Who is Spoon?

A Denver native, and hardcore Bronco’s fan, standing at six-foot-three with red hair and weighing in at 195 pounds Grant Witherspoon has done more than dazzle his coaches and teammates. Last week, Spoon – as the fans call him – won the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

In the week he hit a league leading .500 (6-12) and slugged a league best 1.000. Witherspoon went 2-3 against LSU with two hits, two walks, and an RBI and followed this performance up with a four hit, eight RBI, two home run series against UConn. One of those HRs was also a grand slam that broke up a no hitter.

Spoon is currently batting 3^rd in The Green Wave’s lineup, is starting at first base, and is hitting second best on the team with an average of .341.

This week I sat down with Spoon and talked about his journey to and throughout his time in the Tulane baseball program and everything in between.

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Hey Spoon. I guess we can start with, where and when did you originally start playing baseball? I guess your earliest memory with a ball and a bat?

Playing baseball really started when I was little. We had an open space across the street and my dad and I would go over there and he would pitch to me with a little whiffle ball bat and that was probably when I was two years old, or three years old. So I’ve just been playing ever since.

How about after that?

I started in T-ball and then I played machine pitch when I was about eight years old – and that’s where the coach stands out there and there is a pitching machine and he drops the ball in. And then I played kid pitch all the way up.

When did you realize you wanted to play baseball at the next level, specifically at a D1 college like Tulane?

I honestly didn’t decide that I was playing baseball [in college] until my junior summer, probably. Well late in my junior summer. I had been looking at basketball at the net level and was looking at a couple different schools and then it just kind of hit me that I have more potential and I have more interest to pursue baseball. So I was kind of a late decision and that kind of factored into why I signed so late to Tulane.

Where did you think about going and how did Tulane get into the mix?

Well my first real offer was from Washington State and I sat on it for about six months and I wasn’t really set on the school academically. Then they called me up [later in the year] and said “we signed another kid that’s at your position so we can’t take you anymore.”

Were you upset?

I mean a little but I understood because I took so long to get back to them.

So how’d Tulane get in the mix?

My last two schools were Tulane and Loyola Marymount in California. I was also interested in playing in San Diego, and I went out there for a camp and they talked me up but then told me I wasn’t good enough to play there. Made some other visits but it came down to those two. Loyola Marymount only had two engineering degrees where as Tulane had some more variety and seemed like a better fit than a liberal arts school.

Once you signed with Tulane what happen?

Because I played my senior year of baseball not knowing where I was going, whereas all my friends knew where they were going [baseball or not], it was kinda stressful. But once I signed to Tulane, the university was helpful with everything. But all freshmen had started six weeks earlier for summer school. And that was a challenge for me because they [baseball freshman] already knew each other. Especially being from Denver, I literally knew no one and it was a different world for me. But it didn’t take long them to take me in.

Was it hard academically then, you know being six weeks late almost?

I’d been at a high school that was a tough high school, so here It was [at first] hard for me because I had never had that hard of a school [experience] plus the baseball aspect.

Gotcha. So what was a typical day for you last semester?

I’d get up. Go to class at 9am. Not eat breakfast because I had to get some sleep — had to or three classes in a row, then would rush over to get some lunch. From lunch I went to the field — around 1pm. Go and hit extra off the tee and just kinda get ready for practice. Then we would practice. Some days I would have to go to practice, warm up, do a couple drills, then come back [to the dorms], change, go [back] to class at around 3pm. Be in class for 50 minutes, come back [to the field], practice, finish practice with everyone else, then go to a lab after practice at 7pm. The lab would go from 7-9pm. Then come back, do homework, shower, and go to bed.

So you are up from around 8:30am to 1am?

Or later, yeah.

Jesus. That’s late. What about the locker room? Who, if anyone showed you the ropes?

I would say, Lex Kaplan. He just kind of approached me and really kind of took me under his wring and showed me the ropes. He helped me out with introducing me to the guys, showed me where I needed to be during drills, or whenever I had a stupid question, he would answer it, or really anything.

