Cubs Legend Shows Support For Longhorns’ New Baseball Coach

Jake Arrieta is pushing back on those that are taking shots at his former college coach, Jim Schlossnagle.

Aug 5, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (49) throws to first base against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Coors Field. / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Before Jake Arrieta ingratiated himself to Chicago Cubs fans by helping them end “The Curse of the Billy Goat,” he was just another college pitcher trying to help his team win.

The Plano, Texas, product bypassed a 31st round selection by Cincinnati coming out of Plano East High School in 2004 for a stop at Weatherford (TX) Junior College, where he was a 26th round pick of Milwaukee the next year.

Still not satisfied, he accepted an offer to pitch for TCU and to be coached by Jim Schlossnagle.

Earlier this week Schlossnagle made waves by leaving Texas A&M less than 24 hours after the Aggies’ Game 3 loss to Tennessee in the Men’s College World Series for the head-coaching job at Texas.

Arrieta played two seasons for TCU, where he was named an All-American and earned Mountain West Pitcher of the Year honors before he was selected in the fifth round by Baltimore in 2007.

Jim Schlossnagle pulled me and two of my teammates into the outfield after we lost the Norman regional in 2006, made us write the date 6/4/06 in our hats, and wear them to remember what that day felt like. He turned the program over to us, entrusting us to bring out the best in…

— Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) June 29, 2024

Now out of baseball, Arrieta spent some time on social media taking up for Schlossnagle, who has become public enemy No. 1 in College Station.

Along with relating a story about Schlossnagle’s impact on himself and his Horned Frogs teammates after an NCAA Regional loss in 2006, he said that the coach “… has an intensity and a passion for the game this is unrivaled.”

He also said Schlossnagle isn’t the right coach for certain types of players.

“Schloss was a tough guy to play for… for certain types of player,” Arrieta said. “The ones that didn’t take academics seriously. The ones that showed up late to workouts. The ones that missed meeting. The ones that didn’t bust their asses every single day. The ones that weren’t accountable to their teammates. The ones that were soft.”

He admitted that he and the coach got “heated” a couple of times but wrote that he knows why Texas lured him away from their arch-rival.

“Jim Schlossnagle demands excellence, he expects discipline, and knows how to turn boys into men,” Arrieta said. “This is why he was chosen to run the premier program in all of college baseball.”

Arrieta was a part of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series team, during which he went 18-8 with a .310 ERA and made his only All-Star Game.

That was the season before he won his only National League Cy Young, as he went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA, with 236 strikeouts and 48 walks in 229 innings.

In six seasons with the Cubs he went 73-42 with a 3.14 ERA and even won a Silver Slugger in 2016.

For his 12-year career, which included stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Diego, he went 115-93 with a 3.93 ERA.