CLUBHOUSE CHARACTER

Tim Dillard prides himself on helping his team both on and off the field

- KYLE BANDUJO

Any child growing up today playing baseball in the backyard with big league dreams probably wouldn’t imagine having the career of Tim Dillard.

The first person to admit that would be Dillard.

“Anybody who plays any kind of baseball has a journey, has a unique story,” Dillard said. “It never goes the way you think—unless you’re Mike Trout. I feel like Mike Trout is doing what he thought he would do.”

While Dillard’s journey hasn’t led him to a place where he could lay claim to being one of the greatest players of his generation, his nearly 20 years in professional baseball have set him up to have an excellent claim to being the greatest minor league clubhouse guy of his generation.