Dingers, drive-ins, dives: Torkelson's famous pal
Tigers' No. 1 pick has Guy Fieri in his corner
When top Draft prospect Spencer Torkelson was selected by the Tigers with the No. 1 overall pick on Wednesday, they discovered they wouldn't just be getting a bunch of dingers: They'd be getting a side of Donkey Sauce, too.
That's because the slugger has Guy Fieri in his camp. When Torkelson was on the cover of "Baseball America" in 2019, the Food Network star and wearer-of-sunglasses-on-the-back of-the-head tweeted his support:
Torkelson then retweeted the post, which, in the 21st century, is about as close as you can get to confirmation that they are the best of friends. And after he was picked by the Tigers, Fieri again gave the slugger a shoutout.
How do the two know each other? That's a good question. Fieri said he has known Torkelson for going on seven years, and the celebrity chef is friends with the No. 1 pick's parents. Torkelson's mother is Fieri's CFO.
"Everybody knew about Spencer," Fieri said. "He's an outstanding athlete, basketball, baseball and football. Just a really well-rounded person. It's just an amazing journey for an amazing guy."
Fieri admitted that he dabbled in baseball, though "not at Spencer's level."
"That's why I became a cook," he said.
While it's fascinating that Torkelson has almost certainly visited Flavortown, that's like the 80th most interesting thing about him entering the Draft.
How about how people have been expecting this since Torkelson became a local sensation in Little League! He set a Petaluma Little League record that still stands by blasting 36 home runs that season.
And most importantly, this is Torkelson's dog:
Hopefully one day we'll see Torkelson and Fieri riding out to the ballpark together to nosh on some fried concessions in a very special episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but until then, we'll just watch video of him crushing college dingers: