This is a blog series I started yesterday and I really liked it so we’re running it back.
It’s called 3 Shots For A Quarter and the point is to share 3 small sports stories that I find interesting. Some of these are blogworthy on their own but I like rolling it up together into one 9:30am spot. I don’t know if we’ll do it every day but I certainly like it as an exercise to get the juices flowing.
A good saying in life I’ve stuck to – Structure breeds creativity. If you’re in sales or any type of job where you need to be light on your feet, then I recommend building structure. The more structure and predictability you can put into your day-to-day, the better environment you’ll build to then be creative.
We’ll talk more about this on CarlsBlogs.com but for now let’s get our shots in:
1. I Can’t Stop Watching This Joey Gallo Challenge
Let’s zoom in real quick…
Joey Gallo has a career 38% strikeout rate, which is calculated on a plate-appearance basis. Not At-Bats. So 38% of every plate appearance in his MLB career has ended in a strikeout. So if there’s one guy who should never – ever – challenge a strike call, it’s definitely Joey Gallo.
Even so – credit to him for wearing a White Sox uniform. I couldn’t think of a more perfect marriage. Two parties everyone wants to see take the bat off their fuckin shoulders. Any day now I’m sure.
Anyways. The strikezone challenge system is being used for spring training games and I think it’s okay. Some guys definitely don’t want to see it used, like Patrick Bailey from the Giants. While other players like Alejandro Kirk are so much better with it in play. That’s probably worth a deeper blog when this becomes more prevalent than spring training. For now I’ll just say that I’m fine with it one way or the other. Take it or leave it. Just don’t replace the umpires entirely. That would be sad.
2. Coleman Hawkins Is VERY Sad
He left Illinois for Kansas State and I don’t think anyone blamed him. He’s maybe a 2nd round pick as a 23 year old 5th year senior coming off a brutal season and who knows how that pro career turns out.
In other words, he’s a perfect NIL candidate to get the biggest bag because it’s such an irreplaceable guarantee.
Which is exactly why nobody from Illinois could be mad when he left for a reported $2,000,000 = 2 million dollars.
How could anyone turn down $2M to play college basketball when you averaged just 12 points a game the year before? You’re a fringe draft prospect of minimal notoriety. You absolutely have to take the money.
All of that to say it’s sad to learn Kansas State sucked this year and so did Coleman Hawkins. I went through the game log this morning and puked my brains out looking at the single digit point performance.
As Jeff Teague would say, TRASH.
And it’s really sad because if you watch him cry his eyes out in that clip, it sounds like he wanted things to go much better as they had at Illinois under Brad Underwood. And while this may sound preachy, I hope it’s a good reminder to you youngsters out there that it takes a village/program. It takes a coaching staff and an administration and a good environment with good players and dedicated training staff and all that shit to succeed no matter how much NIL is on the table.
Also you probably don’t want to go to Manhattan Kansas.
Everything I’ve heard about that place sucks.
Regular Kansas though?
3. Regular Kansas Is Awesome
5 straight homers is the most homers I’ve ever seen in a baseball game.
Yesterday it was Javy Baez spring boarding his brain into a throw to break up a double play.
Today it’s back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs from Kansas.
Both things render one of my favorite phrases in any sport:
I’ve never seen that on a baseball field
Any time you get to say that, you’re very lucky. I hope everyone realizes that about baseball. It’s so unique because there’s just so much of it. So don’t take moments like this for granted because they’re special.
As for the Minnesota pitching staff, this is one of those times you have to drill somebody. I know that’s extreme and I’m old balls and whatever. But it’s inexcusable. You have to break up the party with an HBP and you need to do it after the 3rd batter. There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever the 4th or 5th guy should ever get a chance to further embarrass the history of your university like that.
Anyways this reminds of the time we played Kansas my sophomore year and a group of us got busted at a strip club the night before because one of my buddies wore an ILLINOIS BASEBALL T-SHIRT to the club. Next morning we had a workout at Bally’s Total Fitness before playing Kansas in the afternoon.
Well turns out the bathroom attendant from the Cheetah Lounge in Tampa also worked the front desk at Bally’s. I shit you not.
So we walk in as a team and see this guy and almost shit our pants.
Immediately, this Florida crack head tells our assistant coach “You should be real proud of how classy your boys are. Had them at the club last night and they were great to the girls.”
Maybe the funniest and scariest moment of my life.
Coach tells us “go get your fuckin lift in and we’ll talk later.”
Fast forward – he gets the names of the guys at the strip club the night before and he tells us after the workout – beat Kansas and we’re never gonna talk about this again. Lose and I’ll fucking kill each and every one of you.
So we play Kansas and take like an 11-2 lead into the 8th inning. We almost blow it. That’s a whole other story. End up winning like 11-9 or something and then after the game we get our meal money. Coach hands it out alphabetically but skips all the guys that went to the strip club. Says if I didn’t call your name, go see Coach Bob so we all go see coach Bob and he gives us our meal money in singles with a big smile on his face.
Never been so proud of you boys.
And that’s one small example of why college baseball is so awesome to me.
God I hate baseball in football stadiums. But it’s baseball in March in MN.