Tom Lundstedt interview

Tom Lundstedt with the Chicago Cubs in 1973

Thomas Robert Lundstedt was born on April 10, 1949 in Davenport, Iowa . Tom grew up in Illinois and played the three major sports in high school and was a good enough basketball player to earn a scholarship to the University of Michigan where he played basketball for 2 years and baseball for three years. You may have heard of a couple of Lundstedt’s Wolverine basketball teammates, Rudy Tomjanovich and Dan Fife. Tomjanovich was the number 2 overall pick in the 1970 NBA draft and went on to a great NBA career. Dan Fife pursued a baseball career and spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues, ironically it was with the 1973-1974 Minnesota Twins. But back to Mr. Lundstedt, Tom was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1967 in the 65th round as a catcher but he chose not to sign. In June of 1970, Lundstedt was again drafted, this time by his home town Chicago Cubs in the first round and 17th pick overall and he was on his way to pro ball. Lundstedt worked his way up through the Cubs minor league system and on August 31, 1973 found himself in a Cubs uniform behind the plate catching future Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins at Three Rivers Stadium. After appearing in only 4 big league games in 1974, Lundstedt made the Cubs team out of spring training in 1974 and appeared in 22 games before knee surgery in June sidelined him for the rest of the season. In December of 1974 the switch-hitting 6’4” Lundstedt was traded by the Cubs to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Mike Adams. Tom ended up splitting the 1975 season between AAA Tacoma and the Twins and ended up only playing 18 games for Minnesota that season. After playing winter ball in Venezuela, Tom had a Minnesota Twins contract waiting for his signature for the 1976 season but the 26 Lundstedt walked away from baseball to open the next chapter in his life.

Tom Lundstedt and Tony LaRussa were teammates on several teams and sometimes life in pro baseball is not all it seems to be. Picture courtesy of Tom Lundstedt.

Lundstedt decided to attend the University of Minnesota to complete his business degree and ended up getting a job in Commercial Real Estate that he really enjoyed. After about 6 or 7 years of that, at the urging of a friend, Tom decided to become a professional speaker. It turns out that was really Tom’s calling and he has been a professional speaker for about 30 years and today owns his own company called Tom Lundstedt Seminars. According to Tom’s web site, “Tom Lundstedt is the funniest investment and tax guy in America!”. I really enjoyed my time talking with Tom and I hope that you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I did doing it. Are you still baffled by my title of “Big leaguers don’t hitch hike”? If you want to know what that is all about, you will just have to listen to the interview and let Tom tell you that very funny story. Now days, Tom who married his 7th grade sweetheart Char 41 years ago, is enjoying life in Door County, Wisconsin. Tom told me that “Char was with me every step of the way during our baseball experience. I would get traded, brought up, sent down, etc. and they’d hand me a plane ticket. My Char would have to pack up, close down the apartment and drive (sometimes all the way across America) to wherever the new adventure began.” You are a lucky man Tom Lundstedt, a lucky man indeed!

The interview with Tom is 46 minutes in length and took place on January 9, 2012.

Tom Lundstedt interview

4 comments

  1. I played ball with Tom and Dave. John Phillips mom was coming to the game and picked up the ball in high school that was rolling down the street. Tom was a great basketball player. Tom was such a great guy. I remember going to Ray Meyers Basketball camp in Three Lakes Wisconsin the summer of 1965. Tom and I took a canoe out into the middle of the lake and sank it. There was a girlscout camp across the lake. Ray Meyer (former Depaul Coach/legend) came out in his speed boat picked Tom and I up and made us dig holes for the day. Tom was a funny guy and a great basketball player. It was shocked he did not become a huge star. He has a great wife. This interview was really fun to hear. I graduate in 1968 a year behind Tom and when we had a chance to choose basketball uniforms my senior year I had to take Tom’s jersey number 13. It brought me luck, not as much as Tom but I made all area, played in college and one year in Europe. I don’t know how old this interiew is so I will just say Hi Tom LOL. Butch Leonard

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