This past week at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), baseball’s Robert Pitts was named Athlete of the Week for the second time this year. Pitts is grateful to achieve this big accomplishment. Pitts shared, “It helps me feel good as an athlete knowing that the success that I have had is being recognized.” Being acknowledged for this award encourages Pitts to keep building to his full potential.
Pitts started his collegiate baseball career at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (UMich). However, he felt that he did not have the opportunity to showcase his talents at UMich, which led to his transfer to Cypress College, a junior college in Orange County. After impressing at Cypress College for a season, Pitts transferred to UCR with a chance to show what kind of player he is. He attributes much of his success to his coaches at UCR, as they allowed him to play Division I baseball again and believed in him since the day he arrived. “I love being here,” Pitts expressed.
Balancing playing a sport at a high level and academics can be challenging at times, but Pitts shared that he gets his work done as soon as possible to stay organized and maintain academic performance. Pitts has been a student-athlete his whole life and stressed that the work can build up over time: “If you want to be better than an average player, you have to put in time outside of regular team practice,” so it is crucial to manage one’s academic workload effectively. The ability to have online and asynchronous classes at UCR has been beneficial to Pitts as he can do his work at his own pace, which can ease his academic obligations.
Pitts also shared that his parents inspire him to work hard both on and off the field. “They’ve really supported me. They’ve never doubted me… for any type of goal or aspiration I’ve had,” he expresses. Their encouragement has made Pitts the player he is and has pushed him through tough times.
Pitts’ mother has a comforting approach, whereas his father sometimes gives him tough love, creating a balance and ensuring Pitts can work to the best of his potential. Pitts’ father played baseball up until the high school level at Fremont High School, which initially drove him to play baseball. His mother has always been a big sports fanatic, cheering him on at every game.
A pivotal moment in Pitts’ athletic journey that contributed to his personal growth was attending the Hank Aaron Invitational. During the summer before Pitt’s senior year of high school, he attended this invitational and was mentored by many baseball icons, Eric Davis being one of them. Pitts’s father played baseball with MLB legend Eric Davis. They both grew up in South Central, Los Angeles, a tough area to grow up in. Hearing the stories of other Black baseball players, their experiences and their struggles was truly a full circle moment for Pitts; he shares that in this experience, he truly felt grateful to have had the opportunities he has had.
A value Pitts stresses is both physical and mental health. Keeping his body in good physical shape creates a sense of availability, which is essential as an athlete because he can be called upon when needed. Mental health can contribute to one’s successes on and off the field.
“Sometimes you can get a bad grade and that leads to bad performance on the baseball field, and other times a bad performance on the field can lead to a bad grade,” so keeping your morale up can help. Pitts has experienced this firsthand, and he shares how “I’ll have a bad day on the field and it will lead to more ‘un-successes’ in other parts of my life that do not have to do with baseball and this is because I’m allowing that to take over my life.”
One way in which Pitts protects his mental health while juggling expectations is by learning from others. Pitts has seen the way athletes rage and their reactions when they are unsuccessful, so he tries his best to “keep calm and cool.”
His father taught him that when faced with adversity, “you have about a minute to be mad at yourself, then afterwards, you have to realize that the un-success is going to be in the past and you have to move on. You cannot let un-success in the past create un-success in the future.” In higher-pressure situations, he often reminds himself that it is a privilege to play Division I baseball, as many players do not even make it to this level, so he is blessed to be where he is and just perform to the best of his ability.
“Success comes with consistency and being resilient. Do not let setbacks define who you are.” This is a message that Pitts hopes to pass on to younger players and students. As Pitts enters his final years at UCR, he reminisces on his memories of attending college baseball games at a younger age and fulfilling his goals of playing baseball at that level.
This past year, he experienced meeting someone in public who knew him, but he did not know them. After this interaction, Pitts acknowledged how he is in the public eye and has to live up to being the role model that he wants to be. Pitts aspires to give back to the UCR community by giving back to the youth through mentorship in ways such as prospect camps.
At UCR, Pitts’s most memorable memory was a game against Hawaii, earlier this season, in which he had a five-hit day. The back and forth game fueled the team’s momentum as they were able to walk out with a win, despite the odds being stacked against them.
Something that people may not expect about Pitts that contributes to his success is that he is half Indian. Growing up, attending MLB games, “you never see Indian players in the league.” One of the only Indian players in the league is Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker, who is also half Black and half Indian, like Pitts. As a Dodgers fan, Pitts sees many fans of Japanese origin attend games to support Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and he hopes to be that for Indian people. For Pitts, being Indian “motivates me to be successful because I don’t really see people like myself in my sport,” he expressed.
Robert Pitts has shown his resilience and pride as a Highlander and is well-deserving of this award.
