Ross Stripling has bragging rights for life after night of firsts
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling has enjoyed a memorable beginning to his rookie season, and that continued in Friday’s 8-4 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Not only did Stripling earn his first MLB win by pitching five innings and allowing four runs, he also contributed offensively by collecting his first MLB hit.
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Yeah, that’s not a bad night at the office. But it gets even better for Stripling, because his clean single to right field came against Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha. During their college days at Texas A&M, Stripling and Wacha were friends and even roommates for a time. Now, Stripling will have lifetime bragging rights any time they get together.
According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, both pitchers had been going over the possibility of facing each other since Stripling was named to the Dodgers opening day roster. As the series with St. Louis drew closer, they both tried to figure out the math. Then came the official word they would meet earlier this week.
“I knew it would be close,” the Dodgers rookie right-hander said about matching up against his friend, St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha. “Then they had that off day and I texted him because we had just pitched on the same day. I asked him, ‘With the off day, are they going to push you back one?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, they are.’ I was ‘Dang, we’re going to miss it.’ Then he texted me, ‘Things might have changed – dot, dot, dot.’
“Then he texted me the next day, ‘I’m pitching Friday.’ I was like, ‘Crazy.’ That just started an onslaught of trash talk. Mostly it’s not even about how we pitch. It’s how we’re going to hit off each other. Then the head coach at (Texas) A&M got involved.”
Every now and then we’ll hear a story about former college roommates facing each other in MLB. This one has some pretty cool twists though given Friday’s results and given how unlikely it was to even happen because of their different career paths.
Both pitchers were drafted in 2012 by their current teams. Wacha arrived quicker, helping St. Louis reach a World Series in 2013. Meanwhile, Stripling underwent Tommy John surgery that set his career back two full seasons. He was not someone who was expected to play a major role in the Dodgers rotation this season or perhaps anytime soon, but other spring injuries opened the door.
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Then, in his very first MLB outing, Stripling nearly made history by carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning in San Francisco. In the end, Stripling didn’t get his no-hitter or even a victory thanks to the Dodgers’ bullpen, but he did get his name on the map.
Now, it’ll be there forever, and every time someone looks him up it’ll always lead them directly to his old college roommate who will never live down being a two-time footnote.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
