65? Wow. I vaguely remember him trying to come back as a replacement player.

Obligatory.

Fun fact: Pedro Borbon and Manny Mota never played for the same team.

Obligatory.

Absolutely the first thing I thought of.

First Lloyd Bridges, then Leslie Nielsen, now Pedro Borbon is gone. Its like everyone associated with that movie is cursed 30 years later.

Following a 1973 fight against the New York Mets in the National League playoffs, Borbon mistakenly placed a Mets cap on his head. Realizing what he had done, Borbon angrily removed the hat and ripped a piece off with his teeth.

i remember this fondly.

First Lloyd Bridges, then Leslie Nielsen, now Pedro Borbon is gone. Its like everyone associated with that movie is cursed 30 years later.

And yet that friggin' guitar girl with the tube in her arm is still as healthy as a horse.

We need to get Kareem to safety.

Maybe he was a 'you had to be there' sort of player, but I'm baffled by the idea that he was a "great" and a borderline Top 50 all-time Cincinnati Red. I mean no disrespect, as he was certainly a good player and an extremely useful bullpen arm.

I'm just barely too young to remember him at his peak - most of that perception of greatness is based on him being an important part of the Big Red Machine, right? I mean, looking at his stats, I pretty much just see Tom Hume. And, like I said, that's not intended as a slight. I'm just trying to understand his career.

Speaking of Airplane, the guy who played Johnny (the best part of the movie in my opinion) died very young from AIDS in the mid-1980s. I had always wondered why I didn't see him in many other movies, and then I looked up his bio on IMDB and realized he had died long ago.

Back to Borbon, who was one of the game's great characters. He was in a Cincinnati disco once, got into an altercation, and proceeded to bite the bouncer in the chest. Perhaps that's why he was called Dracula.

His Baseball Register entry listed one of Borbon's hobbies as "rooster fighting." Also, he once threatened to unleash a voodoo curse against Reds GM Dick Wagner and the entire Reds organization. One of a kind.

A lot of Borbon's ability was tied into his amazing durability. From 1972 to 1977, he pitched more than 100 innings a season, and did so effectively. There isn't a guy in the game today who would be allowed to pitch that much in relief.

This is only because I'm too young to have seen them, but I've always mixed up Pedro Borbon and Perdo Gurerro. That's why the Airplane! bit, while funny, was always confusing. Why would anyone have Manny Mota pinch hit for that guy who was an all star slugger for the Dodgers?

Maybe he was a 'you had to be there' sort of player, but I'm baffled by the idea that he was a "great" and a borderline Top 50 all-time Cincinnati Red. I mean no disrespect, as he was certainly a good player and an extremely useful bullpen arm.

I'm just barely too young to remember him at his peak - most of that perception of greatness is based on him being an important part of the Big Red Machine, right? I mean, looking at his stats, I pretty much just see Tom Hume. And, like I said, that's not intended as a slight. I'm just trying to understand his career.

He's the Reds all-time leader in games pitched, and a crucial member of two World Series winners. Maybe not a "great" per se, but certainly good enough to be in the team's Hall of Fame - which he is.

I think a lot of Phillies fans wish Manny Mota hadn't pinch-hit for Lance Rautzhan.

What was obligatory for anyone who traveled with Pedro (several former Reds teammates can vouch for this) was to be prepared at any moment for the inevitable shots of tequila - and have some limes ready!

I'll raise a glass tonight in his honor...gotta get some good Cuervo...

Time to pop in a couple of minutes of my 1975 World Series DVDs.

Speaking of Airplane, the guy who played Johnny (the best part of the movie in my opinion) died very young from AIDS in the mid-1980s. I had always wondered why I didn't see him in many other movies, and then I looked up his bio on IMDB and realized he had died long ago.

32 years after the fact, when we get weird data in the lab, we still use "what can you make out of this" "Oh I can make a hat or a brooch.."

Bad news, the fog, it's getting thicker.

Johnny: And Leon's getting largggggger. (tugs at Leon's belly).

His Baseball Register entry listed one of Borbon's hobbies as "rooster fighting." Also, he once threatened to unleash a voodoo curse against Reds GM Dick Wagner and the entire Reds organization.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is VERY bad.

I saw a matinee of Airplane! in October 1980, coming home just in time to watch the Phils win Game 5 of the World Series.

Still surprised Airplane! got a PG rating from the MPAA, while Ordinary People (the same year) received an R.

Still surprised Airplane! got a PG rating from the MPAA, while Ordinary People (the same year) received an R.

I think that was the first cinematic boob I ever saw.

I'll raise a glass tonight in his honor...gotta get some good Cuervo...

Looks like you picked the wrong week to quit drinking.

Fun fact: Pedro Borbon and Manny Mota never played for the same team.

That's right. Upon learning of the existence of BB REF, one of the first things I did was look to see in Borbon and Mota ever played on the same team, even an All Star team.

Borbon and Mota both played for the Licey Tigres of the Dominican League in 1978/79.

As I noted in responding to Repoz' Facebook post about this, about 9 years ago I saw him in the dugout for an independent league game here in Montgomery against the hometown Wings, serving as Bernie Carbo's pitching coach (& probably, of course, the entirety of his staff). RIP.