2009 Benders Baseball Club

Fungo

Here we celebrate the lighter side of the game we all love.  Because after all, sometimes you win..sometimes you lose..and sometimes....well sometimes...it rains.  Think about it..... 

The 'Stache

Throughout MLB there have been many distinctive looks and trends.  Last year Jason Giambi attempted to bring back a look only a select few can pull off.....the 'Stache.  So let's take a look at those who have been able to pull off this porn/cop/homo look with style and grace and all the while still managed to play some wonderful baseball.  So without further adoo here are the greatest baseballers to sport, the 'Stache

CAPTAIN- Willie "Pops" Stargell.  Stargell, as we know, went to Encinal High School in Alameda and has our beautiful home field named after him.   Pops was the heart and soul for the "we are family" 70's Pirates.  In 1979 he won the MVP in NLCS, World Series and the N.L. regular season(the only player to ever accomplish this).  He also is the only player to hit two balls OUT of Dodger Stadium.  Brought his 'Stache and Alameda love to the HoF in 1988.

Dave Parker wearing the Stargell "Stars" while having a pregame warmup, looks familiar........

 

 

P -  Rollie Fingers.  Perhaps the most recognized 'Stache in sports history.  Grew the 'Stache to win a $300 bonus.  HoF 92'

 

P - Al "Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky.  This guy you don't want to owe money to.

 

P - Rod "Shooter" Beck.  A man's man.  Get you the save then throw down a beer at the local dive bar with you an hour later.  He sure was fun to watch.  Rip

P - Luis Tiant.  Pioneer of the Fu Manchu and the whirl-wind, Nuke La-Luke wind up.

P - Rich "Goose" Gossage.  HoF Fu Manchu 2008.  He and Brett had legendary battles.

P - Dave "Stew" Stewart.  Money pitcher for the late 80's/early 90's Roided A's.  Had the stare and the 'Stache, the voice not so much.

P - Randy "Big Unit" Johnson.  Mullet..check, Acne scars...check, 'Stache..check, 98mph heater...check.  This dude epitomized the term "Nasty"  HoF-5 years from now.

P - Dennis "Eck" Eckersley.  The Eck made his career and 'Stache HoF(94') worthy with the switch from starter to closer.  And he was dominating.  He did however lose the famous Battle of the 'Stache to Kirk Gibson.

        

1B - Don "the Hit Man" Mattingly  Don was a stud 1B for the Yanks when they sucked.  The year after he retired (96') the Yanks win the Series and go on to their impressive run.  Donnie baseball was a great player none the less with a even greater 'Stache.

1B - Keith "Mex" Hernandez.  Local boy, born in S.F. raised in Pacifica.  Mex was a coked out, skirt chasing member of the 86' Champion Mets.  A perennial All-Star and Seinfeld alum(the Boyfriend episodes) with a 'Stache to match.  True story Keith never wore eyeblack because he felt his 'Stache reduced glare.  Reduced glare, yet made you shine young man!

1B - Jason Giambi.  Giambino put the 'Stache back into prominence.  Also known to rock a gold thong with shrunken berries.

1B - Bill Buckner.  Yes Billy Buckner.  Over 2700 hits and he is known for one thing.  Solid player whose 'Stache deserves more respect.  Besides it was the Cubs batting glove on his glove hand that Jinxed it.  Damn Cubs!!

1B- Jack "Mr. Baseball" Elliot.  Lost roster spot to Frank Thomas yet took his 'Stache to new levels of fame in the land of the rising sun.  Also fond of Hawaiian shirts.

 2B - Jeff Kent.  2000 N.L. Mvp.  Prop 8 supporter.  And good friend to Barry Bonds.  Was there ever a more spot on Redneck cop 'Stache then Kent's?  I think not.  HoF in about 5 years from now.  

  

 

SS - Ozzie "the Wiz" Smith.  Broke in with the 'Stache then rocked a beard for most of his career and has a beard on his 2002 HoF bust.  Nobody played short quite like the Wiz and he did it with the 'Stache.  

SS - Jose "EWWW-REEE-BAY" Uribe.  Part of the Humm Baby Giants double play tandom with Robby Thompson.  Was pretty slick at short, had a fun nickname and a Humm Baby of a 'Stache.  

3B - Michael Jack Schmidt.  3 time N.L. Mvp, 1980 World Champ, 548 legit Hrs and in 1995 he brought his 'Stache to the HoF.

3B - Wade Boggs.  3,010 hits, 5 batting titles but even more impressive than that is he is reported to have drunk 64 beers(Miller Lites) on a cross country flight(no joke).  Chicken flavored 'Stache inducted into the HoF in 2005.

