#MediaMonday – Mountain Man Jay
Today’s #MediaMonday comes to us from Jay Yaconetti, known as “Mountain Man Jay” at 95.5 The Mountain. I had the chance to locker near Jay at Diamondbacks Fantasy Camp a few weeks ago. I only wish he had been on my team, as the ball parks at Salt River Fields couldn’t hold four of his bombs!
Mountain Man, time to share:
Baseball has always been a part of my life. For many years that’s all I did. So it’s kind of funny being asked about my baseball career and then feeling speechless. Growing up, I went to Gilbert High School and played for the great Bob Everett who till this day I haven’t been able to track him down to thank him for moving me to third base… the place I would call home for the rest of my baseball career. After high school I went to Central Arizona JC where my real knowledge of the game of baseball was developed. I have had many GREAT coaches, however, Clint Myers takes the cake on “best coach award” for me.
After two great years at Central Arizona and a College World Series under my belt, I went on and played at the University of Oklahoma for a year and the University of New Orleans for my senior year. I was confident about where I was headed in my baseball career. Then on draft day, well not so much. I ended up signing as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins! Baseball took me to many towns and teams but after six seasons of trying to make it to the “Big Leagues,” I decided that maybe baseball was just a stepping stone in my life and I needed to find something else to do.
I never really thought about doing any other job besides baseball so it’s kind of funny how I got into radio. In 2006, I was playing for a team called the Lincoln Saltdogs of the Independent League. One day we had an event where a radio station and players were helping raise money for a fallen officer. I had a local DJ ask me what I would be doing if I wasn’t playing baseball? I responded with, “haha.. well maybe radio.” So for fun I started going in to the station every Monday when we had home games to talk baseball and chat about what was going on with the team. Little did I know, six years later I would be working in that profession and not playing baseball.
The Mountain is a fun, music-motivated station that plays hundreds of artists from the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s! We Play Everything… we really do.
When I’m not at work, it’s KIDS, KIDS, KIDS! I love them but they can be a lot of work. Not sure how my wife can do it on her own when I’m not there — lol. I also find some time for Xbox live to chat and play online with some of my old baseball buddies.
I always try to remember that “You get older but never get old!” It’s something I noticed when playing a couple weeks back at DBacks Fantasy Camp. I met some wonderful people and all whom I can now call my friends, but it also made me kind of miss those playing days.
You can follow me on Twitter @955MMJ, on Facebook and on Instagram.
