Meet Justin Little & Mike Provencher: Bull Durham, Guns N' Roses and Cuttin' a Rug

In the latest installment of "Know Your Navs", we sat down with outfielders Justin Little and Mike Provencher, both in their second NECBL season and both hailing from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. As you know, these two make a lethal combination on the field. What you'll learn is that they are quite the tandem off it...


Which character in Bull Durham can you most easily relate to?

Provencher: "I’d have to go with Nuke…Nuke definitely. There are so many times, especially out here today, I did it tonight, Sean McNaughton got a base hit with two outs, I’m on second base, and I watched the ball go into center field. I definitely have my moments. I may have some talent, but every once in a while I’ll have some brain farts and just kind of space out."

What video games can you admit an addiction to?

Both: "Tiger Woods [PGA Tour]. And Guitar Hero."

Who shoots the better score on Tiger Woods?

Provencher: "I can get him on Tiger Woods."

Little: "He’s got me on Tiger Woods, I am definitely better on Guitar Hero."

Any song in particular you simply enjoy rocking out to?

Provencher: "My favorite is AFI – Ms. Murder."

Little: "I think [Guns N' Roses'] Sweet Child Of Mine is pretty fun."

Who is faster on the basepaths?

Provencher: "He’s definitely got me. I’m nipping at the heels."

Little: "But I’ve still got him."

Provencher: "Yea…he’s still got me."

Mike, you grew up in Grand Junction. What has attracted you to stay there for college?

Provencher: "The baseball program is great. Our coach, Coach [Chris] Hanks is awesome. He has had a winning program for a long time. The team is awesome, the area is nice, the climate is perfect. I mean, you can’t beat that. I’m two hours from the closest ski resort so I’m snowboarding all the time in the off-season. I can’t complain, it is just a nice place to play baseball."

Justin, why should people come to Westminster (Little's hometown)?

Little: "It used to be, about ten years ago, 'Come live in Westminster!' But now, now it’s full. It’s nice. We’ve got Water World! It’s the nation’s biggest water park. Westminster is just a good neighborhood to live in. The people, your neighbors, they are always nice."

I talked to McNaughton about a week ago about his steak infatuation. Mike, you’re a big steak guy. He’s a big steak guy. You are both putting up monster numbers this season. Is that where the power is coming from, the steak and potatoes?

Provencher: "It has got to be. There has got to be some sort of correlation with that. I would definitely stick with steak and potatoes every day of my life if I could. So, yea, there has got to be something. Or maybe it’s something out here in the water. Maybe the beach days or something like that. But steak has always held true, so I’ve stuck with it."

Do you two have any unique handshakes?

Both: "Oh, we have got a dirty handshake." (Advice: Tilt your head at a 90 degree angle to the right for best viewing. My apologies.)



Any hidden talents?

Provencher: "I try and show off as much as I can on the slopes. But I try and keep it down for baseball purposes. I don’t want to go crazy. Other that than, I am…I am one heck of a dancer. I can cut a rug."

Little: "That is true. He can dance."

What are we talking here? Salsa?

Both: "Oh, we’re talking anything."

Provencher: "We’re talking salsa. We’re talking hip-hop. We’re talking line dancing. I got it. I got it."

What about you, Justin?

Little: (laughing) "Ah, I don’t know."

Are you guys crashing weddings together?

Provencher: "Oh yea, Bobby O’Shea over here (patting Little on the back)."

Little: "I don’t know; I don’t really show off that much."

As a kid, Halloween is a huge holiday. It then gets "revived" in college. What has been your best Halloween costume ever?

Little: "Last year, us two and our roommate were all gangsters."

Provencher: "Yea! We all grew out the mustache. We all had-"

Little: "Dickies. Dickies with flannel shirts buttoned just at the top. And then a [white, sleeveless shirt] underneath. Bandannas down over the eyes."

Provencher: "And then I took a black permanent marker and drew tattoos on everyone's neck. I then I drew our gang name on everyone's fingers. So every picture we took, we [flashed our gang name]. I had the big ol' sunglasses on, too."