Gunther O'Brian

From Blaseball Wiki

Gunther O'Brian was a player in the Shadows for the Mexico City Wild Wings, and was with the team from the Season β23 elections until Fall Ball. O'Brian has played for the Charleston Shoe Thieves, Rising Stars, and San Francisco Lovers.

Official League Records

O'Brian joined the ILB as a pitcher for the Charleston Shoe Thieves on Season β3, Day 57 after the incineration of Matteo Prestige.

At the end of Season β5, the Soul Swap blessing randomized O'Brian's pitching stats from 0 2 .

During the Season β6 elections, O’Brian's pitching increased from 2 2.5 as a part of the Charleston Shoe Thieves' Mutually Arising blessing.

On Season β8, Day 1, O'Brian swallowed a stray peanut and experienced a yummy reaction, resulting in a combined 8.9 13.5 stat increase.

On Season 9, Day X, O'Brian gained the Mild modification after the Shoe Thieves lost to THE SHELLED ONE'S PODS.

In the Season β10 elections, O'Brian received Noise-Cancelling Headphones, becoming Soundproof. (The Headphones would later be lost, along with all other Discipline Era items across the league, at the beginning of Season β15.)

During the Coffee Cup, O'Brian played for Royal PoS as a lineup player.

During the Season β19 Earlsiesta, O'Brian was given the Seeker modification as part of the seasonal reading.

On Season 19, Day 75, O'Brian retreated to the Shoe Thieves' Shadows in exchange for Tevin Melcon as a result of Choux Stadium's Fax Machine. On Day 81, O'Brian rejoined the active roster in exchange for Melcon via Choux Stadium's Fax Machine.

On Season β23, Day 84, O'Brian became a lineup player due to Reverb. On Day 90, O'Brian was incinerated and replaced by Orion Ultrabass.

During the ILB Semi-Centennial, O'Brian played for the Rising Stars. O'Brian then fell to the San Francisco Lovers as a lineup player.

O'Brian was recruited to the Mexico City Wild Wings during the Season β23 elections via the Season 8: Blind Date blessing.

On Season β24, Day 43, O'Brian retreated to the Wild Wings' Shadows in exchange for Scarlet Caster at Basin of Mexico Park via the Ratified Voicemail.

Debut

O'Brian debuted with 0 pitching stars, beginning their career as one of the worst pitchers in the league. In O'Brian's debut game, the Kansas City Breath Mints scored 18 runs in the six innings after Prestige's incineration. This reversed the Thieves' 10-3 lead, then shamed them, and finally set a new record of 21 runs scored in a single game.

After a league-worst 2-17 record and 10.80 ERA[1] going into Day 97 of Season β4, O'Brian took the mound against the Hawai'i Fridays with the Shoe Thieves needing one win to clinch the final Good League playoff spot. O'Brian then turned in the best performance of his career to date, giving up only 1 run en route to an improbable playoff-clinching victory colloquially known as Gunther's Heist.

COMMUNITY REPORTS
The remainder of this article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community.

Blaseball Career

Gunther O'Brian was originally the mascot for the Shoe Thieves. On the fateful day of their incineration, Matteo Prestige had planned a classic seventh-inning vanishing act that left O'Brian in their place. Prestige was tragically incinerated before they could pull it off.

In a cruel twist of fate, it was O'Brian who wandered out onto the field when a replacement player was called for. The umpires declared them the new pitcher on record, and the team may have been reluctant to argue the decision so soon after their teammate's demise. O'Brian is now just as much a part of the team as anyone else.

Their lack of pitching ability may be due to them not having human hands, as they are a penguin. It is also speculated that O'Brian may just have wanted to give every player a chance, for the love of the game.

O'Brian can sometimes be seen placing the blaseball between his legs, as though it were an egg needing to be kept warm, and has to be reminded to pitch. Despite their shortcomings, fellow Shoe Thieves have showered the bird with love and affection stating "He makes an excellent distraction!" and "Hey, they love shoes, what more do you want from them?"

O'Brian's pregame ritual is kneeling, which is difficult to do as he is a penguin. Attempting this maneuver typically leads to them slamming face-down in the dirt and getting dust in their eyes. While it may be adorable, and could be said to raise team morale, it doesn't do wonders for his individual performance. It's widely speculated that they could be a half-star better if they adopted a more achievable ritual.

Gunther O'Brian has earned the nickname "Strike-Out!" as a result of the celebration on the rare occasion that he gets one.

Beginning in Season 6, O'Brian radically improved as a pitcher, making multiple appearances in the top ten pitchers in the league. The reason for this sudden improvement is unknown, but Charleston fans and blaseball tabloids have suggested a number of theories ranging from performance enhancing fish to increased motivation from the success of a popular Gllee fan fiction set in the universe of the film Happy Feet, often attributed to O'Brian. Others suggest that they simply came to the realization that winning games is fun, too.

No one is quite sure what kind of shoe O'Brian specializes in stealing. They have not successfully stolen even a lace so far, but their team is sure that they will get it any day now.

Personal Life

Gunther O'Brian has a strong aversion to glazed doughnuts. It is reported that every time they fall asleep, their dreams are full of glazed doughnuts. These dreams have caused O'Brian to strongly dislike sleeping. This lack of sleep is theorized to be the cause of his signature milky white eyes.

When not playing blaseball or attempting to steal shoes, O'Brian can be found studying sleeping. Despite rarely getting any sleep and harboring a strong dislike towards it, they find the act of studying and researching sleeping fascinating. Blood Hamburger, a fellow teammate, has told accounts of him waking after a postgame nap to see "milky white eyes starring right at my face." Another member of the team, Snyder Briggs, has told similar accounts of O'Brian watching them sleep.

While O'Brian has never been observed to speak, as they are a penguin, he seems to understand any language spoken to them. His fellow blaseball players seem equally able to understand the meaning behind O'Brian's honks, with other Shoe Thieves frequently acting as translator for their avian teammate in post-game interviews. No explanation for this phenomenon has been provided. O'Brian also can apparently operate a mobile phone, though none of their teammates can account for who taught them this or how they manage it with their flippers. He reportedly enjoys playing Candy Crush, but frequently asks Richardson Games to purchase power ups on difficult levels.

Fan Works

References