Saturday Spotlight: Duke Welker
Welker, Hickory's opening night starter, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2nd round of the 2007 draft out of Arkansas. This is his first year of full-season professional baseball after spending 2007 with the State College Spikes of the short-season New York Penn League.
For the complete audio interview with Welker, including what the mental and physical toll of playing his first full season and spending a year at an SEC university is like, click on the link to your right.
Duke, you've been here since day one, actually the first man to start a game for Hickory this season. It's been a pretty wild ride -- you had that one stint on the disabled list [Ed.'s note: missing a month with a sprained right ankle], but now you're starting all the time. What's it been like in this, your first full season?
Oh, it's been fun, it's been long, it's been entertaining. It's kinda different, just because I've never had such a long season and yet we're barely halfway through. It's just kind of exciting to feel how my body adapts to such situations and how I prepare for each start and each week and prepare. So it's interesting and exciting.
Now, you've lived in a lot of places. You're from Washington state, you went to junior college in Oklahoma, went a year to Arkansas, played in State College [Penn.], spring training in Bradenton, now here in Hickory. What's it like being Duke Welker, Cross-Country traveler?
It's different but since junior college, I've gotten used to it. My parents know me as never being home and always being away. It's just nice to see the country and I love the South. I love Florida. Hickory's a little different but I'm starting to get used to it a little bit. It's just nice to see all the parts of the United States and meet different people, there are nice people in North Carolina and I'm just liking everywhere I'm at right now.
Of all the places you've called home, which is your favorite?
I'd probably say Fayetteville in Arkansas was my favorite just because of the college atmosphere and the great people. I met some of my best friends there. So I'd probably say Fayetteville -- small town but a great college town.
Let's talk about the origin of your name, Duke. It's not your real name -- Matthew is -- but why don't you share that story.
It's kind of a long story but I'll give the shortened version. When I was about 7, we had good family friends who coached basketball and they had a player on the team named Duke Wallenborn. As a 7-year-old, I looked up to Duke as a player and he was their best player. Unfortunately that year, he passed away of heart failure.
So later that year we moved from Seattle to Montana and when I went to first grade, I wrote "Duke" on my name tag and my mom thought it was a joke. But I kinda just stuck with it and I have it now.
And I talk to the mother of Duke Wallenborn and it's an interesting relationship in how I took his name and she looks at me now like I'm her son even with Duke Wallenborn gone. So it's kinda nice to pass on someone else's name. And I'm not a "Matt" anymore, I'm a "Duke."
And as Duke, you're almost two different people: the serious pitcher and then the guy who's a lot more relaxed away from the field. What do you like to do off the diamond to kick back?
I just like to hang out with my teammates, get to know everyone on the team -- watch movies, get along, play cards. I'm just a typical guy, but you're right: when I'm on the field, I take it as a job, even if it doesn't go as planned sometimes. But you just have to stay focused and not stay as relaxed as I am off the field. So I just try to hang out and then on that fifth day get as serious as I can.
And what kind of movies, music, TV do you like to enjoy when you're not taking your job too seriously?
I like all Bill Murray movies, I love comedies. I hate horror movies. I'm not a man of horror movies; I'm kind of embarrassed to say that, but I don't like horror movies. Music I like old school hip-hop and anybody from Seattle, like Nirvana. I try to represent Seattle as best as I can because here in North Carolina, not too many people have been out West.
Right now we're actually talking to you in South Carolina, in the team hotel in Greenville. What's it like living half your summer basically in hotel rooms whenever you guys are on the road?
It gets old but it's nice, we get a little bit of meal money and we don't have to worry about as much. Here, we get to play in a nice stadium [Ed.'s note: Greenville's Fluor Field at the West End, opened in 2006] and meet new people. The crowds have been great on the road as of late and it's nice just to see all the different parts of the South. Greenville's just another stop.
Well thank you for joining us this week, Duke. Anybody reading this in your many stops across the country you'd like to say hi to?
Just Arkansas fans and my parents, just want to tell them hello and that I'll do my best.
Welker and the Crawdads are in the midst of an eight-game road trip and will return to Hickory to host the Augusta GreenJackets for a five-game series June 27-July 1. Continue to check www.hickorycrawdads.com all season long for the latest on your favorite Crawdads.