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Others may have an attachment to even worse players (if they exist), but here's why I should win the award. My biggest memory of Hiser was a great leaping catch he made of a screaming liner. The odd thing about that is that he was the guy protecting the bullpen.
Anybody else remember a player for his great play when he wasn't even in the lineup.
It was Brunansky and DeLeon. They kept moving the pitcher to whatever field the batter was less likely to hit to.
Here's another, perhaps weirder, example:
Game Played on Tuesday, August 17, 1982 (D) at Wrigley Field
The highlights:
CUBS 8TH: Durham doubled to right [Bowa out
at home (right to second to catcher)]; Elia is ejected by
Gregg for arguing the call on Bowa; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Cubs 1.
CUBS 17TH: Buckner made an out to left; Game suspended at 6:45 PM -
completed on 8/18; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 1, Cubs 1.
DODGERS 19TH: S. Sax walked; Vukovich ejected after
questioning Gregg's ball 4 call; Dodgers
1, Cubs 1.
DODGERS 20TH: Cey singled to right; Cey was picked off first
(pitcher to first); Cey ejected for pushing Pallone following
the pickoff, Lasorda also ejected; Garvey struck out;
Russell singled to left; Yeager grounded out (third to first); 0
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Dodgers 1, Cubs 1.
CUBS 20TH: GUERRERO CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 3B); VALENZUELA
REPLACED CEY (PLAYING RF); Sandberg struck out; Bowa made an out
to right; BAKER CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); VALENZUELA
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Buckner singled to right; Durham
forced Buckner (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Cubs 1.
DODGERS 21ST: Reuss grounded out (shortstop to first); S. Sax
doubled to right; Ripley threw a wild pitch [S. Sax to third];
Landreaux walked; Johnston ejected sometime in 21st;
Baker hit a sacrifice fly to right [S. Sax scored, Landreaux to
second]; Guerrero was walked intentionally; Valenzuela grounded
out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 2, Cubs 1.
CUBS 21ST: WELCH REPLACED VALENZUELA (PLAYING LF); Ripley made
an out to center; WELCH CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); BAKER
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Davis grounded out (shortstop to
first); BAKER CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); WELCH CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Henderson grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Dodgers 2, Cubs 1.
(And yes, if you're keeping score, both managers were ejected -- but on different days.)
2. My first pack of baseball cards had the 1978 Strikeout leaders and the J.R. Richard record breaker cards. His strikeout total and the gaudy uniform (I was seven) made an immediate impression on me. I remember having a lot of Richard v. Ryan fights.
3. Unfortunately, my most striking memory of Richard is watching the tributes to him after he suffered his stroke. I think every fan has a pet "What if?" question. Mine is "What if J.R. Richard did not have a stroke?"
4. None.
5. No.
I was there with my Gramps. We were sitting around section 112 or so. I have my ticket stub and I know my Gramps still has his scorecard. That was the second game I had ever attended at Wrigley.
From '84, there's the obvious Sandberg game... I also remember most of the mid Sept series with the Mets, where JD hit a salami in, I believe, game 1. I also - unfortunately - remember the 10-0 shutout Gooden threw against the Cubs earlier (August, I think), and Sutcliffe returning the favor the next day. Of course - the 13-0 game 1 against SD is also a pleasant memory (I actually got to skip school for that one).
I remember the game where Lee Smith is pitching and the batter hits a comebacker to Smith and it bounces high off the rubber for a double play to end the game. Caray shouting, "Holy Cow! Even god wants the Cubs to win!" Gooden owned the Cubs. Absolutely owned them.
In '89 - 3 games stick out... First, the 9-0 comeback game (I think vs. the Astros?), where Dwight Smith went nuts.
I was there for that whole series. Gramps used to get tickets through a connection of his at the oil company he worked for and we'd catch a number of games each year. What were Dwight Smith and Jerome Walton on that year?
C - Bench and John Boccabella (see Coco Laboy)
1B - Killebrew
2B - Ron Hunt. I loved a guy who would take one for the team.
SS - No one, really.
3B - Coco Laboy. The Montreal PA guys loved his name, and Boccabella's (John Boc-a-belllll-a, with the little Spanish/Italian twist on the l's)
OF - Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Frank Robinson. Billy Williams as the fourth OF.
