'That's Not What I Want To Be Known For'; Joey Gallo Reflects on His Run in MLB The Show Players League
Texas Rangers star Joey Gallo enjoyed a successful and entertaining run in the MLB The Show Players League over the past several weeks. Whether he was hitting bombs with his virtual teammates or campaigning for an update of his less-than-flattering background images, Gallo gave baseball fans everything they could have hoped for in the tournament.
Sure, a championship would have been nice too, but Gallo took it as an opportunity to peel back the curtain a bit and interact with fans.
"It was fun in the beginning, but I like being able to talk to the fans," Gallo said in a conference call on Monday. "It was a lot more time consuming than we initially thought it was going to be. It was fun, but it was definitely a commitment. I liked interacting with the fans and being able to get people to know my personality a little more."
Now that it's over, Gallo is actually a little relieved.
"I'm taking a break for a while," Gallo laughed.
Gallo quickly became one of the marquee players in the tournament. Not only was he one of the more entertaining players to watch, he put up the second-best record with a mark of 23-6. Gallo finished only one game behind eventual champion Tampa Bay's Blake Snell in the final standings, and even boasted an 11-2 victory over him in the regular season.
With Gallo attracting so much attention, he had networks contacting him for his games to be broadcast on a bigger platform. The Rangers star slugger wasn't interested.
"They actually wanted me to be on ESPN a few times and I turned it down," Gallo said. "I didn't want to be playing video games on ESPN. It was a cool thing, but that's not what I want to be known for."
The MLB The Show Players League gave fans and players a nice distraction from the reality of no baseball being played due to the shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. No amount of virtual baseball can quell the desire for players like Gallo to get back to doing what they do on the field.
"It's tough not playing, obviously," Gallo said. "It was a fun way to play baseball [virtually], but I definitely can't wait to get back on the field. I know every baseball player probably feels the same way. Hopefully we will soon."
Major League Baseball is discussing a myriad of contingency plans for how they could possibly get the season underway once public health officials give them the "all clear." There's obviously a lot of concern for player and fan safety if and when baseball can return in 2020. In what's sure to be a unique season, Gallo said that most players are itching to get back into the swing of things.
"However we're going to play baseball safely, I think that's all any player really cares about," Gallo said. "There's talk about the three different divisions or there might be teams here in Dallas, which would be really cool, but any way to get back on the field, it doesn't really matter where we're it is, that's all I really want and I think most players want. Let's just play. We miss being on the field."
Regarding each contingency plan or idea, there's a lot to take into account for MLB and public health officials. Regardless of the veracity of the three-division plan details, or any other plan for that matter, MLB and public health officials have a tall task ahead of them if there's any chance for baseball to be played in 2020.
“Obviously we trust the league and our organization," Gallo said. "If we go play, wherever it’s going to be, our travel is going to be safe. We are going to do it safely because we know it would not be good if guys started getting sick...I am ready to do just about anything to get ready to get back on the field.”
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