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People around the world know the names of America’s highest-paid athletes. Names like Kobe Bryant, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Tiger Woods roll off the tongue because these superstars not only dominate their respective sports, they also rule the gossip pages and water cooler chatter. Then, this past November, Giancarlo Stanton signed a 13-year, $325 million contract with the Miami Marlins, surpassing Rodriguez’s deal as the largest in both length and value in baseball history, and sports fans were left speechless.
Stanton is not just a man of mystery when it comes to his personal life; it wasn’t too long ago that even the most educated baseball fan was unsure of his actual name. From the fifth grade until 2012, the 25-year-old slugger was known as Mike Stanton because, well, it was just easier. “I always liked Giancarlo better, but when I was a kid, no one pronounced it right,” says Stanton, whose full name for the record is Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton. “So I was like, you know, my middle name is Mike, call me Mike. That was my thought process. People call me everything still. My mom calls me Cruz. My dad calls me Mike. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
In an industry dominated by egos, Stanton’s shrug of the shoulders with regard to his name is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his unusual modesty. The two-time all-star led Major League Baseball’s National League in home runs last year; at the Home Run Derby during All Star Weekend, he hit one so far out of Minneapolis’s Target Field, it seemed like it might go into orbit. Yet, if you ask him if he’s the new face of the “long ball,” he says, “I don’t self-proclaim myself anything, so I’m not going to sit here and say I’m the face of power in baseball. Other people can say that.”
The Los Angeles native won’t even say he was the best athlete at Notre Dame High School, the private school in Sherman Oaks, California, where he transferred to take his career to the next level. “There were a lot of good players there,” he says. “I would say I fit right in pretty well. It was a good challenge for me to step up my own game.”
And step up he has—after being drafted in 2007 in the second round to the Marlins, Stanton has risen in the ranks to warrant a deal worth a third of a billion dollars. And not only did he not pat himself on the back, he barely wanted to celebrate—further proof that unlike many other marquee professional athletes, Stanton won’t be making headlines outside the sports pages. “I can’t tell you a certain tactic, really, but I like it that way,” he says of his low-key lifestyle.
But this is South Beach, and the locals weren’t going to stand for a feat without a fête. That’s why after signing the contract of the century, a party was thrown in his honor at FDR at The Delano with a special-edition bottle of Moët Nectar Impérial Rosé Leopard Luxury Edition Methuselah. “Like you said about staying out of the gossip pages, that night wasn’t that,” Stanton admits. “I didn’t want that to be a huge night, but I had my friends around me, and they didn’t let it be as chill as I wanted it to be. I look back now and I’m glad that I could at least have fun and enjoy it. I was pressing a little bit. I didn’t know how to react to [the contract]. I’m glad I stepped out and had my fun and got that out of the way.”
He’s modest, but Stanton is certainly not shy. In 2013, he posed in the nude for ESPN The Magazine’s annual Body Issue, a move that put both his outer muscles and inner strength on display. “I had zero clothes the whole time, so I had to get over that speed bump in the first five minutes,” he says. “I knew if I was going to be worried about it the whole time that it was going to be a long day, so I just let it happen.”
Stanton also recently judged the Miss Universe pageant, a perk of his newfound fame and fortune. But instead of ogling the talent, he observed and studied them. “I enjoyed understanding pageants and learning what you need to look for,” he says. And when Miss Netherlands seemed flustered by his charm, he didn’t flinch. “I would say it was more the language barrier than [being] star-struck,” he says of their interaction.
It’s the kind of attitude that will keep Stanton from ever becoming too “Hollywood.” He’s more likely to be lying on the beach at Key Biscayne than partying on South Beach, and in the off-season, when he’s home in Los Angeles, he avoids the Tinseltown scene almost entirely. “Living in LA, it does stay relatively quiet,” he says of his social life. “Hollywood is right there, but that ‘Hollywood’ label is not always the best label to have anyway, so you find the hybrid of whatever you want to be.”
