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The new AL Rookie of the Year is working as an offseason plumber
When the long baseball season is over, many major leaguers pack up and head home for some hard earned vacation. They play golf, hang with family, and luxuriate in the simple pleasure of being able to do nothing for awhile.
But Detroit Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer, the newly minted American League Rookie of the Year, doesn’t really have an offseason. Sure, he has a day off every now and then to play golf, but he’s also working at his offseason job. As a plumber.
According to Anthony Fenech’s profile on Fulmer in the Detroit Free Press, he picked up the trade during the 2015 offseason, while he was also working at a golf course, but this year he’s fully dedicated himself to plumbing. He works at his friend’s uncle’s plumbing outfit, and he does all the plumbing-type things you’d expect him to do.
He was in backyards around the Oklahoma City area digging ditches and changing sewer lines. Replacing old Orangeburg pipes with new PVC pipes. In basements exchanging water heaters, in kitchens replacing sinks and faucets, in bathrooms fixing leaky toilets.
So how did Fulmer — a 23-year-old making $507,000 from the Tigers this year — get here? His boss, Larry Wright, called him last year when his son (Fulmer’s friend) was off on another job. Fulmer’s still doing it because, in his words, “it’s fun.” A few people might argue about the fun factor of that kind of work, but if Fulmer enjoys it, who cares? Plus Fulmer, who had a 3.06 ERA in 26 starts in 2016, says it’s a great way for him to stay in shape in the offseason.
“It’s a different kind of workout,” Fulmer said. “Digging out of 6-foot ditches all the time and shoveling quite a bit. So, it’s a different type of workout, and it helps before I start working out in the off-season.”
So this is weird, right? It feels weird for a baseball player, especially one who’s no longer toiling in the low-income minor leagues, to have any offseason job. And a job that includes manual labor and a separate skill set, like plumbing, is even more surprising.
But for those who know him, Fulmer’s offseason plumbing job isn’t surprising. His high school coach, Ron Moore, gave the perfect anecdote. The morning after Fulmer was picked 44th in the MLB amateur draft, he strolled into the high school at 7:45 am, where Moore was doing a little league camp.
“I said, ‘Dude, what are you doing here?’ ” Moore said. “And he goes, ‘Well, you said you needed help with the camp.’ And I said, ‘That’s unbelievable, man. I consider myself a pretty good guy, but I don’t know if I’d be here right now, to be honest with you, after I knew I was probably going to make a million bucks with a signing bonus.’ But that’s just typical Michael.”
As for why Fulmer is dedicated to staying down-to-earth, he credits his parents with that accomplishment.
“I was raised right,” Fulmer said. “My parents always told me to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ ‘No, sir,’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ ‘No, ma’am,’ and just kind of respect everybody around me and kind of treat others the way you want to be treated.
“So, I told myself, don’t get to the point where you’re satisfied. Just keep working hard and trying to get better as a player and a person every day. That’s the ultimate goal, to get better.”
So, Oklahomans, if you need a plumber, take a close look at the crew at your house. One of them might be a major-league pitcher.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
