Nick Gordon and G-Cinco

[Seth Stohs]

Yahoo Sports! has a really good article on Nick Gordon's budding rap career. He's got an album now. He's had three videos. It's been a busy offseason. 

 

The important stuff for a baseball fan or a Twins fan or the Twins front office comes toward the end of the article:

 

 

“My organization knows that I’m here to get the job done. I’m definitely serious about my career and my profession. I’m always a baseball player first.”

 

[jkcarew]

_{His words give no solace to me.  Only his performance on the field will do that.  Driven to be better than dad and brother?  Or distracted by all the other lifestyle options the family's wealth offers?  It's probably going to be one or the other for Nick.}

[Ben Noble]

I heard one of his tracks and, as someone who listens to a ton of hip hop/r&b, it was pretty awful. Maybe he's got better tracks out there, but I'm not willing to find out. That said, kudos to him for trying a creative endeavor on his off time and putting himself out there. I mean, he's a human being and we can't expect him to baseball 24/7/365, and he could just as well have spent that time watching tv or playing Pokemon or whatever. But I don't think anyone has anything to worry about when it comes to Nick Gordon's musical career taking him away from baseball.

[Seth Stohs]

I like it. I actually like the music too.

 

But more important, he continued to work out with Barry Larkin and Dee Gordon and Francisco Lindor and that same group. He didn't put any less time into baseball. I don't think it's fair to question his work ethic or the time he's spent on baseball. 

 

I think that ballplayers or anyone in any walk of life should be able to have interest in multiple things. It'd be like my employer being upset that I write or I podcast or that kind of stuff outside of my standard work hours. 

[slash129]

All things being equal ... Please leave him down in AAA ... I like Polanco's Ceky Viciny walk-up tune way better than that garbage

[Seth Stohs]

 

_{His words give no solace to me.  Only his performance on the field will do that.  Driven to be better than dad and brother?  Or distracted by all the other lifestyle options the family's wealth offers?  It's probably going to be one or the other for Nick.}

 

Well, I just think that baseball is too hard to put it all on his performance. This game is so difficult. He can work as hard or harder than he ever has on baseball, and he can work as hard or harder than Dee or whoever... That doesn't always translate to numbers. So, I'm comfortable with knowing that he put in his work on baseball this offseason, continued to work hard on the craft. That's all I want to or care to know. What he does outside of that is fine with me. (I mean, assuming it's legal)

[jkcarew]

 

I heard one of his tracks and, as someone who listens to a ton of hip hop/r&b, it was pretty awful. Maybe he's got better tracks out there, but I'm not willing to find out. That said, kudos to him for trying a creative endeavor on his off time and putting himself out there. I mean, he's a human being and we can't expect him to baseball 24/7/365, and he could just as well have spent that time watching tv or playing Pokemon or whatever. But I don't think anyone has anything to worry about when it comes to Nick Gordon's musical career taking him away from baseball.

My point would be that Gordon has lot's of "creative endeavors" as options.  This one is extremely expensive and not an option for most (if not all) other prospects.  Most others would have been playing Pokémon or watching TV, or maybe even approaching 24/7/365 on baseball...because those would have been the options available.  There's the rub.  All other things being equal, I'll take the hungry guy.

[slash129]

My point would be that Gordon has lot's of "creative endeavors" as options. This one is extremely expensive and not an option for most (if not all) other prospects. Most others would have been playing Pokémon or watching TV, or maybe even approaching 24/7/365 on baseball...because those would have been the options available. There's the rub. All other things being equal, I'll take the hungry guy.

Yes ... Seeing Akil Baddoo's Instagram was much more inspiring than "G-Cinco" 's bling-flashing hip-hop video

[ashbury]

Yes ... Seeing Akil Baddoo's Instagram was much more inspiring than "G-Cinco" 's bling-flashing hip-hop video

The one thing I find in favor of this is that if he sets up for himself a high price for failure - the risk of his bling-flashing being laughed at if his baseball career doesn't pan out - it might be how he motivates himself. Even Ted Williams admitted that fear of failure was a strong motivator.

[Shaitan]

 

My point would be that Gordon has lot's of "creative endeavors" as options.  This one is extremely expensive and not an option for most (if not all) other prospects.  Most others would have been playing Pokémon or watching TV, or maybe even approaching 24/7/365 on baseball...because those would have been the options available.  There's the rub.  All other things being equal, I'll take the hungry guy.

 

I haven't watched the video but I can record a rap song and video by the end of the day for whatever is in my wallet. This isn't some bourgeois hobby. Kids these days make videos as their hobby. It's pretty much why YouTube exists.

