Lovegrove’s Quest To Learn Lands In Rocket City

When the Rocket City Trash Pandas call on Kieran Lovegrove from the bullpen, they know that the South African reliever will pitch with his heart on the line.

After struggling with depression, a year away from the game, and a new fascination on forces greater than balls and strikes, Lovegrove is happy to be back on the mound with a chance to compete.

“I didn’t know if I was going to get another shot. Now it could last another month, it could last 10 more years,” Lovegrove said of the rest of his career. “But if I can smile every time I get out on the mound at least once, that’s a victory for me.”

The smiles came quickly for the 26-year-old from South Africa during the first week of Trash Pandas baseball. On May 6 at Chattanooga, he threw a scoreless inning and wound up earning the first win in Rocket City history as the Trash Pandas rallied for a 10-7 win.

Six days later, he threw 3.0 scoreless innings earn another win on May 11 vs. Tennessee, the first home win for the Trash Panda at Toyota Field, giving him two of the Trash Pandas’ first three wins in franchise history.

“That’s always going to be something I hold special,” he said of the wins. “Being a part of a new minor league franchise and getting to have my name associated with this beautiful new ballpark and one of the most fun teams in baseball, I really do value that.”

Winning games for the Trash Pandas is a long way from where Lovegrove was early in his career. When playing for the Cleveland Indians’ organization in 2014, Lovegrove had to undergo hip surgery. At that time, his mental health took a spiral.

“I disconnected from everything. Through that and negative thought, I built up these false narratives about myself that I maintained for years. I lost any sort of passion for life or anything. Nothing felt exciting,” Lovegrove said.

At the time, Lovegrove didn’t think much about what he was going through. But eventually, the fog finally cleared and he found a new passion.

“What got me out of it was going to therapy and meditating and working on myself and questioning if I was a good person and if I was doing the things I was supposed to be doing. I spent time slowly working on myself,” he said. “I started re-experiencing the world without the fog of that depression and seeing things as beautiful again.”

If he wasn’t playing baseball, Lovegrove said he would be back in school to be a scientist. Once the 2020 season was canceled, he had plenty of time to look into his second passion.

“Ever since I was a kid I’ve been fascinated by everything. Over the quarantine, I had a reconnection with nature and the grandeur of the universe,” he said. “I started growing my own plants and understanding how the world works and the interconnectedness of it all. The floodgates opened and I had this incredible passion to learn again.”

The learning has involved everything from how the plants receive nutrients from the soil and the core concepts of quantum physics, which Lovegrove admits he barely understands.

“I can spend the rest of my life learning and I’d never find all the answers, he said. “But I’d be happy with the search. If I found one answer that helps one person, I’ll be happy.”

One scientific phenomenon that Lovegrove has a better grasp on is the rotation of a baseball. That’s one he learned after moving to the United States from South Africa as a five-year-old in 1999.

Growing up as a Los Angeles Dodgers fan in El Segundo, California, Lovegrove said his favorite player was All-Star closer Eric Gagne. As a child, he recalls going to Dodger Stadium to see a few of his record-setting 84 consecutive saves from 2002-04. Watching his hometown team win the World Series last season was an interesting experience for Lovegrove, who went to spring training with the Dodgers before the pandemic ended the season.

“I was happy as a Dodgers fan, my dad was ecstatic,” he said. “It was fun to watch a lot of the guys I know. I draw a lot of pleasure in the success of teammates and friends.”

Now with the other team from Los Angeles, Lovegrove continues his career with the goal of reaching the Major Leagues still within his grasp.

But while he’s in the Rocket City, Lovegrove will continue to learn, both on and off the field. He has one request for the North Alabama community as he continues to enrich his mind while representing the Trash Pandas on the mound.

“I need to talk to an astrophysicist because I have a ton of questions about dark matter and black holes that I need someone a lot smarter than myself to answer,” he said.

If you are an astrophysicist and want to answer Kieran Lovegrove’s questions, please reach out to the Trash Pandas!