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Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes said his stoic reaction to being named the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year was misunderstood by the public.The MLB rookie All-Star went viral after he appeared seemingly emotionless while sitting alongside his ecstatic girlfriend, LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne, when he won the award last November.During an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on Wednesday, Skenes explained that he was just trying to keep his composure in the moment.“Yeah, I think people mistook the facial expressions and all that for indifference,” Skenes, 22, said with a smile.
“I would say it was composure, for sure.”At the time, MLB posted a behind-the-scenes video of Skenes and Dunne, who helped bring the first NCAA championship to LSU’s gymnastics program last April, awaiting the announcement.When named the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year after going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA spanning 23 starts, Skenes stared straight into the camera and didn’t have much of a reaction — while Dunne was clapping and filled with excitement.Dunne gave him the meme treatment in a since-deleted post on her Instagram Story that had a bunch of photos of his deadpan reaction.“Paul Skenes happy,” read the post, which included the same somber snapshot of Skenes repeated six times.
“Paul Skenes sad.Paul Skenes angry.
Paul Skenes surprised.Paul Skenes frustrated.
Paul Skenes winning ROTY.”Dunne, 22, who became a top NIL earner and one of the faces of the era, returned to LSU for her fifth and final year of eligibility after the Lady Tigers captured the 2024 NCAA title.She has her sights set on a second straight championship with LSU after she dealt with injuries and spent most of last season as an alternate. “There definitely were times where my love for the sport lowered,” Dunne told The Post in an interview last fall.
“I mean, my sophomore and junior year was quite hard to balance.And with school and athletics, it was just a hard balance and there was nob...