Last week, I chatted with a couple of Dartmouth baseball pitchers who made the bold claim that the members of the pitching squad are the best athletes on the field. Apparently, every single positional player on the team disagreed. So this week, I decided to sit down with outfielder Sam Bean '11 and first baseman Jason Brooks '11 to hear their side of the argument.
What do you have to say in response to the pitchers' claims that they're the best athletes on the team?
SB: I think Colin Britton '11 counters that statement on his own. Nothing really needs to be said about him. The pitchers think they're hot shit, and they just aren't.
JB: I think the pitchers have one really good athlete Ben Murray '10. The rest are sub-par at best. I think the statement is false.
How is your practice more demanding than the pitchers' practice?
SB: We actually do something during practice. Weekly, they all sit in a circle. Nobody knows what they are doing. Their heads are facing in and they are all on their stomachs. I don't know what's going on. They do this for at least a half an hour while the positional players are actually practicing. I'm sure it's pretty mentally tough to be a pitcher. You pitch once every couple days and then the rest of the time you just hang out. It's a lot of work, they've got to be able to relax.
Brooks, what MLB superstar do you compare your game to?
JB: I wish I was as good as Albert Pujols. I'd say a fair comparison would be Troy Glaus of the Atlanta Braves. He's kind of a big guy and he hits the ball pretty well. I might be a better fielder though.
SB: I see a lot of similarities between myself and Manny Ramirez. The attitude and the way we go about our game is identical.
You don't resemble him at all physically. You are not massive.
JB: Or hit for power.
SB: That's just semantics. I think if you really look at things, you'll see the similarities. You need to think outside the box.
I'm trying. Mentally, how do you compare to Manny?
SB: We think so similarly. All I can think about during game time is when I'm going to go piss on the Green Monster. I wear my sunglasses with a radio on them so I can listen to music during the game. It can get pretty boring out there not a lot of stuff goes on.
How's your attitude towards practice?
SB: When you talk about practice, you're just talking about practice. Not a game, we're talking about practice. When I go to practice, I'm thinking, Alright, what do I really want to focus on.' If it's sunny, I'm thinking, I really want to focus on my tan.' We're in Hanover, and you just don't get a lot of time to work on your tan. After that, I might think about hitting a little bit. Beyond that, it's not a game.
JB: Adding to how important tanning is for Bean, he does not wear a hat during stretching. He's the only guy on the team who does not wear his hat when he stretches.
SB: I always say the hat just limits my flexibility.
JB: Also, during the games, he's the only guy in the dugout who isn't wearing his hat so he can work on his tan.
Last week, the pitchers said they "look good, feel good, play good." What are your thoughts on the importance of style?
JB: Sam hasn't cut his hair in a while because he wants the flip behind the back of his hat.
SB: Flow is very important for an outfielder. You get faster if you have flow. When I step up to the plate, the other team is like, Oh shit, it's Sam Bean. He looks so intimidating.' Let's be honest, I'm a pretty intimidating hitter, especially because I look so good. I put stirrups on my pants to make them more Manny-esque, but unfortunately the equipment guy took them off.
Most of your games are doubleheaders. How do you get mentally prepared and stay focused when you have four games in one weekend?
SB: You have to be able to compartmentalize things. If something goes wrong in game one, you have three more games to take care of business.
JB: I think it's important to take each game one at-bat at a time. One of the nice things about baseball is you can go 0-3 in your first at bats, but if you can step up with the game on the line, if you get a hit, that's all that people will remember.
