The Fresh Prince of the Southern League

By joshjacksonmilb

By Josh Jackson

What’s that old Roy Campanella quote? The one about needing to be a man to play in the big leagues, but also needing to have a lot of inner little boy?

I found myself thinking about that after a post-game interview with Taijuan Walker, the Mariners’ top prospect. I also thought about child stars and weird chess or music prodigy kids who grow up way too fast under the weight of expectation.

Walker doesn’t turn 21 until August, and his being 19 last year in his first crack at Double-A was among the things we discussed. He talked about the game and his approach to it with the poise and intelligence of a much older player, but one thing he said showed he doesn’t have much in common with those gifted young people who lose sight of the joy of the thing.

Our interview took place in the midst of Yasiel Puig’s insane first few days in the big leagues, and Walker had just pitched against Puig’s former team. I joked that Walker must be glad to have missed Puig.

“Oh, no,” he said. “I’m bummed not to get to throw against him. Throwing against top talent is fun. If you want to be the best, you have to face the best. You really have to go out there, and battle your butt off. That’s the most fun — throwing against top talent.”

He has a different idea of fun off the ballfield: obsessive viewing of a show that debuted two years before he was born.

One of our two brilliant night editors alerted me to the fact that Walker’s walk-up music is the theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I had to ask him about that.

“That is true,” he said. “I’m a huge fan of Will Smith. I have all six seasons on my iPad. All I do all day is watch Fresh Prince.”

As much as he loves the series, it peaked early for him. His favorite episode is the pilot, which has helped him through many hours of long bus rides.

“This season I’ve probably watched it 30 times,” he said, “and it still cracks me up.”