Tamara Holmes - Baseball Player, Firefighter, Athlete, Parent & Mentor

218 Tamara Holmes, Pan-Am games gold medal winner on BaseballBiz 

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I'm Mark Corbett, your host. And with me today, I have Tamara Holmes and man, I'll tell you what. I thought I knew what women's baseball was about until I met this lady and she woke me up.

[00:00:13] Mark Corbett: So I got to say, I had a great opportunity to see Tamara and several other young women in Sarasota this past November at the American women's baseball professional classic. I think I got that right. Close enough, I guess, but Tamara, welcome. How are you doing? 

[00:00:30] Tamara Holmes: I'm good mark. Oh, 

[00:00:32] Mark Corbett: you know what? I mean, I look at you and I think, geez, there's a woman who lives a life with purpose.

[00:00:38] Mark Corbett: She's a baseball player. , she played volleyball. She's a weight lifter. She's a business woman who has her own training facility. And I had two of the, that's a firefighter. . Oh, and a parent and you married to boot. My gosh. Anybody want to fill a day? It sounds like you've got it.

[00:00:55] Tamara Holmes: It looks like you've done your homework, Mark. 

[00:00:58] Mark Corbett: Every now and then I try to, , in, in one of the things I brought up family, it's, it's interesting to me because part of that homework that you're talking about, I was looking at it. So what, like you grew up mostly in Albany, California, am I correct?

[00:01:11] Mark Corbett: That's correct. And now you're, in Oakland, which is just right down the road. , is that accurate as well? 

[00:01:18] Tamara Holmes: Well, yeah, so I currently now work in Oakland and live in Sacramento, but I did live in Berkeley than Oakland for a long time. And then, , in 2015 I moved to Sacramento. 

[00:01:29] Mark Corbett: I mean, to me, it's great because I feel like a sense of roots in that area.

[00:01:33] Mark Corbett: You're part of a community and you've got so much going on when I look at you from a baseball perspective, the things that you've achieved. Let me bring up some of my notes here. , if I'm looking and I'm saying, well, let's see everything from little league.

[00:01:49] Mark Corbett: And getting into that, I know the story I read in the, who was a Jennifer Ring who wrote, , had a chapter on you and her book. And one of the things she was talking about was in little league and your father went and asked to make sure a young lady could play. Because that was a new idea for a lot of people.

[00:02:08] Mark Corbett: But the thing was, thank goodness, there was no argument there, but as you grew older, there were impediments as far as having a young girl being able to play baseball.

[00:02:18] Tamara Holmes: Yeah. You know, I'm very fortunate to grow up in the, in the Bay area at the time that I did. And like you said, when I inquired in the eighties, About playing little league baseball, there was no pushback and, and, you know, even to this day and up to that point, it was like a time where, like, easily that could have been a no.

[00:02:36] Tamara Holmes: So I, I had, , a very fruitful little league career, great coaches. , you know, read some grumbling as I got up in an age in high school and, and ran into a few issues trying to play high school. My first high school, , I got cut the first year, , and it was totally my fault. I just, , you know, was for the first time in my life insecure about who and what I am and went out for the wrong position plain as simple as that second, the second year.

[00:03:07] Tamara Holmes: Came back play the position. I was supposed to made the team, but we ended up moving to a different district because my sister was a track athlete and that school had cut their track program. So my sister and I ended up moving into Berkeley and going to Berkeley high so that she could finish up her track.

[00:03:24] Tamara Holmes: And she ended up being a collegiate athlete for track. And so baseball then started taking a backseat because I was on the basketball team, volleyball team, and our basketball team won state. So it's like all these things. And then I tried to go out my senior year in baseball and the coach at that team cut me.

[00:03:40] Tamara Holmes: And I thought the excuse he gave me made more sense than any of the other ones I heard where he's like, Hey, you're a senior. I'd rather take a junior. I could keep for two years. Fine. But then he did. I saw him, you know, later after I graduated and he apologized. He's like, Hey, you know what? You were the better player.