 

3B - Dick Allen.  Pretty much brought the 'Stache back into baseball in the 60's.  Solid ball player with an MVP, 351 Hrs and also someone you didn't want to giggle in front of after you say his name.

C - Thurman Munson.  Captain with the 70's Yankees, beloved for his work ethic and gritty approach.  Died in tragic plane crash and the Yankees have left his locker open to this day.  Great player and great 'Stache

   

C - Dion Jolley.   Gritty, hard nosed ball player for the Benders.  Plays the game all out and is not happy until his uniform is dirty.  Can catch, play center field, third base, hit a HR, lay day a bunt, and grow a world class 'Stache.  Nothing this gamer can't do.

 

 

C - Mike Piazza.  62 rd draft pick, most Hrs by a catcher, married a Playmate and in about 4 years will have his 'Stache and bacne'(yeah he juiced) in the HoF.

 

DH/1b - Clue Haywood.  Haywood hit .341 with 48 homers and 121 RBI, but despite that amazing season, people will always remember his three straight whiffs off of Rick Vaughn with the bases loaded in the 9th of the one-game playoff against the Indians, as well as his hesitation and offline throw that allowed Willie Mays Hayes to sneak by and score the winning run in that game.

OF-  Reggie "Mr. October" Jackson.  Had a candy bar named after him.  Three HR World Series Game.  HoF career.  Only blackeye was the failed, brainwashed, assassination attempt  on the Queen of England.  Has his 'Stache enshrined on his HoF bust.

   

 OF - Dave Winfield.  Drafted out of college in baseball(Padres), football(Vikings, even though he didn't play college football) and basketball(Hawks/NBA & Utah Stars/ABA).  3,110 hits, 465 Hrs and 1 dead seagull in his career(in Toronto his throw to the infield struck a seagull and killed it).  Brought his 'Stache and his Padre hat(first Padre elected) to the HoF in 2001.

     

OF - Jim Rice.   They finally let his Stache' into the HoF 2009.  About time as Jimmy Rice may have the finest 'Stache this game has ever seen.  

OF - Robin Yount.  3,142 hits, won an MVP as an infielder and also an outfielder(one of only three players to win an award at different positions).  'Stache elected to HoF in 1999.     

MANAGER - Billy Martin.  Another local boy(Berkeley High).  Billy was a great ball player for the New York Yankees.  But he is also known as a savvy manager.  Of course he is also know for being fired 4 times as a Yankee manager by George Steinbrenner.  Billy was a great manager winning a championship in 1977 and also developed "Billy Ball" with the early 80's A's which resulted in Ricky Henderson's 130 stolen base season.   

 

 MANAGER - Lou Brown.  Managed the lowly Indians to respectability.  Famous for the quote_"lets see if we can't give 'em a big shit burger to eat".  Can get you a deal on some white wall tires.

MANAGER - Pop Fisher.  Took a chance on Roy Hobbs and managed the Knights to whatever it is they won.  Should have been a farmer.  Assistant coach Red Blow had a nice Stache' as well.

 

Of course with a right you always have a wrong.  So the flip side of this coin brings us to.....

                                     the 'Stache Hall of Shame

               

          

Mark "the Bird" Fidrych  1954-2009

Baseball lost one of it's most colorful personalities in April 2009 to a tragic accident.  During the summer of the nation’s bicentennial(1976), Fidrych (pronounced FID-rich), then 21, electrified the baseball world.  “He was the most charismatic player we had during my time with the Tigers,” said Ernie Harwell, the veteran announcer, who began broadcasting Tigers games in 1960. “I didn’t see anybody else who was as much of a character as he was."

Fidrych’s record in 1976 was 19-9, with an earned run average of 2.34, the best in major league baseball, and 97 strikeouts. His 24 complete games were the year’s best in the American League.    Fidrych was named the rookie of the year in the American League and finished second to Jim Palmer in the race for the Cy Young Award.

Called “the fidgety, 6-foot-3 bundle of nerves” by The New York Times, Fidrych had a mop of golden curls and a gawky gait that prompted a minor league manager, Jeff Hogan, to compare him to Big Bird, the “Sesame Street” character.

The nickname — shortened to the Bird — stuck, but his appearance was only one of Fidrych’s vivid traits.  He often talked to the baseball, fidgeted on the mound and got down on his knees to scratch at the dirt. Fidrych would swagger around the grass after every out and was finicky about baseballs, refusing to reuse one if an opposing player got a hit, and rejecting fresh ones he declared to have dents.

The son of an assistant school principal, Fidrych attended public and private schools in Worcester and entered the 1974 amateur draft.  But Fidrych, a right-hander, was not picked until the 10th round, and he spent two seasons in the minor leagues before making the Tigers after spring training in 1976.