 

 

[jkcarew]

 

The one thing I find in favor of this is that if he sets up for himself a high price for failure - the risk of his bling-flashing being laughed at if his baseball career doesn't pan out - it might be how he motivates himself. Even Ted Williams admitted that fear of failure was a strong motivator.

Interesting take.  Or, it could be that even he doesn't take it that seriously.  Just something that he does because he likes it, and because he can.  Hard to truly know.  To me, it's not specifically the rap thing that makes his situation different or interesting.  It's that there is probably in the neighborhood of $100 million sloshing around in the savings accounts of the immediate family.  I mean, you gotta LOVE the game of baseball....or, maybe you REALLY want to be better than your brother.  For my part...about the 10th time I was made to look like a fool at the plate in some place like Beloit Wisconsin, I'd already be tempted to ask for that interest free loan to start my fly-in fishing lodge in Canada.

[bird]

 

The one thing I find in favor of this is that if he sets up for himself a high price for failure - the risk of his bling-flashing being laughed at if his baseball career doesn't pan out - it might be how he motivates himself. Even Ted Williams admitted that fear of failure was a strong motivator.

 

 

I hope you're right about this, Ash. I'll admit to seeing glimpses of another possibly more worrisome side. We've read all kinds of positive reports about his "makeup", so maybe he has the maturity and the talent, and through the sheer force of his personality he'll have the energy for both and be sufficiently dedicated to his baseball career.

 

I can't help think back to my reaction to some of his earliest tweets. It could be it's just me being an old fuddy-duddy, but I recall wondering about his focus because so much of it had this "me" orientation and the content was rarely baseball and usually involved commentary about pretty girls. He lost steam during the second half of the season. I hope this was an issue with his physical stamina and not with where his head was taking him.

 

He gets the benefit of the doubt from me, but I'll be watching his progress on the field and hoping his twitter feed isn't in overdrive.

[bird]

 

I haven't watched the video but I can record a rap song and video by the end of the day for whatever is in my wallet. This isn't some bourgeois hobby. Kids these days make videos as their hobby. It's pretty much why YouTube exists.

 

 

Those were some pretty nice rides for a hobbyist.

[Yoke]

I don't care if he raps, plays the banjo, interpretive dances or knits kitten mittens in his spare time.

 

What's important is that he produces when he's at the ballpark. If he can't, there is somebody that will take his spot.

[Deduno Abides]

G Cinco sounds like Ross from Friends when he was taking the summer to “work on my music,” but it’s not a big deal. Young athletes taking advantage of their fame to make bad music is nothing new. Here’s Jimmy Connors on the Howard Cosell show, right after he sang a song Paul Anka wrote for him and realized he wasn’t going to become a a big singing star.

 

Note the visible signs of stress.

 

He survived to continue a great career.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Remember back in the day when Pittsburgh requested Gordon in exchange for Gerrit Cole? Good times, good times

[Thrylos]

I wrote about this and posted his video on my blog here, about 2 weeks and a bit ago.

 

For one I thought that if you are a Twins' player whom the made a multi-millionaire and shoot a video, it might be just a tad tacky and show a huge lack of judgement to wear a competitor's outfit in that video. 

 

I suspect that he might have ruffled a few feathers in the Twins' post office with this garbage as well...

[Mike Sixel]

This whole thought he can't have outside interests fascinates me. Do most people on the planet only work, and do work related things in their spare time?

 

Mind. Boggling. Seriously.

[Vanimal46]

This whole thought he can't have outside interests fascinates me. Do most people on the planet only work, and do work related things in their spare time?

 

Mind. Boggling. Seriously.

Fandom is very strange, Mike. We both think alike on this topic... I would hope everyone has lives outside of their daily work.

 

There are far worse things to do in your free time than making music. Good for Gordon! I'm not rushing to buy his album, but I'm only one person on the planet! He could have fans.

[Deduno Abides]

I think this was in the middle of winning four Super Bowls.

[Mr. Brooks]

Fandom is very strange, Mike. We both think alike on this topic... I would hope everyone has lives outside of their daily work.

 

There are far worse things to do in your free time than making music. Good for Gordon! I'm not rushing to buy his album, but I'm only one person on the planet! He could have fans.

I'll third this.

Not a fan of the music itself, but so many worse things he could be doing in his free time.

Not many people are wired to be able to focus on work 24/7/365 without burning out fast. Balance is good.

[HrbekRules]

I'm not worried about him having hobbies outside of baseball, that is normal.  Bad taste to wear Tigers gear when you're in the Minnesota Twins system.

