My Weird Obsession With Marcus Stroman

As I get older, I find myself becoming less of a sports fan. It just doesn't mean quite as much as it used to mean to me. When my team loses, they lose; it's not the end of my world, and that is what works for me. If you still live and die with your sports teams, that's awesome for you; I definitely come close when it comes to Iowa Wrestling, so I totally get it.

Nowhere is this more evident in picking a favorite player. It's not like any player is going to be my hero, or I will ever see them as unflappable. Even as a kid, this would be tougher as Twitter has given people a fuller picture of who an athlete is, or at least who he is for the general public. So instead of looking for larger than life heroes, I look toward the fringes. The guys who aren't otherworldly overall, but have one quality that make me say wow. Right now, my favorite hitters are Travis Snider, who I still totally believe in, and Chris Carter, because he hits the ball really hard, and that is really cool, even if he does strike out a ton along with that.

But my favorite pitcher is Marcus Stroman. He's way better than Travis Snider and has great potential to be a better player than Chris Carter, so it's not like I'm going out on a limb with him, but as for relating to players, this is the guy I get. He, like me, is a smaller guy. I'm 5'9" and Stroman is right around there as well. Our similarities mostly end there, as anyone who has ever seen me throw can attest. But still, Marcus Stroman represents the little guys, and that is why he is my guy.

That's why I was so bummed to hear he tore his ACL in a fielding drill. That story is just dumb. It's so stupid that he won't pitch this year because of a fluke injury. It's not anybody's fault, but it still sucks. Selfishly, I really wanted to draft Stroman this year, because I thought he was poised for a huge breakout year where he challenged for the Cy Young. I usually pick out one guy that I must have, and he was my guy this year. I usually write a recap of my fantasy drafts, and I was so obsessed with Stroman that I had already written the following paragraph in anticipation of drafting him.

He is the crown jewel for me. I want him more than any single player in this draft. Now, I could draft him in the first round, but I feel like that might slightly depress his value, so it is a matter of waiting. I am in a 12-team league, and I was eyeing him in the 11th round at pick 121. He was ranked around 160, so this seems safe enough, but I was terrified for a month going into my draft.

I refused to confirm that I had drafted him, as I thought that may jinx it. But it appears the above paragraph was enough to still do the job.

Now my fantasy draft means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I just really like Marcus Stroman as a player. Anybody who gets underrated because of their lack of size will always have a special place in my heart. And as Stroman says, HDMH, Height Doesn't Measure Heart. I can't wait to see what he does in 2016.