Athletics' Kemp Keeping the Joy in Playing Baseball
Heading from the dugout to the clubhouse Sunday afternoon following Oakland’s 3-2 win over the Mariners in Seattle, A’s second baseman Tony Kemp took it upon himself to find a TV camera and wave to his mother.
This isn’t unusual for Kemp, who is outgoing and interactive in almost all things baseball. He’s copied a page out of the Ozzie Smith playbook and occasionally will get ready before playing defense by performing a back flip.
The season is less than two weeks old, but he’s been seen doing dance moves on the field, just because it seems like the right thing to do.
Those are a few of 10,000 different reasons why it’s too bad fans can’t be in the stands to watch Major League Baseball as it uses pandemic-induced socially distanced empty stadiums for games. For players in both leagues across 30 franchises, they are often little vignettes that make baseball all the more appealing.
And, Kemp says, the players get something out of it, too. His little moves just “show who I am.”
“I just started at a young age,” he said in a video call Monday. “My brother tells a story of when I think I was six or seven years old and I put my (baseball) uniform on. I think we had like a three o'clock game and I put my uniform on at about 8 a.m.
“It's just that energy and just being able to know that I get to come to a ballpark every day form my job and play baseball and be around some of the most talented guys to ever step foot on a baseball field. That is a pretty awesome feeling, so why not give it your all? why not being a good attitude? You know this is a game of failure and you have to know that so you can come to the ballpark with a positive attitude each day, and smile to the failures and just know that, you know, bright days are ahead.”
The fact that there are no fans in the stands to watch has limited him somewhat, but he still is Tony being Tony.
“Sometimes it’s for myself, to get going if I’m kind of dragging that day,” he said. “Other times it’s for the fans. Usually I do feed off the energy of the crowd so (not having a crowd) has been kind of tough.”
And that spontaneous wave to mom Sunday?
“I put that one on Twitter, out text between me and my mom,” Kemp said. “We have a good relationship. I just wanted to, with my blue Gatorade tongue, to say `Hi’ to her. She knows I love her, so I thought it was a good touch.”
Kemp came to the A’s this winter in a deal with the Cubs. The idea was that he would get a chance to play second base against right-handed pitching. And while he got off to something of a slow start – as did most of the A’s – his last two games in Seattle have given a hint at what he can offer.
Saturday saw him inserted as the 10th-inning pinch-runner, coming home to score the winning run on Robbie Grossman’s double. He got a start Sunday, reaching base three times. His fifth inning at-bat changed the game. The Mariners’ Kendall Graveman was one out from making it through five innings without allowing a run. He got ahead of Kemp 1-2, but Kemp came back to force a walk. Marcus Semien singled and Ramon Laureano followed with a three-run homer, good enough for a 3-2 A’s win.
“I know that my job in the nine hole is to turn the lineup over,” Kemp said. “I knew how important it was just to see a lot of pitches to be able to get Marcus up with two out. And then he hits a dribbler and I got first to third. Then Laureano homers, and it all happens with two outs.
“To truly understand your role in the nine hole, you have to know you’re a second leadoff hitter. It’s a way to turn the lineup over. I know if I can just get myself on base, you know the top of the order is going to do the job, too. It’s kind of passing the torch.”
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Inside the Athletics on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.