[00:03:58] Tamara Holmes: I should have taken you and, , you know, so I, I, I obviously missed out on that, but appreciated, , him kind of coming clean about that. But it didn't hurt my baseball career because. Fast forward a few years into college, I left college and then tried out for the Silver Bullets, , Colorado Silver Bullets.

[00:04:16] Tamara Holmes: It was the all women's traveling baseball team and left school for a number of years to go barnstorm and play with that team for two seasons. 

[00:04:24] Mark Corbett: You know, you mentioned that barnstorming, you know, I keep thinking back to the Negro leagues when they were going everywhere. , right now I'm putting something together on, , John Henry, pop Lloyd, who is this amazing, , shortstop.

[00:04:38] Mark Corbett: And I'm looking at it because he's from this area that he started here, but I mean, he went, went everywhere. And you think about the barnstorming because you would run up against. All these other teams and in the Negro Leagues at that point, they were actually playing against some other major leaguers, like down in the beach in Cuba or elsewhere.

[00:04:56] Mark Corbett: And there would be just all these different types of people that you would be playing against now with you, with the, with the bullets, this was an all women's team. You actually had the opportunity to what to play, , against some other men teams. Is that accurate? 

[00:05:10] Tamara Holmes: Yeah. So they would, I would say the caliber of teams that we would find would be.

[00:05:15] Tamara Holmes: Anywhere from like, single a level to double a, , we did get a chance to play against Taiwan's major league. , that was pretty incredible. And oddly enough within that they had a few Americans on the team. But they wouldn't let the Americans pitch against us because they pitched in, like, the high 90s.

[00:05:34] Tamara Holmes: So we face, like, the high 80s to low 90s, , Taiwanese players. So, , we, we did have , some good competition and, and I want to say maybe at the youngest or lowest level was, a boys, like, 18 year old, , all star team. At which, you know, we had our famed team brawl against, too. So, yeah. 

[00:05:55] Mark Corbett: Well, you were a record breaker with them, too.

[00:05:58] Mark Corbett: You did something that the Bullets hadn't seen before. And not only was it, it was a home run, if I remember correctly. 

[00:06:05] Tamara Holmes: Yeah, it was a homerun, but it was an inside the park grand slam. Yeah, yeah, that's a lot of running.

[00:06:13] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I was going to say, you got to hustle. If that ball's still inside the park, that must've been something.

[00:06:18] Tamara Holmes: And it was fortunate because our center fielder was playing too far in. Right. Obviously. And so dead center, center field is like 480. Right. So. You get a center fielder that's not, , playing deep enough. So it goes deep center field. Plus once it gets that deep and you're running, you got to have, , , even for guys in a double cut and a, and a, and a good cut.

[00:06:41] Tamara Holmes: So, , everything kind of lined up.

[00:06:45] Mark Corbett: I love that. I wish the team had continued on because wasn't that the last year for the silver bullets. 

[00:06:50] Tamara Holmes: That the, the 1st, that was the 2nd, the last year. So I, that was my inaugural year that I played and then the following year after the end of that season, that was the last.

[00:06:59] Tamara Holmes: So that was 96. I believe 95 96.

[00:07:02] Mark Corbett: What do you think was the cause of that? Was it just a lack of, I mean, lack of interest or, , support? What was the 

[00:07:12] Tamara Holmes: More so support, right? I mean, in our eyes, , with a sponsor like Coors, right? That the, I think, you know, our payroll out for that time probably had to be somewhere like around two million dollars or so.

[00:07:27] Tamara Holmes: You know, maybe to a big corporation, that's a drop in the bucket, but obviously again, that's their corporation to do what they want with their money. We heard various things of, well, we don't necessarily want to associate women's baseball with beer. And that was probably like, the nice way of saying, but it's like, at the same time, we would go to these, what we call promotions, we'd go to a bar And, like, try to, you know, like, talk to about about our game and give out some tickets or things.

