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June 2008: The Yankees chose Kyle in the 7th round, out of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California
Kyle is becoming fluent in Spanish so he can communicate better with the Latin America pitchers
Higashioka's work ethic and attention to even the smallest details have allowed him to become an organizational favorite among team officials and coaches.
April 8, 2017: Higashioka received the phone call that he has been waiting nine Minor League seasons to get. Notified of Gary Sanchez's right biceps injury in that night's Yankees game, Higashioka hurriedly packed his bags and piled into a car with his wife, Alise, making the 6 1/2-hour drive toward Camden Yards and his big league dream.
"It didn't really sink in. To be honest, it feels pretty normal," Higashioka said. "The clubhouse is the same. It's a lot of guys I know here, so maybe once we get on the field and the game starts it'll be a little more surreal. But as of right now, it feels like just another day."
Higashioka, 26, was added to the Yankees' 40-man roster this past November after batting .276 with 21 homers and 81 RBIs in 102 games between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season, setting career highs in runs (55), hits (102), doubles (24), homers, RBIs and walks (38). (Bryan Hoch - MLB.com)
Dec 23, 2019: A member of the Yankees organization for more than a decade, Kyle is entering the 2020 season with a strong opportunity to make his first big league Opening Day roster.
Q&A WITH MLB
The 29-year-old catcher joined MLB.com for a Q&A:
Growing up, we would usually go to the East Coast to visit with my mom's parents and then my cousins and aunts and uncles on my mom's side, so we were usually in Camp Hill, Pa. If we were lucky, it'd be a white Christmas, which was cool. And then sometimes we'd take like a little trip after that.
Did you have any special traditions? Something you would look forward to every year?
Once we started having Christmas just at our house in my high school years, my mom would make the same Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas. It's our family's collective favorite meal, so that was cool. My mom makes an excellent Thanksgiving dinner. She does it the old-fashioned way in the oven, with the turkey that takes like eight hours to cook. Everything tastes amazing, so we always love that.
If you think back to when you were a kid, is there one Christmas that sticks out? Maybe something you were really hoping for under the tree?
One of the things I would always look forward to was that I would get a new a baseball bat. Usually those things only lasted like a year at a time, because they'd get dented or cracked or whatever. So usually Christmas time was when you would get your new bat for the year, which is always pretty exciting.
Which bats were you partial to? Do you remember any in particular that were your favorite?
As a kid, I think it was whatever was the one that was on sale. I had a Nike bat. I had a couple of Easton bats that were pretty good. I think Easton was the best metal bat company, in my opinion. When I was growing up, the Connexion and then the Stealth; I mean, the Stealth was like a rocket launcher.
What about favorite gifts that you were able to give?
As a kid, it was tough. I was working with limited funds; I didn't have a job yet. I just remember when we gave my brother his first PlayStation or PS2, and giving my parents a new bike. We'd hide it in the neighbors' garage until Christmas Eve and then go over there and sneak it back into our garage and then put it out in the morning. That was always fun.
Did you ever peek at the presents early?
I would always look for them, but I never found them. I don't know what the deal was. My parents must have been good at hiding the gifts. I'd always look for them in all the closets and stuff, and I could never find any of them. Good for them.
Sell me on a California Christmas. What's good about a California Christmas?
In California, the good thing is you can still play baseball on Christmas. The weather is usually still warm, so I think I remember there being some sort of baseball tournament growing up over the Christmas holidays.
Favorite Christmas movie?
Jingle All the Way. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the guy is a comedian in himself. Everything is so much funnier in his heavy Austrian accent. The way he says, "Turbo Man," or when he's yelling at Ted to "put that cookie down, now!"
Favorite Christmas song?
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. I always used to think it was funny as a kid.
How do you look back on the 2019 season, now that you’ve had a little time to absorb it?
Obviously as a team, we were disappointed to not get to the World Series. Our goal is always to win it. But you know, there were a lot of positives from that year, especially with us using so many different players from the 40-man roster. That just showed the depth in the organization. We know that we're going to be primed to compete, even more so this year. We're looking forward to it.
Now that Austin Romine has joined the Tigers, are you going in thinking that the backup catcher job is yours? And how are you preparing for that?
I'm preparing like I would every other year, which is that I'm fighting for a job. I'm not going to believe anything until I see my name on the roster come Opening Day. I don't know, so I don't want to be complacent or assume anything until it's actually done. I'm just going to go into camp fighting for a job.
What did you like about what you were able to show this past year? What positives do you take from it personally?
I had another good year receiving, and also at the plate. I had a good couple of weeks there where Romine and I were kind of switching off every day. I think I showed what I'm capable of. Now it's about just doing that consistently throughout the course of an entire season.
What are you looking forward to about having Gerrit Cole on your team?
We actually played together a little bit on the Angels' elite scout team in high school, so I'm looking forward to being back on his team.
What was he like in high school? What kind of teammate was he?
Great dude. I mean, I had a really good time with him. I think we played against each other once on some Orange County, North-South All-Star team. I hit a line drive up the middle and he was like, ‘Oh my God, you crushed that one!’ He’s always been a really good dude to me, and I'm looking forward to being his teammate again. (B Hoch - MLB.com - Dec 23, 2019)