Player Profile

#15 Dan Zupp

Dan Zupp has been around a while.  Dan has pitched competitively at different levels.  I have played both with and against Dan over the years, and I can tell you that I would rather play with him than have to face him.  When I first met Dan, he was playing tournament ball with his local City League team from San Diego, called the Blazing Saddles.  The Saddles are a team that has been together for many, many years.  Several years ago, Dan pitched with the Mathew Bronze team out of Riverside, CA.

Dan Zupp has been the heart and soul of the then San Diego Fastpitch and now PrimeTime Fastpitch team.  He has single handedly carried our team to a 1st place finish many times.  There have been times when he was the ONLY pitcher we had, where I had to step in to throw a game on Saturday, just so we wouldn’t use him up, hoping he still had enough for Sunday, which he always did.  Don’t let Dan’s age fool you, he is a work-horse that wants the ball every time we play.  It is not uncommon for him to throw 2 games on Saturday, then have to throw 3 to 4 more games on Sunday.  That was usually the case back in the days when he was the only pitcher we had.  It is unreal to see him throw so many games over a weekend, then still show up on Monday night to pitch for his local team.  I would bet that there are few, if any, pitchers in SoCal that throw as many innings as Dan does in a year.

In addition to pitching, Dan also swings a VERY good bat.  I know that he wants to hit, and if the team is NOT hitting, which sometimes is the case, you will hear Dan pop off in the dugout, telling the guys that he just may have to pick up a bat.  When Dan has batted, you would be surprised at his slugging percentage.  I believe in one game, he hit a homerun to the gap, a triple and two doubles and had 6 RBI’s in addition to pitching.

Dan is a throw back pitcher, meaning he is one of those tough competitors who will ALWAYS give you 110% when he is out there on the mound. He makes it difficult for me at times, because, on the rare occasion when I have had to go out there, he just doesn’t want to come out.  I ask him if he is hurting and even though he may be, he would NEVER tell me.  Or, I will ask him if he is tiring, but again, he will ALWAYS tell me he feels fine.  At times, Dan’s competitiveness gets the best of him, but he will be the first to admit it.  I don’t mind at all, mostly because I have the same competitive fire and I know that Dan’s competitiveness is what makes him the pitcher he is and has always been.  They just don’t make pitchers like Dan Zupp anymore.

My brother Joe loves to catch Dan and has been his battery mate for the better of 6 years now.  They have as good a catcher/pitcher relationship as you can have.  It is great to hear them come in between innings and discuss situations together.

Unfortunately, this past season, Dan injured himself just 5 weeks before the National tournament in a freak accident in the 1st game of our last Alliance tournament, tearing his calf muscle while pitching.  Dan rested his calf for several weeks, then began re-habilitating it. He started to throw again about a week and a half before the Nationals; however, the week of the National tournament he pulled his calf muscle again in our Monday night league coming out of the batter’s box after drilling a line drive off of Russ Snow’s leg.  Dan sucked it up and still went to the Nationals winning his first game, however, it was very evident in that he was hurting bad. Between innings, Dan could barely walk on his leg, but he kept going out there. In his second game with us facing elimination, he pitched a 2-0 gem for 6 1/3 innings before the other team finally got to him.  I know that if he was 100% we would have won that game.

After the National tournament, our local ASA representatives decided to bump Dan to the “B” list, something that they had been wanting to do for several years. Dan welcomes the challenge as it is in his blood and looks forward to competing at the next level as do the rest of us.