Griffin Teisher, a redshirt senior, plays as an outfielder in the Cal State San Marcos baseball team.

He was born in Encinitas, California, graduated from La Costa Canyon high school, and received an undergraduate degree in history at CSUSM.

As a baseball player, Teisher started 63 games, and also had two second-longest reached-base streaks at 10 games in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

How long have you been playing baseball?

I started playing baseball with my dad when I was around four years old. My dad is a big Padres fan and Padres gave out squeaky balls at their home games. My dad would want me to be the Padres hitter, and while I was watching him throw the ball out, I would hit it back with the bat.

Who is your favorite baseball player?

My favorite player when I was young was Tony Quinn, who played for San Diego Padres. Another player I liked was Khalil Greene, blood hair, who also played for Padres. At the time, I had super long blonde hair and I tried to dress like him. After I grew older, I looked at him differently and approached him like: “Oh, this guy’s game is so cool.”

What is the best thing that ever happened to you?

One of the [best] moments was my freshman year at Cal State San Marcos when we were playing California State University, Stanislaus. They were a big win for us, but the game went back and forth. I achieved a triple run and two outs in the inning. At the time, we were losing by one [point], but I hit a line and the outfielder dove for it, so he missed it. When the ball rolled all the way to the fence, I got inside the grand slam, which scored four runs and gave us a triple-run lead, which changed the game.

How do you define teamwork in baseball?

Baseball is interesting. Unlike soccer or basketball, that two sports require many passing and setting up athletes for shots or goals, baseball is about hitting. It requires teamwork, but that means understanding the situation. For example, as a pitcher, [it is] understanding when you need to throw a strike or what the hitters are trying to do. As a hitter, there’s a guy on second, no outs, for teamwork purpose is getting him into the scoring position so that the next guy can swap. Sacrificing your bat for the team’s good is vital to score high.

What is the hardest thing to overcome in the field?

The hardest part of baseball is the mental side of the game because baseball is a game of failure. For instance, as a hitter, if you get three hits out of 10 times, you’re considered successful, which means you’re out 70% of the time and will fail 70% of the next time. Thus, the most challenging part of baseball is understanding how to work through failure because you’re going to lose but still work towards it positively and receive a good outcome.

What motivates you to play harder in the game?

Even though I know I will fail, I would say I love winning with my teammates. It really motivates me when everyone comes together as a unit in baseball and all are pushing for it, pursuing the same goal to win.

How is school helping you with the game?

Now, I’m in my master’s program studying sports history to look at the growth of professional baseball because I’m finding a new contribution to the field that someone else hasn’t already studied.