Team: Baseball
Hometown: Needham, Mass.
Majors: Political science and history
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Manuela Lira (ML): How did you get into baseball? Have you always been a pitcher?
Peyton Rose (PR): I started playing baseball when I was about 4 or 5. I played T-ball, and then Little League, as kids do. But I started taking baseball more seriously by middle school, and in high school is when I started to just pitch. My younger brother and I both ended up playing baseball, funnily enough. He’s a sophomore, pitching for Bowdoin.
ML: Do you have any baseball idols or a favorite team?
PR: I’m a die-hard Red Sox fan, so I keep good track of them. I never really idolized any specific player growing up, but I enjoy watching anyone who is a talented pitcher. I like watching Garrett Crochet pitch.
ML: How have you changed over your four years of being on the team?
PR: I had a bit of a unique path in my athletic career here. I got hurt my first-year and had elbow surgery, so I didn’t get to play during my first two years. It was tough because now I’m a senior and I feel like a sophomore on the field. So in a sense, it’s all very new to me, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I think my four years here have been extremely developmental for my broader Williams experience, and my time on the team too.
ML: Do you subscribe to any team traditions or superstitions?
PR: We’re baseball players, so I think that makes us especially superstitious. We actually changed up the way we stretch, which caused a bit of an uproar this season as people are quick to blame losses on any alterations of past pre-game traditions. For me, I put my cleats on at the same time, I warm up at the same time, and I’m not touching a baseball until a specific time before I have to start. My glove always has to be upright in the dugout. I have to sit in the same spot on the bench when I come in after I pitch. It’s really funny.
ML: How are you feeling about this being your last season on the team?
PR: I’ve spent the past four years of my life here, and the previous part of my life looking forward to when I would play next. I fixate a lot on what I have to do each week because I only get to play once, essentially. Once it’s over, I’ll take a deep breath and move on.
ML: What will you miss most about being on the team?
PR: The purpose and relationships you develop from being on the same team. You’re surrounded by a bunch of guys who are motivated and working towards the same goal, and that’s pretty exciting.
ML: What is something you wish you had known during your first year at the College?
PR: I think my first-year self was very nervous about the adjustment period going into college, and I would tell him, “It takes time to fit into a new place. You shouldn’t stress about doing everything perfectly, and feeling like you’re not fitting in at first is totally natural.” I was incredibly fortunate to go to a high school where I built strong relationships with friends and teachers, and I inevitably expected to immediately make similar relationships. Those relationships take time to develop, and that’s where being on a sports team is very beneficial because you do have a group of 30 guys to fall back on.
