/Kirk, it’s a great pleasure to interview you for the Disciples. We are all very eager to get to know you, find out who you really are and what drives you. You’ve been in baseball for 50 years as a player, a coach and running your own business. Dirtbag Baseball Nation. What led you to the Disciples.

The first thing I try to tell people is, I don’t like baseball. I love baseball. I love baseball with everything in me. And my wife allows me to be able to do it. My kids allow me to be able to do it. And what that means is it’s more than just coaching players and coaching coaches. It’s helping parents understand this game, helping parents navigate this baseball journey from a youth player to an adult player. It’s getting fan engagement, engaging with the community. There’s just so many things that can be done positively for your life, not just baseball. And that’s what I love. I’m outgoing, so I love communicating with people and talking, but I really love sharing why this game means so much to me. So, even if it’s only one person, at the end of the day, I make a change in moving forward, then I’m doing my job. Hopefully, I can make a difference in as many people as possible. I’m from Canada. I played college ball in the US, I played in France in 1993. I’ve come back 30 years later and started coaching again because Europe means a lot to me. Baseball, as I said, I love it. And my wife and I want to make that move to Europe when she retires from her teaching job in three years. So there was a lot of those factors that went into coming to Munich and coming to Europe in general. But at the end of the day, it’s because I just love baseball, and anybody that wants to learn it or be a part of it with me, my job is to pay it forward. I owe baseball everything.

You’ve played in Paris, you’ve coached in France & Austria. What was it like?

Kirk: When you look at the European baseball landscape, you’ve got a really tough hitting league in France. They recruit, they bring in a lot of former minor league pitchers. So they really invest in pitchers in France as far as imports go, so it’s a very, very tough hitting league. It was a fantastic environment and good people, just like there was in Austria last year. I coached with the Wiener Neustadt Diving Ducks. I got introduced to the manager down there, a guy by the name of Luis Camargo, through a MLB Scout friend of ours. They showed a great business sense of what needed to be done overall as a club. Not just the baseball side of it, but a great business sense. And so that was really exciting to be able to be a part of that and experience that and move forward. It’s great to see this passion for baseball throughout Europe. But yeah, I’m excited. I’m excited about Munich, Haar and the Disciples.

Oh, how could I. You just mentioned it. Austria, you’ve won the championship. And I haven’t even congratulated on that. Congratulations! From what I’ve read there are two teams that dominated the league in the last few years. It’s the Ducks and the Metro Stars. How grueling is that? If you know that there is exactly one serious opponent, and you have to watch that team and make sure that you control that team in order to achieve what you like to achieve. Winning a championship.

Kirk: Fantastic question. I’m a big mindset guy when I’m developing players, coaches, parents, fans and partners overall. The Metro Stars were very strong the last several years. The Diving Ducks because of their overall commitment have arrived and they are positioned for sustainable success moving forward. They’re young 20s, mid 20s and they’re just strong and hungry and aggressive and because of Coach Camargo they’re loving this game of baseball. I can guarantee you if they came up and were a part of the German Baseball League, they’d hold their own. We also won the U14 and U12 Austrian Championship, so we had high expectations at all levels of the club and we executed from the first game to the last, no matter what team we were facing, not just the MetroStars. And so it was a great experience for me last year and now we have to embark on a similar journey with the Disciples moving forward. It’s exciting.

Great to hear. So now we have the honor of you taking care of our teams and our players. After the Vienna teams had that honor, what was the moment of truth for you when you said, yes, I’ve made my decision and now I’m signing with the Disciples?

Kirk: I mean the coaching part of it was easy. Unfortunately in the business of sports the simple thought of winning is first and foremost, so I know a lot of coaches, if they hear that word “reset” from a club, they would probably say, I don’t want any part of that. I embrace it. I’ve been through these processes before. So as far as the coaching goes, and from the Bundesliga all the way to the beginner players, at whatever age, they become a part of the Disciples till the time they’re finished, I’m totally comfortable with that because I’ve been through it. I’ve got experience dealing with it, and there’s going to be some bumps along the road and stuff like that. But really what did it for me was my wife and I traveled up to Munich last summer and we got a little bit of the feel of the energy of Munich and the area, so that was a good starting point. But for me, the other part of it, Alex, was the fact that we had really good conversations with the people that are restructuring the club and they are fired up about moving this into the next generation. I love this game and I love talking about this game. And clubs like the Disciples and every other club in Germany, the world, they’re based on volunteers predominantly, so we have to help educate them and empower them. When we can educate you, then we can empower you to move mountains. And so that was really exciting that they were willing to include that with me. You can feel the passion. You can feel the hunger and the desire to move the Disciples forward in a positive manner. And that’s exciting.

