Teams 
Q: Kurt, My question is more of a thank you than a question. As a longtime Titan baseball fan I truly appreciate your efforts to help Jon Willhite. Please keep us Titan fans updated on upcoming fundraisers. I would be honored to bid on items to help a former Titan. Keep up with the great work. - Patrick Brauer, San Diego
A: Thank you. There's a silent auction going on May 22-24 at the Long Beach State/Cal State Fullerton series in Fullerton. There will be a huge online auction on our team website the month of June. And then mystery baseballs will be sold here on July 18 and 19, and the A's will host a silent auction here in Oakland during the game on August 1. Hopefully we will be able to raise a lot of money to help out Jon's rehab costs.
Q: I've noticed that you get signs for pitch selection from manager Bob Geren when there are men on base. Do you call the pitches yourself at all other times or does the manager send you pitch selections in other situations? - Rick Freudenberger, San Jose
A: He never gives me pitch selections; those are if he wants me to pick-off or pitch out or things like that. I call all the pitches all the time, every game.
Q: Out of all the catchers who have played for the A's (including in Philadelphia and Kansas City) which one do you admire most and why? - David Anderson, Monterrey
A: I can't really date back that far, but I liked watching Ramon Hernandez when he was here. I think he's probably one of the best receiving catchers in the game. Defensively, he can catch, block and throw. Plus, he can hit too. I think he would definitely be the best.
Q: Who have you always wanted to catch retired or not? - Samantha Caballero, Dublin
A: It would be cool catching Greg Maddux, just because of the control that he has with his pitches. I think it would be fun to just put the glove there and have him hit it every time, because as a catcher, it's nice to have a pitcher who hits your glove wherever you put it.
Q: What do you enjoy to do in your spare time? - Leanea Padilla, San Francisco
A: I like watching TV. I really just like hanging out. I like waking up late, sleeping in, turning on the TV and just lounge around the couch and maybe get a massage or go to the mall. I like to do anything that gets my mind off baseball.
Q: Do you perform any kind of ritual before you catch a game? Are you superstitious? - Brad Chook, Dublin
A: Yes, I do have rituals, to explain them all might take some timeĀ just kidding. I always wear the same undershirt, socks, puka shells and use the same kind of eye drops. I also do the same warm-ups in the batting cage before I go on the field.
Q: Kurt, What has been the best moment or highlight of your career so far? - Denise Daleski, Duluth
A: Being a locker mate with "El Niño" - Jack Cust. He just keeps me loose in the clubhouse getting ready for the games. I'm only kidding. I'd have to say the best moment were my two walk-off homers against the White Sox. One of them was a pinch hit. Getting any kind of walk-off hit is great, let alone hitting a walk-off home run is huge. It's awesome.
Q: You and Shane Victorino are two of my favorite MLB players because you both seem to balance fierce competitiveness with a sense of fun - it is a game after all. Do you think it's just a coincidence that you're both from Hawaii or does it say something about the way baseball is played on the islands? Aloha. - Matt Scribner, Santa Rosa
A: I don't think it's the way baseball is played; I think it's our personalities. I think it's everyone's personalities. Everybody wants to win, that's the fun part of the game. I think with my personality, I like to have fun. I try to be as relaxed as I can and I try to remember that baseball is a game. I try to remember the times when I was nine, 10-years old and I had fun and I just enjoyed being out there. I try to keep that same mentality now.
Q: As a Maui guy working in the Bay Area, do you find yourself missing Hawaii often and how do you satisfy any cravings you have for Hawaiian food or culture? - Garrett Kuramoto, Sunnyvale
A: I don't really have too many places up here to go to eat Hawaiian foods. But my parents come up here every once and awhile, like once a month. They come up here and bring me some frozen Hawaiian food. They freeze it and bring it on the plane and bring it up to me. I get it that way and I definitely miss the weather - that's for sure! In the Bay Area it's usually always cold or really, really hot. I definitely miss the weather of Hawaii.
Q: Where's the best Hawaiian food in the Bay Area? - Kaikane Kaikane, Honolulu
A: There's a place in San Ramon that I go to, it's called the Kilohana Grill. It's really good. It's as close as you can get to eating back home.
Q: What is the funniest thing that has happened in the locker room pre- and post-game so far this season? - Kelli Limi, Spreckles
A: It would probably be Jack Cust coming in the locker room telling stories. You have to be around him to understand it, but it's just Cust being Cust. He's always joking around and always has some kind of story about the night before, or something that happened 10 years ago in the minors. Another funny thing is the pictures that Russ Springer puts above everyone's lockers. He put a picture of Chris Farley above Cust's locker and he put a picture of a baby pumping his fist above Andrew Bailey's locker. It's just funny and is something for us to laugh about.
