Erik Bedard seems like a nice enough guy.But if you're looking for someone to fill a notebook with killer quotes or pepper a story with great insight, you're standing at the wrong locker.
Bedard tossed 6-plus effective innings Monday against the Baltimore Orioles in his first start since being named the Pirates' Opening Day starter.
He just didn't have a whole lot to say about it.
"Like I do every game, I just changed speeds. Hopefully, they won't hit it," Bedard said. "(Monday) there was a lot of swings and misses early, and that was because of the sun."
The interview lasted one minute, 48 seconds. But Bedard laughed and smiled the whole way through. He's not rude or nasty. He didn't act as if he's better than anybody.
Some guys just aren't comfortable talking about themselves. And Bedard is one of the them, according to this story by Beaver County Times correspondent John Perrotto.
According to the story, Bedard was born in Canada and spent most of his time on his uncle's poultry farm in Quebec.
"I just like to keep life simple," he told Perrotto.
Most of today's stars were stars in high school. They began taking questions from the media when they were teenagers and grew accustomed to all the attention by the time they reached college.
Not Bedard. He wasn't a top recruit out of high school, so he walked on to the baseball team at Norwalk (Conn.) Community Techincal College, and was a sixth-round draft pick of the Orioles in 1999.
Now he's in Pittsburgh, and it could be a good fit. Bedard has been effective when healthy - he posted a 15-11 record and 3.76 ERA while making a career-best 33 starts with Baltimore in '06 - and the Pirates need an experienced arm to help hold down the fort while A.J. Burnett recovers from eye surgery.
And Pittsburgh could be a good place for a guy who likes the simple life.
"I've heard a lot of good things about Pittsburgh. It sounds like a place I'll like," Bedard told Perrotto.
Until then, he'll make most of his noise on the mound.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment