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The University of Mississippi Athletics
The Anatomy of a Fan Favorite
3/26/2015 | Baseball
March 26, 2015
by Austin Miller, OleMissSports.com
by Austin Miller, OleMissSports.com
OXFORD, Miss. -- The man behind the mustache. Meet senior first baseman Sikes Orvis, a rare breed of production and persona.
"He's good as a baseball player, but he also has that persona," said fellow Floridian Colby Bortles, who grew up playing against Orvis in high school and travel ball. "Everybody likes him. He's a big, power-hitting lefty. You don't see that often anymore. When you see a guy with a mustache and hitting balls over the scoreboard, fans love him, and he loves it."
"I compare him to Paul Bunyan," said Tate Blackman, a freshman, who has looked up to Orvis since his older brothers played with him. "He's a big guy with a big axe who can hit a ball far. He's a worker. The mustache, that chest hair flowing, he makes sure he undoes the button so you can see his chest hair flowing with no undershirt."
First, it was the comparison to Ron Swanson, and then it was the sleeveless America shirt he wore in the College Home Run Derby, a shirt he borrowed from former Rebel Bobby Wahl, and most recently it was a mustache that trended on Twitter, as helped lift the Rebels to a 5-3 win over No. 1 LSU in 14 innings, a game that was televised nationally in primetime on SEC Network
"People love the home run and all that stuff, so obviously it brings some attention to you," Orvis said. "I try to make it good attention, not bad attention, so my mom and my coaches don't get at me. The mustache kind of just goes with my persona I guess."
Tasked with replacing Matt Snyder, one of the most prolific hitters in program history, Orvis made a big jump in production from his sophomore to junior season, earning first team All-SEC honors by the league's head coaches and helping lead Ole Miss to Omaha and the College World Series for the first time in 42 years.
After a slow start, by his standards, he's started to find a groove at the plate, leading the team with a .421 average, three doubles and two home runs for a team-best .895 slugging percentage through the first two weekends of Southeastern Conference play.
"From sophomore to junior year, I re-evaluated myself as a player," Orvis said. "The coaches brought me in to replace Matt Snyder, and I hadn't done that yet. I had a tough sophomore year and a tough summer, too. I came back and refocused on the kind of player I wanted to be, to be more productive.
"I had a great year last year, and coming into this year, a lot more is expected out of me, being a senior leader and senior captain. I put a little too much pressure on myself and tried to do too much the first couple of weekends. Now that I have settled down, I'm starting to click offensively, and we're starting to get back into our game."
Orvis has grown into a fan-favorite role as one of the leaders of the team and one of the faces of not the only the Ole Miss baseball program, but college baseball in general. At the school day games, the kids flock to Orvis, and he also engages in lively conversation with fans on social media.
"When people say funny stuff, I have to give credit where credit is due," Orvis said. "But it's fun interacting with fans. I'm a funny, laid-back, loose kind of guy. I like having fun. I'm approachable. People compare me to a teddy bear. People like to talk to me. I like to talk, and I'll talk your ear off."
The mustache that gained Twitter fame in recent weeks, Orvis said, is nothing new for him.
"I have done it every year. Every March, I do this thing called Mustache March, which I thought was kind of a national thing, but I guess I'm the only one who does it," he said. "I have done it every year. Last year, I got a little attention. This year, it's kind of just taken off. It's something fun to do, to look kind of ridiculous."
Orvis delivered the game-tying RBI in the top of the ninth, before doubling in the game-winning run in the top of the 14th to lift the Rebels to a 5-3 win over the top-ranked Tigers. He also snagged a line drive in the bottom of the 10th and caught the would-be, game-winning run off of third for a game-saving double play.
SEC Network play-by-play announcer Dave Neal ignited the #FearTheStache campaign live on the air, and it spread like wildfire on Twitter.
Orvis said he probably had more than 200 mentions with different tweets and comparisons, from the aforementioned Ron Swanson, to Ron Burgundy, to Farva from Super Troopers, to a middle-aged Blockbuster employee, to the security guard from Terminator, and to a 1980's-era baseball player.
"That's what makes college baseball so special," Orvis said. "It's a lot of young college guys who love having fun and messing around. They're things that we have always done. And now that college baseball is being seen more on TV and has started to get some more exposure, people are seeing it and think it's funny. I'm happy to see college baseball starting to get more exposure."
The comparison to Ron Swanson, Orvis said, is probably his favorite comparison he has gotten yet. He may not paddle off in a canoe at the end of his college career, but they are more similar than one may think.
"I can whittle wood in my shed and stuff like that," said Orvis, jokingly, if baseball didn't work out for him. "I'm a parks and rec minor, so I can always fall back on that. Any comparison to Ron Swanson is a good one."