He threw a few innings as a relief pitcher and made his first start in May. He captured the attention of Tigers fans in his first game as a starter by throwing seven no-hit innings and allowing only two hits in a 2-1 victory against the Cleveland Indians.

A month later, Fidrych pitched the Tigers to a 5-1 victory over the Yankees in a nationally televised game in front of a capacity crowd at Tiger Stadium. Fans, who rocked the stadium with applause, refused to leave until Fidrych came out from the dugout to tip his cap.  Weeks later, he was named the starting pitcher in the 1976 All-Star Game. But he gave up two runs and took the loss as the National League won, 7-1.

Still, Fidrych’s reputation grew as the season progressed, drawing near-capacity crowds to stadiums across the country(Detroit often shifted their rotation to ensure he pitched at home, sometimes on short or extended rest) as he performed his antics and kept winning ballgames, falling one short of 20 victories.  Mark also became the first baseball player to adorn the cover of Rock n' Roll magazine Rolling Stone.  The Tigers, who paid him the league minimum, $16,500, for the 1976 season, gave him a $25,000 bonus and signed him to a three-year contract worth $255,000.

Picking up a series of lucrative endorsements, including a deal with Aqua-Velva, an aftershave maker (he joked to The Detroit Free Press that “it was a lotion, not an aftershave, because I really wasn’t shaving yet”), Fidrych wrote an autobiography with the author Tom Clark called “No Big Deal.”  But as it turned out, his rookie season was his biggest.

Fidrych sustained two serious injuries as soon as the 1977 season began, tearing the cartilage in a knee while cavorting on the field in spring training, then suffering a rotator cuff injury during an early-season game.“I was playing Baltimore in Baltimore, and about the fifth inning, something happened,” Fidrych wrote. “The arm just went dead."

The injury was not diagnosed until 1986, but by then Fidrych’s career was long finished. After 1976, he played in only 27 games through 1980. Released by the Tigers in 1981, Fidrych competed briefly with a minor league team owned by the Boston Red Sox.  His lifetime major league record was 29-19, with a lifetime E.R.A. of 3.10, in 58 games, all but two of them starts.   

Rickey Henderson 2009 HoF

Congrats, Rickey you truly are the greatest of all time. 
The Definitive Rickey Henderson: The 25 Best Stories of "Rickey Being Rickey."


With Rickey having just been named among the new candidates for the Hall of Fame, we have a treat for you, the greatest 25 stories of Rickey's career. Rickey was quite a character over the course of his long career.

Just so everyone knows, these quotes and stories about Rickey come from Fantistic from back in 2006. But in full disclosure, Fantistic didn't compile the quotes. Someone, somewhere out on the blogosphere did. 

Lou Blasi of Fantistics wrote: "The following stories come from a blog post I ran across last month. I wish I knew who collected and posted his top 25 Rickey stories so I could give him credit. As it is all I can do is thank him for the memories."

So anyway, here you go. The definitive Rickey Henderson.

1) In June 1999, when Henderson was playing with the Mets, he saw reporters running around the clubhouse before a game. He asked a teammate what was going on and he was told that Tom Robson, the team’s hitting coach, had just been fired. Henderson said, “Who’s he?”

2) Rickey... on referring to himself in the third person:
“Listen, people are always saying, ‘Rickey says Rickey.’ But it’s been blown way out of proportion. People might catch me, when they know I’m ticked off, saying, ‘Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?’ They say, ‘Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey for? Why don’t you just say, ‘I?’ But I never did. I always said, ‘Rickey,’ and it became something for people to joke about.”

3) In the early 1980s, the Oakland A’s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.

4) In 1996, Henderson’s first season with San Diego, he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat. Steve Finley said, “You have tenure, sit wherever you want.” Henderson looked at Finley and said, “Ten years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”

5) This one might be my second favorite. This wasn’t too long ago, I think it was the year he ended up playing with the Red Sox. Anyway, he called San Diego GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

6) This one happened in Seattle. Rickey struck out and as the next batter was walking past him, he heard Henderson say, “Don’t worry, Rickey, you’re still the best.”

7) Rickey once asked a teammate how long it would take him to drive to the Dominican Republic.

8) Moments after breaking Lou Brock’s stolen base record, Henderson told the crowd – with Brock mere feet next to him – “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the    greatest of all-time."


9) Henderson once fell asleep on an ice pack and got frostbite – which forced him to miss three games — in mid-August.

10) A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were taking steroids was accurate. His response was, “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”

11) Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s career record for runs scored with a home run. After taking his usual 45 seconds or so around the bases, Rickey slid into home plate.

