Ducks All-Star Bryant Nelson keeps swinging

There aren't many firsts left in Bryant Nelson's playing career. The 20-year veteran, who is 39, has seen everything baseball has to offer, from playing in Japan, Taiwan, Italy, Venezuela and Mexico to his long career in the minors, his brief stint in the majors and the eight years he's spent in the Atlantic League. But Wednesday marked the first time in Nelson's four seasons with the Ducks that he represented the team at the Atlantic League All-Star Game, having gone twice before with Lancaster and Bridgeport. Though he said the experience was dampened by a two-hour rain delay, Nelson was proud to represent the Ducks, especially with his 9-year-old son present. We asked Nelson about playing overseas and with the Ducks, and what drives him to keep playing after 20 years in the game.

Tell me about being able to represent the Ducks at the All-Star Game.

"It was an awesome experience. Kevin Baez was our manager and we had five of our guys down there, so it was a fun time . . . The Ducks have always given me a chance, so it's special."

Your MLB experience consists of just 34 at-bats in two months with the Red Sox in 2002; what did you take from that?

"That was awesome. I lived with Rickey Henderson and I had some great teammates like Nomar Garciaparra, Johnny Damon and Pedro Martinez. But truly, and I'm not an arrogant dude, but I thought I belonged there."

In Japan, you played under Sadaharu Oh, the great Japanese manager and player who hit 868 career home runs and later managed the winning Japanese team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. What was that like?

"He's the biggest home run hitter ever. He taught me. I was working on my lower half hitting-wise. He pulled me to the side and showed me this drill to do every night. In Japan, it's serious. It's about winning; everything is so serious. We had to go on top of the roof at night and shadow swing. What I learned there was invaluable to what I can teach my son."

You've been at this for so long, what keeps you in the game today? Still want to get back to the majors?

"At this point in my career, I'm playing to show my son, Prince, how to play the game. He's 9 years old, so whatever uniform I put on, I'm going to go out and play my best. It's about my son seeing the game played the right way."