Heralded freshman hurler Gavin Fabian has wasted no time in becoming a key member of the Tigers' pitching staff. In his three starts so far, the Mission Viejo, Calif. native is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Most impressively, in 20 innings of work, he has walked just one batter.
'Prince' senior writer David Baumgarten sat down with Fabian to discuss his memories of pitching in the Little League World Series and his promising Princeton career.
'Prince': In honor of Dean Fred, let's start with a little hodgepodge to loosen up... Bull Durham or Field of Dreams?
Gavin Fabian: Bull Durham. The hardest thing in baseball for me to do is relax, and there are tons of scenes where they have to relax.
P: DH or no DH?
GF: I use a DH, but it's not by choice. Coach [Scott Bradley] has a policy where pitchers use a DH. I was going to play centerfield at some other schools.
P: Favorite team and player?
GF: The Dodgers and probably Greg Maddux.
P: Is Barry Bonds on steroids?
GF: I say yes. All those guys gained like 40 pounds in one year and started hitting way more home runs.
P: Who will win the World Series first, the Cubs or the Red Sox?
GF: The Red Sox — this year.
P: Ok, you're warmed up. Let's move on. In 1997, your team reached the championship game of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. You started that game and pitched a no-hitter for five innings, but your team ultimately lost. What do you remember most about your experience?
GF: I also started the game two days before that, so by the sixth inning I was tired. I hit two batters, so my coach pulled me out. I moved to third base, and I remember thinking, "there's no way we're going to lose this game."
Then we had an 0-2 count on a guy who was 0-for-10 in the entire World Series. He hits this monstrous home run — I was just like, "aww, crap!" From there it was all downhill. Our pitcher started crying.
They hit a ground ball through the hole with a runner on second. Our center fielder was a Heisman Trophy winner's son, and he had a gun [of an arm]. But the ball went right through his legs. I remember him on the ground just pounding his hands against the grass — it was terrible.
It seems like that's what everyone remembers most, all the crying. We were a bunch of babies.
P: Is it too much pressure to put on kids that young?
GF: I don't know. I think it's a cool experience. For so many kids, it's a dream that inspires them to keep playing baseball. Guys on the baseball team here have told me, "You lived my dream." So I think it's good for the game in general.
P: Were you conscious of the huge crowd and all the people watching on TV?
GF: Back then, not really. I could always hear my mom and dad because they were really loud. I did notice the crowd when we played Pottsville, Pa. two games before the championship. There were 40,000 fans there, so it was ridiculous. Also, when we started losing to Mexico, I wanted to kill their fans. They were all chanting "Mexico, Mexico, Mexico!" It sucked.
P: Do you still keep in touch with members of the team? Are any of them playing baseball in college?
GF: Oh yeah, we're all best friends still. 13 of the 14 players on the team lived in the same little gated community, so we were best friends before anyway. Four of them are playing D-I baseball; three of them are playing D-I football.
P: What did you think of the Danny Almonte scandal? Were there ever any giants you played against whom you suspected were older?
GF: Yeah, there were some huge kids on the Mexico team. But I didn't really suspect anything. I assumed they cracked down on it and were getting the job done.
P: Enough about your childhood. What made you choose Princeton?
GF: You know, I think about that sometimes now that it's so cold in the winter — my dad calls me and tells me they're at the beach [laughs]. I guess I wanted to try something different. I could have gotten scholarships to California schools, but I took high school seriously and wanted to make my work and studies count. And the coach here is awesome — he gets his players drafted, like [senior and former pitcher] Thomas Pauly last year.
P: Is being drafted a goal for you?
GF: Yeah, definitely. I'd like to follow in his footsteps. I don't know what I want to do here with my major, but I know I'd like to play baseball professionally.
P: Describe yourself as a pitcher — crafty like Greg Maddux or overpowering like Randy Johnson?
GF: I'm more crafty — I mix it up, hit spots, try to keep the batters off balance. But I've been throwing harder here, just because I've been getting stronger, and I've been working on a tailing fastball. Our catcher [senior Tim Lahey] knows the hitters really well, and he really likes the fastball. So I'm listening to him and throwing more fastballs.
P: Can you talk about your pitches? GF: In a game my fastball is 85 to 90 [miles per hour], but on a hot summer day I get up to 91, 92. But my goal is to spot the pitches, not throw 100. I have a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, a slurve — it's in between a curve and a slider — and a change-up. Besides my fastball, my best pitch is my curve. I'm working on my change-up a lot.
P: What has been the biggest adjustment to the college game?
GF: In high school I played every game — centerfield when I wasn't pitching. Now, you pitch once a week, and you can't help the team until you pitch again. It's hard. I sit in the bullpen feeling lazy and wishing I could get an at-bat.
P: You guys have a young staff — do you feel pressure to step up and perform immediately?
GF: Everyone thinks the hitters are carrying us, but I think we have a talented pitching staff. There's pressure, but I think we're doing the job so far. The freshmen are pretty tough guys — I don't think we'll be shaken up too much.
P: Last question — which Princeton hitter would you least like to face?
GF: I think the toughest outs are Steve Young, B.J. Szymanski and Adam Balkan. I'm not saying they have the most power, but they don't have a hole in their swings. And B.J. has a ton of power, obviously.
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