Clubhouse humor comes in all shapes and forms, especially in spring training, and the Los Angeles Angels got an especially unique version of it yesterday in a pitching matchup against the San Diego Padres that featured a Farris-Buehler pairing as Mitch Farris faced off against Walker Buehler.
The movie reference may have whizzed past the younger Angels players, but Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com and manager Kurt Suzuki didn’t miss the tie in to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” which came out back in 1986.
“Ferris Bueller?” Suzuki said with a smile as the coincidence quickly grew into a running joke in the Angels clubhouse.
Suzuki did admit to not having seen the movie, though, which is shameful given that one of the key scenes is a memorable vignette in which Bueller, who was played by Matthew Broderick, visits Wrigley Field to watch the Chicago Cubs along with his fellow one-day truants.
“I haven’t seen it,” Suzuki said with a laugh. “But I’ve seen bits and pieces.”
Unfortunately, the matchup didn’t turn out to be all that competitive for the Halos. They lost 10-2, and Farris got pounded for seven runs in 3-2/3. Farris, who is frequently teased by new pitching coach Mike Maddux for his almost-famous surname, is having a rough spring, with his current ERA sitting at 18.00.
“I've seen the movie but I didn't put two and two together though,” Farris said. “I was focused on the game. But I mean Maddux, he messes with me, calls me ‘Bueller’ all the time. But I didn’t realize it. I’ve seen the movie, though. Cool connection.”
Farris did strike out six, but there weren’t many bright spots in this one. The few decent moments belonged to catcher Logan O’Hoppe, who’s hitting .296 while having a strong spring, along with George Soler at .368, and both Jeimer Candelario and Nick Madrigal are infielders making a strong push to make the roster when the Angels break camp.
As for Farris, the 25-year old pitcher is probably looking at an uphill climb to make the roster. The pitching staff is still being sorted out, but the sheer number of hurlers in camp makes it tough to figure out who’s going to be around in April.
The good news is that this has been a very competitive camp. Mike Trout’s comeback as a positional player has solidified the outfield group to at least some extent, and there are tough battles happening around the infield as well. Some players will end up disappointed, but the clubhouse as a whole got to enjoy some fun humor before this particular game.