Forbidden Love is a Cubs DNA series where our staff waxes poetic about a player on a team other than the Cubs. Maybe even one you think they should hate. In this installment, Staci talks about her love for Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell.
You know how every group of friends has that one? You know the one... the spaz. The weirdo. The one you look at sideways pretty much all the time, but that makes you laugh so hard and who's so full of good intent you don't know what your group would do without them. In the realm of MLB players, that one is Blake Snell.
So, let me tell you a bit about our friend Blake here--he won the Cy Young Award in 2018. You might remember that because he had a ridiculous 1.89 ERA coupled with just over 11 K/9, and stranded baserunners at a crazy rate of 88%. He also beat out Justin Verlander for the award, which gave us the gift of once again causing Kate Upton to tweet out something that made her look like a cry baby.
I don't actually believe the "joking" thing, FYI.
Before that, Snell was fairly unknown in baseball circles because he mostly took a backseat in Tampa to his teammate Chris Archer, that guy with so much potential that everyone always knew the Rays would eventually trade.
Snell was born and raised in Seattle, WA, yet somehow talks like one of those stock beatniks you see in old movies, but transported to our time period with a slang upgrade.
I am old, and therefore do not understand "poppin'."
And about that Stinky Peterson thing... while OBJ might've had a slight point...
(Pics: Getty/Nickelodeon)
...I have another point of reference for our friend Blake.
I told you I was old. (Pics: Getty/CBS Television)
In fact, we've been calling him Gomer around these parts for a while now, and we mean that as a compliment! Gomer Pyle was generous! (Snell does a ton of work for charity, including hosting video game sessions where the donations to play go to the Rays Baseball Foundation.) Gomer was talented! Gomer was funny! Gomer was generally liked by everyone except that grumpy sergeant that everyone else hated! These are good things! And these are things we also associate with Blake Snell!
So when you see us talking about Gomer, know it's from a place of appreciation for a guy who is not only a talented pitcher, but who brought the term "slapdick prospect" into the social media vernacular in a bout of frustration over losing his friend in a trade, and who named a plain silver fish "Bob" because, well, just read it for yourself. It's tremendous.
Rock on, Gomer.