SP - Gibson, Marichal. I just missed Gibson's 1971 no-no in Pittsburgh on both ends, going the day before and the day after.
RP - Phil "The Vulture" Regan.
-- MWE
2)Because my dad says he was reading about Killebrew in the Washington Post when I was announced. The fact that there doesn't actually seem to be a mid January 1956 article in The Post about Killebrew doesn't change the story or the childhood belief.
3) Winning the 1962 MLB HR championship making me an instant baseball expert among Army officers.
4) I have met Killebrew three times as a hospice advocate. The man is greater than the player.
Interesting outrage from a very centered man -- that Blyleven isn't in the HoF.
Agreement between us of least favorite baseball card -- the one in the Royals uniform.
5) I have a shrine, a collection of hundreds of items -- cards, bobbleheads, bottle caps, oil cans, pins, rulers and so on. The highlight is his autograph under his number on the Donruss puzzle, framed.
Oh yeah. Mine is "What if Fred Haney hadn't been such a f******* dumb*ss?!!!!"
Frank Torre? Frank Torre?!!!! For the love of.....
Nothing really could have altered the Sheffield situation.
I'm still trying to come up with a single question to address one franchise being saddled with owner Wendy Selig-Prieb, General Misfit Sal Blindo, and moronager Phil Garner simultaneously. Just incredibly cruel work of the baseball gods.
Limiting it to people I've actually seen play, rather than admired in retrospect:
C -- Dave Nilsson.
2B -- Homer Bush -- Best. Name. Ever.
SS -- Omar Quintanilla
OF -- Tony Gwynn
OF -- Kirby Puckett
OF -- Carlos Beltran
DH -- The fraud who poops his pants
SP -- Butch Henry
RP -- Trevor Enders
RP -- Dan Quisenberry
RP/DH -- Brooks Kieschnick
I'm sure there are more I can't think of right now.
You and the Sklar brothers both.
I watched (and taped) that game. As a Braves fan, it made me feel ill - I was considerably more partisan at that age than I am now. I just wanted the agony to end.
That said, he was a heck of a utility guy and I always respected him (post-Mets days, at least).
-- "Camp Opens For Rookies February 24," Washington Post, 1/24/56
There is also another one-sentence mention of Killebrew on Jan. 15.
Rico Petrocelli
Norm Cash
Al Kaline
Harmon Killebrew
Tony Oliva
Rocky Colavito (although he did finish up with NYY)
Frank Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Dick Allen
Roberto Clemente
Mickey Lolich
Juan Marichal
Vida Blue
Oh, yeah. What if Tony Fernandez's arm wasn't broken when Bill Madlock slid into him? The entire history of the Jays franchise could be different - they might have won the Series earlier and oftener. Fernandez might be a Hall-of-Famer. I'm looking at the most optimistic outcomes, I know, but it seems like it took the Jays three-plus years to recover from the effects of that one week at the end of '87.
Oh yeah - lots of love for the Baron here, too. The 1989 playoffs, I remember he threw a pretty good game (game 3, I think) where he didn't have very good stuff but really 'gutted out' a very nice 7 innings. That was emotional, because I remember the play-by-play team was ragging on his stuff, and I was screaming at the TV what a warrior Sutcliffe was. A buddy of mine also has a signed Miller Lite bottle when we met Sutcliffe and Krony's, a downtown hole-in-the-wall.
I remember the game where Lee Smith is pitching and the batter hits a comebacker to Smith and it bounces high off the rubber for a double play to end the game. Caray shouting, "Holy Cow! Even god wants the Cubs to win!" Gooden owned the Cubs. Absolutely owned them.
I do remember that -- it was against the Expos and the batter was none other than Pete Rose. If that falls for a basehit, Rose actually breaks Cobb's record at Wrigley in '85 instead of at home (he did tie it at Wrigley).
As far as Walt's "favorties that didn't play for your team -
C Mike LaValliere
1B John Kruk
2B Paul Molitor
SS Alan Trammel
3B Darrell Evans
LF Barry Bonds
CF Gorman Thomas
RF Jay Johnstone - unless I can designate him as my PH.... and so long as the cup o coffee in 83/84 with the Cubs doesn't count... If it does, then I'll take Tony Gwynn... even with the '84 pain
SP Bert Blyleven
Also Gooden owned the Cubs. Absolutely owned them.
