Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes mentioned his stoic response to being named the 2024 NL Rookie of the Yr was misunderstood by the general public.
The MLB rookie All-Star went viral after he appeared seemingly impassive whereas sitting alongside his ecstatic girlfriend, LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne, when he gained the award final November.
Throughout an look on “Late Evening With Seth Meyers” on Wednesday, Skenes defined that he was simply making an attempt to maintain his composure within the second.
“Yeah, I feel individuals mistook the facial expressions and all that for indifference,” Skenes, 22, mentioned with a smile. “I might say it was composure, for certain.”
On the time, MLB posted a behind-the-scenes video of Skenes and Dunne, who helped convey the primary NCAA championship to LSU’s gymnastics program final April, awaiting the announcement.
When named the 2024 NL Rookie of the Yr after going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA spanning 23 begins, Skenes stared straight into the digicam and didn’t have a lot of a response — whereas Dunne was clapping and stuffed with pleasure.
Dunne gave him the meme remedy in a since-deleted publish on her Instagram Story that had a bunch of photographs of his deadpan response.
“Paul Skenes pleased,” learn the publish, which included the identical somber snapshot of Skenes repeated six occasions. “Paul Skenes unhappy. Paul Skenes offended. Paul Skenes shocked. Paul Skenes annoyed. Paul Skenes successful ROTY.”
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Dunne, 22, who turned a prime NIL earner and one of many faces of the period, returned to LSU for her fifth and last yr of eligibility after the Girl Tigers captured the 2024 NCAA title.
She has her sights set on a second straight championship with LSU after she handled accidents and spent most of final season as an alternate.
“There undoubtedly had been occasions the place my love for the game lowered,” Dunne informed The Publish in an interview final fall. “I imply, my sophomore and junior yr was fairly arduous to stability. And with faculty and athletics, it was only a arduous stability and there was no person I may comply with of their footsteps as a result of no person’s ever achieved it earlier than. So I type of simply needed to carve my very own path and discover out what works for me.
“I’ve actually discovered the love, my love for the game once more final yr, I’d say. In order that’s one of many principal the explanation why I needed to come back again.”