Twins Catcher Chris Herrmann Takes Versatility To Drawing Board
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Chris Herrmann won the Twins' backup catcher job out of spring training largely because of his versatility – he can also play both corner outfield positions and even first base.
Which makes sense, because Herrmann has never limited himself to being good at just one thing. Not only is he an accomplished athlete, he's also an accomplished artist.
Whether he's framing pitches or framing pictures, drawing walks or drawing Batman, Herrmann is as comfortable with a pencil and paper in his hands as he is with a glove and a bat.
"This is one of my hobbies that I like to do in my spare time," Herrmann said, as he sat down to sketch a drawing of Batman on a recent afternoon before a game.
As a kid, Herrmann inherited a love of drawing from his grandfather and worked as much on his sketching as his catching.
"I'd been taking years and years of art classes," Herrmann said. "I grew up basically just drawing stuff, and I've kind of just kept it in my back pocket all this time."
In fact, he probably would have pursued a career in graphic design if the whole being good at baseball thing hadn't kept getting in the way.
"It takes practice to be a good baseball player, and it takes practice to be good at drawing," Herrmann said.
Rather than drawing things he imagines, Herrmann prefers drawing things he sees – like scenery or photographs.
"I don't have that type of creative mind where I can just like think of something crazy in my head and just draw it on a piece of paper," Herrmann said. "I'm more a more visual drawer. But it's always cool to draw something like this and sort of add your own personal thing to it."
Sort of like a cover song isn't exactly the same as the original?
"Yeah," Herrmann said. "Exactly."
Herrmann said his favorite thing he's drawn came back in high school, a chalk pastel on a black piece of paper.
"It was this really weird looking skull drawing," he said.
He's also done an Allen Iverson in dots with a permanent marker, an Optimus Prime (his wife's favorite Transformer's character) in pencil, and many others he's proud of, dispelling the idea that one can only be good at one thing.
"Everybody thinks that, oh, we're athletes, and that's all we really are," Herrmann said. "But everybody has their own hobbies. This just kind of makes me who I am. I like other things besides baseball."
As he finished his sketch of Batman and signed it, Herrmann smiled like a guy who'd just hit a double off the wall.
"I think it turned out pretty cool," he said.
Then he suggested that WCCO auction it off for charity.
Herrmann's Batman can be yours by going to www.twinsbaseball.com/auctions and placing your bid.
All proceeds from the online auction will go to benefit the Twins Community Fund.
