It's Day Two here in Scottsdale for the Cohn Zohn proper, that is, my dad and me. Since there were no games in town during the day, we decided to go for an interview. I have a friend from high school, Tyson Ross, who is in minor-league camp for the A's. We met him at a quarter to nine at Papago Baseball Facility. This was the first interview of my life.

Papago feels kind of like Bruce Wayne's secret karate academy in the Himalayas in Batman Begins. It's isolated in the desert, and inside there's hundreds of aspiring major leaguers working hard. We arrived at 8:30 and there were already people in the batting cages, on the infield, and in the weight room. Tyson was at his locker, and after I wound my way through the other big bodies, Tyson spotted me and gave me a hug.

Tyson has always been one of the nicest, most polite baseball players I've ever met. When I played baseball at O'Dowd, there were so many good players that everyone wanted to do the little things to stand out to the coaches as real ball players. This meant assuming the "baseball player persona." That included chewing tobacco, being loud and obnoxious, and sucking up the coaches. Tyson never had to do any of that because he was better than everybody else. He didn't have to try to stand out because he was a 6'5" phenom. For him, baseball came naturally and he didn't need the baseball persona. In fact, I always felt he made strides to stay normal, despite being on the national team, despite being voted "most likely to be famous" in the yearbook his senior year.

Back to Papago. After putting on his A's uniform, Tyson met my dad and me at a picnic table outside the facility, a table where my dad interviewed Mark McGwire years ago. Here's the interview:

Iggy: What do you do in minor-league camp?

Tyson: I'm working on basics, getting my body back into the daily grind of things, getting ready for the season.

Iggy: Where will you be playing?

Tyson: Stockton. It's high "A."

Iggy: The whole season?

Tyson: Hopefully not. I'd like to move up.

Iggy: How does it work?

Tyson: Pretty much I have to put up numbers and if there's an opening.

Iggy: Where would you go after that?

Tyson: Double-A Midland, Texas.

Iggy: Is this exciting for you?

Tyson: Awesome. Every day is fun.

Iggy: What do you still need to learn?

Tyson: I've got to get experience under my belt, doing it every day, go out there and get my innings in. Just all about experience really.

Iggy: Are they tweaking your motion?

Tyson: No. They messed with me a little early on and now it's just little things. They realize who I am. My motion is kind of unorthodox. At first they wanted to change me and put me back into traditional mechanics. But now they realize I'm going to throw a little more upright. They just want to get me a little bit further out front. Use my legs a little more just to protect my arm so I don't end up blowing it out at some point.

Iggy: Do they project you as a starter or a reliever?

Tyson: Yes. So far they have me in the starting rotation. I'm getting my pitch count up there. I think I'm throwing five innings on Friday.

Iggy: What was it like meeting Billy Beane?

Tyson: It was awesome. First time I met him they had me come down and throw a pen in Oakland before a Yankees game. Then I see him all around. He's pretty cool. He knows me on a first-name basis. That's pretty cool. He's just a real cool guy. he doesn't seem like he's the boss or anything. He's out here. He's getting his workout. He talks to me about soccer - he knows my sister plays soccer. He's a big soccer fan.

Iggy: What famous A's players have you met so far?

Tyson: I was in big-league camp the first three weeks of camp. I met Giambi and all those guys and the entire pitching staff. At no point did they ever make me feel like a rookie. I just came into camp and was just one of the guys.

Iggy: Do you feel like you're famous now?

Tyson; (laughs) It's kind of weird every now and then. I took my girlfriend to an A's/Giants game last week and guys asked for autographs. And at the airport someone said hey I know you. As I was driving off he said hey that's Tyson. It's kind of funny. I'm still getting used to it.

Iggy: Have your parents come down here?

Tyson: Yes, about two weeks ago. They came in on a Saturday morning and got to see me pitch in a big-league game that afternoon. I think I got the save that day.

Iggy: What pitchers in particular did you like in big-league camp?

Tyson: Dallas Braden in particular is a good guy. He's from Stockton and he's just a real funny guy. He just "reps" Stockton like you wouldn't believe. He has 209 (the Stockton area code) on his cleats, glove, everywhere.

Iggy: What was it like meeting Nomar?

Tyson: I didn't actually get to talk to him. he showed up my last two days there. Another guy I really like was Gio Gonzalez. He took me under his wing at first, gave me some good insight on things.

Iggy: What about Giambi?

Tyson: Yeah, he's cool, real cool. We've got the same agent.

Iggy: (trying to come to grips with the concept). You have the same agent as Giambi?

Tyson: Yeah. Giambi just works his ass off. He's out there early busting his ass. Takes extra time for the fans. It's really good to see.

Iggy: Do you feel like the same person you were at O'Dowd?

Tyson: Yeah. Nothing's really changed. I'm still playing ball. The only thing different is I don't have school every day.

Iggy: Did you get to see (O'Dowd friend) Jeremy (Simon)?

Tyson: Yeah, he's out here. The other night he came out and hung out with us all.

Iggy: If I turn out to be a sportswriter would you hate me?

Tyson: No. Of course not.

Lowell jumps in: Is being in this camp what you expected it to be?

Tyson: I get to put on an A's uniform every day.

Lowell: You feel proud to be in the A's organization?

Tyson: Definitely. Everything's worked out perfect so far.

Lowell: When do you think it's realistic to expect you'll be a big leaguer?

Tyson: Hopefully sooner than later.

Lowell: You don't put that pressure on yourself?

Tyson: No, no. You just go out there and do your thing every day and try to get better.

Lowell: In the offseason where do you live?

Tyson: In the offseason I went back to Oakland, was living there.

Lowell: With your folks?

Tyson: Yeah. And then I'm probably going to go back next offseason and get a place somewhere with a couple of the guys.

Lowell: In Oakland?

Tyson: Yes.