Episode 7 — Tim Dillard

When you think of somebody who has spent their entire career playing for one organization, you usually think of Tony Gwynn with the Padres, or Cal Ripken, Jr. with the Orioles, or Chipper Jones with the Braves. The name Tim Dillard probably doesn’t come to mind.

Yet in many ways, it’s even more remarkable that Dillard has only played for the Milwaukee Brewers organization: 16 years total, parts of four years in the majors (73 appearances), 12 years in the triple-A Pacific Coast League, eight in Nashville, four in Colorado Springs. [He’s also played very briefly for an independent team.]

In episode 7 of the “Life Around the Seams” podcast, we discuss how and why Dillard has stayed with one organization, how at age 34 his value now is just as much as a quasi-coach and therapy dog as it is reliever, the 500+ videos he’s made and posted on social media, growing up around the ballpark when his father was a minor league manager, his initial “callup” to the majors, his conversion to sidearm pitcher, his next “callup” to the majors, and his most recent “social media callup” to Milwaukee.