Austin Miller is a writer and blogger for OleMissSports.com. He joined the staff in June 2013 after serving as sports editor of the Daily Mississippian. Follow him on Twitter @austinkmiller.
"He's good as a baseball player, but he also has that persona," said fellow Floridian Colby Bortles, who grew up playing against Orvis in high school and travel ball. "Everybody likes him. He's a big, power-hitting lefty. You don't see that often anymore. When you see a guy with a mustache and hitting balls over the scoreboard, fans love him, and he loves it."
"I compare him to Paul Bunyan," said Tate Blackman, a freshman, who has looked up to Orvis since his older brothers played with him. "He's a big guy with a big axe who can hit a ball far. He's a worker. The mustache, that chest hair flowing, he makes sure he undoes the button so you can see his chest hair flowing with no undershirt."
First, it was the comparison to Ron Swanson, and then it was the sleeveless America shirt he wore in the College Home Run Derby, a shirt he borrowed from former Rebel Bobby Wahl, and most recently it was a mustache that trended on Twitter, as helped lift the Rebels to a 5-3 win over No. 1 LSU in 14 innings, a game that was televised nationally in primetime on SEC Network
"People love the home run and all that stuff, so obviously it brings some attention to you," Orvis said. "I try to make it good attention, not bad attention, so my mom and my coaches don't get at me. The mustache kind of just goes with my persona I guess."
Tasked with replacing Matt Snyder, one of the most prolific hitters in program history, Orvis made a big jump in production from his sophomore to junior season, earning first team All-SEC honors by the league's head coaches and helping lead Ole Miss to Omaha and the College World Series for the first time in 42 years.
After a slow start, by his standards, he's started to find a groove at the plate, leading the team with a .421 average, three doubles and two home runs for a team-best .895 slugging percentage through the first two weekends of Southeastern Conference play.
"From sophomore to junior year, I re-evaluated myself as a player," Orvis said. "The coaches brought me in to replace Matt Snyder, and I hadn't done that yet. I had a tough sophomore year and a tough summer, too. I came back and refocused on the kind of player I wanted to be, to be more productive.
"I had a great year last year, and coming into this year, a lot more is expected out of me, being a senior leader and senior captain. I put a little too much pressure on myself and tried to do too much the first couple of weekends. Now that I have settled down, I'm starting to click offensively, and we're starting to get back into our game."
Orvis has grown into a fan-favorite role as one of the leaders of the team and one of the faces of not the only the Ole Miss baseball program, but college baseball in general. At the school day games, the kids flock to Orvis, and he also engages in lively conversation with fans on social media.
"When people say funny stuff, I have to give credit where credit is due," Orvis said. "But it's fun interacting with fans. I'm a funny, laid-back, loose kind of guy. I like having fun. I'm approachable. People compare me to a teddy bear. People like to talk to me. I like to talk, and I'll talk your ear off."
The mustache that gained Twitter fame in recent weeks, Orvis said, is nothing new for him.
"I have done it every year. Every March, I do this thing called Mustache March, which I thought was kind of a national thing, but I guess I'm the only one who does it," he said. "I have done it every year. Last year, I got a little attention. This year, it's kind of just taken off. It's something fun to do, to look kind of ridiculous."
Orvis delivered the game-tying RBI in the top of the ninth, before doubling in the game-winning run in the top of the 14th to lift the Rebels to a 5-3 win over the top-ranked Tigers. He also snagged a line drive in the bottom of the 10th and caught the would-be, game-winning run off of third for a game-saving double play.
SEC Network play-by-play announcer Dave Neal ignited the #FearTheStache campaign live on the air, and it spread like wildfire on Twitter.
Orvis said he probably had more than 200 mentions with different tweets and comparisons, from the aforementioned Ron Swanson, to Ron Burgundy, to Farva from Super Troopers, to a middle-aged Blockbuster employee, to the security guard from Terminator, and to a 1980's-era baseball player.
"That's what makes college baseball so special," Orvis said. "It's a lot of young college guys who love having fun and messing around. They're things that we have always done. And now that college baseball is being seen more on TV and has started to get some more exposure, people are seeing it and think it's funny. I'm happy to see college baseball starting to get more exposure."
The comparison to Ron Swanson, Orvis said, is probably his favorite comparison he has gotten yet. He may not paddle off in a canoe at the end of his college career, but they are more similar than one may think.
"I can whittle wood in my shed and stuff like that," said Orvis, jokingly, if baseball didn't work out for him. "I'm a parks and rec minor, so I can always fall back on that. Any comparison to Ron Swanson is a good one."
Austin Miller is a writer and blogger for OleMissSports.com. He joined the staff in June 2013 after serving as sports editor of the Daily Mississippian. Follow him on Twitter @austinkmiller.
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