I’m not sure how a title about a Detroit-area rockstar will attract readers to a baseball blog, but I felt it necessary to start this post with an admission. I like Kid Rock.
I covered his concert at the Kansas Coliseum back in the spring and found myself oddly enjoying it. I tried to move past those feelings, since the last thing, really, I want to do is like Kid Rock. We have nothing in common as human beings — I just can’t identify with him. But recently, that “All Summer Long” song has just grabbed me. So you got me, Kid — your newest fan.
And I know, that “All Summer Long” song has been out for about six months, but I never listen to music on the radio so I miss a lot. Just like apparently “Lean Like a Cholo” is about a year old. Who knew? Everybody but me, I guess. I’m 25 and already out of touch with popular culture. I’m proud and ashamed of that at the same time.
But this IS a baseball blog, so I guess I should get focused. I tend to ramble sometimes, if you haven’t noticed. My new pick to win the NBC, now that Liberal and my new friend Mike Hargrove have a tough road to get through the losers bracket, is Santa Barbara. And not just because my mom (shout-out alert) went to UCSB for a couple years during her tour of California colleges.
No, Santa Barbara is not a homer (or mother) pick simply because it appears to be the best team in the field. Certainly the best hitting team, at least. The Foresters have put up 42 runs in three games, all wins, and scored double figures in all of them. If they can get quality pitching performances from here on out, I don’t see who could beat them.
The most impressive player on a Santa Barbara team full of them is Kevin Keyes, who is about to be a sophomore at Texas. He had a double, triple, and home run against Vienna on Sunday night and his last five hits have all gone for extra bases. I expect him to be a difference maker next season with the Longhorns and in the Big 12, but he’ll have to cut down his strikeouts — he had 24 of them in 59 at-bats as a freshman.
I made the mistake last night of coming up to the NBC last night just to check on its progress. I wound up staying for about five hours and doing P.A. for a game that was supposed to start at 1 p.m. but actually started a little more than 12 hours later. It was fun, though. The crew in the sound room is entertaining to say the least and our music choices only get weirder as the hour becomes later.
And I’m back at it again tonight — or this morning. This will be the latest night yet, since the late game will start at around 3 a.m. Wish me luck. I might go the Mike Dean route and take a nap on the couch in the press box, though. I won’t tell you whether the NBC Hall of Famer snores, but I will say that … yes, he does.