Cubs' Steve Cishek on family golf-cart rides, neighborhood fishing contests and more

Ryan Fagan

Cubs' Steve Cishek on family golf-cart rides, neighborhood fishing contests and more image

Sporting News writer Ryan Fagan traveled through Florida and Arizona this spring, stopping at camps and chatting with the players. One of his side projects is a quick-hitter Q/A we’re calling “Two Minutes With …”

Previous editions: Anthony Rizzo | Jo Adell | Max Muncy | Touki Toussaint | Clint Frazier | Pat Neshek | Jonny Venters | Chris Iannetta | Cal Quantrill | Ben Gamel | Robert Stock

Up now: Cubs reliever Steve Cishek

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What’s one of your first baseball memories?
CISHEK:
Probably making it to our state championship, almost making it to regionals in Little League. We lost our first-round game, won the second game, but somehow didn’t qualify to make it to play another one. I think it's the furthest anyone from our town's gone. So it was pretty sweet. I was 12.

What’s the last show you binge-watched?
CISHEK:
 "Designated Survivor," probably. I’m not much of a TV guy.

What’s your favorite free-time activity? 
CISHEK:
Probably golf. I’m around a 10 to a 12 (handicap). I’m better now than I was 15 years ago.

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What’s one talent you’d most like to have?
CISHEK:
I wish I could sing. Like a good, solid country voice or choir voice, whatever. Wherever sounds good to the ears.

What’s best purchase you’ve ever made? 
CISHEK:
My wife and I would probably say our golf cart that we ride around our neighborhood. I bought it off a neighbor with my meal money from the Marlins. We ended up using it like almost every night when we were in the offseason, just driving around with the girls, playing music and especially during Christmas time. Everyone has their lights on and we just play Christmas music every night and drive it around. So we've got this serious use out of this thing for like $1,200 bucks. I Velcro’d a Bluetooth speaker to the dashboard. I lifted it, put a roof on. 

Do you use that golf cart for anything else? 
CISHEK:
I'll use it for fishing. Me and a couple other guys. I’ll go into my golf cart, they go in their golf cart and we have to be back by 6 o'clock and whoever catches the most bass wins, going pond to pond in the golf carts. I use soft plastics. I love a fluke, the watermelon red. Out of the neighborhood, my biggest is probably like three pounds. But ever? It’s nothing impressive. Like six pounds, maybe?

What was your first job? 
CISHEK:
My first job was as a Mobil gas station attendant. Filled up the gas tanks, in my hometown of Falmouth. Falmouth Mobil. It's not there anymore.

Who’s one of your favorite Instagram follows?
CISHEK:
I mean, I'm pretty selective. I like to follow the Celtics. I don't get to watch them too much. I'm a big Celtics fan, so I follow closely to the game updates and highlights and stuff like that. It's been a rollercoaster season. Unbelievable, but I still love them as a fan.

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.