Kevin Millar on the Mookie Betts Trade, the Astros Scandal, and the Origin of the Rally Karaoke Guy

To answer your first question: Yes, Kevin Millar is exactly, 100%, to a tee the guy you think he'll be.

And though the game has changed plenty since he left it (the playing field, not the game's essential orbit, of which he's still very much a part), adding iPads, replay review rooms, and newfound scandal to the fray, Millar has remained steadfastly the same, relishing Red Sox Nation and the early months of the year, where fans can simply drive site-to-site to be fans.

Millar spoke to us on behalf of Goodyear Auto Service and Just Tires, as Spring Training drones on and brings us the perfect road-tripping season for fans and ballplayers alike. "The weather's awesome in Scottsdale and Florida, so there's no better time to get your oil changed and all that good stuff and go," Millar said.

Of course, the fabric of the team he's most associated with has changed plenty this spring, but that doesn't concern Millar, who was very much optimistic that the return pieces in the Mookie Betts trade could bring about a quick resurgence in Boston. "I'm most excited to watch a shortstop named Jeter, and that's not a brother or a cousin. The kid's already been traded twice, so let's get him settled. Then, you add Alex Verdugo, and this is an established big-leaguer. Could he hit .330? 30 home runs? Maybe you won't skip a beat. Then you see how it plays out."

Millar let the optimism wave continue to wash over him, rightfully gushing about Boston's standout on the bump this spring in Nathan Eovaldi (five innings, three hits, eight Ks), who looks like he could be the solution atop the rotation. "We all know what Eovaldi did in 2018. Taking the ball for forever, then going to Alex Cora and saying, 'I'll be fine out of the bullpen.' His stuff plays. He's got that grit. Now all he needs to do is stay healthy."

Of course, this offseason hasn't been without controversy, most of which is situated far away from Sox camp. Wherever the Houston Astros travel, they've been greeted with scorn, mocking, and a circus-like atmosphere more befitting of criminals being led to trial than an exhibition baseball game. Millar feels the pain of those who believe they were wrong, but he's not sure this will continue, as long as Houston goes about things on the level.

"It's such a unique situation that no one's had to deal with. With where we are in society, you knew this stuff was going to happen," Millar told us. "I understand this was over the line. You see players who were beaten by the Astros, and how they're reacting. But time will heal. It's time for the Astros players to zip it up and play baseball."

"We're quick to judge in society," he continued. "If you've been squeaky clean, then that's fine. But with a lot of other teams, and a lot going on...it was strange. It's tough to talk about."

Millar never wanted this to be a part of his game, of course. Even 15 years ago, effective sign-stealing was a badge of honor, not a cyber crime.

"It was baseball. That's why catchers gave different signs. You were always trying to get something," Millar related. "Facing Randy Johnson, he's throwing 100, you'd check the tilt on his glove to see if he was tipping the slider. We'd relay it to the dugout. We were leaning over the dugout railing, watching the catcher and the pitcher, waiting to get to second so we could relay everything to a teammate. That's baseball, man. I was out before the iPads and devices."

Of course, his game was a different one. And before the "Let the Kids Play" ethos became a part of MLB's branding, it was a looser one, too. Less to worry about, less to restrict. The clubhouse prank was still a prominent part of Millar's big league journey, and so with that, we bring you to the moment I've been waiting for for 15 years: the chance to ask Millar about the origin of the Rally Karaoke Guy.

Yes, that is Kevin. Yes, he's lip syncing Bruce Springsteen. No, he's not making any actual sounds, but he is making one hell of a statement. So, how did we get here? Did he bring this to Boston, and request it be shown on the scoreboard to get a laugh during the '03 stretch run? I'd always kind of assumed so.

Turns out? Noooooooo way was he responsible for this.

"We're playing the Texas Rangers in 2003, and they gather us for a pregame meeting. I'm thinking it's gonna be about Pedro Martinez's citizenship, which he'd been working towards," Millar divulges. "Then, they roll a TV monitor in, these two guys, and they say they're looking for someone in this locker room who's done some bad things. They play a whole fake news montage. Then they play the video. I couldn't even tell it was me. Everyone looks around, right at me. They're like, 'Is that Millar?!'."

"Turns out, my buddy who I played freshman college baseball with is a PI in Dallas, and he dug up the video and gave it to the Red Sox to play a prank on me," Millar satisfyingly revealed. "[Pitcher] John Burkett kept the video, and he got them to play it on the big board during a game against the A's. I look at the dugout, there's Zito, Mulder, and Hudson, they're keeled over. I swear to you, we played the video, and we came back, like, seven straight games. This stupid video me and my buddy made in 1990. The Angels had the Rally Monkey, and we had the Rally Karaoke Guy."

Now, is anything more 2003 than that? Enjoy baseball for what it's always been, like Kevin Millar always will.

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