Matt Hogan 1st 2 Run HR Today @MattHogan10 @PBRNewYork @axcessbaseball pic.twitter.com/GxwebAPrJl
— Rich Hogan (@RichHogan4) April 21, 2018
Editor’s Note: Matt is a 2018 graduate of Half Hollow Hills East. He was a five-year varsity player. He returned from a serious back injury that occurred during his junior year and bounced back in a big way by winning the 2018 Carl Yastrzemski Award – given annually to the top player in Suffolk County. From there, he went on to attend Vanderbilt University. All they did was defeat the University of Michigan in the College World Series, which was Coach Tim Corbin’s second of the decade.
He came on Instagram live to talk about a variety of topics. It has been shortened for brevity.
What separates Coach Tim Corbin from every other collegiate coach?
A lot of it comes down to attention to detail. He’s the best. He takes it to a whole other level and it’s in the best way possible. He sees things before they happen. He’s got eyes at the back of his head all the time. It’s very hard to describe how incredible he is when it comes to baseball. Sometimes, I’ll be standing in the dugout and I’ll hear [him] call out a play before it even happens. It’s such an extreme amount of knowledge that he has and it’s unbelievable to be around every single day. Sometimes he’ll move an infielder over two steps to the left, and sure enough, the ball goes exactly there.
What’s a typical practice like for Vanderbilt?
I can’t go into too much detail on that one. But our practices are open, I know that for sure. It’s probably like any other school, just a little more detail focused. We work on the small things and try to get those right, and I think that’s what’s most important. That’s what Corbin emphasized the most: do the small things right and the big things will take care of themselves.
What was the energy like in classes when you guys were national champions? Was there a difference in the way students treated you?
The thing is that we train a lot. And we’re very centrally focused on baseball, that means that we don’t really go out much. We tend to be more focused on the baseball and academic aspect of everything. I feel the students that have been consistent throughout and have been tremendous. You look at the academic standards it takes to get into Vanderbilt and they are top of the line. They show up to our games, they cheer us all on, but they’re very respectful and they give them their space. It’s such a good level of respect, I can’t even describe it.
You overcame a back injury in 11th grade at Hills East and not only returned but won the Carl Yastrzemski Award. How much did the injury hurt and how much work did it take to come back from that?
If I’m being honest, the amount of pain I was in was a lot. It was close to excruciating. I’d get up to the plate and I’d have one pitch in mind that I could swing at, but the others I’d try to avoid because it was going to hurt my back. It was not fun at all. But I never considered quitting baseball. I was 100 percent playing no matter what. They put me in a back brace for nine weeks straight, 23 hours a day, and I could only take it off when I had to shower. I was locked into this thing. I was completely shut down from everything. My muscles weren’t firing at the right times, but my physical therapist helped out with that. I started to get better and my spine has perfect alignment. There was no surgery, it was just that back brace. And after that, it was just a steady slope back to baseball.
Who helped you get back to your old self?
Tons of people. Bobby DeMichael helped me out a ton, Tom Downey, Joe Francisco. There was just such a collection of effort from everyone. I was just so thankful for everyone going out of their way to help me. I genuinely feel as if I owe them for all the help that they gave me. I also have to thank my parents, my brother, and my sister. They are my foundation. Without them, I would completely fall. I owe them so much because they saw the entire emotional aspect of it. They kept me level-headed and I was so grateful to have them. I consider myself so lucky.
Could you tell a story about getting recruited?
The way my recruitment worked, it was pretty early. I was in 8th grade and I did my first showcase. Obviously, no schools could reach out to me then. I ended up doing pretty well. In 9th grade, I heard my name getting out there but I didn’t really think too much of it. My parents told me to make a list of the schools I would want to go to. And for me, I wanted a really good academic school and I wanted the field to be on-campus. Vanderbilt was the one that had always stood out to me. That was just my favorite by far. Especially in 2014 when they won that first World Series. I went to the Vanderbilt summer camp where they allow high school prospects to come in and showcase their stuff. On the first day, I was in the freshman/sophomore group. And the next day, I was in the junior/senior group. And then by the end of the camp, I ended up winning best offensive player of the camp. From there, it was kind of quiet. But, two weeks later, Vanderbilt reached out to my coach and Scott Brown flew to Stony Brook to watch me play. And then, I ended up calling him and that was it. It was a very short process, but I’d say the absolute best way of getting in front of college coaches would be this. If you have a specific college in mind, go to the camp.
What’s the coolest college stadium that you played at?
Honestly, I really liked UCLA’s field. I liked how there were palm trees in the background. I really like the yellow and blue colors, obviously not as good as Vanderbilt’s. But I liked those. USC had a really nice field as well.
You got called up to varsity at Hills East in 8th grade. Did you feel like you were welcomed when you were the youngest player on the team?
I think I was more than welcomed. Some of them were friend’s older brothers at the time. Those guys were awesome. I still have relationships with those guys today because they’re just nice people. They were so inviting and I really appreciated that.
Favorite player in Major League Baseball?
I’d have to say Derek Jeter and Mike Trout