The Stanton mantra to observe from afar while “learning what you need to look for” applies to his own life as well, and he’s confident the right girl will win there, too. Who knows, maybe that groundedness may one day turn a Miss Universe into a Mrs. Stanton. “You see some of the players with their families and kids in the clubhouse, and it’s really cool to watch their development,” he says. “So, yeah, I definitely want a family. The future family, the future wife could be anywhere. You don’t necessarily go searching for it on all these match.coms and stuff, but she’ll come. I’m not worried about it.”
For now, Stanton’s focus is on baseball and turning the Miami Marlins into champions once again—a tall task for the right fielder, who says the contract doesn’t add pressure but does enhance the need for success. “There’s no one that’s more critical or has higher expectations than I do,” he says. “I’m not worried about living up to those expectations. I want the attention to be on the performance on the field and hopefully see some successes rather than just being labeled Mr. Contract.”
The skeptical Marlins fan would see that Stanton’s 13-year deal is heavily backloaded with only $30 million coming over the next three seasons, and think the Marlins are up to something. The team made big promises just a few years back, spending $200 million on free agents to create buzz around the new Marlins Park, before dumping $236 million in salaries via trade less than a year later. One of the biggest critics was Stanton, who is now singing a different tune. “Anytime you get a knee-jerk reaction, something big happens like that, everyone is going to be critical,” he says. “I was as well. It’s just something that took a couple of years to pan out. In 2012, fans were thrown back, they didn’t understand; they see now that it took a couple of years to reinvent that.”
In fact, the young guys who stepped in after those trades are a big reason why Stanton committed to the Marlins moving forward. “The young core group of guys that we have—no one knows how good they are just yet because they’re just coming up,” he says. “Being able to play with them, being in the same locker room and seeing their development, it’s something that I want to be a part of, and I look forward to breaking through with these guys.”
This Stanton-led team will not only be trying to win games, they’ll also be winning back a fan base. As Stanton says, it starts with commitment on his part, which is why he won’t be opting out of his contract and heading to bigger-name teams, like the Yankees or Red Sox, anytime soon. “There’s a lot of negativity that people will want to instinctively react to when they hear my team name, but that’s why I committed here—to change that and bring a positive vibe to Miami and our franchise,” he says. “Changing that wouldn’t mean leaving in three years. It’s a long process. It’s what we need.”
So Stanton is in it for the long haul, and at age 25, he’s thrust into a leadership role not only within the team (where, he says, “Guys are going to struggle at times and need a little guidance. That’s what I’m here for”), but throughout Major League Baseball as a whole. This is the dawn of a new era, a post-steroids generation, where, whether he admits it or not, Stanton is the new face of power. “It’s not like my power has changed from when I was in the minors to now, so there’s nothing to debate on that,” he says to those who would see his home runs hit the upper deck and assume foul play.
He even has a strong stance on players who did cheat their way through the generation before. “If it’s confirmed that they did it, they shouldn’t be allowed in [the Hall of Fame],” he says of steroid users. “None of those guys got fined or anything, so really they got away with all of that. The one thing that should stop them is the Hall. That’s my view on it.”
Over the course of the next 13 years, Stanton will do his best to carve out his own Hall of Fame career. For now, it’s all bat, ball, and hard work. It’s why South Beach is reserved for special occasions, the gossip pages will have to find another target, and Mrs. Right will come a-knockin’ when he’s ready. It’s part of the Stanton way of life that includes the Miami skyline and Biscayne Bay views from his downtown condo, haircuts at Headz Up barbers in Miami Lakes, and meals at Prime 112. “There’s always something to do here,” he says of Miami. “If you’re not going to be on the beach, hanging, there’s some great places to eat, a downtown area, a beautiful art district. You can go inland to the Everglades and visit wildlife sanctuaries. The whole vacation vibe is the best part about it. Everyone is really friendly and having a good time. I love living in Miami more than LA. It’s the perfect place to be.”