Yeah - as I recall, on opening day, the Cubs shellacked Doc and were still stealing bases with a big lead late. Gooden took excpetion and said after the game "The Cubs are on my list" - and had a vendetta against them thereafter.
When I was very young, Duane Kuiper. When I got a bit older, Rex Hudler. I went through brief Casey Candaele and Will Clark periods as well.
2. Why?
Kuiper was sort of the personification of the Indians of my youth. His futile quest for a second home run worked nicely as a metaphor for the team's futile quest to not suck.
Hudler, because I was the same kind of player.
Candaele for the same reason as Hud, but also because he was on my APBA team for a season.
And Clark because it was so much fun to watch him hit.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Kuiper: The quest for home run #2.
Hudler: The insane effort he gave at all times.
Candaele: That ridiculously short homer at the Big Owe.
Clark: His swing.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
I've never met any of them in person, but my mom once sent Hudler a letter telling him how much I loved the way he played. She didn't really ask anything of him - just to tell him how much of a joy he was to watch.
He sent me a note and a personalized autographed picture. I had no idea my mom had even written to him before I got the picture in the mail.
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
See #4.
"There is also another one-sentence mention of Killebrew on Jan. 15."
I missed that sentence when I squinted at microfilm in 1983.
Wow! It's true!
John M. Perkins born shortly after midnight the 16th.
I remember Gene Hiser! Just a name I liked, though. Now I'll think of him as the guy who made the great catch on the ball out of play.
In nearly the same vein, I remember a young Dodgers scrub named Gary Weiss being robbed of at least a couple of extra-base hits on diving outfield catches late in the 1981 season. I felt so sorry for the guy — he'd have doubled his career hit total if only those line drives had fallen in.
I loved the original Blue Jays teams. My favorite player from those clubs was Jerry Garvin, a tall, left-handed Californian pitcher like me. He had a tremendous pickoff move. Never met him (in fact, I don't think I ever saw him pitch), but I was always rooting for him and looking for his name in the next day's box score. If this job goes permanent, I'm going to sponsor his B-R page.
t seems like it took the Jays three-plus years to recover from the effects of that one week at the end of '87.
I suffered when they lost the '85 ALCS to the Royals, but those last few games of the 1987 regular season were a special kind of torture. Fans of the '64 Phillies will know what we're talking about.
Cool. Drop me an e-mail and I'll send you a PDF image of the article.
That fascinated me. Absolutely fascinated me. "How could a swing be perfect?," I remember thinking. What made it perfect? How can a swing be perfect if it missed? I spent at least three summers emulating Clark's batting stance, chasing some vague understanding of perfection.
Awww, Jack — boo! Tettleton helped spoil my only trip to Skydome. Good player, though.
The best part of that game was watching Tom Candiotti strike out Tiger after Tiger on 65-mph knuckleballs.
Henke shouldn't have given up that shot to Salas ( I don't even remember him), first. I loved The Candyman too. He was fun to watch on a good night.
Tom Pagnozzi.
2. Why?
Because I wanted to be a catcher, but my little league manager would never let me catch. I really identified with Tom--he was stuck as a backup behind Tony Pena for three years, then when Pena left, instead of promoting Pagnozzi, they brought in this punk kid, Todd Zeile. Then finally, in 1991, Tom finally got the chance to be the starter, and turned into a Gold Glover and All-Star. It was what I always thought could happen to me in microcosm.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Pretty much what I just said--his odyssey toward becoming a starter, and then his stability there for the better part of the decade.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
Twice, at memorabilia signings.
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
An autographed card and baseball.
I bet some of Eric's best memories are Clark's at bats against John Candelaria.
Mike Schmidt
2. Why?
It was the first time I realized I was watching a Future Hall of Famer and an All Time Great.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Incredible power combined with terrific grace at third.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
Nope
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
An autographed card I got back in the mail, and his rookie and 2nd year cards in a frame.
Honorable mention to Jose Lind.
2. I was a (bad) first baseman. He was the first baseman for my favorite team, the early-mid '70s Reds. He also seemed like a really good person, and wasn't the obvious player on that team to have as a favorite - Bench, Rose (in those days), or Morgan would have been the more popular choices.
3. On the field - the home run off Bill Lee's blooper in Game Seven of the 1975 World Series. To this day, the best day of my life...with the possible exception of the day I lost my virginity.