[00:07:54] Tamara Holmes: So, , I don't think that was necessarily it because you also had your beer girls there. Right? So, if you really didn't want to associate. , women or women athletes with it, , I think it's just, they wanted to do something else and , you run into the issue. I'm sure business wise is like, how if, how do I sell this?

[00:08:13] Tamara Holmes: And if they aren't getting the word out and, you know, we'd have actually pretty good crowd. So, I think you just need to be patient with the process of it. , but it, it kind of fizzled out and, and no one else picked, picked it up. 

[00:08:28] Mark Corbett: That's a daggone shame because that's. That's the thing you see a good idea, you see something that gets the legs and there's certain something good's happening with it.

[00:08:37] Mark Corbett: And then because it's dependent upon one or two people or one or two organizations, it could come to a halt. And that, that, that bothers me a great deal because I'm looking also with women's baseball overall right now, what was it with the, the Pan Am games, , women, there was women's baseball on that.

[00:08:57] Mark Corbett: Peru and they got cut when they were going to happen to prove, I think, and I can't remember the year 

[00:09:03] Tamara Holmes: it's because we, we went to the Pan Ams in 2015, which was an incredible experience. Right? Like. That is, you know, a smaller Olympic stage in which, current future Olympians qualify for the actual Olympics.

[00:09:16] Tamara Holmes: So how we got there was, , just an act of goodness. I think because it was in Canada, Canada had pull, , and, you know, like, let me, as you say that's funny. I put this medal away, but like, super proud of this because a lot of times we played in our world cups and the medals. You know, God bless. They are like out of a gumball machine sometimes, but like the weight of this.

[00:09:38] Tamara Holmes: Oh, my gosh. Yeah, this is this is incredible, right? This is like Olympic caliber right here. Oh, wow. Beautiful. And I need to, you know, put it in a lockbox somewhere. But, , this is what, you know, is capable, what we're capable of. So since then, yes, like, even, but they even take softball out of the Olympics and, , , baseball too.

[00:10:01] Tamara Holmes: So it, it's just, it's just tough. 

[00:10:03] Mark Corbett: I, yeah, I don't know. I mean, to me, to try to reinvigorate enough interest to make those things stay in the Olympics to, to continue on with Pan Am I, I don't know what I have to do to be an advocate for this. Obviously no one of us is gonna be able to raise a flag and shout and scream and make everybody do this, and, and I find it very sad that that's kind of happened, but.

[00:10:25] Mark Corbett: I look also at all the things that you achieved. I think it, it encourages the young women. Did you ever think of yourself that you'd be a role model for a lot of other young women? 

[00:10:36] Tamara Holmes: No, not at all. And it's funny that you say that because I, , one of the camps that I coached at for USA baseball, I believe talking to one of the other women and , and she's getting quite a bit of attention, you know, playing like college and, and, and doing all these great things.

[00:10:54] Tamara Holmes: And so people always mentioned the role model thing and when they interview, you say the right thing. Oh, it's great. I just want to be a role model. But honestly, we're all out here just trying to play and the fact that we can be is great. We do love the fact that you have the young girls or the boys and then everybody that comes to you and is appreciative of what you do for sure.

[00:11:15] Tamara Holmes: You're you feel great in that moment. But to say that I really just love baseball and I'm out here playing for me. And those other things are icing on the cake, but they're not the driver for me. The driver for me is, is like, the love of playing and, and, you know, wanting to hit home runs and do all these great fun things is, is what moves 

[00:11:33] Tamara Holmes: us.

[00:11:34] Mark Corbett: I know at the classic in Sarasota, I felt that I felt that from you and all the other young women there and I am so blessed to be able to participate is as MC going around asking folks a little bit about this. Let me tell you what, talking with you was one of my favorite. Favorite moments of the whole time I was there and I come up and said, well, so tell me, so how's it going?

[00:11:56] Mark Corbett: I was very wide open general and you picked up that mic and you took it for me and you were a pro and you got right into it with all the energy and verve that I could ever have hoped for. , but you, you see, you see, you were looking across the table at some of the other young players and, and talking about the performance.

