Byline: Max Offen Sichtlich
Off Topic
Early Leader for Fourth Yogi Zimmer Award
Nov 5, 2055
Sacramento Mad Pope catcher John Kinsella sits at a local Galaxy Fitness Center, sweat glistening off his shoulders. “I love that,” he says, drawing deep breaths as he recovers from climbing the wall. Kinsella isn’t known for his dogged pursuit of physical perfection, but more for his natural approach to everything from conditioning to what he calls the fundamental ballet of the position. For him, wall climbing is the best training ground for a catcher because it puts stresses and strains on the body that can come from any angle, and because it requires thought, planning, and cadence to do it well.
Those who pay attention to Kinsella as he catches can see the wall experience there—the fluidity as he shifts his footing, the efficiency of his glovework, setting a hold and framing a pitch. The man is like a mountain cat back there, patient and smooth as he scales a shear wall that shouldn’t be able to be scaled.
Today, though, there’s a special gleam in his eye.
At 3.1 WAR, the Mad Pope veteran is coming off his best season ever. A strong-enough .278/.324/.326 campaign with the bat that included an unusually high 4 HR. But mostly he’s just heard that while the voting isn’t quite over, the result is already crystal clear. Baring nuclear explosion, John Kinsella is going to win his fourth Yogi Zimmer Diamond Glove award.
“To be honest, that’s my only real goal at the start of every season. Playing the position as well as I can play it is all I’ve ever really wanted to do.” He smiles and whispers something to himself. That’s what his teammates say about him. That he’s always looking ahead, like he can look into the future and envision things others can’t quite see, and that he’s always muttering to himself.
“He’s the only guy I know who has hours and hours of 3D video of catchers doing their things,” said teammate Unem Ploid. “Sometimes we come to the clubhouse and JK is just sitting there, staring at them and whispering to them like the guys are right there. It’s a little freaky, but it gets the results.”
Indeed it does.
News spreads around the gym, and the occasional passerby voices congratulations.
Kinsella grins at them all, and gives them all a bit of an awkward wave in thanks. But the truth is his attention is back on that wall again.
Eventually he stands, and gets back to it.
| Player Name | Age | B | T | OVR | POT | Con | Con P | Gap | Gap P | Pow | Pow P | Eye | Eye P | AvK | AvK P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Kinsella | 28 | R | R | 75 | 75 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Source | Ht | Wt | SPD | STE | RUN | CAB | CAR | IFR | IFE | IFA | TDP | OFR | OFE | OFA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade | 6'0" | 205 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
