Corporal Brannan

[Griff]

You go Marine.

SCHWARZ: I know you wound up pitching on some military all-star teams, but then everything changed when you went to a radio station in San Diego and ran into a former Marine named Sandy Alderson, who just happens to be CEO of the Padres.

BRANNAN: My buddy and I, a fellow wounded Marine, we were there at the station to talk about our injuries, our experience, and Mr. Anderson and Bud Black, the new manager, came in. My buddy goes, "Here's your chance, man. If you don't do it, I'm doing it." So he goes up to him and I kid you not, he goes, "Hey, you've got to check my boy out, he throws pretty hard, you've got to give him a tryout." But Sandy Alderson took it very serious, and Buddy Black too.

I told him, "You don't have to play favorites with me. I just want to see if I still have it." This is something that I've always been wanting to do my whole life, and now I'm going to hit the ground running, man.

Whether he sticks or not, its a good story.