Sophomore infielder Ethan Klosterboer is hot off of being named the Mid-Plains League Player of the Year after a summer of playing with the Junction City Generals. So before classes start back up, the Kansas State Collegian caught up with Klosterboer to find out more about his life off the field.
Q: You were recently named Mid-Plains Player of the Year, how did that feel and how did it feel to have a break-out summer ball season?
Klosterboer: It was really an honor just to be nominated for the award. I appreciate everyone who voted for me and recognized the summer that I had. I’m just really thankful for the opportunity. I’ve never really won anything that big before in my life, so that was pretty cool.
Q: Who are some of your baseball heroes?
Klosterboer: Well, I’m from Houston, so my whole life … probably up until high school … my favorite player was Jeff Bagwell. I remember as a little kid, I’d spread my legs out as far as I could and try to imitate him batting. At that time, the Astros were pretty solid and finally they’re kind of back up at it.
Q: What was the last movie you saw?
Klosterboer: The last movie I saw was “Ant-Man.” I saw it last night. It was awesome. I’m a comic book nerd, so I was excited to go see it and it was everything I hoped for really.
Q: On that note, if you had to describe your play like a superhero, what superhero would it be?
Klosterboer: Okay … I’ll probably say Batman, because there’s not anything super extraordinary about me. I’m not really big and strong, I’m not really fast and I don’t really have a really strong arm; but I would say I’ve got a lot of tools. I’ve got good baseball tools and that makes me a good player, not super athleticism or anything along those lines.
Q: What are some of your favorite songs you’re playing right now?
Klosterboer: Definitely Jack Johnson. That is my favorite artist in the whole wide world. I’ll listen to pretty much anything Jack Johnson. Fetty Wap is a pretty big deal right now and I think he’s awesome. And actually, not a lot of people know this, but I’m a big Frank Sinatra fan so I listen to a bunch of classic music like that.
Q: Let’s say the inevitable zombie apocalypse happens. How would you use your skills as a baseball player to stay alive?
Klosterboer: I’m not going to include stuff like swinging a bat to kill a zombie, I think that’s pretty generic. In a zombie apocalypse, I feel like there’s times where you’re not going to know what to do and you’re going to mess up, I’m sure. But you can’t dwell on your mistake or else you’re going to get in trouble again. Baseball is such a game of failure that the best players can get over their mistakes fast.
Q: If I were to drop you into any video game universe, which one would it be and why?
Klosterboer: Honestly, I’d be pretty excited if someone dropped me into “Pokemon.” I think I’d have a great time just raising Pokemon and walking around with them and stuff. I’ve played “Pokemon” my whole life, and I thought that was the greatest game ever.
Q: Finally, what made you come to K-State?
Klosterboer: Kind of out of the blue, they asked me to kind of come up late my senior year and when I came and toured the campus, I just really liked it. I’m an animal science major and of course, K-State being such a good (agriculture) school it was a great place for me to look. Actually, while I was on my visit, I ran into a person from the animal science building and said, “Oh, you’re the baseball guy looking at us.” It was pretty neat to see this whole community kind of recognize me when we came in.
