Getting to know Dolphins' top prospect Hoad

[Havana_Jake]

BUENOS AIRES -- Many fans in Buenos Aires are still celebrating, but some are looking forward, toward that least predictable of all eras, the future. We sat down with Bill "Truck Stop" Hoad, a power hitting outfield prospect who is currently ranked the #4 prospect in the ABL and the #1 prospect in the Buenos Aires system.


Bill "Truck Stop" Hoad

Dan Farnell: Thanks for speaking with me, Bill --

Bill Hoad: Please, Mr. Farnell, call me Truck Stop. Bill is my father's name.

DF: Fair enough Truck Stop. You've been labeled a bit of an enigma by teammates and coaches. Do you think that's a fair description of your personality?

TS: Yeah. I'd say so. I mean I think some of that gets overblown. I ate a praying mantis in the dugout once, and some guys didn't understand why I insisted on eating its brain, specifically. I calmly explained to them that it's a sign of dominance among mantises, and that it transfers upon me an, well, an "intelligence" I would say. An awareness of sorts. It's difficult to describe.

DF: That's very interesting Truck Stop. By all accounts, you had a disastrous first season in professional baseball. -2.0 WAR and an OPS+ of 60 in the lowest division of baseball. Should the fans be concerned?

TS: Absolutely. If they're not concerned, then they are simply not paying attention. The United Nations recently published a report fore-telling a wave of species extinctions like we have seen only a few times in known human history. Insect habitats are dwindling globally and climate change is making some of our, I'm sorry, of their, lifestyles untenable. Humans rely upon insects for countless deeds. Deeds which you may never truly understand, but which impact your life nonetheless. Trust me.

DF: Wow. I guess that is concerning. Truck Stop, I have just one final question. It's one I've been getting frequently on social media. Where does the nickname come from?

TS: Well it's a funny story really. You see, I was actually delivered at a highway Truck Stop by a man who was running a full rig of lumber South on US 17 all the way down to Punta Gorda. My mom, she was real grateful to him, and she got to talking to the guy I guess, and it came out that the truck stop we were at was not only the place of my birth, but also the place of my conception. The man called me Truck Stop, and I guess it just stuck. Every year on my birthday my mom takes me there and gives me two bucks to spend in the vending machine. Then we go again three months later to celebrate my conception, but she only gives me a buck fifty for those trips. Which I think is fair.

DF: Wow. That's really something.

Dan Farnell

Dan Farnell is the beat writer for the Buenos Aires Dolphins and also the host of the wildly successful cooking show "Just Like Momma Used to Make, God I Miss Her So Much, If You See Her, Please Tell Her to Come Home, and That I'm Sorry for All the No Good Things I've Done." New episodes available on YouTube weekly.