Friday, August 15

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TAMPA -- By definition, Pete Fairbanks’ job is high-leverage work. As the Rays’ longtime closer and a key bullpen arm for a few years before that, he usually has a lot on the line whenever he’s called into the game.

High stakes. High intensity. High pressure. You see it in his staredowns with hitters, his celebrations when he nails down a save and his frustration -- typically directed at unsuspecting baseballs in an indoor batting cage -- when it doesn’t go his way.

But it can’t be all gas, no brakes, even for a 6-foot-6 right-hander who throws his fastball in the upper 90s. So when Fairbanks isn’t in the game, or getting ready to enter, he focuses his attention on his many off-the-field interests, the sort of passions that are being celebrated with the return of Players’ Weekend.

“For me, a non-competitive outlet is good. Because for 95% of the things that I do, it's competitive, right?” he said last month while sitting in front of his locker inside the home clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Anything that I'm doing where I can find an activity that I enjoy [and] I'm not trying to beat somebody at is great for keeping me sane between the ears.

“It’s a tall order, but I do my best with the lot that I’ve been dealt.”

Fairbanks, 31, is a man of many interests, hobbies and pursuits beyond baseball. A lot of them date all the way back to his childhood. Now, he gets to share them with his wife, Lydia, and two young children, son Isak and daughter Lotte.

“I think my parents did a good job of letting me explore things that I liked when I was a kid, and that obviously makes it that much easier to continue down those roads as you get older,” he said. “It’s easy. Fun for me. I don't know if they appreciate it as much, but maybe they will.”

He’s a big reader, consuming everything from narrative non-fiction to fiction series to comic books. Last month, he was reading “My Friends,” the latest novel from “by far” his favorite author, Fredrik Backman. Earlier in the summer, he churned through Superman stories to prepare for the new James Gunn film. Before that came Erik Larson’s “In the Garden of Beasts,” a non-fiction book about the American ambassador to Germany in the mid-1930s.

His library spans “all sorts of things,” he said, though he lacks patience for “dry non-fiction.”

He’s a crossword puzzle enthusiast. He’s an avid comics reader and collects Pokémon cards, occasionally visiting local comic book and collectible shops during road trips. Fairbanks didn’t have a Game Boy growing up, but he played Pokémon with his friends, collected cards and dove into the game after downloading an emulator on his Mac at the University of Missouri.

“Instead of studying in study hall, I would just play [Pokémon] Emerald on like four times speed and just roll through that while I was in study hall,” he said, answering the next question before it could be asked. “Study hall was mandated, and I didn’t actually really need to study that much past what I was already doing outside of class.”

He now shares that passion with his daughter, Lotte. Meanwhile, Isak has helped him build up his LEGO collection.

At one point recently, Isak was guiding Lydia through the construction of a medieval village set. Sitting in front of his locker, Fairbanks pulled up a photo of his favorite piece in their collection, which has a place on Isak’s bookshelf: a depiction of the fictional Gotham City skyline, with a bat signal, blimps and neo-gothic architecture.

That ties directly into another one of Fairbanks’ interests. Having grown up, like many 1990s kids, watching “Batman: The Animated Series” as well as other animated superhero shows like “Justice League” and “Teen Titans,” Fairbanks estimated he’s watched “the majority of animated and non-animated Batman projects” in his life.

“When the gateway drug is that good, it becomes easy to really lock into animation as a fun art form and storytelling method and appreciate it for what it is,” he said.

He’s up on other movies, TV shows and pop culture, too. He’s building a vinyl record collection, noting the medium “makes you appreciate an album more when you listen to all of it.” He’ll occasionally drop references to various titles in his always-entertaining postgame interviews.

Among the highlights this season: bringing up the Lemony Snicket series, “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” and channeling a piece of advice from one of his favorites, Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” -- "Be a goldfish” -- during Tampa Bay’s extended summer slump.

You name it, and he probably knows something about it.

“I dabble in just about everything,” Fairbanks said.

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