So the drills were hard, or harder than high school?

Well being thrown in at first base, for example, [the difference] is pretty shocking. In high school it was ‘the ball is hit, go to the base’, where at Tulane your first practice at first base they tell you all this little stuff that I really didn’t know existed — we have all these difference coverage’s, all this different footwork you had to do.

I feel like that is the biggest difference between high school and college, the little details that usually your HS coach would overlook — and the little things the college coach sees is that a small [misstep] could cost us the game, so you just gotta hammer out every little thing.

Fast-forward through the drills and the practices; tell me a bit about your first start and what that was like?

Coach Pierce gave me a start on Sunday and when I saw that I was honestly pretty surprised because I didn’t think he was going to give me an opportunity that soon. In the back of my head — I knew if I got to start, I wouldn’t get lost in the moment and not be ready for [starting] because I was confident and just really ready to show him what I could do. I got three texts — guys were texting me and they said ‘you’re starting today’ and I just kind of looked at the texts and was like ‘wow.’ And from then I was just so excited. I wasn’t nervous, well, I wasn’t nervous at all actually. I was just so happy that I got an opportunity to show what I can do, and it just shows how much trust Coach Pierce had in me.

How about that first at-bat? You got a hit the first time up there. What was that moment like? When did it hit you?

Yea. The first time that it really hit me is when they called my name when I was going to hit and I just heard people. I just remember crossing over the plate and getting into the batters box and looking around. And with one foot out of the box, I was just thinking, man this is awesome. One of the best feelings ever, honestly. I didn’t really have time to think of my at-bat either. I was just up there hitting.

Anyone say anything to you when you got to first?

I just remember when I got to first base coach miller just asked me was that fun or what? And I was just like – well this kinda sounds cliché – but that was one of the best experiences in my life, my sports life.

I’m sure a very memorable moment. So what about your parents? You live far away from home, talk a little bit about that.

I know they are always watching and are proud of me. Like whenever I have a bad at-bat, I think about the people who are in Colorado and can’t come to our games, and I’m just so grateful for all the texts and calls that I have received from the people who are following me. And I think for people to take time out of their day to follow me, its just amazing and I don’t even know if I deserve all that.

(Laughter) You do deserve it.

(Laughter) Yea I guess.

Do you talk to your family a lot? About baseball or just about life and stuff?

I text my parents everyday, whether it is my mom reminding me to do things — because I need help remembering stuff. But after every game I text or call my parents, if I had a good game and especially a bad game. My dad is really good at keeping it in perspective and making sure I don’t get too high or too low and just stay even keel.

Are they watching the games?

They have their laptop, and connect it to the TV and there will be some at-bats where my mom films the TV and if I get a hit, [the video] will be of her freaking out or just cheering. And I just think that is so awesome to see.

Do you miss them being so far away from home?

I’m happy I came to Tulane because it just so different from anywhere else. The culture that you see all around is interesting and a good experience. But I definitely miss my parents and grandparents.

How about life beyond baseball? Do you think about that at all, or is it baseball or bust?

My parents always stressed when I was picking my school – and this is part of the reason why it took me so long to decide on a school – they always stressed when picking a college we want you to go to the place you want to be if baseball doesn’t work out. And this is what’s pushed me to stick with the engineering thing because I am trying to get through with a really good engineering degree so I can have any opportunity that I want if baseball doesn’t work out. But a couple months ago I was searching for the right place, the right situation. And now I’m thinking this is the right situation and the right place for me.

That’s smart thinking. So last question here, what does baseball mean to you?

There is just something about when you go to the field. And I just love competing as much as anyone else. I just that in baseball you can have the worst day ever or the best day ever and still be the best – even the best players have bad days – so it is a really humbling game.

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You can watch Witherspoon and the rest of The Green Wave play ECU at Turchin Stadium this Friday at 6:30pm, Saturday at 4:00pm and Sunday at 1:00pm CST, listen in on 88.3 FM WRBH or live stream on the Tulane’s Baseball Website.