[00:12:13] Mark Corbett: So they, they said, I smoked you and I smoked you and I thought the fun and the joy between you and all the other players out there, man, that was, that was the moment that was about as precious for me as anything else that entire weekend. 

[00:12:29] Tamara Holmes: You know, like, I, it's funny because I'm actually a very shy and reserved person and, , and was like that all my life, you know, we get on the field, right?

[00:12:38] Tamara Holmes: Like, I could be a little more outgoing, but I'm at this age, right? I'm almost 50 and they're just something liberating about, like, you just. are uninhibited, so it's like, yeah, you know, initially when someone asks, hey, we need you to speak or something. I'm like, ah, you know, not that funny. I'm, you know, I don't know what to say, but, you know, it's like, you know what?

[00:12:57] Tamara Holmes: And that's what I said. I was like, hey, I'm out here with a partially torn ACL meniscus and I'm sticking it to you and I'm sticking it to you. Definitely got to hit off of you. And like, almost like a humble brag to say, like, if I can do these things at 50. You know, not having playing full time. Imagine what these women and girls can do like, because they're already incredible and they're young.

[00:13:22] Tamara Holmes: Yeah. 

[00:13:23] Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. We're talking 20s and maybe 30s. 

[00:13:27] Tamara Holmes: Right. So you have a whole nother 20 plus years. To just best everything that I could even, even thought about doing, which is, is great. I'm happy for 'em. 

[00:13:36] Mark Corbett: Oh, well, again, thank you for that moment. I enjoyed it. I know they did the laughter and the applause and all of that.

[00:13:43] Mark Corbett: And then, and Tamara, you are whether you want to be it or not. You're a role model. So there you go. , but you know, that's, you do so much. Like I said, we're here to talk about baseball, but I'm looking at you, like I said, as a business person and having your own, , training business, , being a firefighter, training other firefighters with fitness weightlifter.

[00:14:07] Mark Corbett: Tell me a little bit more about, about your business and what's, , what's going on with the CrossFit. 

[00:14:12] Tamara Holmes: Well, so, and the business has taken a little, , a little bit of a back burner, but I still have minority ownership and across the gym. , I sold my actual location in 2020 and then, , I now go and work out.

[00:14:26] Tamara Holmes: , if I come into work at 6 am at my other gym and. You know, I laugh because, , the women's national, , manager, Veronica Alvarez, and she's a coach for the A's organization. It's like, we both have AD D. and so, like, these things that we do is like, just juggling life and I want to do this and I want to do that.

[00:14:46] Tamara Holmes: And the 3 kids had slowed me down quite a bit as much as you could slow anyone down. And so what had to go was my day to day ownership of the gym. And then that way, I can still have, you know, partial ownership and just have a place to work out. Love the community still kind of keep a pulse on that community.

[00:15:06] Tamara Holmes: , but fortunately, I have, you know, really good friend that was business partner to and. We talk about those things all the time and they are doing great. And I just get to keep that in mind because it's actually, those are the things that have made me a better firefighter and coach. I integrate all those things.

[00:15:24] Tamara Holmes: Right? So I can take my coaching background. And become a better leader in the fire service and same I can take what I do in the fire service. And, you know, you're just not intimidated by things. Like, everything is, is, is paced and intensity and the ability to make these decisions. So, it has very much helped make me a well rounded person, but now I have to, like, factor in these things with young kids.

[00:15:50] Mark Corbett: Yeah. And that's the thing. My gosh. 'cause you said young kids, Mine are all in their thirties now, so it's easy for me. I could wave at 'em, I could talk to 'em as young adults and you know, they're, they're, they're living a good life. But, , wow, , it's, it's a lot. It's a lot. It is, it is. So I get that. My gosh.

[00:16:10] Mark Corbett: It, that takes, , something, I can't remember if we said the beginning of the show or not, but a certainly way I felt is you live life. Purposefully. You live it deliberately. You've got a plan in mind. Nobody could do all the things you're doing unless they actually have some sense of where they want to go.

