The new guy: Chris Cwik joins Big League Stew
Spring training is a time for new beginnings. After an offseason of movement, players are finally able to report to camp and meet their new teammates. In order to keep track of his new teammates, Braves closer Craig Kimbrel handed out shirts to his teammates, which read, “Hello, my name is ____.”
Hopefully, this won’t be as difficult.
Hello, my name is Chris Cwik (pronounced Swick), and I’m the new guy here at Big League Stew. For those of you who are familiar with my work, great! For those of you who aren’t, here are 10 things you should know about me.
1. I grew up on the south side of Chicago, and identify myself as a White Sox fan. I think retaining an element of fandom is important, provided that writer can still remain objective about his rooting interests. I like the moves the White Sox made this offseason, but I’m not sure I’m picking them to make the playoffs. I’ve also worked for both the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers (in their Broadcasting Departments), so I will occasionally root for those teams. The Nationals have overtaken the Brewers in that regard, so I find myself watching a fair amount of Nats game during the season.
2. I’m a believer in advanced stats. My first writing gig was at FanGraphs, and I contributed to the most recent Baseball Prospectus Annual. I’ve also written for CBSSports.com. I know what FIP, WAR and wRC+ can do, and I’m not afraid to use them. That said, I won’t bombard you with complicated formulas and stats all the time. The truth is, every organization is using this stuff, and I think that’s a clear sign that it matters. If you aren’t on board with advanced stats, I look forward to our fruitful discussions in the comments.
3. I’ve been to 10 different ballparks, and I think Fenway Park was my favorite. Both PNC Park and AT&T Park would be near the top of my list as well. I’m not a big fan of U.S. Cellular Field. There’s just nothing special about it.
4. The best pitching performance I’ve seen in person was a Cliff Lee start from April 2011. Lee tossed a complete game, striking out 12 Nationals. The most impressive thing about it was the fact that Lee didn’t break out his curve until the sixth inning. As you can see in the video, Lee was already off to a dominant start, using his fastball and cutter for strikeouts early. All of a sudden, he unleashed his curveball in the sixth inning, and picked up four strikeouts with the pitch. It was as if he was toying with the Nationals early, and then finally decided to bring out another weapon after they were already beaten down. It was dominant.
5. Frank Thomas is my favorite player of all-time. One of my favorite pieces of memorabilia is a Frank Thomas plaque I bought at a game in the early ’90s. For whatever reason, I’ve held on to it all these years. In the picture, Thomas is in space, hitting a baseball meteor with the Earth as his backdrop. The ’90s were strange.
6. “MVP Baseball ’05” is the best baseball game of all-time. I will not be convinced that anything else is better. I know there are staunch supporters of “R.B.I. Baseball” and probably “The Show,” but it’s tough for me to get better than MVP. How many of you changed John Dowd’s name to Barry Bonds?
7. I attended the Home Run Derby back in 2003. Garrett Anderson won, which seems strange in retrospect. Albert Pujols nearly tied him in the final round, but missed a home run by inches with one of his final outs. Prior to the game, I nearly caught a batting practice home run from Carl Everett, but was too afraid to go after it with my bare hands. Aside from spring training, that’s the closest I’ve come to catching a ball at a game.
8. My first baseball memory was seeing Bo Jackson break a bat over his knee while attending a game. Since it was my first game, I just assumed players did that all the time. I had no idea how unique Jackson was in that regard. I was never able to fully appreciate his athleticism back then, so I’m thankful the internet has a vast collection of clips.
9. I have a large number of bobbleheads, mostly from when I worked for the Nationals. I’ve also acquired some less-than-exciting ones over the past couple of years, including a Tom Gorzelanny Pirates bobble and a Jeff Suppan Brewers bobble. I also own all of the Racing Presidents, except Taft.
10. Speaking of the Racing Presidents, I once was able to dress up as Abe. I did not participate in a race, though. I think it was just for a behind-the-scenes video. The costumes are pretty heavy. I think I was told the heads weighs about 40 pounds, all of which goes straight onto your shoulders. I can’t imagine what it’s like to run in those things.
If you are still interested in being my friend after all that, you can follow me on Twitter @Chris_Cwik. I’ve also created a FaceBook page, which can be found here.
Now that introductions are out of the way, it’s time to go out and prove I’m in the best writing shape of my life.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