Q: Are you ever able to influence an umpire's calls on pitches over the course of a game? What sort of relationship can you build with an umpire? I'm sure each umpire is different, but are there common threads they share? - Jeremy Conn, Pt. Richmond
A: I think it's huge being able to build that relationship. I've been getting respect from a lot of umpires and I keep trying to build those relationships. You do get call sometimes, but at the same time, it's a job and they have to do the best they can. They have to call strikes when they are strikes and balls when they are balls. But, maybe if you have a good relationship with them you can get that borderline pitch called as a strike. I just try to build those relationships. You don't ever want to show them up or argue with them. You try to talk to them more so as a friend, because if you work with umpires, they'll work with you. You try to take care of each other.
Q: How do you like playing with the veterans like Jason Giambi, Matt Holliday, Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra? What have you learned from them that has helped you? -Yvonne Brown, Emeryville
A: I've learned about their preparation and the mentality they have of going about their business. They've been doing it for so long and have been successful for so long that you almost want to follow their lead and watch how they prepare. You want to incorporate some of their pre- and post-game preparation and how they work out after the game and keep their bodies in shape. I try to incorporate that in my routine and do what's best for me. I've learned a lot from just watching them and how they handle the ups and downs that come in a season. Everybody will have them no matter who you are. I've watched their mentality and how they're always confident and they always know things will balance out in the end. It's a comforting feeling knowing it's never the end of the world when you hit a little bump in the road. Watching them makes it easier for me to accept the fact that there will be bumps in the road, but it's all about how you come out of them.
Q: Your number seems to change every season - what's the reason? - Jill Lewis, San Lorenzo
A: No. 28, I didn't choose that number when I first got called up. So the next year I chose No. 24. Little did I know, it was Rickey Henderson's number. Everyone knows what he's done - he's had an unbelievable career. So I changed my number just in case, or when they decide to retire his number and I didn't want to have to change it at the last second. I figured I might as well get a number that I'll stick with for as long as I'm here. So that's why I changed my number, and trust me, this is going to be the last time I do it. Unless, No. 8 gets retired. As long as I'm here, I'll be No. 8.
Q: We always here about pitchers and big hitters. I personally think a good catcher plays an important roll in making a pitcher a good one. Who was your most favorite catcher and why did you become a catcher? - Carrie Hogan, Woodland
A: There's a bunch of great catchers, but I'd say Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. He's one of everybody's favorites. He did it all. When I was younger I liked he and Jason Varitek, who's awesome both defensively and offensively. Those are two guys who I really like watching play. The reason I play catcher is because when I was a kid I always liked to be involved. If I wasn't involved in every play, I'd be bored out there. I wanted to be involved and as a catcher you get to be involved in every play. You're a big part of the game. You're controlling the tempo of the game and you're involved in everything. That was one of the reasons I liked being a catcher. The other, was that I got to put on the gear.
Q: With so many young starting pitchers on your staff how are you helping them with the mental part of the game? - Mark Alhadate, Fremont
A: With this being my second full season I've been through a lot from being called up and playing the last two years. There's been a lot of stuff that I've learned mentally. I try to help them through it and keep them relaxed. I let them know it's still a game and tell them to keep doing what they've been doing that made them successful to this point. I tell them to just have fun and relax. Jason Kendall used to tell me when I first got up, "It's the same game, just more people watching and that makes it more fun." That's the way I look at it now. He used to always tell me that and that's what I tell our guys.
Q: I am very impressed that as a catcher you are able to play virtually every day and perform at a high level. Could you explain what in your fitness regiment and psychological attitude allows you to do this? - Jan Winitz, Oakland
A: I've always looked at my job like I'm here to play baseball. If you don't want to play every day then you're obviously doing the wrong thing. When I come to the field, I want to play every day. This is what I want to do; I want to be a baseball player. It does wear on me mentally and I have to keep my focus, because at the position I play I get rundown quite a bit. But I do a lot in the weight room with our strength coach probably five days a week. I'm in the gym after the games lifting weights, trying to maintain the strength I built up in the offseason. The biggest thing is being mentally strong and keeping your mind ready to play on a daily basis. That's the most important thing. Your mind does it all for you. Your mind can pretty much put your body in a good position or a bad position. You have to keep your mind strong and keep yourself focused to play every day.