[00:16:28] Mark Corbett: They have a personal discipline, I think, to get there. Am I putting too much on top of this? I am

[00:16:35] Tamara Holmes: yeah, and maybe I'm, you know, you obviously judge yourself the harshest, but, , I honestly feel I lack discipline. , and I do all these things, I don't know that I ever had this great plan. Right and so I think my childhood forged who I was, I was fortunate enough again, I said, grew up in Albany Bay area.

[00:16:58] Tamara Holmes: Live right next to a park, so we had epic. Football games. We had epic wiffle ball games. We played tennis. We had all these, , race to BMX. , skateboarding. Wow. So we did all these things right that allowed me to build myself as an athlete without knowing it. And so I simply got good at things. And what may seem, you know, this natural talent was, I just have been doing these things since I was 8.

[00:17:24] Tamara Holmes: And so. I think this life kind of finds me and in doing so, , , when baseball was over, I had someone, you know, get into the fire service. Now, mind you, 10 years prior to that, I had another friend from college say, hey, you should get into the fire service. You love it. And I was like, absolutely not who runs in a burning buildings.

[00:17:43] Tamara Holmes: Like, that's not me. And then you fast forward 10 years where I had a friend get into the fire service, who I thought was a very unlikely, you know, my idea of it was a firefighter was probably everybody's idea, big, tall, strapping, you know, big guy, or, you know, same or an athletic woman, just wasn't me. When she got into it, it started turning my head.

[00:18:02] Tamara Holmes: And then when I went to visit her one day after she got hired, And I got to go on the engine and put her gear on and I was like, Oh, this is the coolest thing ever. And so then, you know, you almost kick yourself. Like, I could have been this 10 years ago, but it had to come at that point in my life because 10 years prior, I was still, it was just the tail end of the, the (Colorado Silver) Bullets really.

[00:18:22] Tamara Holmes: And I was still in this idea that I would be, , I had a brief stint and there was an independent league and I played for a team called Massachusetts Mad Dogs now defunct team. And people don't know that. So it's like, I tried that and didn't really have a good time. So I quit that. And then I was like, Oh, I'm gonna go become a professional golfer.

[00:18:42] Tamara Holmes: So I'm like, I'm an athlete, hit the ball 300 yards. And I didn't realize I also have the mindset of a five year old, which is not very good for golf. So I was a hothead. And so I'm like, I'm hitting the 300 yards and I'm playing with the women's club and they're just like, A hundred yards up the middle. A hundred is like super consistent and they're kicking my butt every way.

[00:19:02] Tamara Holmes: I'm like, why am I not beating them? But it's like, it's not a game of brawn, right? I have a John Daly swing, a 5-year-old mentality, so I would shoot anywhere from 70 to 105, right? So, yeah, it just, so I just, all that to say is I go where my mind takes me, but my mind and my body and my life have consistently kept me in sports.

[00:19:27] Tamara Holmes: And then finding careers and in coaching that have allowed me to utilize those gifts. 

[00:19:34] Mark Corbett: Wow. Geez, Tamara, I didn't expect all that. That's, I mean, no, I love it because I think it's realistic. And as you get older, you can look back in your life and you see chapters. I mean, there's chapters of my life where I worked with somebody who was the biggest pain in the, you know what?

[00:19:51] Mark Corbett: And I thought, good Lord, this person's killing me. And the sooner or later I'm a manager. I think, you know what I learned, yeah. How not to treat people. And that's it. That chapter was necessary for me to do this better now. So I do get that formative part and you're talking about being a coach. I know when I was reading, , I think it was Jennifer ring story about you.

[00:20:14] Mark Corbett: One of the things she mentioned was a neighbor, I believe, who coached you quite a bit. Was it David Krone? 

[00:20:22] Tamara Holmes: Yeah, so he was my 1st. He was he was a neighbor and he was my, , it's in my 2nd, Little League coach. Not the funny story about that was when we tried out, there was, like, the group for our age, I think it was called, like, senior minors and then there was a majors.

