The 2021 Diamond Hog team will be forever remembered as one of the best teams to ever set foot on George Cole Field. Although she failed to make it to Omaha, the season provided memories that will forever be cemented in Arkansas lore.
While this may have been the year of Kevin Kopps, another Razorback provided two of the most memorable moments in show history. Charlie Welch’s brace to win the SEC title and his moonlight against Nebraska to send the Hogs to the super regional will be discussed in Fayetteville for decades to come.
After a wild shot that gave Christian Franklin a goal and helped the Hogs take a 3-2 lead over Nebraska, Baum was in flames. Welch was just as excited as the fans, but he knew his job wasn’t done. His adrenaline had to be through the roof, which isn’t necessarily the best thing to run through your veins while you’re at bat. However, Welch was able to pull himself together despite 14,000 drunken Arkansans clapping as loud as they could.
After receiving Coach Van Horn’s swing away gesture, Welch placed a 2-0 fastball in the Hog Pen for a 3-run homerun giving the Razorbacks a four-point header dagger. Even the still stoic DVH said it was the loudest roar it had ever heard at Baum Stadium.
As impressive as the home run is, being able to control your emotions in the moment and execute is even more remarkable. Prior to that at batting, he was 7-11 as a pinched hitter, an insane stat for someone coming off the bench cold swinging, not having seen a pitch all night. A 7-11 stretch at home for an everyday player is impressive. But that includes more at bat, seeing more throws and having more opportunities to succeed. An ordinary player can remove their first three sticks and hit a home run on their last stick. But coming off the bench in such a high pressure situation, pinched hitters know this is their only chance to execute.
Baseball is a game of chess. If you fail 7 out of 10 times at home plate, that’s a Hall of Fame career. If a quarterback has a 30% completion percentage, he’ll likely never see the pitch again. After his impressive homerun, Welch’s tight shot average rose to 0.667 as he came off the bench. Sure, he probably trained at batting before the game, but it had been over 3 hours by the time he came home in the 8th inning.
The reason I’m bringing up all of this is because the Scouts notice these little stats. You put Charlie to strike and he’ll find a way to get the job done. This level of maturity on the plate is something Scouts look for in prospects. He never complained about the lack of playing time, he bowed his head and got to work. This blue collar work ethic was contagious with Hog fans. He ruled out adversity and played rather than sulk. I was shocked to read Hogville and other Razorback forums saying it was 100% coming back. As if there was no way he could leave the hill.
I can understand why some fans believed he was coming back. In a one-on-one interview with Pig Trail Nation after the season, Welch was asked about his first year as Hog and the experience of playing for a top program. Welch replied, “It was an incredible opportunity and something I will always be grateful for. I hope I can come back next season and live up to this season and go further ”,
Maybe some fans took this comment as a guarantee that he would come back. This interview took place less than a month ago and in today’s world things can change at any time. With the Delta variant spreading rapidly, Welch considered that this was perhaps the best time to turn pro rather than risking another canceled season resulting in a drop in his stock.
Baseball is not a past performance sport, it is more of a “what have you been up to lately” league. And Welch’s bat has never been hotter. Also, with a busy recruiting class, maybe Welch was worried that he was in the same situation as this year, of being used more as a utility player.
Whatever the reason for his departure, it is not for us as fans to judge. After seeing comments on Twitter calling it “selfish” and “clearance sale,” I was disappointed with Hog fans who feel this way. Charlie owes you nothing. He owes you LESS than nothing.
An opportunity to turn pro is something 99% of the people who play baseball don’t have. It’s his dream, his career. Playing in front of 14,000 Hog fans in the finest college stadium with the most passionate fan base is awesome. But knowing that you have the chance to step onto the field at T-Mobile Park in front of 50,000 fans with Mt. Rainier visible from the stadium on a clear day is something you can’t pass up.
Being annoyed by a kid chasing their dream because you can’t watch them while 16 steel reserves at the bottom of the Hog Pen make YOU the selfish asshole.
Other responses I saw said he would bounce around minors for about 5 years before quitting. What if that happens, so what? He happens to say he at least tried. And if that doesn’t happen and he does, he’ll be hitting bombs at every Starbucks in town.
How crazy does it take to be mad at a kid chasing his dream in one of the most beautiful cities in the country. He’s from St. Petersburg, Florida, near where I lived during my two years in the Sunshine State. This place is completely free, I would also like a change of scenery.
People act like we’re not sniffing out the Regionals with his departure while simultaneously stating that he will be competing for playing time. Because that makes sense. Twitter is just a place where people with horrible sports go to die. The advantage of baseball? A player doesn’t make you win games like basketball. Sure, he could hit a home run in a 1-0 game, but the pitcher still has to throw some strikes and the players line up the ball.
It’s like they think one more year at Arkansas turns him from a marginal prospect to a supercharged Bryce Harper-level player.
It would be as if Willy Wonka told Charlie that he could take over the chocolate factory in a few years, but in the meantime he had to return to the cabin with Grandpa Joe’s bedridden moldy ass. Or tell a high school kid who received a scholarship to attend an Ivy League school that you think he should spend an extra year in high school just to be safe. It just doesn’t make sense.
Charlie Welch owes you nothing. And that’s the way it should be. So Tom from Paragould or Doug at Mountain Home or Buster at Beebe, relax and take care of yourself. It’s gonna be okay.
