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Twins reliever's pre-appearance ritual will make you queasy
Performing any task in front of a large audience can be nerve-wracking. Even the most mundane tasks can become daunting. Failure could lead to massive embarrassment.
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In baseball, that’s supposed to come with the job. By the time most players reach the majors, they should be used to performing in front of thousands of people. That’s why you rarely see players react strongly to every single play. They learn how to keep their nerves under control.
Well, most of them do. For Minnesota Twins reliever Ryan O’Rourke, pitching in front of a huge crowd can be unsettling. In order to make sure he is able to keep his composure on the mound, O’Rourke participates in a pretty gross pre-appearance ritual. Before nearly every one of his 54 appearances in the majors, O’Rourke … um … expels the contents of his stomach, according to the Pioneer Press.
“I don’t do it in the public’s eye,” O’Rourke said Tuesday. “I go in the bathroom, or sometimes it’s just on the back of the mound. But, yeah, it happens.”
The routine started when O’Rourke was in college. Despite its embarrassing nature, O’Rourke isn’t ashamed of the act. In fact, he feels as though it puts him in good company. Boston Celtics great Bill Russell also vomited before big games, and O’Rourke is happy to “follow in his footsteps.”
“I’ve got a question for you: How many times did Bill Russell win a championship in his career?” O’Rourke said of the 11-time NBA champion. “He’s the greatest winning human being to walk this Earth. Good for Bill Russell. If I can follow in his footsteps … “
Given the nature of O’Rourke’s act, you have to feel for the people who are left cleaning up after him. In the minors, members of the grounds crew would stand next to the nearest garbage can with a new bag prior to each of his appearances, according to O’Rourke. They are the real heroes here.
In the end, we can’t be critical. Whatever works, right? But we do feel for those around O’Rourke just before he enters a game. We’re guessing they wished he had a more normal pre-appearance routine, like tapping a sign or putting on wacky socks. Or, you know, anything that doesn’t involve bodily fluids being left in the bullpen.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