[00:20:38] Tamara Holmes: There happened to be another Tamara, oddly enough, and another, she was shorter, but, , black woman who played, who tried out, and she was pretty good, too. So, I think years later, Dave was like, oh, I thought I was drafting you, because I always thought, like, hey, how come she got drafted up higher, and I started in senior minors?

[00:20:57] Tamara Holmes: We were, if anything equal and and play. But I was like, it is what it is. But then that was great for me. I learned how to pitch. I got to play a ton. , and then I eventually ended up that next year playing for Dave Krone on that team. And I think Tamara maybe didn't enjoy baseball as much as she quit, , eventually after a season or two.

[00:21:15] Tamara Holmes: And then, so, but I think he realized, oh, he thought, he was like, well, I'm gonna draft Tamara. And then there happened to be two. So, , and he was great. So he. After little league, we, you know, other than seeing him around once in a while, we didn't have much contact until I decided, , I was a collegiate volleyball.

[00:21:33] Tamara Holmes: , when I first started college and then I had quit that. So I'm also probably very good at quitting things. , and I realized, hey, why not go try out for the Silver Bullets? So what do I do? I don't know. I called Dave up and it's like, hey, I want to go try out for this team. He was like, wonderful idea. So he brings out.

[00:21:49] Tamara Holmes: And I wish I had it all these old wooden bats and these things are classic. So like, you know, like the Louisville had the branding Hillerich & Bradsby. That's how all these batch work 1. I kid you not had to be Babe Ruth's old bat. That thing was like, massive and barrel size. And I don't know, 36 inches.

[00:22:09] Tamara Holmes: Another 1 was a little bit shorter, but heavier. , some, he, and the story he told, and he had sent me the, the article, he bought them at an auction, police auction, five dollars for the whole lot, and some of them had split, so he had like little brad nails in them, and I was like, okay, it's a wood bat league, so let's learn how to swing a wood bat, right, and, , , so it was great, I still have those bats, and I had, you know, the team, , autograph one of them, but, yeah, it just, , He, he helped me get through that.

[00:22:40] Tamara Holmes: He would send me letters on the road and just, just a great friend. It was sad to see him pass and they had named the one of our little league fields after him because he was very involved in the program. 

[00:22:53] Mark Corbett: That's great. I'm glad they, they honored him that way. And it's, it's again, it doesn't so much role model, but, but being there, you know, for youngsters, being there and actually, you know, all the way to an adult.

[00:23:04] Mark Corbett: I still have people I know who were older when I was a much younger person that I still reach out to, as a mentor, I mean, and try to, , to get their insight on something. So it's great when you have those people and it's great if you can be that person too. 

[00:23:18] Tamara Holmes: Did you and on that, cause it's fine.

[00:23:21] Tamara Holmes: I have to go do a talk at my old middle school. So like someone had done a mural of people that, you know, they felt had great careers. I was 1 of them and they had painted this picture, but I think going back and telling him 1 of the importance of mentorship. I didn't think of Dave. You know, I didn't have that word then.

[00:23:41] Tamara Holmes: , but that's that's how it was. Right? And so for you is like, was it did you have. Friends or did you know, like, Hey, I'm seeking this person specifically for this, and then this is just, , saw you will.

[00:23:54] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I mean, the language is, it is as important compared as what actually has been achieved. And like you said, with what you and David had and, , wow.

[00:24:03] Mark Corbett: , well, let me ask you, I mean, here you are a parent, three kids, all young. Do you encourage sports? 

[00:24:13] Tamara Holmes: Yes. So all the toys I have are for me, I have a outdoor cage. I don't have a pitching machine, but. , the kids see us do. We are very active. So, , my, my middle daughter, she's 4 now. She's been in a couple of, like, kids races.

