But you'll also discover packages of "engineered nutrition," containers of carbohydrates and protein supplements, boxes of vitamin-packed Met-Rx bars, as well as the requisite Gatorade.
It is no coincidence that Erickson has been able to pitch more than 221 innings in both of his full seasons with the Orioles and has avoided the disabled list for four years. This is a pitcher who works at keeping himself in tip-top shape by assiduously taking care of his body.
He not only follows a rigid workout regimen, both in-season and out, but he also watches what he eats--not an easy undertaking in a sport where greasy and fatty foods are clubhouse staples.
"I've seriously watched what I've eaten for about 10 years," Erickson explains. "I figured it was really time to start taking care of my body."
At 6'4" and 230 pounds, Erickson is, in the words of manager Ray Miller, "a horse." When the right-hander agreed to a new five-year, $32-million contract on May 13 that will keep him in Baltimore through at least 2003, general manager Pat Gillick mentioned Erickson's dependability, another quality that is fueled by his allegiance to taking care of himself.
"He's an animal," says Lenny Webster, who catches every game that Erickson pitches. "He's always giving himself the best chance of winning because he's in great condition. He's a 200-inning-a-year guy, and that says something about his stamina."
So what exactly does Erickson do to keep his body lean and mean?
His staple is something called Met-Rx, a nutritionally engineered product that he discovered. He eats it at least three times a day, including a dose of it with a banana to start the morning. "At first it wasn't very good," he admits, "but they have new bars that are much tastier."
He loves chocolate, and Met-Rx comes in chocolate flavor, which works out perfectly for the 30-year-old California native. "They're both chocolate and nutritional at the same time." Met-Rx comes in packets and bars. He can mix the substance in packets in blenders when at home. On the road, he eats it in bar form.
Erickson also avoids consuming big meals. Instead, he tries to eat modestly every two or three hours--up to six or seven times a day--including his Met-Rx meals. And he takes in more protein than carbohydrates, trying to consume carbohydrates early in the day, protein later.
Orioles farm director Syd Thrift likes to use Erickson as a model for younger players who often have the tendency to survive off of junk food, especially while in the minors.
Erickson learned his nutritional lessons from TV and magazines. "I didn't take a class or ask anybody what to do," he says. "I figured it was in my own best interest."
He is just as religious about working out as he is about his eating habits.
During the season, he runs everyday, as do all pitchers. In the offseason he avoids running to take pressure off his knees, opting instead for exercising on a rowing machine, a stationary bike, a Stair Master, and a Versa-Climber.
The day after Erickson pitches, he spends an hour and a half undergoing a full body workout, which, he explains, "gives me time to get loose." The emphasis on the workout is on his legs, although he does tend to his upper body as well. "You try to get loose and then stretch it out," he says of his exercise routine. "Lifting is a tightening exercise, throwing just the opposite."
Workouts are no work to Erickson. "I love it," he says. "I enjoy working out a lot. It's like a hobby almost. You get to work out for a living--that's nice."
Erickson is just as disciplined on the pitcher's mound as he is in the workout room or at the dining table. He does not pull stunts on the mound as many of his brethren do. Baseball pashas who want to speed up the game buy assuring that pitchers release the ball in 20-seconds need not set their stopwatches on Erickson.
He does not pace around the rubber or scratch the back of his head or rub his brow half a dozen times before heaving the ball. He does not stare endlessly into the catcher's glove. He simply gets the ball, stands on the rubber and pitches.
On April 27, 1994, when still with Minnesota. Erickson pitched a no-hitter against Milwaukee. His catcher in that game, Matt Walbeck, still marvels at how Erickson goes about his business on the field in a no-nonsense way.
"His mound presence," says Walbeck, "is the same whether he's ahead, 1-0, or down by a bunch of runs." On the night of the no-hitter, Walbeck recalls, "He had a rhythm about him that was, 'Get the ball and go.' He was really into a rhythm."
When Erickson is on top of his game, when his sinker is dropping like a lead weight and his location is good, he always seems to set a rhythm for himself, no-hitter or not.
Since becoming an Oriole on July 7, 1995, Erickson has won 42 and lost 27 (through May 20). At times he appears almost unhittable, especially when his sinker is sinking. In both 1996 and 1997, he led the AL in ground-ball to fly-ball ratio, with three of every four ball hit off of him being smacked into the ground--the truest verification that he has one of the most effective sinkers in the American League.
Yet Erickson is something of a paradox as a pitcher. His ERA as an Oriole is almost 4.50, and he gives up an inordinately high number of hits for a winning pitcher. This year, in fact, he leads the league in hits allowed.
What's the explanation for his being so outstanding sometimes and so ineffective at others? "He's a power guy," says Miller, who was pitching coach last year before taking over the managerial reins in 1998. "When everything's right, he throws a sinker that drops at the plate at 93-94 mph. When he doesn't have his mechanics right, that same 93-94 mph pitch moves laterally in the strike zone. When he overthrows the ball flattens."
Erickson isn't exactly sure why he can follow a shutout with a game in which he allows 10 hits. He wonders if it's "the law of averages or coincidence . . . Sometimes you feel really good and you blow it out the next game. It's important to stay on an even keel."
He remembers his experience in the ALCS last season against Cleveland. In the opening game, pitching on six days rest, Erickson shut out the Indians on four hits over eight innings. Coming back on four days rest [sic, wasn't it three days?], in the fourth game of the series, he lasted only 4 2/3 innings, giving up six earned runs and 11 hits. That flies in the face of the theory perpetuated by most of his managers that Erickson is more effective when not well rested because he then doesn't tend to overthrow his sinker. Erickson has always dismissed such a notion.
Perhaps his idea about the law of averages is correct. As a sinker baller, he induces batters to hit the ball on the ground. And often, those balls seems to find a way through the infield, even when he is backed by stalwart fielders.
A case in point is his May 16 outing against Tampa Bay at Camden Yards. Over the first three innings of that game, Erickson gave up six hits--quite a high number--and three runs. But take a look at those hits. The first was a grounder up the middle that skittered between the shortstop and second baseman. The second was a little nubber that stopped halfway up the third baseline. The third was another grounder up the middle, this one never getting out of the infield. The fourth was a bouncer toward third that ricocheted off Cal Ripken's glove. The fifth was another bouncer up the middle. The sixth, finally, was a legitimate base hit, a line-drive single to the outfield.
The numbers looked bad in the boxscore, but Erickson was just doing what he gets paid to do--force batters to hit the ball into the ground.
Even when he does get lit up, Erickson goes about his business in the same way he would if he were working on a shutout. He shows little emotion on the field. He likes to say that once the ball leaves his hand, he has no control of what might happen. He knows that the law of averages will even things out, that if he takes care of his body and follows his rigorous routine preparing for each game, he will come out a winner.
"He doesn't get flustered," says Walbeck. "He's a competitor. He's a strong guy. I don't think he's ever going to break down."
Thanks to Leslie for sending me this article!