CBD Journal with Drew Fann (March 8th)

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This week is Spring Break at Vandy, so I figured there is no better time to have a guest blogger—and somehow, Anthony Gomez talked me into letting him do it. “Go-Go” Gomez is a sophomore infielder from Nutley, New Jersey. Even though he is one of my best friends, I still feel the need to apologize for whatever Jersey Shore fist-pumping he may put into it. At the very least, his blog will be full of swag, because no one has more of it than Ant.

Also, I’d like to wish a quick and full recovery to University of Georgia outfielder Johnathan Taylor, who was injured in an on-field collision last weekend. He is in all of our thoughts and prayers, and I’m sure the other SEC schools would say the same.

Drew Fann
John 3:30
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Since we are on Spring Break this week, Fann gave me the chance to write his blog because he’s “taking a week off”. I’ve had a chance to read his blogs, and I figured if Drew can do it, why can’t I?

After a weekend filled with rain and cold weather, we were able to pull off a 3-game sweep over Brown University, a team that will definitely contend for the Ivy League title. Thanks in large part to Sonny Gray striking out 15 on Friday night, we were able to come away with a 3-1 win. We were rained out Saturday, so we played a doubleheader on Sunday and were able to win both games. Aaron Westlake had a big weekend at the plate, collecting at least two hits in each of the games.

I think it is important to mention some of the trending topics that have taken our team by storm. First, there has been a lot of chatter over the past two weeks about one of our senior pitchers, Mark Lamm. Mark has been a great go-to-guy in late-inning situations, but the starting pitchers have been mentioning that he likes to “snake” (receiving a win while only throwing a small amount of pitches or innings) a few wins when he gets the opportunity. Mark already has three wins, which ties him with Sonny Gray for most among our pitchers. There is only one big difference between their wins—Sonny has 19 innings pitched, and Mark has pitched a whopping seven innings. I would also like to wish Mark a happy birthday today. I think he turns 34.

Some readers may be wondering what the team does during spring break other than baseball. Well, we have been informed that we need to start deciding on some of the freshmen that we would like to live with next year. So for anyone who may not know our freshmen teammates, here is my list with reasons as to why I’d take them in as a roommate:

Conrad Gregor, OF- Conrad starts off the list with some key contributions as a roommate. First, he’s always smiling. Nobody really knows why but he is. Second, he is a top-tier dancer (he definitely can move it like Berney!) Third, his first career hit was a home run (not to be confused with Fann’s first career AB being a grand slam). Since Conrad hits balls out of the park with ease, I think he could give me a few pointers on how to hit for power, since nothing else has worked for me to this point.

Robert Hansen, P- Hansen is one of those guys who can make everyone’s jaw drop with his impersonations. With his ability to do great impersonations, it would be a great way to relax and get some good laughs at the end of the night. Who does he impersonate? That’s just one of those things that goes unsaid.

Will Johnson, OF- I always promised myself that I would never room with someone from Texas after having two hall mates (Connor Harrell and Sam Selman) from Texas. Their state flags and longhorns can drive anyone crazy, but Will doesn’t give off as much of that Texas pride. With that in mind, I can take him in as a roommate and slowly teach him about the other 49 states and explain that Texas is not a country.

Tony Kemp, OF- Unfortunately, I am not a speed demon like TK, so maybe if I spend more time with him, it will rub off on me and I can steal a few bases and have more range in the field.

Josh Lee, INF/C- Nothing wrong with having a local guy as a roommate. He has quite the high school résumé, which includes many hitting records at Independence High. Although he has a spark in his bat, Josh is not as chatty as some of the other freshmen, which is nice and would help me get sleep at night.

Joel McKeithan, INF- Joel is Hanley Ramirez’s biggest fan, so he can remind me daily of what his stats are and why we should both play like him. He also needs some help on knowing how much “swag” he should have on the ball field—and I can definitely teach him a thing or two.

Spencer Navin, C- This Iowa boy is one-of-a-kind. Nicknamed “Cornbread”, he thinks he went to a top prep school in Dowling Catholic. However, I could remind him daily that Don Bosco Prep (my high school in Jersey) is a real national powerhouse.

T.J. Pecoraro, P- There’s nothing like having another Northeasterner in the room. Although we both enjoy our fair share of fist-pumping, the third person in the room will have to get used to the tri-state atmosphere.

Steven Rice, P- With the workload that we have at Vandy, Rice can serve as a tutor for me since he intends on being a Biomedical Engineer major (good luck with that Steve!).

Kevin Ziomek, P- There is one reason that Ziomek, the Amherst, Massachusetts native will become the best roommate. And that reason is because of October baseball. What’s better than the Yankees winning the World Series and having a roommate that is a Red Sox fan?

I’d like to thank Drew for letting me be his guest blogger for the week, and as Drew would say, “Until next week –Go ‘Dores”

Anthony Gomez