Off the field - a) the yearly frustration that Sports Illustrated would make a poster of every significant Red (Bench, Rose, Morgan, later Foster, Seaver, etc.) but never do one of Perez.
b) The incredible elation I felt the day he was voted into the Hall of Fame.
4. No.
5. When I went to Cooperstown a couple of years ago, my best friend bought me an autographed baseball.
Kevin Saucier is a corporate Risk Manager in the fashion industry.
The same as the lefty reliever for the Phillies, Tigers, etc., of the early 1980's? Interesting after MLB-playing-days career path, if so. The fashion industry...
1. Who was your favorite player when you were growing up?
Jim Northrup
2. Why?
First World Series I recall watching/knowing anything about was 1968. I was 7. My dad was pulling for the Tigers because they had a farm team here when he was growing up. So, of course, I pulled for them, too. Why Northrup specifically? See below.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Northrup hit a grand slam in a ten-run inning the Tigers put up in one of the 1968 Series games, off Cardinals lefty Larry Jaster. Topps had a picture of him doing it on one of the World Series cards in the set from the following year.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
No. I did meet Dick Sharon once, though, at an exhibition game in the Astrodome. If that counts for anything.
Actually, several years later I did see Northrup in the 'Dome, during his breif stint with the Expos. We had seats behind the visitors' dugout, and I probably could have met him prior to the game. But by then I was a teenager, and not quite as reverent about it all as I had been. Too, Northrup had gone grey but was sporting this hideous, Don Sutton-style perm. Scary.
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
Just that Topps World Series card from 1969. It has little pin holes in it, top and bottom. Now that I think of it, I believe I took the whole series of Topps cards about the 1968 Series, done in a sort of newspaper front page style, and had them tacked up on a bulletin board next to my junior-size desk in my bedroom.
Oh, and also, I have the vaguest memory of being about 7 or 8 years old, playing whiffle ball in the driveway of the first house of my childhood, and imitating Northrup, batting left-handed even though I was a natural righty. I may have even driven one or two all the way into the street (a HR), Northrup-like, batting that way. Not sure.
I'd have thought Smitty would be a Steve Lyons fan.
Pants? Who needs pants?
That's one of my all-time favorite baseball stories.
Trevor Enders is one of my brother's best friends. They played together at Houston Baptist University. He was two people down from me among the groomsmen at my brother's wedding. He's "definitely immoral," too.
I loved Tony Pena because of the way he caught -- sitting down beneath the plate.
I loved Ron Kittle because he wore glasses.
I loved Pedro Guerrero because he always seemed to be on the NBC Game of the Week and he was always hitting a home run.
I loved Rod Carew because of his crouched batting stance.
I loved Jose Cruz because of the leg kick.
And I loved Buddy Bell because I had convinced my best friend that he was an albino.
Cool. I'm actually distantly related to him; I looked him up in this big Enders family genealogy book that my dad owns.
I used to sponsor his BB-Ref page but it lapsed a while ago...
1. Rod Carew, baby.
In the mid-70s, I attended a Twins-A's game in Oakland. I got there early, in time to watch batting practice (along with no more than a few hundred other people), and managed to get Rod Carew's attention. I talked to him for a couple of minutes, and mentioned I was a high-school baseball player. He asked to see my batting stance, and swing. I showed him, and he gave me several tips. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember it as intelligent and helpful. He seemed genuinely interested in helping me.
The fact that the AL batting champion would, unsolicited, offer a kid he'd never seen before batting tips made a huge impression on me, and I was a Carew fan for the rest of his career. I was the least surprized person in the world when he later became a respected batting coach..
From my youth:
Lou Piniella (token Yankee. I always liked the "Louuuuu" chant")
Kurt Bevacqua Velva for his bubblegum blowing prowess
Mark "The Bird" Fidrych
Current:
Rocco Baldelli
THere are others, but work beckons
As I already mentioned, Will Clark. Others, though, include Buddy Biancolana, Lou Whitaker (same reason as GGC's above), Todd Frohwirth, Steve Farr (he threw a palmball, plus he let me sit in the bullpen during a Spring Training game when I was 6) and Luis Gonzalez (for some reason, I always like him as an Astro when he was on WGN against the Cubs, then he defeated the Yankee Dynasty and that helped a little, too.).
