Pete Crow-Armstrong is a four-time USA Baseball alum and one of a select few athletes who have participated on all of the organization's youth national teams, including 2018 18U National Team teammate Anthony Volpe and Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora.
Crow-Armstrong has won two gold medals with Team USA as a member of the 2017 15U National Team that won gold at the COPABE "AA" Pan American Championships and the 2018 18U National Team that claimed the title at the COPABE "AAA" Pan American Championships. As a member of the 2019 18U National Team, he was named the All-World Center Fielder at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup, where the U.S. earned a silver medal. He has a .365 lifetime batting average with Team USA.
Additionally, he participated in the 2019 USA Baseball National High School Invitational with Harvard-Westlake, which advanced to the championship game for the third time in the school's history.
USA Baseball (USAB): What got you into baseball?
Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA): It was just running around the backyard, probably playing every sport I possibly could and then years after that, I just happened to stick with baseball. We had a good-sized backyard that I was lucky enough to get to tear up and just a bunch of wiffle ball with my buddies and my dad and playing until we couldn't see the ball anymore. So, I think that that probably kind of sparked my love for the game and ultimately when I was probably we, I just stuck with baseball.
USAB: What do you love most about the game of baseball?
PCA: [I love that] it doesn't matter how old you are, what level you play, you can kind of just run around and be free. I play the outfield so I love being able to roam that area of the field and control that and be myself. It's another place I can be a little different than who I am off the field and it's a really great outlet. It's a great escape sometimes and I think it's this really strategic game, but it's competitive and crazy at moments too. So, I think there's a ton to just absolutely love about the sport.
USAB: You mentioned starting out playing baseball at a very young age but at what age do you think you started to come around confidence-wise and figured out, not only do I love this game, but I might be pretty good at it?
PCA: I would say probably 11 or 12 [years old]. I play Little League all my life, I never really played much club ball or anything like that, so hearing about all these club teams was kind of crazy at that age and [hearing about] all these really good players at that age. But once I hit 11 or 12, I started playing with guys a little bit older than me - some of whom are my best friends now - and then I was lucky enough to make the 12U National Team. I think that was probably the moment where I was like, 'okay, I can hang with the rest of the people in the country.'
USAB: You are one of a very small number of athletes to play on all of the USA Baseball youth national teams - along with players like Albert Almora and Anthony Volpe. What has USA Baseball meant to you throughout your playing career so far?
PCA: I think I can speak on behalf of pretty much everybody that's played for a program like this: you get to experience things that you probably never imagine that you'd be able to experience at 12, 15, 18 [years old] and even some in college. I think that being introduced to new ways of life in different countries and new styles of play and a bunch of new guys from around the country that - like I said earlier, some of whom are my best friends now - I think that there's a lot to be thankful for. Just being able to play with them a handful of times, I've met so many great players, so many great people, and I've gotten to experience so many crazy things that I never imagined I would when I was younger just only being a high schooler.
And obviously, being able to say that I played for each level and being able to say that Albert Almora and [Anthony Volpe] did it too is an honor. Those are two great players. I was lucky enough to play with Anthony a couple summers ago and he's one of the best people to be around; he's a great guy. So yeah, USA Baseball means a lot and, heck, if I get to find myself playing with them again someday, that's be the best.
USAB: If I asked you to pick a favorite memory from each Team USA experience, do you think you could do that? You were on the 12U National Team in 2014, the 15U National Team in 2017 and the 18U National Team each of the past two years. Do you have a favorite memory from each?
PCA: I think 12U would probably have to be trials; it was a whole new kind of format, and I'd never experienced anything like that before. I ended up rooming with Carson Tucker, who's one of my best friends now, so I think actually 12U as a whole, I'd say. Just the people I met, I still keep in touch with probably more than half that team and that was six years ago at this point, so I'd say the whole thing and meeting new people [was my favorite part] from 12U.
From 15U, I think it was honestly the gold medal game. We didn't come out on top necessarily - we got named co-champions - and that was humbling because you kind of go in there expecting to win every time. You're surrounded by absolutely amazing baseball players on your team and you kind of expect to go in there and kick butt so I think that was humbling. That was good for me to experience something like that - it wasn't defeat because we still played our tails off but it wasn't success either.
Then 18U, [in 2018] we won gold in Panama so that's my favorite experience of them all. That was a great team and I was super lucky to play with guys older than me and I got to learn from them. And then, similar to 15U, I think that this past year's 18U team we battled from the start, before we even got to playing, flying in Rawley Hector and Drew Bowser a little late. Those guys came and they brought it and we couldn't have asked for better teammates and performances from them too. But I think the adversity that we faced this past fall - again, similar to 15U - it was humbling and it really kind of makes you well-versed in how to handle obstacles like that. So I would say that as a whole too.
USAB: With Team USA, having gone through it so many times, you've gotten to do a lot of traveling - there was Panama, Taiwan, Korea, Colombia. What have those different experiences been like for you?
