Take Six With Orioles Prospect L.J. Hoes

C.C.: How did you get your start playing baseball?
L. J.: My Uncle, my Grandpa, and my Dad played. I was in the back yard playing with them. I used to run around in the outfield shagging balls. I pretty much learned baseball through them.

C.C.: Did you always play outfield?
L. J.: I played infield growing up. When I got to high school, they moved me to the outfield. I got drafted and they moved me back to the infield, then in 2011 they moved me back to the outfield.

C.C.: You’re from Washington, D.C. Is playing in the Baltimore organization sort of a homecoming?
L. J.: Yea, definitely. There were no Nationals when I was growing up, but there were the Orioles. I used to go to games and watch Eddie Murray, Mike Devereaux, Harold Baines, and Albert Belle. I was always an Orioles fan growing up so just to have the opportunity to play for them has been tremendous.

C.C.: What was going through your head the day of your MLB debut?
L. J.: I was just so excited. It was something I dreamed of. I always wanted to play for the Orioles and just to play in front of my family and just to have the opportunity to get called up. I couldn’t ask for more.

C.C. Could you walk me through a typical game day?
L. J.: I get here around one-thirty. I do some treatment, get in the whirlpool to get my body loose, then go hit in the cage for a little bit. Then after batting practice, I go back in and have a little snack followed by preparing for the game.

C.C.: You’re a speedy guy. Do your pride yourself on stealing bases?
L. J.: I do. Just to create havoc on the field and try to create holes and have a lot of guys hit me in. That’s the game, trying to score runs to beat the other team. Anyway to use my legs and try to score runs is what I do.

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