[00:24:30] Tamara Holmes: Mind you, it's like maybe a quarter mile or less. My son's more like me. We're all sprint and no endurance. , but he, oddly enough, he doesn't like, , we encourage sports when we do all the things. I have rings hanging in my, Garage and a rope, but he is very self motivated. If I go to try and teach him anything, he shuts down and mind you.

[00:24:52] Tamara Holmes: He's only 5. so that's reasonable. And then I will turn around a few weeks later, and he has figured it out. So we, I know the best example that we set right now. We have a piano in our house and we've taken lessons off on, but the kids take to it. Right? So it's like, it's just setting the stage, but not engaging in anything super serious.

[00:25:13] Tamara Holmes: They do swim lessons and soccer and things just to kind of wear them out. , it is pretty cool to see them just with us having that there, what they kind of gravitate to and then setting the tone of really just being a very active family. 

[00:25:27] Mark Corbett: That's good. And you know, the thing about that is too, my brother was much more involved in sports than I was.

[00:25:34] Mark Corbett: And I think socialization wise it was better for him. He had, you know, he's got friendships today that he had for what he was in grade school. And you know, to me there's a richness to that kind of friendship. I have. I have friends, but not like the sense that he does, and they could share everything they could, they could talk about anything.

[00:25:56] Mark Corbett: They've got such history and it's, it's a great support system even much later in life than they could ever expect. So I think by having the kids in sports, it gives them the opportunity to do that. You know, so it sounds like you guys are on the right road. Oh, well, exhausted talking about all that. I'll tell you what you said, where I'm at, and that is the truth.

[00:26:20] Mark Corbett: That's what we did with our kids. Try to see if find a way to wear'em out we'd like to sleep tonight too. 

[00:26:25] Tamara Holmes: Yeah. Hopefully I wish they would all take that marathon. Right. That'd be, that would be some, , Great sleeping. But and it's funny because I have like a motorless treadmill too. So try to make it like, no, you can't use that.

[00:26:38] Tamara Holmes: And then they'll want to use it anyway. Right? It's like, okay, well, if you're going to do it, then let's, you know, let's, let's get going. So you know, playing all these mind games to get them going. So I do like sprint cycles with them and they, they just think it's the funniest thing. 

[00:26:52] Mark Corbett: So tell me. What's next.

[00:26:54] Mark Corbett: I mean, what are you looking at this year? Are there, are there tournaments you're going to be participating with? Is there some coaching? What's what's happened for Tamara Holmes for the rest of the year? 

[00:27:04] Tamara Holmes: So this is a good year this summer. We've realized it's the 30th anniversary of the silver bullets and the 20th anniversary of the women's national team.

[00:27:14] Tamara Holmes: , being recognized, , through USA baseball. So it's also the summer is, , , due to COVID and everything else. We hadn't had a World Cup in almost 6 years. So the team is going to Thunder Bay, Canada to try to avenge that gold medal like. , Japan has won the last 10. , we've had a lot of very close games and finals and then just some down years of, of it not working out.

[00:27:40] Tamara Holmes: But I think this is the most stack the U. S. team, , has ever been. So I will hopefully get an opportunity to. Participate in the development of the trials, and then they'll go off and when the gold medal in Thunder Bay, and I'll be at home patting my back. , so that that's the plan is to just kind of recognize both of these entities to silver bullets and and some way.

[00:28:03] Tamara Holmes: And if we can get together and finally have our reunion and, , and also, , participate in the USA baseball, it'll be a good summer.

[00:28:13] Mark Corbett: Wow. Wow. I'll say that again. My gosh, Tamara, that sounds like such an exciting year to me. A lot to go into it to make it happen, but I'd like to have you back sometime to talk about those as well, the silver bullets and what's going on with the, with the cup as well.

[00:28:31] Mark Corbett: Yeah, that'd be 

[00:28:31] Tamara Holmes: great. Let's catch back up, especially like we talked about how they won the gold medal and it's been a long time. So it'll be, , yeah, it'll be a great segment. 

[00:28:42] Mark Corbett: Is there anything that you'd like to express or share with the audience about yourself or women in baseball? 