Will Clark
2. Why?
The swing, the game face, the 1989 NLCS. He also homered in the first baseball game I ever attended.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Game 5 of the NLCS - bases loaded single off Mitch Williams.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
Nope.
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
Many, many baseball cards. Also starting lineups and posters.
Favorite non-Giants:
Kirby Puckett
Brian Downing
Nolan Ryan
Doc Gooden
Doug DeCinces
Charlie Kerfeld
I liked the way Boccabella's name was pronounced, too, until one night... do you remember when I think it was ABC had a Monday Night Game of the Week in the 1970's? They had the regular announcers (I think I remember Al Michaels, maybe Joe Garagiola or Bob Uecker, and -- yikes -- Howard Cosell), and then every week they would have a "guest" announcer, I don't know why. Usually some celebrity with a tenuous tie to baseball. Sort of like nowadays when some notable "drops by" the booth for a half-inning; except back then, it was the whole game.
Anyway, this one night it was the Expos against someone, and the guest announcer was the actor Danny Kaye (Walter Mitty, etc.) Kaye was a baseball fan -- I think he had an ownership interest, early on, with the Mariners. But, in the booth, he was kind of irritating to begin with. Then, the first time Boccabella came up and the Expo PA announcer did his thing, Kaye latched onto it, and wouldn't let go. He was fascinated by it, obsessed. "Bocca- bella! Bocca-bella!" all game long. Jesus, it was annoying.
After that, I didn't think the Boccabella thing was quite so cute any more.
Brent Musburger does this. One game he did with Plaxico Burress in college could have been the inspiration for Will Ferrell's "scotch, scotch, scotch" line in Anchorman.
Stan Musial -- Loved to imitate the stance
Juan Marichal -- loved to imitate the leg kick
Don Drysdale -- I remember him dropping down and I loved to do that, even if my Little League coaches didn't like that
McCovey -- Stance and frightening swing
Woodie Held -- Hit with some power and played SS and OF
Albie Pearson -- Little, pesky guy
Dick McAuliffe -- Power from a Middle Infielder
Rico Petrocelli -- Ditto
Ted Abernathy -- Loved to imitate that swooping almost-underhanded delivery
Hoyt Wilhelm -- A knuckler and bizarre career path
I liked to imitate these players who played for my team at the time:
FRobbie -- Bat resting on shoulder
Bob Purkey -- First knuckleballer that I saw
Jim Bunning and Art Mahaffey -- For the way they whipped their arms back and slung them forward. I think I would have like Ewell Blackwell.
What if Rocky Nelson had done what he should have done, and tagged Mantle "before" stepping on first? (Best guess: Mazeroski doesn't make the Hall of Fame)
What if the Pirates "don't" trade for Jim Bunning after the 1967 season?
What if Clemente's plane hadn't crashed on New Year's Eve 1972?
What if Leyland had brought Belinda in to start the ninth, instead of sending an exhausted Drabek out?
-- MWE
2) Best athlete the Rox have ever had. Tremendous arm, great bat. In my mind, he's an easy HOFer talent-wise - but sadly, injuries will keep those doors locked to Walker.
3) Three things.
-Doubling off of John Franco in the 9th inning of the first game ever at Coors Field to tie it up. His first big hit as a Rockie.
-Every single time a fly ball would be hit to him with a runner on third and less than two outs... the park would start to buzz, knowing that a play at the plate was imminent. I've never loved to watch a guy throw like I loved watching Larry throw.
-"Crazy Train". Nuff 'said.
4) Nope.
5) Autographed card, couple rookie cards, and scorecards from every game I ever saw him play in.
2) On the '86 Mets - when I first really started following baseball - I was fascinated by the idea of a pitcher who could hit. Plus, he was young and impressive and had a great game face.
3) Giving up the HR to Dave Henderson that should have lost the '86 Series.
4) No
5) All baseball cards from '86-'91 or so.
Rico Carty - the great career that never was
Mickey Lolich - I was a metabolically challenged youth and he was a guy I could relate to.
Casey Cox - I blocked him bodily in 1972 trying to get his autograph. I then froze and did not ask for the autograph.
Dave McNally - The only player whose career was ended by hiccups.
Ferguson Jenkins - When I was a Met fan in the early 1970's, I feared Jenkins more than Gibson.
Bill Lee
My first baseball glove had a replica signature of Richie Allen. I would be interested in knowing the replica signatures on other Primates first gloves.
