Cosgrove, MLB's biggest 'Survivor' fan? Q&A with Nats lefty

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In the latest Q&A, get to know lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove. The Staten Island native just pitched in front of a hometown crowd when the Nationals played at Citi Field this past weekend. Cosgrove, 30, was acquired by the Nationals from the Astros organization in early July.

MLB.com: What is your favorite TV show that you watch too many times?

Cosgrove: "Survivor." Love "Survivor."

Tell me more.

I've watched every season of "Survivor." I'm having trouble getting the new ones, though, because I don't have Paramount+.

What do you like about "Survivor"? What’s hooked you for all those seasons?

I think it's probably the most well-rounded game that you could play because it's not about being the best; it’s not about being the worst. There's so many dynamics to the game, and it's just always been very interesting to me. It’s like a very societal game, I guess. The best doesn't win, the worst doesn't win; you’ve got to be like right in the middle. You’ve got to play it perfect. Very strategic.

So if you were to be stranded on an island, what would you want to have with you? I'll narrow it down to two things: one practical and one fun.

I think the most useful thing in a situation like that is fire, so I’d bring something that helps me make fire. And then probably I’d bring a sudoku book or something to keep me occupied, or a puzzle or some sort of game book.

You won't have a pen.

Oh. I can do it in my head.

Perfect. Being a New Yorker, what were your favorite sports teams growing up?

I was a Mets, Jets, Rangers and Knicks fan.

Of those four, what was your top sport, and who was your favorite player?

Honestly, I was never like a huge sports guy growing up. I obviously loved playing sports, but I never followed a team super religiously. But I would say I was a big Mets fan. My favorite Met of all time? I did like David Wright, José Reyes, obviously. But I was a left-handed pitcher, so I did like Johan Santana a lot, so I’m going to go with Johan.

If you were not watching sports a lot growing up, what were you doing?

I was outside a lot. I biked around, played basketball, roller hockey. … [My neighborhood] had a lot of kids, a lot of friends.

Were you voted anything in high school? And if not, what do you think you should have been voted?

I went to an all-boys school, and it was very close-knit. I'm still very close with a lot of my friends at school. I think that they would say that I would be the Most Likely to Move Away, which actually ended up happening. I still keep in touch with all of them, but I don't see them as much as I'd like. They’ll still hang out and stuff, so I get kind of jealous.

Why do you think you would have been voted that?

Me personally, I never thought I would always live on Staten Island or in New York. I always knew I was going to move away, as much as I loved it. Not because I didn't like it, just because I wanted to see the world.

Two questions then: What is your favorite place you've been for fun? And what is your favorite place you've been for baseball?

My favorite place I've been for baseball is Korea. We went to Korea with the Padres in 2024 for that world tour, and that was very cool, very cool. My favorite place I’ve been to for fun is Todo Santos in Mexico. A lot of people live there from all over the world. It was very cool because it was like a very small beach town. There were obviously locals from Mexico, but there were so many people from Europe, Russia.

Pretend tomorrow you can get on a plane and go anywhere. Where are you going?

Home. I live in Florida now. My fiancée and I like the beach. We were living in San Diego, and we wanted to move back to the East Coast, so we landed on Jupiter, Fla.