Yes, Kameron Loe is big.

Yes, he has been a very effective reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers the last two years, helping the team advance to the National League Championship Series last fall.

The 30-year-old right-hander has a lot more going on than just a devastating sinker, however. He can build a remote controlled airplane with the best of them, and can apply a sticker to a suitcase with aplomb. And that's just for starters.

OnMilwaukee.com caught up with the reliever to talk about some of his other interests in this edition of Milwaukee Talks.

OnMilwaukee.com: You were 6-7 in high school, and your grandfather Howard Pound was an All-American basketball player at Michigan State. Were you hounded to play hoops at Granada Hills High School (in California's San Fernando Valley)?

Kameron Loe: Oh, they hated me. They hated me. The basketball coach and the basketball players always gave me crap. I was the tallest kid in school since I was a sophomore in high school. I don't know – I just didn't want to play. I grew up in Southern Cali and baseball is year round. When the high school season wasn't going on I was playing legion ball or summer league or whatever, traveling all over the place playing ball. That's just what I wanted.

OMC: With your size and genes, you had to have been a natural athlete back then, right?

KL: No, man, I was a goofy kid. I was uncoordinated. Part of the reason why I disliked basketball and I wasn't that good at it. I just couldn't dribble with my left hand. I'm extremely right side dominant and I wasn't that quick. I had to work really hard to get to where I'm at. But I could always strikes. I've always been a strike-thrower. Coaches have always liked that in me – I go the ball over the plate and I had a sinker, so I got a lot of ground balls. It's been a big learning process to control the ball whenever I feel like, to control where I want to throw it, but growing up I was able to throw it over the plate.

OMC: Were your parents athletes, too?

KL: No. I grew up in a family of musicians. My grandfather was an athlete, he played basketball and football in college at Michigan State and was an All-American. So the genes are there, but on my dad is a musician and my mom's a musician also, so we enjoyed baseball and sports, but it wasn't like a big thing in my house. But they always put me in it because they knew I loved it and it was good for me. I was tall and skinny. I was 6-7, 185 coming out of high school, so I was a rail. I definitely had to work really hard to put weight on. I'm at 240 now. I was same height but about 50 pounds lighter.

OMC: So, then you have to have some musical ability as well then, right?

KL: You know what, I love music, I listen to it all the time, I love concerts and have some musician friends, but I am not that musical. I can hold a steady beat on the drums, but that's about it.

OMC: That's interesting. People must assume that you were just naturally gifted, but it sounds like you've had to put in a lot of work to get to the major leagues.

KL: Yeah. When you love something it's not, I guess, "work." Obviously it is hard work and I've put my body through a lot of pain, but you love to do it and when you love to do it, it's more time consuming than work. With anything you love and you do with your full heart it's going to take sacrifice.

OMC: Along those lines, it seems like there are a lot of guys in the major leagues that don't have to work as hard – that their talent is just so great they can kind of coast.

KL: I can't tell you how many guys that are up here in the big leagues that don't have as good as stuff as guys they played with in the minor leagues coming up. And those guys didn't make it and these guys did and there's something to be said about that. Whether it's a smartness for the game or being a student of the game and learning and what it takes for you to succeed at this level. Everybody's got their own things they're good at and you have to work on getting that better but at the same time work on your weaknesses that might hold you back. It's the highest level in the world and you're not going to stay here very long if you don't try to learn and try to get better every day.

OMC: You've gotten more involved on Twitter this year, and in your profile you say you're seeking truth, health, good times and good people. Do you always feel like you're learning about yourself?

KL: Oh, absolutely. That's the best part of your life – you always keep learning and you always keep growing. Even Craig Counsell and Trevor Hoffman at the end of their careers, they both had tremendous careers, and they were still learning and still had their struggles and had to find a way to get it done. It's like that in life. I'm learning how to be a father and a better husband. I love it. Every day is a new challenge.

OMC: I'm guessing that outlook has helped you in your career. What was it like at the end in Texas when you were released in 2008, and then to head to Japan after that?