2. The stolen bases. Plus I loved how he used his exaggerated crouch to draw walks. This was Rickey circa 1980-1981, before he started hitting home runs, and for a relatively small kid like myself stealing bases and drawing walks were skills I could relate to...
3. Back in the early 80s, when Rickey reached first base, he had the ability to change the tenor of the game unlike any individual player I've seen, except Bonds now. The tension in the park became palpable and the rhythm of the game totally changed. It wasn't a matter of would he steal, it was a matter of what pitch it would be...
4 and 5. Nope.
Then I'd have had great seats to games one and two of the World Series instead of a refund.
Grrr...
George Brett.
My second was, believe it or not, Doug DeCinces.
My second was Bobby Tolan on a Red White and Blue glove.
zonk, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned this game. Not a good night for the Cubs, but Keith Moreland had a rather important hit.
Actually, I did! That was the 10-0 whitewash Gooden threw at the Cubs in late summer I referred to... I (really, truly, honestly!) was 80% sure it was Moreland that got the only hit against the Doc that night, but one sounds really silly when citing a "memorable moment" and then being wrong about it (unless you're Peter Gammons), and a little voice in my head was saying that the Sarge had the only knock that night.
The thing I remember about that game - I watched the top half of the first inning on a TV at Montgomery Wards. Dernier led off with a walk, stole second, and then got stranded. WGN wasn't coming in on the radio that well on the ride home (I distinctly remember the fit I threw in the car ride home... as if my mom or dad could have done anything to fix the ionosphere!). When we got home and I turned on the TV -- well.... I was sorry I didn't miss the whole thing.
Also - since my first post on the matter seems to have been eaten.... Add me to Eric and Retardo as avowed Will Clark haters.
He'd be the 1B on my squad of most hated players - if Steve Garvey didn't exist. Off the top of my head -
C Ivan Rodriguez
1B Steve Garvey/Will Clark
2B Tommy Herr
SS Gary Templeton
3B Chris Sabo
LF Kevin McReynolds
CF Gary Pettis
RF Daryl Strawberry
SP Doc Gooden
RP Goose Gossage
Ray Knight! BLECCHH!!
Second glove was Moreland -- and it worked about as well for me as it did for Keith most of the time ;-0
Fernando, baby. He was a Dodger lefty and so was I, sort of. Best glove I ever had, but I lost it at a minor league game when I was about 12.
2. Desperately struggling for hits on those late 1980's White Sox Teams...
3. 1993- Replaces Fisk when Fisk is released..
4. Have his autograph on a 1987 Fleer RC
I liked Will Clark before this, but after the 1989 NLCS, I bought a Giants cap and a road jersey with Clark's name and number on it. I'm a White Sox fan, and I had to do something to get back at everyone on my dorm floor who gave me so much hell that semester, my first on campus. I still have the jersey, although it's been a long time since I could get it over my beer gut. I still wear the cap.
Derek Jeter.
2. Why?
He was a shortstop who could hit and was clutch.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Two memories, the time in early '98 when he hit his 10th homer and it was so much quicker than he had hit his 10th his first two years, I'm pretty sure it was against the Rangers but could be wrong. The other was the time in '99 when in a September game he hit a home run at Jacobs Field over the left field barrier to give him either his 100th or 102nd RBI or some other Yankee SS milestone.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
Nope.
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
Some baseball cards and like all the All Star Baseballs.
That's OK -- I have similar warm and fuzzies for Tito Landrum ;-)
So I guess we're even.
2. Why?
He was a shortstop who could hit and was clutch.
I love the telling use of past tense here. Well done, my good man!
2. Mind-boggling defense. Never got the credit he deserved. (Still doesn't.)
3. Has to be Game 3 of the '78 Series. Robbing Garvey, Lopes and Reggie Smith. Saved Guidry's asp.
4. My brother and I went to see him at a promotional appearance at a local kid's clothing store. I was too star-struck to ask for an autograph.
5. Lots of stuff.
"Rod Carew is the only guy I've ever seen who could go 4 for 3." (I think it was Rich Dotson who said this, but I cold be mistaken.)
I would be interested in knowing the replica signatures on other Primates first gloves.
Bo Belinsky. Really. No, really.
I was 8 in his Triple Crown winning year.