Oh, and about that $325 million contract? “I’m working on my parents’ houses first,” he says. “I don’t need to necessarily gift myself right away. I’ll be fine.” Call him Giancarlo. Call him Mike. Call him whatever you’d like. For Stanton, it’s the name on the front of the uniform that matters most. The team-first mentality is the Stanton way of life, and it’s here to stay.
Stanton is not just a man of mystery when it comes to his personal life; it wasn’t too long ago that even the most educated baseball fan was unsure of his actual name. From the fifth grade until 2012, the 25-year-old slugger was known as Mike Stanton because, well, it was just easier. “I always liked Giancarlo better, but when I was a kid, no one pronounced it right,” says Stanton, whose full name for the record is Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton. “So I was like, you know, my middle name is Mike, call me Mike. That was my thought process. People call me everything still. My mom calls me Cruz. My dad calls me Mike. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
In an industry dominated by egos, Stanton’s shrug of the shoulders with regard to his name is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his unusual modesty. The two-time all-star led Major League Baseball’s National League in home runs last year; at the Home Run Derby during All Star Weekend, he hit one so far out of Minneapolis’s Target Field, it seemed like it might go into orbit. Yet, if you ask him if he’s the new face of the “long ball,” he says, “I don’t self-proclaim myself anything, so I’m not going to sit here and say I’m the face of power in baseball. Other people can say that.”
The Los Angeles native won’t even say he was the best athlete at Notre Dame High School, the private school in Sherman Oaks, California, where he transferred to take his career to the next level. “There were a lot of good players there,” he says. “I would say I fit right in pretty well. It was a good challenge for me to step up my own game.”
And step up he has—after being drafted in 2007 in the second round to the Marlins, Stanton has risen in the ranks to warrant a deal worth a third of a billion dollars. And not only did he not pat himself on the back, he barely wanted to celebrate—further proof that unlike many other marquee professional athletes, Stanton won’t be making headlines outside the sports pages. “I can’t tell you a certain tactic, really, but I like it that way,” he says of his low-key lifestyle.
But this is South Beach, and the locals weren’t going to stand for a feat without a fête. That’s why after signing the contract of the century, a party was thrown in his honor at FDR at The Delano with a special-edition bottle of Moët Nectar Impérial Rosé Leopard Luxury Edition Methuselah. “Like you said about staying out of the gossip pages, that night wasn’t that,” Stanton admits. “I didn’t want that to be a huge night, but I had my friends around me, and they didn’t let it be as chill as I wanted it to be. I look back now and I’m glad that I could at least have fun and enjoy it. I was pressing a little bit. I didn’t know how to react to [the contract]. I’m glad I stepped out and had my fun and got that out of the way.”
He’s modest, but Stanton is certainly not shy. In 2013, he posed in the nude for ESPN The Magazine’s annual Body Issue, a move that put both his outer muscles and inner strength on display. “I had zero clothes the whole time, so I had to get over that speed bump in the first five minutes,” he says. “I knew if I was going to be worried about it the whole time that it was going to be a long day, so I just let it happen.”
Stanton also recently judged the Miss Universe pageant, a perk of his newfound fame and fortune. But instead of ogling the talent, he observed and studied them. “I enjoyed understanding pageants and learning what you need to look for,” he says. And when Miss Netherlands seemed flustered by his charm, he didn’t flinch. “I would say it was more the language barrier than [being] star-struck,” he says of their interaction.
It’s the kind of attitude that will keep Stanton from ever becoming too “Hollywood.” He’s more likely to be lying on the beach at Key Biscayne than partying on South Beach, and in the off-season, when he’s home in Los Angeles, he avoids the Tinseltown scene almost entirely. “Living in LA, it does stay relatively quiet,” he says of his social life. “Hollywood is right there, but that ‘Hollywood’ label is not always the best label to have anyway, so you find the hybrid of whatever you want to be.”
The Stanton mantra to observe from afar while “learning what you need to look for” applies to his own life as well, and he’s confident the right girl will win there, too. Who knows, maybe that groundedness may one day turn a Miss Universe into a Mrs. Stanton. “You see some of the players with their families and kids in the clubhouse, and it’s really cool to watch their development,” he says. “So, yeah, I definitely want a family. The future family, the future wife could be anywhere. You don’t necessarily go searching for it on all these match.coms and stuff, but she’ll come. I’m not worried about it.”
