3 days ago
Payton Tolle is one of the best stories of the 2026 season. A thoughtful prospect writer brought him to my attention early last year, knowing my affinity for a good four-seamer, a thick 'stache and a mien that would be equally at home on a small fishing boat off the coast of Bangor in 1890 as he is on a pitching mound. Tolle wears his emotions openly across his face and through his body; the joy, the devastation, the playfulness. To be pitching at the level that he is requires skill and effort, but part of Tolle's charm is the authenticity woven within all that baseball work. Maybe this won't resonate to anyone else, but there are a lot of guys who present as baseball players first and humans as a secondary classification. Tolle is distinctly a human playing baseball, and it's one of the highest compliments I can pay (see also: Gutierrez, Franklin or Wilhelmsen, Tom, among others).
It came as little surprise, then, when Tolle cited the Turnpike Troubadors as one of his favorite musical acts. There's the Oklahoma connection, of course, with both hailing from the Sooner State, but that same authenticity runs through every song Turnpike performs. And that's courtesy of Evan Felker, the band's lead singer and one of the finest songwriters of the generation.
No one here needs to read any more about the Seattle Mariners today. Honestly, we're all probably good for the rest of the year on consumption of Mariners content, but regardless of their record this is still a community, and community means continuing showing up for one another. In gratitude for you all, I offer a selection of some of my favorite Turnpike Troubadors lyrics and songs. I hope that in the ragged place baseball usually occupies, maybe they'll prompt that thrum of recognition in your chest that only good art can inspire.
"Come back from the dark somehow
Finally living in the here and now
No sign of a thundercloud following you
Don't take it personal, the world don't turn around you
Hold on to the moment like it's heaven passing through" – Heaven Passing Through
View Link
#good #troubadors
It came as little surprise, then, when Tolle cited the Turnpike Troubadors as one of his favorite musical acts. There's the Oklahoma connection, of course, with both hailing from the Sooner State, but that same authenticity runs through every song Turnpike performs. And that's courtesy of Evan Felker, the band's lead singer and one of the finest songwriters of the generation.
No one here needs to read any more about the Seattle Mariners today. Honestly, we're all probably good for the rest of the year on consumption of Mariners content, but regardless of their record this is still a community, and community means continuing showing up for one another. In gratitude for you all, I offer a selection of some of my favorite Turnpike Troubadors lyrics and songs. I hope that in the ragged place baseball usually occupies, maybe they'll prompt that thrum of recognition in your chest that only good art can inspire.
"Come back from the dark somehow
Finally living in the here and now
No sign of a thundercloud following you
Don't take it personal, the world don't turn around you
Hold on to the moment like it's heaven passing through" – Heaven Passing Through
View Link
#good #troubadors
