An Armwood High School and Florida Southern College graduate, Matt Joyce is fun natured and ready for the challenge of this upcoming Tampa Bay Rays season. My brother Alan, and Matt went to high school together. Alan has been telling me to keep an eye out for this young man. Matt and I had fun chatting and joking around at the photo shoot. One thing is for sure, Mr. Joyce is focused and knows that being a MLB professional not an easy task but it is what he has always dreamed about. Matt recently had his jersey number retired at Armwood High School, this is just the beginning of many great things you will see and hear from this sharp young man. Stay tuned . . . and enjoy.

BC: Do you feel any pressure being a hometown protégé?
MJ: I've always played in front of the hometown crowd. Whether in high school, college, or spring training with the tigers, someone from my family or one of my friends was there to root me on. When you do it enough you're able to forget who's watching and learn to just play the game. However, it's always more exciting when you play in front of your hometown crowd.

BC: What are your personal goals for this upcoming season?
MJ: My first goal is to make the team, after that it’s to be consistent and contribute to as many Rays’ victories as possible.

BC: What do you enjoy doing during your off-season and free-time?
MJ: I do a little bit of everything, I love to golf, go to the movies, play some video games, but my buddies and I have actually gotten into paintball lately and its a blast.

BC: Who and/or what has been your strongest support and motivation?
MJ: My whole family has always been behind me, cheering for me and supporting me through the ups and downs. When things weren't going well, they would tell me "you've got it Matt, you have that something special that makes you different". I've been really blessed to have them by my side.

BC: When did you start visualizing and realizing that you have major league potential?
MJ: I remember being in kindergarten and making a book about my family and on the last page you wrote down what you wanted to be when you were older, I'll give you one guess what that was. I said I wanted to be major league baseball player. As far as when I knew I had the potential to play in the big leagues, I don't think I realized I had a shot until I was called up the first time.

BC: How important is it to have people you can trust and count on, in your life? Family? Team? Business?
MJ: It’s actually something I value most. If you don't have trust, you don't have anything whether in a relationship, friendship or even a partnership. Knowing you have people behind you who you can count on whenever you need them makes doing this job that much easier.

BC: Thanks for coming out and supporting What’s Hot and AS*I*BE. I know my brother and I trust you. We are excited to watch you out there at Tropicana field rounding those bases.