Q & A With Brent Mayne:

For 19 seasons, including 15 in the Major Leagues for seven teams, Brent Mayne played baseball with the so-called tools of ignorance. But, as he was nearing the end of that career, the Costa Mesa High and Orange Coast College product vowed to do what he could to help bring enlightenment to what he believes is the least-understood position on the diamond.

The Costa Mesa resident has followed through on that commitment and has written a book titled “The Art of Catching: The Secrets and Techniques of Baseball’s Most Demanding Position.” It came out in late December and may be purchased at his Website: brentmayne.com, as well as other major booksellers.

Mayne, who retired following the 2004 playoffs as a member of the Dodgers, does personal instruction with a handful of players, primarily young prospects. But, having made nearly $14 million during a 1,279-game career in which he hit .263 with 38 home runs, 403 RBIs, 951 hits, and one notable pitching victory in 2000 as a member of the Colorado Rockies, Mayne said he enjoys the luxury of spending the majority of his time with his wife, Hillary, daughters Dylan (16) and Jaia (6), as well as son Noah (10).

After one season at OCC, Mayne went on to Cal State Fullerton, where he helped the Titans reach the 1988 College World Series. He then earned All-American honors in 1989, before being selected with the 13th overall pick that June by the Kansas City Royals. He was in the majors to stay a little more than a year after that.

Mayne, a guest speaker at the Orange Empire Conference baseball media day Friday at Irvine Valley College, took some time to speak about his career and life after baseball.

Question: What have you been doing in retirement?

Answer: My biggest deal is, well, trying to be a human being after the baseball deal. I’m being with my family, chasing the kids around, learning how to live in one place, enjoying life.

On a business side, the big project has been self-publishing the book. During my career, I found there was such an incredible void of information on catching. Really, I felt almost an obligation to kind of give back.

I hesitate to say this, because I would not want to put myself in the same class, but an analogy I use is I would like to become the catching guy, the way Pete Newell established his big man camp in basketball.

Q: You played middle infield most of your career at Costa Mesa High, how did you become a catcher?