Brown sacrifices shaving to appease baseball gods during streak
Garrett Brown
Things are going so well for the Pacific Lutheran University right-handed pitcher that he refuses to shave his beard.
Brown hasn’t allowed a run in the month of March, a scoreless streak that extends 15.2 inning over six relief appearances.
Nobody dare talks about the streak, though, in fear of upsetting the baseball gods.
“Baseball is a weird sport like that,” Brown told me. “Only way I won’t perform well is if I do it to myself. If I throw the ball down the middle I’ll get smacked. If I hit spots, and locate, no one will hit me.
“So it’s all up to me – no superstitions involved.”
Brown, of Service High fame, has a 3-3 record with two saves in 13 games and a 2.25 ERA in 24 innings.
The senior is one of the first options out of the bullpen because of his durability and consistency. Take last weekend’s doubleheader against George Fox when he closed out the game on back-to-back days.
“The trainers at PLU, specifically Aaron Gunther, have been helping me keep my arm healthy as the season goes on,” Brown said. “Throwing back-to-back days is tough, so managing arm tenderness is important. Adrenaline helps minimize the pain a lot, though.”
Brown’s success is based on location, getting ahead in the count and pitching to his defense – a winning formula at any level.
“Our defense is ranked top 5 in the nation right now so I’ve been attaching batters with my fastball,” he said. “I’ve learned that coming out of the pen isn’t as easy as people make it seem. It requires extreme focus as one bad pitch can lose a game.”