KL: It was a tough because I actually was performing that year. Every time I came up with the big leagues and I went back down. I think I went up and down five times in 2008 with the Rangers. I had a couple of decent years with them. I think they were in a rebuilding process and they were trying out younger guys so they were sending up kids that were 21 years old and sending me down after I just pitched four scoreless or something like that. That was difficult. It was a growing, defining moment for me.

At times I had to put my foot down and really kind of speak what I felt to the management, and I did it in a professional manner, but it was difficult going up and down that many times and still pitching well. To feel like the organization has kind of lost interest in you is not an easy thing to swallow. Then to go over to Japan and go somewhere where I was completely unfamiliar and out of the kind of organized baseball that I'm used to.

It takes a special guy to go over to Japan and really do it and want to be there for a while. It wasn't the place for me. I thought about getting back to the big leagues every day I was over there. I wanted to get back here. It was a struggle but it was a character builder. Everything I've done up til now has brought me to right here, so I'm happy where I am right here.

OMC: In Texas it seemed like you sometimes gained more notoriety for your pet snake Angel than your pitching. You had to give her up though, right?

KL: When I left for Japan I was still living in Texas and I had become friends with these season ticket holders, this family, and they were really nice and came to a lot of the Texas Rangers events and I sat with them and just became friends with them. They were animal lovers and they knew I had Angel and they always asked about her so I told them, look, I'm going to Japan, would you guys like to kind of have her on permanent loan because I know you'll give her a good house. They started taking care of her and she's still in Texas.

OMC: So it's been a while since you've had her – do you miss her?

KL: I wish I still had her. I wish I could have her. She was awesome. I had her from the time she was twice the width of a pencil and nine inches long, and now she's probably eight feet, 35 pounds. I let everybody hold her. I took her everywhere. I'd take her to the mall with me, take her walking around, walking her down Venice Beach. She went everywhere with me. She loved to be held. I wish I could have her, but it's next to impossible to travel with that size snake.

OMC: I could only imagine what people thought seeing a 6-8 bald guy with tattoos and a 8-foot snake on the beach. You're laughing – anyone ever call the cops on you?

KL: No. Even if people didn't like snakes they were still intrigued, so it was cool. It was a conversation piece. People would stop me to check her out. It was just cool.

OMC: We touched on your musical interests, but you're also a fan of mixed martial arts. How did that all start?

KL: My parents put me in a karate class when I was like 8 or 9 years old and I'd walk across the street to karate class for a couple years. I got a blue belt, whatever that means when you're 11. I enjoyed it. It was just fun for me. It's a great workout. You don't even realize you're working out because you're having a great time, you're concentrating and having a good time and the next thing you know you've done an hour-and-15-minute workout and you're just like "yeah."

OMC: What discipline do you like now?

KL: I love Muay Thai. I did that for a couple of years in the offseason and I kind have gotten away from it with the back injuries but now that I'm feeling good I might start doing that again this offseason. When I go in there and tell them I'm a professional athlete and I'm a pitcher and I want to train in a certain way, I'm not going to get in there and spar with those guys – I'm going to be very careful with how I use my hands but I tell you what, kicking a heavy bag for a few minutes straight is such a good balance work out, power and it works your hips, legs and abs. Martial arts is an unbelievable whole body and mind work out. You're working not only your balance and your quickness, but you have to concentrate on what punches you're throwing and reading your opponent. I love it. I actually will probably get back into that, I just won't lift upper body as hard as I did that year.

OMC: So, you're 6-8 and 250 pounds. You could have access to a 8-foot boa constrictor if you wanted it. And, you practice Muay Thai. I imagine people are frightened the first time they meet you?

KL: I'm sure there are people that think that. But my demeanor is pretty ... I'm a pretty even keeled guy. I really love to smile, love to have a good time. I'm constantly smiling and joking around. I'm sure people have been surprised that I was as happy and nice as I am because I'm 6-8 and bald.