Fresno State Athletics
On and Off the Field -- Ben Fritz
3/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
For junior pitcher/catcher Ben Fritz, baseball is in his blood. His three older brothers all played, and Fritz was critiquing their games before he even started playing himself. At the tender age of five he started with T-Ball and just grew up in the game. His brother Jason played semi-pro ball and his dad Roger played in high school, played semi-pro and coached for many years.
"It was instilled in me at a young age. I never even considered not playing," said Fritz. When he's not focused on baseball he indulges in his other addiction, playing video games.
"The graphics they have now are incredible. Playing Madden 2002 is like watching a real football game," describes Fritz.
On road trips, the whole team knows that if they are craving some Playstation 2, they can head on down to Fritz' room where they set up tournaments. A rivalry has sprung up between Fritz and fellow Bulldogs Zach Minor and Bob Runyon. Fritz still holds the edge among the three early in the season, though.
Though Ben is athletically diverse and loves snow skiing, water skiing and playing basketball, he's taking a break from sports other than baseball to not risk getting injured.
He is totally focused on being the best ball player that he can be. His sights are set on going into the Major Leagues but if that doesn't work out, Fritz is getting his degree in sociology so that he can teach and coach at the high school level.
He wants to teach sociology because in high school he had a teacher who opened his eyes to a lot of different ideas.
"He told us that we had the choice to come to class. I went because I wanted to, not because I had to. He brought in different speakers, representatives of all different religions and ways of thinking. We talked about religion and social issues that affect everyone in our society. Those discussions changed my mind about some things but about others I just felt more sure of my original beliefs," Fritz said.
His teacher inspired him to expose others to new ideas as well. He wants to coach high school because he thinks that that is where he can do the most good and help others.
"That's the age that guys need the most guidance," he said.
It's clear that Ben's passion for baseball is one that will last a lifetime and will allow him to pursue his own dreams as well as give back to others.