[00:28:50] Tamara Holmes: No, , man, it's just it's been a great journey.

[00:28:54] Tamara Holmes: I am so fortunate. You talk about those friendships. So you 4th I do have those since elementary school friendships through sport and. , proximity and also the family that I have through the Silver Bullets and USA Baseball. It is, it is incredible to have that bond. It's incredible to be surrounded by such successful people.

[00:29:16] Tamara Holmes: I mean, if you look at Veronica Alvarez, she was a former player, , now works for the A's organization and is the leader of this team. Same with Malaika Underwood, recently retired, is going to be one of the national team coaches. Same with Alex Oglesby, played in the, there was a women's professional league she played in.

[00:29:33] Tamara Holmes: And, you know, Malaika is a CEO, so it's just like, you get all this, this richness in life, whether it's sport and things outside. And, you know, to know me is to know someone that likes to show what you can do. Like, age doesn't matter and a lot of people want to cash you out. Based on age and I just keep showing up more so for selfish fun.

[00:29:56] Tamara Holmes: Yes, but also to show like, what you can do if you're able to take care of yourself and these opportunities. , I'm not always going to have that. I'm not always going to have this body and capability. So I plan to give as much as I can go as much as I can. And, , yeah, you may see me, you know, I'm going to start trying to play a little more golf with the kids allow, , maybe be less of a 5 year old, of course, but.

[00:30:23] Tamara Holmes: That's it. Just, just keep grinding. It's a process. It's fun. And like I said, seek mentors, seek people that will give. I give, I give for free. I have no expectations. , and, and I think that's needed just kind of giving back and we're, we're kind of working hard to see what we need to do to build women's baseball.

[00:30:41] Tamara Holmes: People need to see this. So there's got to be something put our heads together. If you look at the WNBA, , I even follow like a skate, like a girl, women's skateboard organization, all these things that people are doing well, I'm over here taking notes and saying, okay, this is what can we do to apply this to women's baseball.

[00:30:59] Tamara Holmes: So 50 years from now, we're not still talking about, remember that silver bullet team, remember the all American girls. And then we have nothing in between USA baseball is helpful. Major league baseball is helpful, but ultimately, where do you go without a league? 

[00:31:16] Mark Corbett: Well, it's, I mean, I'm with you a hundred percent on that.

[00:31:20] Mark Corbett: I mean, even before the show, we were talking about it, passion to actually see women's baseball grow to. See the great talent that's out there to be showcased to everyone else and to encourage other young women who want to participate, see that that's something they can do. So I'm really happy to hear that's something that's on your plate and you're, it's important to you because I think that'll become important to a lot of other people as well.

[00:31:43] Mark Corbett: Tamara. 

[00:31:44] Tamara Holmes: Yes. Tamara. I don't know. Thunder Bay, Canada, world cup. , we have, you know, a tournament in Virginia where people kind of go on the interim, but Thunder Bay, keep that on your map. Look at, , the schedule and USA baseball. I'll definitely be posting it on my social media, but. , now is the time for women's baseball and you're not going to be disappointed.

[00:32:06] Tamara Holmes: And we have some amazing players with a great amount of baseball talent. 

[00:32:12] Mark Corbett: Well, I want to make sure I stay in touch with all that and repost as well. Because again, I'm a, I'm a big, a big fan of all of the things supporting women's baseball. So looking forward to a lot of those events, Thunder Bay should be exciting as all get out.

[00:32:25] Mark Corbett: And Tamara, thank you again for joining so much today here on BaseballBiz On Deck. It's been a real pleasure.

[00:32:30] Tamara Holmes: Thank you, Mark. Absolute pleasure to see you again.

Keep up with Tamara for the latest on Women's Baseball at: https://www.facebook.com/t24onfya

USA Womens Baseball Team:
https://www.usabaseball.com/team-usa/womens-national-team 

Mark can be found on Twitter @TheBaseballBiz & at http://www.baseballbizondeck.com
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