PCA: Country to country, each one was different. I went to each place not really knowing what to expect. One thing you kind of know is that you have to be prepared to have everybody rooting against you. So, there's going to be that and there are going to be different obstacles you have to jump over, whether that's different kind of weather than you're used to, different playing conditions, whatever it may be, so you have to go in there prepared that you're not going to be really rooted for. But each place that I went to was beautiful. We have some downtime so we get to see different parts of the country and Colombia was especially cool. We got to go see some old towns they had there that were kind of transformed into touristy attractions. In Korea, again it was beautiful, the backdrops behind the fields were great and I think the fans were especially cool to play in front of there and also in Panama. Being able to play against the host country, everybody comes out and it's a crazy atmosphere. So, I think that each country I went to was different but a lot of the challenges you face and the things you experience are kind of the same from place to place.
USAB: Was there one place that stood out as far as just a travel destination? Baseball aside, can you pick a favorite?
PCA: If we're talking travel destination, I would say Korea or Colombia. In Korea, there's a lot I'd love to explore there if I wasn't going for a baseball trip and Colombia, we only got to see a little glimpse of what else the country was about besides baseball. So, I'd like to go deeper there and explore the country there too. Either of those, I'd be perfectly happy traveling to.
USAB: What are you doing right now to stay sharp and stay in shape as best you can while we're all holed in right now?
PCA: My routine hasn't really changed, I think I just have a little more time on my hands. I'm working out every day, hitting every day; I'm lucky enough to be able to go to a family friend's backyard and sneak in there and use their cage, they've been nice enough to let [me and my dad] do that. It's nice because I haven't done anything baseball-related with [my dad] since I was probably nine or ten so it's cool to get that little chance. And then, I have Zoom classes for school, we're kind of winding down and we've got finals coming up, but yeah, I think the only difference is I just have a little more time on my hands when school gets out and when I finish working out and doing my baseball stuff.
USAB: So, nothing new to the regimen that's been added because of the circumstances that you like and might keep doing going forward?
PCA: No, I think right now it just kind of prepares you for a time when, years down the road, if you're in the big leagues where you may have a ton of downtime before a game. It's cool to see how you can kind of conserve energy and be prepared for the nine innings that night or that afternoon or whatever. Also, this is a good time for everybody to pick up a new hobby or something that they can take with them, so I started trying to play the guitar. I read a lot, so I've been reading a little more than usual and then [watching] a bunch of movies. But I just think as tough as it is right now, it could come out as a blessing in disguise for a lot of us.
USAB: How is learning the guitar going?
PCA: It's good, I'm starting to get some calluses on these parts of my fingers. There are still a couple of chords I can't get down but if you kind of have the C, B, G chords, you can kind of just fiddle around.
USAB: Who are your top five favorite baseball players of all time?
PCA: So, when I looked at this question, I had a hard time trying to rank them, but my number one if kind of a runaway. Griffey is my number one. The fun that he had on the field and just the sheer athleticism that he played with when was in his prime and even younger is special and once in a lifetime - so him for sure. I'm also a huge Javy Baez fan. We're a Cubs household so when he got brought up I thought he was awesome. He just plays with so much energy, so that's one thing that I really liked about him. I like a lot of young guys right now but I was always a Ricky Henderson fan, the way he ran and also, just absolutely powerful. I like Juan Soto a lot right now - a new face for MLB who can bring that flare that we see a lot of young guys having right now. And then, he's probably going to make fun of me but Cole Tucker and Jack Flaherty. I think there are just a lot of young guys who are going to make this game even better than it already is and [Tucker and Flaherty] are just great people on and off the field and I look up to them a lot. So, I'd say those are my top five right now. It changes a lot with new guys coming around or I learn about an older player that I like but I think for me it's a more than just baseball, so those five right now would be guys I like to talk about.
USAB: I get the younger guys, the current players, but how did you learn about guys like Ken Griffey Jr. and Ricky Henderson? What first exposed you to those guys?
PCA: My dad and then YouTube and me just liking baseball and wanting to dive deeper when I was younger and coming up. I mean, I don't think you have to be a baseball player to know who Griffey is, he's kind of the iconic swing man, or whatever you want to call him. So, I immediately gravitated towards his aura and how he played. I think it's pretty infectious and I think I try to take some stuff from his game for sure. But Ricky Henderson, I think just watching TV, being on YouTube, you kind of stumble upon these people and I've liked those two for a while now.
USAB: How much are you looking forward to the MLB draft in June? What would it mean to you to hear your named called relatively early on in that?
PCA: It would be great. It would definitely be a dream come true but I think once anybody gets drafted, it's kind of just a checkpoint. So, I'm really looking forward to that if the opportunity presents itself and I'm taking it day by day. I also am committed to Vanderbilt, so I have a great home in them. Coach Corbin, Coach Baxter, Coach Brown and Coach Macias, they're all absolutely amazing people and great families and I love Vanderbilt for more than just baseball. So, I'm super fortunate to be in the position I am and I think that there is really no stream going into this, it's just a 'whatever happens, happens' mentality for me and I'm going to be happy either way.