I remember many things about him, but the memory that gives me the best chuckle is when he got knocked down by some bum on the Blue Jays (some time in their first few years of existence), picking himself up, roping a line drive down the RF line, pop-up sliding into third while twisting so he could spit toward the mound as his momentum ended.
Never met the man.
Have no memorabilia.
rico petrocelli. probably has as much to do as anything with my growing up a red sox fan (not exactly the natural team of choice in arkansas ... st louis or houston were).
2 - the first year i started following baseball to any real extent, 1970, he was coming off his great mvp year.
3 - immediately after the '71 all-star game in detroit, with the al having won for the first time since '62, some network (nbc?) guy was interviewing killebrew off the field as the presumptive mvp. he'd homered to provide what turned out to be the 2-run winning margin. alas, the honor wound up going to frank robinson, who'd also homered a couple of innings earlier. (both shots were dwarfed, though, by a monstrous reggie jackson blast that hit the top of the light tower ... easily the most awesome blow i've ever seen.)
4 - no
5 - a couple of autographed 3x5s
i guess (the ex-?) mrs ryne sandberg would agree.
Der-Komminskar, do you still have this tape? Man, would I ever like to get a hold of it. I'll pay top dollar (tape, shipping, and beer money) for a copy.
2. My Dad was a Dodgers fan as a kid so I picked up on that early on, and there was something exciting to a 7-year-old about third base, probably the nickname and the very nature of the "hot corner"... add a favorite team and a favorite position, and for a 7-year-old, you get a favorite player
3. Two favorite memories: recovering from a broken arm earlier in the season, and a vicious beaning by Rich Gossage earlier in the Series, to become tri-MVP of the 1981 W.S... also, seeing him hit a HR off Ron Darling in person at Shea Stadium on 6/22/86, my Dad's birthday (the only game I ever saw with my Dad and his Father)
4. Only in autograph-hunting encounters... I recall him being gracious and pleasant
5. Literally a box full of autographed cards, pictures, magazines, old RC soda cans, 7-11 cups, pins, you name it... I was a hardcore collector
I was very happy when he hit his 200th career home run.
I remember a specific game when he struck out to end it, leaving the tying run on third base; I think it was in 1990 against the White Sox. It's not a stand-out moment, though. I just happen to remember it because I got a really high tetris score while it was happening.
I never met him.
I've got just about every baseball card of him that was issued during his career; maybe every one.
I loved Trammell, Fielder, and Tettleton just about equally, and among Blue Jays my favorites were Key, Gruber, and Tony Fernandez.
The signature on my first glove was Kirk Gibson; it was left-over stock at Kmart in the summer of '88, I guess.
Seaver took his spot after Willie retired and never really relinquished it, though Schmidt was my favorite non-Met.
I always liked Mookie Wilson, too. I defy anyone not to like Mookie! :-)
Followed that up with a second Rawlings Billy Williams model (which was actually a 1B mitt). After that it was softball gloves, unsigned I think. But I've never bought anything but a Rawlings.
If this doesn't prove I'm old, nothing will:
Rocky Colavito
My first bat was Dick Dietz
My favorite player growing up was Willie McCovey.
Players who were nice to me in public: Willie Stargell, Bobby Grich, Lou Piniella, Rick Cerone, Pat Dobson, all of the '69 Pirates except one (see below), all of the '71 Reds except one, and especially Pete Rose. I've told that story in numerous past threads.
Players who were anal cavities to me: Gene Alley, Johnny Bench (phony bastard), George Bamberger, Don Baylor.
2. Not sure, really (I'm informative)
3. Seeing him pitch a shutout at Fenway in the 2004 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP season
4. Nope
5. Nope
My original favorite player was Gary Matthews, but I was so young I really can't remember anything about that era in my life. Next came Jody Davis. He reigned from 1984 until August of 1987. That year I went to Atl-Fulton County to see the Cubs, and darn if Jody Davis didn't come over to the stands before the game and start sigining autographs. He worked his way down the line of kids. As he approached, my Dad whispered to me to drop my card so he would pick it up, sign it, and give it back. I wouldn't do it- he's JODY DAVIS, you don't try to scam an autograph out of JODY DAVIS! That's like cutting in line to meet Santa- Santa's gonna know what you did, so its not going to help. As he signed the person to my left's card, a coach calls him over to stretch for the game. Just then, the kid to my right drops his card on the ground. Jody picks it u, signs it, and leaves.
