Hall of Fame slugger Scott Livingstone pulling for A&M's 2024 club

Scott Livingstone launched 50 home runs during his career in Maroon & White, and there might soon be a third member of Texas A&M's 50-homer club. On Tuesday, Livingstone joined TexAgs Radio to discuss the impressive Jace LaViolette, the 2024 club's success and more.

Key notes from Scott Livingstone interview

• I started a podcast during the offseason before the spring — “Ball 5 Podcast.” I watch the Texas A&M baseball games, and I watch them with my wife. I say things that might happen or something to look for, and the announcers would say the same thing right after I said it. She was like, “You should be doing this. Why aren’t you doing this?” I’ve been on TexAgs before, and people listen to this great show. People urged me to talk, and when I was sitting around this winter, I decided to go for it.
   
• The name is obviously a tribute to the fans at A&M. It has been fun. It has been good. I enjoy talking baseball. One thing I’ve enjoyed is getting to know the players and interviewing them. We know what they can do on the field, but they’re also solid young men. It’s easy to pull for them, and it makes it fun.
   
• To hear the players talk about their teammates, their coaches and how much fun they have is amazing. They don’t talk about themselves. They talk about the team. I’ve said it before: They’ve bought into the program and the culture of the school. They know it’s about the name on the front of the jersey, and they buy into that. It’s part of the culture there, and they love it.
   
• I’m like a school kid when I watch these games because I get so excited. My wife is an Ohio State football fan, and she’s football, football, football. I’m trying to break the mold and get her into baseball. She knows Lord Tubbington. She’ll pull for Hayden Schott. She’ll ask, “Did Jackson Appel go deeps again?” To get someone like her to pull for them speaks volumes about how great these young men are.
   
• When I interviewed Jace LaViolette, he told me that he came to A&M to play baseball, but once he got here, it was like, “Wow. This place is amazing.” The people are amazing. The university is amazing. It’s fun to watch, and even being a former player, I can be a fan.
   
• The SEC Tournament is a win-win. As a hitter, you don’t want a long layoff without playing or getting at-bats. The coaches have to navigate it. How long do you throw Ryan Prager? How do you use your bullpen to have them ready for the most important week? Everybody wants to win the games and win the tournament because they’re competitors. I’d like to see them win and celebrate, but I’d also like to see them celebrate in Omaha. Whatever it takes to set that up, that’s what I want to see.
   
• LaViolette better catch my 50 home runs this week. People send me messages about my records potentially being broken and asking how I feel about it. When I interviewed Gavin Grahovac, we talked off-air about that being OK. If I don’t want someone to break my records, then I wouldn’t be pulling for them. I want them to do well. I want them to win.
   
• I never viewed myself as a power hitter, and back in the day, I hit 50 home runs in four years. I hit 10 in my first year and seven in my second. LaViolette is going to get 50-plus in two years. That’s a power hitter. Back in the day, A&M teams were only hitting 20-25 home runs as a team, so maybe I was a power hitter back then. Grahovac will hit 50 in three years. Keep an eye on Caden Sorrell. He’s sneaky. He’s exciting to watch. I’m for the guys. Break as many records as you can. I have a lot of school records that they won’t break because the Southwest Conference has disbanded, so they’re no longer available!
   
• I’ve talked to the 1989 team, and they’re excited. The game has changed. The athletes have changed. Everything has gotten better. It’s easy for us to pull for these guys. They’re bigger. They’re stronger. Look at Grahovac. They’re 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds some of them. They’re breaking records of someone who was 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. There have been some good guys come through A&M in the last 30 years, so to see what they’re doing, it’s great to watch. The game has evolved.
   
• In real estate, the saying is “location, location, location.” In the SEC, it’s “depth, depth, depth.” The more depth that a team has, the more dangerous they are. Look at our lineup. Even Travis Chestnut can hit it out of the ballpark. The athletes that are on this team are incredible.
   
• This team can beat you in multiple ways. How great was Prager? Look at Hagen Smith. He’s a thrower, but Prager was a pitcher. He changed speeds. Smith was just throwing it by you and getting swing and miss. We did strikeout 20 times. Still, you can see Chestnut lay down a bunt, and Braden Montgomery hit one out of the yard. Everyone is getting hot at the right time.
   
• We cannot say enough about the coaches either. If you look at where the home runs and hitting really jumped, it’s when Michael Earley got here. To have him in the dugout now is a great move.
   
• They can beat you in a number of ways, from hitting, defense and pitching. They have depth on the roster. It’s a championship team.
   
• This is a year where the coaches want to be in a contract year to renegotiate. I think this staff is the best of the best. Listen to how the players talk about the coaches. I had great coaches too, but to hear these guys talk about it during this age with Jim Schlossnagle pulling the trigger on everything, they’re doing everything right.
   
• It will come down to pitching. You’re going to get into your bullpen in the Men’s College World Series, but even in a regional, you’ll be pushing somebody who hasn’t been pushed before. These guys don’t panic, and I credit the coaching staff for that. I don’t think there is a pitching staff in the country that could tame our lineup for two games in a row. We’ve seen it before where LaViolette and Montgomery struggle in a game, but the bottom half picks them up. I just feel like they’re in a good place at the right time.