Q&A With Kevin Gausman

C.C. What was your earliest baseball memory back home in Centennial?

K.G. Probably my dad coaching me in T-ball. My dad coached me all the way until I was 12 years old. I first started with a couple of my buddies just playing T-ball and all of our Coaches and Dads were friends and it made for a real good environment. It was more about fun than anything else. It was awesome.

C.C. College is stressful enough for any young person. How did you handle baseball and college at the same time?

K.G. It's tough. You have class during the day and then you play on Friday nights. Halfway through my freshman year, I became the Friday night starter and it's definitely difficult. You might have a test that day or you may have a final that day and you have to go pitch that night. So you have to manage your time.

C.C. Draft day 2012---what was going through your head?

K.G. I didn't know anything going into it. I knew I was going to go in the top 10. I didn't know what teams thought about me. I was sitting wondering what team I was going to be with.

C.C. You had a pretty good relationship with powdered donuts over your career. What's the story behind that?

K.G. It all started in my 8^th grade year. I was on the way to the ballpark and I didn't have time to eat so I told my mom to pick up something from the gas station. She happened to pick up some powdered donuts from Hostess. I think I threw a no-hitter that day. I'm really superstitious so it kind of stuck.

C.C. You were called up directly from Double-A Bowie to Baltimore bypassing Triple-A until now. Was that a surprise?

K.G. Not with the track record that the Orioles had in the last year. They brought up Manny Machado from Bowie and Bundy from there. I was kind of hoping that it would go that way. Bowie is just so close to Baltimore. I think they've seen me pitch every time I was home. I was surprised, but at the same time I wasn't with what they have done last year with those guys.

C.C. What do you remember about your first MLB start?

K.G. It was awesome. Just waking up knowing that I was going to pitch that night in a major game kind of got my heart pumping. It was cool. My whole family was there including my girlfriend and her dad. They actually sat in the front row right behind the dugout.

C.C. Who was your favorite pitcher growing up?

K.G. I saw Randy Johnson pitch in Game Six of the World Series in Arizona against the Yankees and ever since then he was always my favorite pitcher.

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