The true messiah obviously would never have done such a thing, so I was on the market. Then the third, and final favorite player arrived:
1- Mark Grace
2- My mother dragged me to a yard sale in maybe February of '88. While she picked through boring parent stuff, I looked for the best way to spend the quarter I had to my name. Fortunately, the family's son was selling some of his baseball cards. I went through the new year's cards I hadn't seen much of yet, and came across a Cub that said "rated rookie" on it. That had to be good, and it cost exactly a quarter so even though I had never heard of the player I bought it. He played well, got the Sabo screwjob for both the All-Star game and the Rookie of the Year, and he had a devotee for life.
3- The (dare I say it) clutch hit off Rivera to begin the beginning of the end of the most recent Yankee dynasty was a highlight, but the most memorable had to be the last inning of the '89 NLCS. I had to go to a 4-H meeting that night, so rather than miss the game I had my mother take me to the business office where the meeting was to be early. Business was still going on, so I found a closet with a spare TV, plugged it in, and closed the door to watch the gmae. The Cubs trailed going to the bottom of the ninth, but with the absurd series he had been having, surely Grace would win it for them if he could only get to bat.
In my memory a series of a dozen pinch-hitters reach base, each less likely than the last. (In reality, I think it was just two.) Finally, we need just a hit or a walk or a reached-on-error from the star of the team. Mark Grace is in the on-deck circle, and all he has to do is bat and we are going to win the game and the series. I knew it then and 16 years later I remain absolutely convinced he would have come through. So Sandberg taps to second, season over, innocence shattered. I cried in the supply closet for maybe an hour until someone came and got me and dragged me to the 4-H meeting.
4- Never met him.
5- I've got around 4,000 Mark Grace cards, including around 600 of that '88 Donruss Rated Rookie card that started it all. I like to think its the second greatest collection of Mark Grace stuff, behind only this guy's. I've got a variety of other memorabilia, the highlight being a Get Well card my father got him to sign for me when I got run over by a transit bus six years ago.
Posted by Bob Stanley on February 23, 2005 at 08:25 AM [#082586]
Defy this, ####head. Mookie #### Wilson can kiss my ass. Sonuvabitch fouls off 30 #### pitches -- some of my best #### -- swinging at #### a #### inch off the #### plate. What the #### was he doing swinging at some of that ####? Like Mookie #### Wilson??? I don't #### like Mookie Wilson. The sonuvabitch hasn't been out of my #### nightmares in 18 #### years.
Mookie. What kind of a freakin' name is "Mookie", anyway? Mookie . . . .
Cub fans hate any Met not named Roger McDowell.
Mantle
2. Why?
All those tape-measure home runs and World Series heroics, especially in the first Series I ever watched (1952). Luckily the kinescopes of those last two games of that Series are also the earliest two full games available on video, even including the Gillette commercials.
3. What do you most remember about that player?
Sitting on the CF fence (with tolerant ushers ignoring me) on Opening Day 1956 and seeing him hit two homers into a tree which was behind the high wall at the 428' sign. In the 51 year history of Griffith Stadium, only five balls were ever hit into that spot. I still have the scorecard.
4. Did you ever come into contact with him?
Sort of. Went down to the Statler Hilton at the 1962 All-Star game to get autographs and found his bag just sitting there in the lobby. Mantle was picked for the team but was injured, and someone had taped a note to the bag which read, "Mick---Get much? ---The Phantom. P.S. Can you screw on one leg?" Of course I grabbed the note and showed it to everyone, and of course my horrified Mom eventually threw it away.
5. Do you have any special memorabilia (baseball card, autograph, etc.)?
Other than a few signed books, no, but my Mom also threw away his 1952 Topps rookie card, further adding to Mr. Mint's latterday money pile.
Nope - my sister taped over it with Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Sorry...
I loved Brian Downing - but that was the batting stance and being, uh, saber-aware, as much as anything else.
Bob Stanley doesn't count. :-)
BTW, my first glove was a Jim Rice model. I lost that one and picked up a Kevin McReynolds in the late eighties and still have that one.
Roger Maris. Hand me down from my dad.
That's actually still true.
Benji, I loved it when he came up to the plate and I would model his stance at pickup games if I wanted to hit a homer, but he's the only Met that I have ever booed. What a weird guy.
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