[prouster]

The subtext of several of these posts is abhorrent.

[nicksaviking]

 

This whole thought he can't have outside interests fascinates me. Do most people on the planet only work, and do work related things in their spare time?

Mind. Boggling. Seriously.

 

I don't remember people ripping Trevor May for his baseball work ethic due to his music career:

 

 

Or his interests in journalism:

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/09/mlbtr-mailbag-with-guest-host-trevor-may.html

 

Remember the gall that Alex Meyer had to be a substitute teacher? Man, had he give that up sooner his control probably would be better:

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/twins/2013/12/25/alex-meyer-minnesota-pitching-prospect-teacher-offseason/4199115/

 

I'm ashamed to say that I type all this while sitting at work. I know I'm the only one here who is tickling his baseball interests while I have another occupation to focus on.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

May and Meyer are interesting examples, as neither of those guys has amounted to much as major league baseball players.

 

I hope Gordon has a great season, both on and off the field. I wonder if the Twins see Gordon as the shortstop of the future here, or if he will platoon at SS with Royce Lewis and Wander Javier someday (snark). Gordon seems more like a valuable trade chip than future Twin, imo.

[ashbury]

May and Meyer are interesting examples, as neither of those guys has amounted to much as major league baseball players.

Clayton Kershaw could turn his career around if he'd quit noodling around with writing and volunteer work. Michael Cuddyer might still be a major leaguer if he had realized how much magic was harming his career. David Ortiz's penchant for golf really destroyed his baseball swing. "There are only two things standing between Kent Hrbek and the Hall of Fame: a walleye and a largemouth."

 

Et.

 

Cetera.

 

https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/major-league-baseball-players-hobbies-off-the-field-activities-042612

[ashbury]

The subtext of several of these posts is abhorrent.

Moderator's note: While the spirit behind this comment may be well-meant, let us not turn this thread into a critique of fellow posters by inferring intent. And yes, I recognize the circularity in my saying so...

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Clayton Kershaw could turn his career around if he'd quit noodling around with writing and volunteer work. Michael Cuddyer might still be a major leaguer if he had realized how much magic was harming his career. David Ortiz's penchant for golf really destroyed his baseball swing. "There are only two things standing between Kent Hrbek and the Hall of Fame: a walleye and a largemouth."

 

Et.

 

Cetera.

 

https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/gallery/major-league-baseball-players-hobbies-off-the-field-activities-042612

Well, sure, but that last point about Hrbek does suggest that outside hobbies affect performance at least in some way.

[ashbury]

Well, sure, but that last point about Hrbek does suggest that outside hobbies affect performance at least in some way.

Do you really think so? I mean, he put together a career where at the end people would ask whether he had a chance for the Hall of Fame and the reply would be "uh, no, don't think so", as opposed to "ha ha ha ha ha!". That's a pretty good body* of work compared to most players, and it's not as though he was some can't-miss first-round prospect coming out of HS. It's hard to know with any certainty that he could have been better than he became.

 

^{* _{Sure, go ahead, insert your Hrbek Weight joke here, why not?}}

[bird]

 

I don't remember people ripping Trevor May for his baseball work ethic due to his music career:

 

 

Or his interests in journalism:

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/09/mlbtr-mailbag-with-guest-host-trevor-may.html

 

Remember the gall that Alex Meyer had to be a substitute teacher? Man, had he give that up sooner his control probably would be better:

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/twins/2013/12/25/alex-meyer-minnesota-pitching-prospect-teacher-offseason/4199115/

 

I'm ashamed to say that I type all this while sitting at work. I know I'm the only one here who is tickling his baseball interests while I have another occupation to focus on.

 

I don't believe anyone, myself included, has come even remotely close to suggesting players can't and shouldn't have outside interests of their choosing. Some of the same thoughts crossed through my mind about May as they did with Gordon, and then I realized what made me feel a bit better about May's twitter feed. For one, his tweets morphed to content about his baseball activities. Things like "long toss today went well", which reminded me of Berrios. Second, it included "outward" things, like a concern about an issue or sharing something with teammates. Things that made me feel like he is squared away and mature. I don't know if Nick Gordon is squared away and mature or not, but I'm sorry, there were a few hints, now quite awhile back, that made me want to pay attention and hopefully see tweets about baseball, teammates, family, etc. I hope he thrives in baseball and derives great enjoyment from his music. I would tell him he's missing out. Otis Redding and birdwatching are so much better.

 

We know that many baseball careers get derailed for factors unrelated to a player's talent. But no one's suggesting that Gordon has a Delmon Young type of issue, or even a Miguel Sano type issue.