Great to hear. So I’m guessing that are your hopes, right?

Kirk: That’s right. Many hands make light work and uniteD anything is possible.

Are there any fears?

Kirk: I guess there’s always fears, but really, it’s excitement. It’s excitement to really get there and start to see people face to face, feel the energy, let them feel my energy and get to build relationships. That takes commitment. That takes trust with each other. But I want the Disciples to know that I’ve got their back no matter what. And that’s what it is. Build a great culture that everybody can be proud of, from the club itself to the community of Haar, to the city of Munich, to the region of Bavaria. Let everyone know that this is a good club. Whether you win or lose, sure, you always want to win. The goal is to win championships, but there’s so many times we lose out and we get fixated on wins and losses instead of the development going on within. Are our players and coaches getting better? Are we getting better communicating with our fans? Are we getting better being a part of the community? How can we do that? Up to a point where everybody is proud to wear that D on their chest.

I’ve watched a show on YouTube where you said, “let’s talk about the things that we can control”. And you went on referring to hitting the ball hard. Now, is that something that you would restrict to the diamond? Control? Or would you apply that to organizations as well? Or maybe even to life, talking about the things that we can control.

Kirk: Before we even get there, we have to understand that to play for me, it’s really, really easy, but it’s challenging. I need you to have what I call an “ACE” mindset. So A, C, E. Attitude, Commitment, Effort. That’s something that you, Alex, me, Kirk, every human being on the face of the earth can control every single day. If I can look at those three characteristics and you can give me those all the time, and I, in return, can give you those, your great attitude, great commitment, great effort, we will always be growing together. I don’t know if we’re going to win or lose, but I do know we’re going to be competitive. You could be in control of that every single day. Your attitude, your commitment and your effort.

That’s why I said it’s a great culture to have because it’s simple. It’s something that even the youth can put a picture in their head. They can understand what you’re saying. And for example, now we’re going to teach you base running. Well, you better have the right attitude, commitment and effort for this section. There’s a lot of opportunities. You just have to understand that when the season starts, you’re going to get some wake up calls and you have to look back at it and go, not put your head down and drag your bat or throw your glove across the field. You need to look at it realistically and say, you know what? Regensburg is anywhere from seven to 15 years older than me. Heidenheim, the same thing. Most of the teams in Germany, the same thing. So they have more experience, they have more knowledge, both physically, game wise and mentally. So I don’t want you to put your head down. I want you to finish the game and go over to the fans and sign an autograph. I want you to pat that kid on the head and say, thanks for coming to the game today. I’m going to have the kids come on the field with us as the Disciples after home games and they’re going to run the bases. If Kirk McNabb’s the only guy on the field doing it with them, I’m okay with that because, again, I love the game of baseball. I want them to feel. I want them to feel this game of baseball. I love it.

Let me take you somewhere else. Away from the sport, towards Haar, Munich, Bavaria. You just said that you’ve been to Munich with your wife last summer. So what have you always wanted to know about our region, our home? Where, apart from the baseball, softball diamond you drawn first?

Kirk: That’s a loaded question. If I hadn’t been there a little bit, I wouldn’t really know. I guess you’d say what everybody says, just kind of getting to know Munich and the region and stuff like that. But really, at the end of the day, it comes down to I want to feel your energy, Alex. I want to. I want to talk with you and everybody else about what do you love about this area, this region? What does Bavaria mean to you? And the reason why is for me personally, and again, build that relationship like I’m talking about Alex. But it’s also because when I look at the great teams of sports over history I want to know what is their culture. What is that culture? Because as we grow and we start needing to bring in a player here or there, German or import, hopefully German, do they fit the culture? Because I believe strongly in that. When you personally reflect the culture of your area, it makes for a really good fit. You understand it. And so really, I just want to enjoy time with people like yourself, get to know you personally and see what you love about your region. We’ve been able to see Berlin and a few places on the west western part of Germany. So now we’re really looking forward to seeing what it is like on the southeastern side of Germany.