For now, Stanton’s focus is on baseball and turning the Miami Marlins into champions once again—a tall task for the right fielder, who says the contract doesn’t add pressure but does enhance the need for success. “There’s no one that’s more critical or has higher expectations than I do,” he says. “I’m not worried about living up to those expectations. I want the attention to be on the performance on the field and hopefully see some successes rather than just being labeled Mr. Contract.”
The skeptical Marlins fan would see that Stanton’s 13-year deal is heavily backloaded with only $30 million coming over the next three seasons, and think the Marlins are up to something. The team made big promises just a few years back, spending $200 million on free agents to create buzz around the new Marlins Park, before dumping $236 million in salaries via trade less than a year later. One of the biggest critics was Stanton, who is now singing a different tune. “Anytime you get a knee-jerk reaction, something big happens like that, everyone is going to be critical,” he says. “I was as well. It’s just something that took a couple of years to pan out. In 2012, fans were thrown back, they didn’t understand; they see now that it took a couple of years to reinvent that.”
In fact, the young guys who stepped in after those trades are a big reason why Stanton committed to the Marlins moving forward. “The young core group of guys that we have—no one knows how good they are just yet because they’re just coming up,” he says. “Being able to play with them, being in the same locker room and seeing their development, it’s something that I want to be a part of, and I look forward to breaking through with these guys.”
This Stanton-led team will not only be trying to win games, they’ll also be winning back a fan base. As Stanton says, it starts with commitment on his part, which is why he won’t be opting out of his contract and heading to bigger-name teams, like the Yankees or Red Sox, anytime soon. “There’s a lot of negativity that people will want to instinctively react to when they hear my team name, but that’s why I committed here—to change that and bring a positive vibe to Miami and our franchise,” he says. “Changing that wouldn’t mean leaving in three years. It’s a long process. It’s what we need.”
So Stanton is in it for the long haul, and at age 25, he’s thrust into a leadership role not only within the team (where, he says, “Guys are going to struggle at times and need a little guidance. That’s what I’m here for”), but throughout Major League Baseball as a whole. This is the dawn of a new era, a post-steroids generation, where, whether he admits it or not, Stanton is the new face of power. “It’s not like my power has changed from when I was in the minors to now, so there’s nothing to debate on that,” he says to those who would see his home runs hit the upper deck and assume foul play.
He even has a strong stance on players who did cheat their way through the generation before. “If it’s confirmed that they did it, they shouldn’t be allowed in [the Hall of Fame],” he says of steroid users. “None of those guys got fined or anything, so really they got away with all of that. The one thing that should stop them is the Hall. That’s my view on it.”
Over the course of the next 13 years, Stanton will do his best to carve out his own Hall of Fame career. For now, it’s all bat, ball, and hard work. It’s why South Beach is reserved for special occasions, the gossip pages will have to find another target, and Mrs. Right will come a-knockin’ when he’s ready. It’s part of the Stanton way of life that includes the Miami skyline and Biscayne Bay views from his downtown condo, haircuts at Headz Up barbers in Miami Lakes, and meals at Prime 112. “There’s always something to do here,” he says of Miami. “If you’re not going to be on the beach, hanging, there’s some great places to eat, a downtown area, a beautiful art district. You can go inland to the Everglades and visit wildlife sanctuaries. The whole vacation vibe is the best part about it. Everyone is really friendly and having a good time. I love living in Miami more than LA. It’s the perfect place to be.”
Oh, and about that $325 million contract? “I’m working on my parents’ houses first,” he says. “I don’t need to necessarily gift myself right away. I’ll be fine.” Call him Giancarlo. Call him Mike. Call him whatever you’d like. For Stanton, it’s the name on the front of the uniform that matters most. The team-first mentality is the Stanton way of life, and it’s here to stay.
STANTON
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