Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Christmas at the Klubers all about 'Frozen'

Reigning AL Cy Young winner building family traditions while keeping it simple

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber already won the American League Cy Young Award this year, so his list for Santa was short this Christmas. Kluber, who lives in Florida with his wife and two young daughters, recently took a break from singing along to the movie "Frozen" to answer some holiday-themed questions from MLB.com.

MLB.com: What are your plans for the holidays this year?

Kluber: Nothing crazy, really. We're just going to stay at home, and Amanda and I are going to try to make it fun for the girls. That's about it. No traveling or anything like that. We try to avoid that at Christmas time, so we can stay more relaxed. We try to keep it as simple and relaxing as it can be.

MLB.com: Do you guys have any traditions?

Kluber: The girls are so young. This will probably be the first time that Kendall realizes what's going on, as far as Christmas and telling Santa what you want and those kinds of things. We got her the Elf on the Shelf, so I'm trying to play that whole game with her. The elf is going to watch you and report back to Santa to tell him if you've been nice or not. Kennedy is only 11 months, so she's got no idea what's going on.

MLB.com: You grew up in Texas. You're in Florida now. Have you ever had snow on Christmas?

Kluber: Yeah, when I was really young we lived in Pennsylvania for a few years. I don't really remember having snow on Christmas, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was probably snowing. But I don't remember that. Sometimes in Texas, Dallas is kind of hit or miss. Sometimes it'd be 40 or 50 degrees and sometimes it'd be 70 or 80. There's definitely not a White Christmas that really stands out to me.

MLB.com: Do you guys decorate your house?

Kluber: Yeah, but for liability's sake, we have somebody come put the lights on the house. I don't do that myself. He probably does a 100 times better job than I would ever do. And then we just used a fake tree this year, because with the baby crawling around, a real tree might not be a good idea with it shedding. We're trying to take the responsible-parent route on that. We put that up, and the girls helped decorate it. That was fun, and then Amanda's got other Christmas stuff that she puts around the house.

MLB.com: Did you have a favorite decoration from when you were a kid?

Kluber: My mom always had tons of snowman decorations around the house. That's her thing. Any Christmas snowman that she comes across, it's going to find a home somewhere in the house. There's a ton of snowmen.

MLB.com: Do you have a present that stands out from your childhood?

Kluber: I feel like they're good every year when you're a kid. I can't think of one that was leaps and bounds above the rest. Santa always did a good job.

MLB.com: Having two young daughters, does Santa have a few "Frozen" items on his list this year?

Kluber: Oh, yeah. When we asked Kendall what she wanted Santa to bring her, it's almost inevitably something "Frozen"-related.

MLB.com: Can you sing all the words to "Let It Go" yet?

Kluber: Yes. Absolutely. We actually watched "Frozen" for the first time in Spring Training this year. We lived with the Chisenhalls, and we were trying to figure out a time where the kids would all be calm enough to sit down and watch it. Before we got to that, Lonnie actually watched it and said, "This is the best movie ever!" He actually watched it before any of the kids. Ever since then, Kendall has been hooked. Lonnie actually watched it on a bus ride in Spring Training, too. I don't know if that was supposed to be a secret or not.

MLB.com: Well, it's out there now. How many of Santa's reindeer can you name?

Kluber: Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid. Did I mess up the list? Rudolph, obviously. I think I missed some in there. I was trying to sing it in my head.

MLB.com: What's your favorite Christmas song?

Kluber: I like, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

MLB.com: Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?

Kluber: The one that I've probably watched the most was either the old Frosty movie or the cartoon Grinch movie. Those are the ones we watched the most when I was a kid. I don't know why, but we always watched that cheesy animated Rudolph one, too. The really old one.

MLB.com: How good would you say you are are wrapping presents?

Kluber: I'd say fairly good. I think my OCD kicks in, so if it's not neat and how it's supposed to look, I'll take it apart and start over. I wouldn't say I'm a pro at it, but I like for it to look like it's supposed to look, so I will re-wrap it if I have to.

MLB.com: How would your family rate your gift-giving skills?

Kluber: I probably have some good ones and probably some clunkers in there, too. I'm sure I've had some that Amanda pretends to like when in the back of her mind she's really like, "What the heck is this?" I think I do a pretty good job of listening to figure out things she does want. It's probably when I go get something on my own that I don't pick out a good one.

MLB.com: Is there anything on your list this year?

Kluber: Not too much. Amanda does a good job of being creative with gifts. I'll drop hints or suggestions here or there, but she usually goes off on her own and tries to get something that's cooler than the normal stuff. She does a good job. I don't have any golden-ticket items this year -- just little stuff.

MLB.com: You already got a Cy Young Award. It'd be tough to ask for much more.

Kluber: I'd say a World Series ring, but I don't think she can go out and buy one of those.

Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, and follow him on Twitter @MLBastian.
Read More: Cleveland Indians, Corey Kluber