Things are getting interesting

Michael Roth will make his first major league start tonight against the Texas Rangers and Yu Darvish.  Darvish is a potential Cy Young Award candidate. Roth is a year removed from pitching in the College World Series (CWS).  It’s a match up that’s tailor made for baseball.

It’s David vs. Goliath.  It’s the stuff that makes baseball compelling.

Some things you should know about Roth… he’s from the University of South Carolina (USC) – where he was the winner of the President’s Award; the most prestigious honor given to a South Carolina student-athlete.  He is also the winner of the 2012 SEC's Boyd McWhorter Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award as well as 2012 SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  The kid has talent and brains.

Roth made eight career CWS starts; so he’s used to pressure.  He holds the record for innings pitched in the CWS with 60.1 career innings.  His career ERA in the CWS is 1.49 – 5^th lowest among all pitchers who have at least 30 career innings in the CWS.

Roth is one of the best pitchers in USC's and the CWS' history.  He has the pedigree to be a success and I have a feeling he will be up for tonight’s challenge.  In fact, I’m fired up about it because there’s a lot of potential for a great story here.  It’s must-watch stuff in my opinion.

For more details about Roth's career at USC - click HERE.

Speaking of "much-watch-stuff"… last night’s walk off homerun by Howie Kendrick was awesome.  I’m always curious as to why people would leave a tied game going into extra innings.  I mean, when you think about it – from the bottom of the 9^th on, there’s that chance you could be a part of something special – like a walk-off homerun, base hit, etc.  Sure, Cheryl and I didn’t a lot of sleep last night, but it was worth it.

Had the Angels lost it probably wouldn’t have been worth it – but that’s the chance we took.  I’m not saying we never leave early – but when the only thing that is standing in our way of watching what could be a great finish is sleep – we say, “Let’s do this!”  

This season has been a tough one so far; so moments like the one last night are extra special.  That’s part of the journey; that’s baseball at its best.  Being there for the experience is what it’s all about.