University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Jared Cheek
April 29, 2015 | Baseball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia baseball pitcher Jared Cheek and the rest of the Bulldogs are gearing up for a big weekend series at Foley Field against Florida, which is ranked No. 8 in this week's USA Today coaches' poll. Cheek grew up in the Athens area and wound up with the Bulldogs after stops at Georgia Southern and Florence-Darlington Technical College, in Florence, S.C.
Like the rest of the Bulldogs' seniors, Cheek knows his remaining time in the red and black is limited and precious. After this weekend's set against the Gators, Georgia's final home games will be May 14-16, against Arkansas, to end the regular season.
Cheek, a righty that leads the Bulldogs with five saves, took a few minutes Wednesday to talk about wrapping up his career, baseball movies and life in the bullpen:
Frierson: What really goes on in the bullpen during a game? Does it get weird or does it get silly?
Cheek: On the road if the bullpen is out in right-center or left-center, we hang out there, that way we don't have to run out there in the middle of an inning. If we're here, we stay in the dugout. Either way we try to stay focused and into the game.
Sometimes we'll be a little silly in how we stay in the game. ... [Cheek then mentioned a series of hand gestures and hat routines that sometimes happen. Describing them might require a few hundred words and still leave you confused, so let's move on.] Like at Auburn (last weekend), when we scored everybody sat on the bench and one guy went down the row and clapped hands with everyone. It's just silly stuff like that.
Frierson: What's your favorite baseball movie and why are there so many good ones -- more than any other sport by far, I'd say?
Cheek: That's a tough one. I would say "Bull Durham" is my all-time favorite and I would say sports in general have a lot of funny movies. ... I'm trying to think back at, like, "Bull Durham" and Major League," and what makes them so funny is the knowledge of the game.
Frierson: On the flip side, what's a really bad movie, baseball or not, that you can't help but watch repeatedly?
Cheek: Baseball-related, it'd be like "Rookie of the Year" and "Little Big League" -- they're '90s movies and they're baseball movies. They're definitely for kids, but growing up watching them, I could watch them all the time. And "The Sandlot," that's the original one like that for me.
Frierson: When did you know that pitching was something that you could do at a high level? Was there a game or a season when you realized that you maybe had something special?
Cheek: That's a hard question for the fact that it was more of a gradual slope, as far as getting good at pitching. It wasn't like I just turned it on and I was throwing really hard. I hard to work at it like everybody else.
I would say junior year of high school (at Morgan County High, after starting high school at Oconee County), there was a time when I noticed how the coach reacted to me as far as, I guess, being the ace.
We were playing Stephens County and we just didn't have it together. Every pitcher and even every infielder got on the mound and they just crushed us. It was just one of those days that every team goes through, and the only one that didn't pitch was me. I was wondering why because I wanted a piece of them, too.
The last game of the season we played them and it came down to whether or not we made the playoffs, and we hadn't been to the playoffs in a long time. I ended up pitching a really great game, ended up pitching the whole game and we won, 5-3 or something like that. I just kind of knew that the coach was saving me for that game. He told me after the game that he stuck me back there (in the big loss) to kind of be hidden. ...
I guess that was when I realized that I could go further with it.
Frierson: Now that we're heading toward the end of your collegiate career, have you taken some time to appreciate things and savor some moments?
Cheek: There have been some times, yeah, where I've done some silly things with my buddies. I'm a senior and I've only got a few weeks left, so make the most of it. I did the tarp slide and that was kind of awesome. Everyone got a giggle out of that and we got some video of it.
I'm trying to do little things that might bring a laugh to the team. We've got just this little time left and I might as well make the best of it.
Frierson: Is there one moment from this season that stands out to you as something you're going to remember and cherish as you head toward the end of your career?
Cheek: I would say the South Carolina series, when we had the rainout in game one and had to finish it the next day. I was the last pitcher in the Friday game and I wasn't quite sure what they were going to do Saturday. They didn't really say anything, but I kept the mentality of, I'm about to go out there. That ended up coming true, so I went out there with the mentality of, just get outs.
[Cheek entered the in the eighth inning that Friday with the game tied and the bases loaded with one out. He got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat. When play resumed Saturday, he stayed sharp, pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings and earned the win as the Dogs prevailed 6-5 in 11 innings.]
It was a great moment because it was nice to have that opportunity to go back out there and to finish the job, I guess you would say. I ended up finishing the job and it was a great moment, beating South Carolina on their own turf, in front of however many people they had their, which was a lot. It was a treat.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.
