Say HELLO to New OFD Staffer, Billy: Notre Dame Baseball Coming Soon

If you, like me, are stuck in the middle of a bomb cyclone let me introduce myself and give you a reason to dream about warmer weather. As my grandmother used to say, the days are getting longer, spring is right around the corner, and with it comes baseball season, specifically Notre Dame Fighting Irish Baseball.

You may not believe it (I certainly don’t looking out the window), but the Irish begin their 2018 season in just over a month with their opening series against the LSU Tigers on February 16.

Who Am I?

That’s a complex question, because honestly, I’m a lot of things. For your interests though, I’m a New Yorker from an Irish Catholic family. Or in other words, a born and bred Fighting Irish fan. To say the character of Rudy’s father was based off of my grandparents may be hyperbole, but it’s also not outside the realm of possibility. God, Country, Notre Dame were absolutely the top three priorities in my family and while Notre Dame athletics were important, I also coming from a family of teachers, so Notre Dame education is what mattered most.

I’ll share this story with you once and ONLY ONCE. My first day of pre-k my mother held my hand as she brought me to school. When she was ready to drop me off I asked her “Mom, will you always hold my hand when I go to school, even when I go to Notre Dame?” I did go to Notre Dame for graduate school, where I watched the 2012 football season from the student section and graduated in 2014 with a degree in architecture and urban design, but my mother did not hold my hand.

Now, having studied architecture, most of my year and a half on campus was spent staring out the Bond Hall windows wishing I had decided to study literally anything else and knowing that the architecture program is moving to a new building soon brings a tear to my eye, because we all always enjoyed watching the band from above on football Saturdays.

On top of being a Notre Dame lifer, I’ve also had a special place in my heart for baseball since I was a kid. I’ve spent most of the springs, summers, falls, and some winters of my life on fields, sandlots, and gyms with a bat, a ball, and a glove. Now I will warn you, I was a catcher and if you can’t tell already, like goalies in almost all sports, there’s something a little off about us. There kind of has to be to have small hard objects hurled at you at velocities greater than cars travel.

Why Am I Here?

Now this is an easy one. I’m here to bring you all of the Notre Dame baseball coverage you’ve ever wanted. I’ve been an OFD reader for a while now so I’m excited to join the staff. While I’ve always followed Notre Dame baseball this gives me the chance to dive into it in a more analytical capacity, although I’ll try not to bore you too much with statistics like xFIP and BABIP that may interest only me.

While most of my focus will be on baseball I’m also here to join the new hockey team that’s being put together and lucky for me the seasons don’t overlap too much. I’ll also be staying firmly outside of the Wings/Hawks debate that seems to be brewing (again New Yorker) although I will say, the Blackhawks still have a Notre Dame alum while the Red Wings traded theirs earlier this season, so there’s that. I am also looking forward to the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium next year and will say, if you have any opportunity or desire to attend, DO IT!

That’s all I’ve got for now. Feel free to follow me on Twitter if you’d like @BillyGorman21 although I’m not sure I’m very interesting and it’s a lot of non-Notre Dame tweets. You’ll be hearing from me again soon, whether it be hockey or baseball, but until then I’m glad to be here and GO IRISH!