University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Adam Sasser
May 21, 2018 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Adam Sasser has a guitar but doesn't really know how to play it. Not yet, at least.
The big (6-foot-4, 245 pounds) Georgia junior first baseman, from Evans, Ga., near Augusta, does know how to swing the bat, however. Heading into the SEC tournament, where the Bulldogs (37-17) are the No. 3 seed and play Wednesday morning in Hoover, Ala., Sasser is third on the squad with a .321 batting average and third on the team with both nine home runs and 41 RBIs.
Shortly before he was named second-team All-SEC by league's coaches on Monday, Sasser sat down for a Quick Chat in the Bulldog dugout at Foley Field. He talked about what he's thinking about before an at-bat, baseball movies, playing high school ball and much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:Â
Frierson: What's going through your mind as you prepare for an at-bat or during an at-bat? Or are you trying to not really think about anything?
Sasser: I usually try to not think too much about, really, anything, and just kind of bring my focus to one spot on my bat. That way it's just a last, relaxing moment before you do dig into the box. I just try to find a pitch that I can handle and I can drive, and just put a good swing on it every time — the rest is out of my control.
Frierson: Is there a point when you're thinking about what that pitcher's strengths are?
Sasser: Usually my first at-bat of the game, I'll go up there looking for a fastball that I can drive. And if his tendencies are learning toward off-speed pitches early in the count to lefties, or runners in scoring position with an open base, then I may sometimes, occasionally sit on an off-speed pitch that I can drive and take a fastball first pitch.
It all just depends on a lot of things, the situation, what the game's called for.
Frierson: Baseball seems to have more good movies than any other sport, so what's your favorite? And what's the most quoted amongst the guys?
Sasser: I'll probably have to go with "The Sandlot" — it's just a classic. Can't really not like "The Sandlot." The most quoted, I don't know, that's a tough question, maybe "Bull Durham." That gets brought up quite a bit. That's a good movie, too.
Frierson: Why do you think baseball has the most good movies? There aren't many good basketball movies, football has a few that stand out, but baseball has quite a few that are real classics.
Sasser: I don't know. Maybe baseball in general is a sport of failure, so you have those ups and downs that make a good movie. That may have something to do with it.
Frierson: Tell me about home, about Evans. When you think of your home or hometown, what immediately comes to mind?
Sasser: [Greenbrier] high school comes to mind, and I was very fortunate to play on four really good teams, led by two different coaches. I've played in three state championships and was very fortunate to win once, so when I think of my hometown I think of all the good memories I had growing up and all the good people there, all the people that have helped me get to the point where I am now.
Frierson: If you could be great at any other sport for one day, just to experience that greatness, what sport would it be?
Sasser: That would be football. I'm a huge football fan, played football growing up too, so it would definitely be football.
Frierson: Given your size, I'm not surprised. Did you play in high school?
Sasser: Yeah, I was the quarterback.
Frierson: Very nice. Was playing collegiately a possibility at some point or were you mainly focused on baseball?
Sasser: I focused on baseball more. My high school was more of a baseball school, more so than football, so I focused on that.
Frierson: What's something creative that you do, or something creative you wish you could do?
Sasser: I wish I could play the guitar, that would be cool. That's something I've always just kind of played around with. I own a guitar but I can't play it to save my life. It's something where I've always wanted to be able to pick it up and play the chords.
Frierson: Is there a song that's in your head as you think about wanting to be able to play?
Sasser: Not really. I kind of grew up a rock [music] fan, when I was little, because of my dad, so my first concert I ever went to was an AC/DC concert, so watching Angus Young play the guitar and just listening to what he can do with it, kind of inspired me a pretty good bit.
Now I primarily listen to country music, so I kind of rather pick up an acoustic guitar.
Frierson: Is there a musical bridge between AC/DC and country music, a band that straddles the line between hard rock or metal and country?
Sasser: I don't know about metal country, but I know there's some bands, like Eric Church has a lot of upbeat country music, and I'm a huge Eric Church fan. I feel like a lot of the guys nowadays are more upbeat these days and have an electric guitar in the band, which is kind of cool.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on someone else's dime, where would you go?
Sasser: I know my uncle went to Alaska for like a month, he's been multiple times. I'm a big hunter and I think he stayed for a little while and went bear hunting and duck hunting and all this stuff throughout the month he was there, and was kind of living on his own. I think that would be kind of cool, or maybe go duck hunting in Argentina — that would be cool, too.
Frierson: What's one thing you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Sasser: Probably fish, I love fish.
Frierson: Any particular type of fish or type of preparation?
Sasser: I like mahi-mahi, blackened mahi's really good and I could probably eat that every day.
Frierson: Is there something that could disappear from your plate forever and you'd be OK with it?
Sasser: I'm not too picky of an eater; I don't really like mushrooms, I guess, but I eat pretty much everything.
Frierson: If you suddenly no longer required sleep, your body didn't need it anymore, how would you spend those extra six or seven hours a day?
Sasser: Ooh, I don't know.
Frierson: Or you could still just sleep, if you wanted.
Sasser: Sleeping's not bad.
Frierson: You could finally learn how to play the guitar.
Sasser: I guess I could do that; there you go.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
