Meet Theo Tobel, Samo's biggest baseball enthusiast
Noor Memarzadeh, Staff Writer
With his dad and grandpa at his side, a young Theo Tobel (’23) sitting in front of the television mimicked the swings of his favorite Dodgers batters with admiration.
Tobel began his baseball journey at the age of seven, and since then, his passion for the game has only grown. His journey playing baseball has continued in high school, as Tobel spent his freshman year pitching and playing middle infield for the Samo frosh/soph baseball team. Tobel is eager to continue playing through high school and is currently awaiting this year's tryouts.
Tobel has utilized his time during quarantine to pursue his love of baseball through the revival of his baseball blog, theobaseballblog, and he has begun making his own baseball bats for the past six months.
“I'd say it's definitely my main passion. [Baseball is] something that I love playing, I love reading about, I love writing about. I love making the bats, I just love every aspect of the game,” Tobel said.
Tobel initially began his blog a few years ago but decided to take a break as he became busier with academics. Now, with an increase in free time that has come with quarantine, his website is back up. He posts every Monday, with content including coverage of trades and signings, recaps of big games and short research essays on baseball-related questions.
He explains that he began his blog because he wanted to explore another area of the sport that he loves so much. He has admired the game from a young age and has always loved playing and watching it. Now, writing can be added to Tobel’s list of baseball-related hobbies.
After quarantine, Tobel also decided that he wanted to build and customize his own bats, but he wanted to figure out a way to help other baseball lovers at the same time. Tobel then decided to create the bats, fully customized, and sell them for $80, using his profits to help make bats for children who cannot afford their own. He does this by finding little leaguers in less fortunate areas of LA and using his profit from selling the bats to make custom bats for those kids.
Along with some other general tools, he purchased a lave for spinning the bats and a billet to carve them. He reached out to a family friend who helped him along the way, and from there he began his little business.
Tobel has not only expanded his relationship with baseball but has also used his passion and skill to help and inform others. Currently, his blog is still being updated weekly, and he has created an Instagram account for both his bat making and blog to keep his followers updated.
