Welcome to 5 Quick Questions, a new series here at Mile High Sports where we will ask as many Colorado Rockies ballplayers as we can, and maybe a few coaches, front office members and media too, the same set of questions.
We will be keeping track of trends and making note of particularly fun or interesting answers while also adding a bit of context wherever it may be needed.
Now at bat: Kris Bryant and Brent Suter
Who were your favorite players growing up?
Kris Bryant: “I liked Barry Bonds. I wore #25 up through high school.”
Brent Suter: “Ken Griffey Jr.”
When you think of the Rockies, who is the first player who comes to mind?
Kris Bryant: “Todd Helton.”
Brent Suter: “Historically, probably Todd Helton but right now Charlie Blackmon. He’s been right in the middle of everything here. He’s everything you want in a franchise guy.”
They say that the triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Do you agree and if not, what is?
Kris Bryant: “Definitely not the triple. If we’re going off of speed, you gotta go with the inside-the-park home run. That’s one better! It’s 90 feet better. Maybe robbing a home run.”
Brent Suter: “Well it sure seems to be (the triple) in terms of crowd involvement. When that guy rounds second, the crowd just gets hyped and you can feel it. But I think a walk-off hit or home run is a bit more exciting. Especially a deficit to a lead walk-off. That’s the most exciting.”
If you could have any job in the world other than your own, what would it be?
Kris Bryant: “I’d probably say like a musician, or an artist. A country musician or a rapper. (I ask if he plays at all) “I can play a little guitar. But yeah, it’s pretty cool to sell out huge stadiums and arenas.”
Brent Suter: “Probably an environmental consultant. Something in the environmental realm. Maybe planting urban gardens. Anything having to do with conservation or renewable energy.”
What is your favorite ballgame that you have played in?
Bryant: “… (Long pause and smile) … Winning the World Series was… I don’t know if it was my favorite game just because it was so stressful. Once the final out was made, it was definitely my favorite. But I’ve been lucky to have a lot of really cool, meaningful games in my career and hopefully many more to come.”
Brent Suter: “Game 163. I was hurt at the time, we (Brewers) played the Cubs at their place. We had to win like eight in a row to get there then we beat them in a great 3-1 ballgame. Crowd was electric, that celebration was so euphoric, first division title in some time, that was unreal.
But for me, personally, I came in early in a game when our starter went down and pitched 4.2 against the Guardians and I hit a home run off of Corey Kluber and we ended up winning by one run. And I pitched pretty well too!”
NOTES:
-On November 2, 2016 the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland (Guardians) 8-7 in Game 7 capping off one of the most exciting World Series of the modern era. Bryant went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. He posted an OPS of .887 during the series.
Former Colorado Rockie Dexter Fowler had a big game with three hits including a home run off of Corey Kluber and another former Colorado Rockie on the other side, Bryan Shaw, was saddled with the loss when he gave up two earned runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Bryant recorded the final out of the Cubs first World Series win in over 100 years, fielding a chopper to third and making a strong throw to first before the celebrations erupted.
-On May 8, 2018, Milwaukee and Cleveland faced off but Brewers starter Wade Miley had to be removed from the game after facing only three batters. He had allowed a double and a walk and recorded one out before Suter entered the game.
His memory was spot on as he pitched 4.2 innings, striking out five, giving up five hits and two runs on homers to Jose Rameriz and Francisco Lindor. But, as he said, he got one back by homering off perennial All-Star (and guest star of this episode of 5 Quick Questions) Corey Kluber.
It was, as you might have guessed, the only home run of his career which is exactly one more than the vast majority of MLB relievers.
-Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. each get their second vote of the survey with Bonds having been previously chosen by Kyle Freeland and Griffey Jr. by Mike Moustakas.
-Two more votes for Helton but also another for Blackmon which puts us currently at five for Helton, and three apiece for Blackmon and Larry Walker. (If someone mentions two names both are counted as votes.)
-Inside-the-park home run feels like an objectively better answer than triple for precisely the reasons Bryant mentions and I’m surprised it isn’t a more common answer. Suter is now the second reliever after Tyler Kinley to pick the walk-off homer meaning that they essentially have the job of preventing the most exciting play in the game.
-It’s pretty cool that Suter has a passion for making the world a better place for everyone. Who knows, he might be advising a City Council near you someday.
-It’s relatively easy to imagine Kris Bryant as an incredibly popular country music star but far more interesting to consider what his rap career might have looked like.