No college baseball player in the country has a résumé quite like Sawyer Gieseke’s.
The Arizona Wildcats senior infielder is also a filmmaker, and his work has appeared on ESPN, among other media outlets. His meticulously edited “Major League” parody video has drawn more than 680,000 views between YouTube and Facebook since it went up in mid-February.
Baseball has provided Gieseke with a platform to display his talent with a camera and a laptop. But as his playing career approaches its conclusion — he and other UA seniors will play their final regular-season series vs. Cal this weekend at Hi Corbett Field — Gieseke is feeling something less than satisfied.
He has been part of a College World Series finalist and another team that will participate in the postseason starting next week. He has carved out a critical niche on this year’s 16th-ranked squad as a late-inning defensive sub at third base.
“But at times I wish …”
Gieseke pauses to gather his thoughts. He wants to phrase this just the right way.
“I played behind really good players, and I never got that big opportunity to dive in as a baseball player,” Gieseke said. “So at times, I wish people could see how good I am at baseball. Does that make sense?”
It does, and it shouldn’t be misconstrued. Gieseke is in no way unhappy to be a Wildcat, albeit a part-time one. UA coach Jay Johnson says Gieseke “does a lot of good things that can help you win games” and has been “a good guy to have in the program.”
Those who know him best describe Gieseke as genuine and generous. “He’ll look out for his teammates before he’ll look out for himself,” his father, Don Gieseke, said by phone this week.
Yet there’s this part of Sawyer Gieseke that wishes he would have gotten a chance to play full time at Arizona — that wishes there hadn’t been so many future MLB draft picks occupying the UA infield. His attitude in that regard is precisely what Johnson wants out of his players. They aren’t supposed to be content.
“I hate using ‘roles,’” Gieseke said when asked about his.
His father shares his son’s disdain for that word. It’s too limiting for a 22-year-old with big dreams.
“I know good teams use roles,” Gieseke continued. “If you’re uncommon and you’re trying to get better, 1 percent, every day, you shouldn’t be happy with your role. So even though I have a role that gets in the game a lot — and I think I play an integral part on this team — I always try to keep pushing.”
Gieseke, who’s from Walnut Creek, California, began his college career at the University of San Francisco. But he envisioned grander things for himself.
Gieseke believed he could play in the Pac-12. USF wasn’t “the right fit” for a variety of reasons, he said, including the coaching staff’s desire to make him a catcher. He told his parents he wanted to transfer after his freshman year.
“Don’t do it,” his father responded. Sawyer had an academic scholarship at USF, and Don viewed it as a “great opportunity” for his son.
But Gieseke was insistent. One of his youth coaches knew Andy Lopez and asked if Gieseke could try out at Arizona. He came to Tucson in August 2014 believing in himself and hoping for the best.
“If I make the team, I make it,” Gieseke remembered thinking at the time. “If I don’t, I’ll play at a junior college in the spring.”
Gieseke made the team. He also joined the UA’s School of Theatre, Film & Television, majoring in film and TV. He quickly “fell in love” with everything Arizona had to offer.
“Andy gave him an opportunity, and he took advantage of it,” his father said. “I was proud of him. I was really proud of him.
“That’s the kind of kid he is. He knows what he can do. He knows what he can accomplish.”
Gieseke never became a starter. Four major-league prospects — Kevin Newman, Scott Kingery, Bobby Dalbec and JJ Matijevic — were ahead of him on the 2015 depth chart. The first three were drafted in the first four rounds in 2015 and ’16; the fourth, Matijevic, is expected to be drafted in a few weeks.
But Gieseke proved that he belonged in the Pac-12, and his responsibilities have grown this season. If Arizona has a late lead, Johnson taps Gieseke to replace freshman third baseman Nick Quintana, who has a team-high 19 errors. Gieseke has committed one in 27 chances.
“It’s hard to get those last three outs,” Johnson said. “It’s great to have a good defensive lineup out there. He’s provided that for us.”
Gieseke hasn’t made as many videos this season as last. His day job is occupying too much of his time.
But what began as a hobby soon will become a vocation.
Gieseke’s mother, Dorothy, bought him a GoPro in high school, and he described his initial process as “Yo, I gotta get some sick footage, what do you want to do this weekend?” He has graduated to a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and edits on a Mac.
After the season ends, Gieseke plans to move back home, coach a youth baseball team, instruct hitters at his dad’s training facility — The Fieldhouse in nearby Concord — and launch his own production company.
Gieseke wants to build it “from the ground up.” He’d like to make documentaries about sports or music, his other passion. Some of his teammates, including pal Casey Bowman, have real-world jobs lined up. As was the case when he arrived in Tucson, Gieseke doesn’t want to place limits on himself once he leaves.
“If he were to commit to something now, I don’t think he would grow as much as he possibly could,” Bowman said. “He has so many ideas.”
Inside pitch
- Former Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne, who hired Johnson in 2015, is now at Alabama and fired Crimson Tide coach Greg Goff on Wednesday. Asked about the possibility of reuniting with Byrne, Johnson said his sole focus is on the Wildcats. “I’m very, very happy at Arizona,” Johnson said. “I love our team, love our players. … I viewed coming into the Pac-12 and this job as one of the greatest challenges of my life.”
- Arizona’s probable starters for the Cal series are left-handers JC Cloney (7-1, 2.81) and Cameron Ming (7-1, 2.09) and righty Cody Deason (5-2, 2.93). The Golden Bears plan to start righty Jared Horn (3-5, 4.73) on Friday and lefty Matt Ladrech (2-2, 4.01) on Saturday. Their Sunday starter is TBA.
- Cal is 23-28 but posted victories over No. 9 Stanford and No. 6 TCU last week. The Golden Bears lost both series.
