Twins pitcher Joe Ryan gives valuable lesson in battling heat

Twins pitcher Joe Ryan dusted his loins during Minnesota’s game against the Chicago White Sox, and we all saw it.

It was hot in Chicago Monday night, a humid 84 degrees at first pitch. The kind of hot where you need to worry about more than just slapping on some deodorant to combat any sweat, smell, and irritation. The kind of hot that requires baby powder.

Bally Sports North put a camera in the Twins dugout after shortstop Carlos Correa hit a home run in the seventh inning. And as play-by-play voice Marney Gellnar informed viewers of an upcoming pitching change amid making history as the first woman to announce a game for the Twins, the camera gave everyone a good look at Ryan pulling his pants out and giving himself a sprinkling of baby powder.

Whatever you gotta do to stay fresh pic.twitter.com/9zSAJDN8Pl

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 9, 2024

Nobody will fault Ryan for needing some baby powder in the heat. Hopefully, it was talc-free, but we’ve all needed some baby powder before doing anything outdoors during the dog days of summer. And Ryan wasn’t even pitching Monday night. Who knows where he puts the rosin bag when he’s on the mound?

What was interesting, however, is that it looked like Ryan only pulled one layer of clothing away from his body before powdering up. Which means that not only was he combatting the heat with baby powder, but he may have been free-balling it, too.

Luckily, Ryan just pulled his pants outward and not down. Because if he lowered his pants at all, this easily could have turned into the latest sports broadcast to air accidental nudity. Instead, this was just a valuable lesson in how baseball players deal with the summer heat.

[Bally Sports North]