Eastern League Extra: What would you say is your best moment in baseball?

Simon Pond: Well, there's a few of them. But one of them that comes to mind is when I was playing for the Kinston Indians. We were at home and we were down by two runs with two outs. They brought in a left-handed pitcher to pitch to me, and it got to 2 and 0. I hit a home run over the right field scoreboard and it was a walk-off home run. It was awesome, I crushed the ball, it was one of the hardest balls I've ever hit.

ELX: How about your worst moment?

Pond: I try to lock those away in the closet and never talk about them and never let them come out again.

ELX: Who is the most talented player you've ever played with?

Pond: Vladimir Guerrero. He was just so aggressive and so calm at the same time. I couldn't really talk to him, he doesn't speak very good English and I don't speak Spanish. So there were obviously communication barriers there, but he was just awesome to watch play. Just how aggressive he was in every facet of the game; on defense he'd be trying to throw behind runners at first base and get them out, with baserunning he was always trying to take the extra base and trying to stretch singles into doubles and always hustling around the infield. He was just an animal, in the best sense of the word. He just tried to kick the crap out of the other team.

ELX: You made your big league debut on April 7, 2004 after spending ten seasons in the minor leagues. What was it like to finally put on a big league uniform after all that hard work?

Pond: It was awesome. For that to finally come to fruition was pretty cool.

ELX: Take me through your big league milestones - first hit, first home run, stuff like that...

Pond: My first hit was in like my fourteenth at-bat or something like that. It was a long time coming, it was quite a monkey on my back, actually. It shouldn't have been, but it was. I was hitting the ball well, but I wasn't getting my hits. Then finally off of Brad Radke, I got a first pitch curveball in my second or third at-bat, it was a little line drive up the middle.

My first home run was against Bronson Arroyo at Fenway, which is an awesome place to play. But I played with him in winter ball in Puerto Rico, so I knew him and I got along with him well. I'd faced him in 2003 when he was in Pawtucket and I was in Syracuse, so I was pretty familiar with him. I wound up getting a 1-1 changeup, up, and I ended up barreling and hitting it out in center field. That was a big moment.

ELX: You played in the Olympics in 2004 with Team Canada. What was that experience like for you?

Pond: Great group of guys is the first thing that stands out to me. It was an awesome bunch of guys, we had a lot of fun. It's funny, all the Canadian players I've played with have been really good guys, and we had a lot of fun in the clubhouse or at practice or playing the games with them. Just an awesome group of guys.

ELX: Do you still talk to any of those guys?

Pond: I try to find out where they are and how they're doing and stuff like that, but I don't talk to them very regularly. Radmanovich is a really good player, he's better than that league, that's for sure.

ELX: You were supposed to play in the World Baseball Classic this year, what happened with that?

Pond: Nothing. I went to Spring Training with the Pirates, and I was happy with that. I didn't hear anything one way or the other, so...