Ex-Rays: Catching Up With John Mollicone

Mini Baseball Stump @ 2JM

It's always nice when we hear from former members of the Rays organization, so it was great to talk recently with John Mollicone. The Fordham University graduate came to the Rays in the 27th round of the 2007 draft. He played for the Princeton Rays in 2007, the Hudson Valley Renegades in 2008, and the Bowling Green Hot Rods in 2009, where he was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week for June 29-July 5. He was released after Spring Training in 2010.

John split time between first base and catcher, and even pitched a scoreless inning for the P-Rays. As a catcher he worked with several of the Rays top pitching prospects, including Chris Andujar, Nick Barnese, Joseph Cruz, Frank De Los Santos, Shane Dyer, Marquis Fleming, Matt Gorgen, Jeremy Hall, Tyree Hayes, Michael Jarman, Matt Moore, Josh Satow, and Neil Schenk.

Following his release he began a career in the financial services sector, but also launched an apparel company named 2JM Apparel. "At 2JM our goal is to instill the values of hard work, dedication and confidence," John explained. "We want to do this by creating shirts that illustrate who we are and at the same time portray a certain attitude."

"Show 'Em Who's Boss is the line that my Dad said to me before baseball games when I was younger," John said of the company tag line. "It always stuck with me, and I want to spread that to everyone through our apparel. Our first line or rookie line is titled 'Sport Stumps.' We have our adult line and then our Mini Sport Stumps for the younger fans."

Baseball Stump @ 2JM

Since we're now officially in the holiday shopping season, I encourage you to check out the offerings at John's 2JM website.

Whenever I talk to current or former players I really enjoy speaking to the catchers. They are basically coaches on the field, as evidenced by the number of former catchers who have become managers. John has worked with many of the Rays top pitching prospects, some of whom are now the best in all of baseball. In light of that I thought he would be a great person to interview. John not only graciously agreed to answer my questions, but also questions submitted by our readers. So please take this opportunity to post your questions in the comments or send them to me in an email.

Again, thanks to John for doing this and make sure to check out his website.