like, Brooklyn, really? Like you grew up there. It's like, yeah, they're like, where at? Well, like my whole family grew up there or I know somebody. It's like somebody knows somebody from somebody that is in Brooklyn. It's crazy. The last time that I went through a Starbucks with somebody Yankee related was John Sterling. Yes, I'm ordering coffee for the whole broadcast department. It was definitely a fun experience. Hearing him say like, can I please have a iced caramel macchiato like in his like John Sterling voice. Yes. One venti cold brew with almond milk and light on the ice, please. Well, how do you walk around in life with that voice? No, I do. So iconic. And just in case of extra innings, I'll take an espresso macchiato. Thank you. What are you going to get from here? Usually I get cold brew, resident iced coffee. OK, so cold brew. Always black, though. Always black. Yeah, that's nice. Wait, didn't you tell me the other day that you tried goat milk? Goat milk, yeah. But they should get goat milk here. That'd be sweet. It'd be nice to have that option. Goat milk with goat cheese on the side. Yeah, that's what that's what we need. More goat. Goat products. That would be like my first commercial as a Yankee, like after I come out of the game. I reach for my goat cheese and goat milk in my coffee. It's good for the breaking ball. You're just going to ask for another one of those? Or would you switch it up a little bit? I don't know that I'm going to get anything. Maybe I'll get a cold brew. Tall cold brew, just black. Venti cold brew, black. Light on the ice, please. Is there a worse place to be when you want coffee than a packed drive-through? No. There's no escape route. What I always end up doing is a mobile order and then wait for it so it's clearly ready and then hop out and run and grab it, run back. It's like, I've thought about this. You guys are rookies. You guys are amateurs in this coffee game. Do you ever leave a different name anywhere? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't tell you it. But I've thought about changing it, but it's like pretty comfortable being the person I am on the road. I love it when they call up and they call me Mr. So-and-So. And it's like, yep, that's me, even though it's not. I'm always thinking of a good alias name. Anytime I hear a cool name in a movie, I'm like, oh man, maybe that. That could be the new one or something. It's like a window into your personality a little bit. I've never really thought about that. Bad or like a gamer tag? Like if you're an online gamer, what do you name yourself? That says a lot too. You pick that name. You pick something to call yourself. So it shows what you think of yourself a little bit. What a cute little coffee. Thank you very much. Should we stop and get some goat milk for this? Maybe we can find a goat just hanging out somewhere. Your last name. Yeah. Being from the area. Being number zero. It seems like there's a lot of potential for a sweet nickname. Yeah. I don't know. Be curious to see what else comes up down the pike. But every male in my family has always ended up being an auto at some point. And that's been me for a while now. And people just get comfortable calling me oh or auto. People come up with funny stuff around the number zero. But we'll see what they come up with. Like the number zero. Seen it so far in the jersey looks pretty sweet. Yeah. I don't know what it looks like because I can't see my back. But yeah. It's there. I'm sure everybody lets you know that your number zero. Yeah. So many people are like I just can never get used to that. Never can never get used to seeing that. And I'm like oh yeah. I always forget about it.