Interviews with Nick Kingham, Jameson Taillon, Alex Dickerson and Gregory Polanco

Once a year we take my show up to Altoona. If you have never been, it's about one hour and 45 minutes from Pittsburgh and they have a great park and the people there couldn't be nicer. Rob Egan, the GM, and Mike Passanisi, the Director of Communications and play-by-play man, have done a great job with the franchise. The trip has become one of the highlights of the year for me.

One of the things I enjoy is the opportunity to meet and speak with some of the Pirates' best prospects. Yesterday I had a chance to catch up with the four players listed below. Their names are highlighted with links to the interviews. As I'm sure you would guess interviewing someone in the same room makes it easier to communicate and interact. Each one of the young men that joined me could not have been more polite and respectful while at the same time relaxed and confident. They all spoke of the organization with great pride. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Some great conversations about development as players and as people. The interviews with Kingham and Dickerson are about 6:30, Taillion is 9:30 and Polanco is 4:30.

I'll also note that English is obviously Polanco's second language. He doesn't speak it perfectly, but he was fully engaged in our conversation and made a lot of hand gestures and motions to get his points across. That won't come across as well in the audio but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Nick Kingham

Jameson Taillon

Alex Dickerson and Gregory Polanco

Also

GM Rob Egan

and the Voice of the Curve Mike Passanisi