As we go through life, we discover that there are three basic types of people: bad people, OK people, and good people. But every once in a while we come across another type of person, albeit somewhat rare.

Great people.

I’m not talking about people who are great because the have discovered, invented or did great things, like Albert Einstein or Louis Pasteur or Thomas Edison, although they most certainly may have also fallen into this rare group. I’m talking about that seemingly one-in-a-million (give or take) incredibly humble type of person who, when you’ve finish talking or visiting with, you walk away saying to yourself “What a great guy (or gal).”

Ross Stripling is a great person – and not just because he also happens to be doing great things on the pitchers mound of late as a right-handed starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but just an all-around great guy – and I defy you to find anyone who thinks otherwise.

Ross is one of those guys who, when you are speaking with, looks you directly in the eye and makes you feel as though you are the most important person in the room even if it is actually the other way around – say… like… just after having pitched 6.2 absolutely brilliant innings in which he allowed only one unearned run on six hit, while walking none and striking out a career-high 10, as he did against the San Diego Padres on Friday night in front of 44,612 cheering (and appreciative) fans at Dodger Stadium.

“Confidence. For Ross it’s confidence and just his ability to attack the strike zone with any one of his four pitches,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, after Stripling’s brilliant performance in Friday night’s 4-1 win over the Padres. “He’s got great tempo, he gets the grounder when he needs to, and he gets a strikeout when he needs to. The mound presence has always been good, but it’s just the confidence is real.”

But for those who have closely followed Stripling since he was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Texas A&M, they have undoubtedly noticed that the 6′-3″ / 210-pound right-hander has added a new pitch to his already deadly arsenal that includes an absolutely filthy 12-to-6 curveball that is flat out unhittable … an equally filthy and unhittable backdoor cut fastball.

“The last pitch was a backdoor cutter, which is something I’ve been working on.” Stripling told reporters after the game. “I struck out [Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce] Harper with one last week, I think maybe my last pitch of the game, and tonight the last pitch of the game, so it’s just kind of a fun thing for us right now.”

How long has the extremely polite 28-year-old Blue Bell, Pennsylvania native been playing around with this new and obviously very effective pitch?

“Probably a couple of weeks,” Stripling answered. “Added it in and just right now trying to find like the perfect person to throw it to.

“Mostly to lefties that it looks like it’s probably a ball off and then it comes back in and hits the black of the plate and get some strikeouts looking on lefties because I do so much work on the other side of the plate to lefties that they’ll give up on that. So that’s kind of the idea behind it,” he added.

Stripling used his new backdoor cutter to strikeout Padres catcher Rafael Lopez to record his career-high 10th strikeout on Friday night. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

What does any of this have to do with Ross Stripling being a great person, you ask?

Glad you asked.

In addition to covering the Dodgers, I also cover the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, where I first met Stripling during his brief time there in 2013.

I say brief because he appeared in only six games with Rancho while on his (somewhat) fast track to the majors. In those six games, all starts, Stripling posted a 2-0 record with an outstanding 2.94 ERA over 33.2 innings pitched, during which he struck out 34 while walking 11. The writing was clearly on the wall – even back then – that the former Aggie was destined for greatness.

But more importantly, I quickly learned that ‘Chicken Strip’ (as Ross is affectionately known) was then – and still is today – a great person and very approachable.

Now this most certainly isn’t to say that other minor and major league baseball players are not good people or are not approachable, heaven knows most of them are. This is simply to say that Ross goes way above and beyond when it comes to talking with the media, or everyone else, for that matter. His smile is warm and infectious and his sincerity unmatched … kind of like you’re the most important person in the room.

If you don’t like Ross Stripling, then you just don’t like people.
(Video capture courtesy of Matt Moreno / DodgerBlue.com – Click on image to view video)

There is simply no other way to describe it – Ross Stripling is a great person who, fortunately for his teammates and every Dodger fan on the planet, also happens to be doing great things on the mound.

Don’t ever change, my friend.