12) On being Nolan Ryan’s 5,000th career strikeout: “It gave me no chance. He (Ryan) just blew it by me. But it’s an honor. I’ll have another paragraph in all the baseball books. I’m already in the books three or four times.”

13) San Diego GM Kevin Towers was trying to contact Rickey at a nearby hotel. He knew Henderson always used fake names to avoid the press, fans, etc. He was trying to think like Rickey and after several attempts; he was able to get Henderson on the phone.

Rickey had checked in under Richard Pryor.

14) The morning after the Sox finished off their 2004 World Series sweep against St. Louis, Henderson called someone in the organization looking for tickets to Game 6 at Fenway Park.

15) The Mets were staying in a hotel less than a mile from Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. While some players walked, most took the team bus. A few minutes after they arrived — again it was less than a mile – the last players off the bus noticed a stretched limo that had just pulled up.

Of course, Rickey emerged from the back seat.

16) A reporter once asked Rickey if he talked to himself, “Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I’m trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?”

17) OK, I know everyone has been waiting for it. Alas, according to both parties involved, it’s not true. I wish it were. Heck, both Rickey Henderson and John Olerud have said they wish it were true. But it just didn’t happen.

The story went that a few weeks into Henderson’s stint with the Mariners, he walked up to Olerud at the batting cage and asked him why he wore a batting helmet in the field. Olerud explained that he had an aneurysm at nine years old and he wore the helmet for protection. Legend goes that Henderson said, “Yeah, I used to play with a guy that had the same thing.” Legend also goes that Olerud said, “That was me, Rickey.”

Henderson played with Olerud on the Blue Jays and the Mets.

18) Rickey was asked if he had the Garth Brooks album with Friends in Low Places and Henderson said, “Rickey doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”

19) During a contract holdout with Oakland in the early 1990s, Henderson said, “If they want to pay me like Mike Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.”

20) In the late 1980s, the Yankees sent Henderson a six-figure bonus check. After a few months passed, an internal audit revealed the check had not been cashed. Current Yankees GM Brian Cashman – then a low-level nobody with the organization – called Rickey and asked if there was a problem with the check. Henderson said, “I’m just waiting for the money market rates to go up.”

21)  Rickey was pulled over by a San Diego police officer for speeding. As the officer was approaching Rickey’s car, the window went down a few inches and a folded $100 bill emerged. The officer let Rickey and his money head home without a ticket.
22) When he was on the Yankees in the mid-1980s, Henderson told teammates that his condo had such a great view that he could see, “The Entire State Building.”
23) During one of his stays with Oakland, Henderson’s locker was next to Billy Beane’s. After making the team out of spring training, Beane was sent to the minors after a few months. Upon his return, about six weeks later, Henderson looked at Beane and said, “Hey, man, where have you been? Haven’t seen you in awhile.”
24) To this day and dating back 25 years, before every game he plays, Henderson stands completely naked in front of a full length locker room mirror and says, “Ricky’s the best,” for several minutes.
25) In the last week of his lone season with the Red Sox, Chairman Tom Werner asked Henderson what he would like for his ‘going-away’ gift. Henderson said he wasn’t going anywhere, but he would like owner John Henry’s Mercedes. Werner said it would be tough to get the same make and model in less than a week and Henderson said, “No, I want his car.” Turns out the Sox got Henderson a Red Thunderbird and when he saw it on the field before the last game of the season, Rickey said, “Whose ugly car is on the field?” 

Tommy Lasorda

 

The man Giants fans love to hate.  Here are a few special moments with the legend.

 

Earl Weaver

Earl managed the Baltimore Orioles for 17 years.  Winning 4 American League Pennants as well as the 1970 World Championship.  Earl also holds the record for ejections by an American League manager with 97 ejections.

Weaver was ejected in the regular season. He was ejected in the playoffs. He was ejected in the World Series. He was ejected from both ends of a doubleheader -- three times. He was ejected before a game started -- twice. And he was creative. He once tore up the rule book and scattered its pages on the field. He once faked a heart attack. He once ripped up second base and carried it into the dugout.  Earl was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996.

 Here is a Hall of Fame tirade from the great Earl Weaver.

Baseball Cheerleaders

Some major league teams(Marlins/Cardinals) have started to catch on to the trend of cheerleaders.  Some have a mixed sex squad slinging crappy t-shirts and hot dogs into the crowd.  But in Mexico they have had cheerleaders for years.  And they have been doing it the right way.  So cheerleaders in baseball.....some may say no, but I say...... Si !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course there's always this guy:

 

Dock Ellis  1945-2008

 

The flamboyant right hander for the 70's Pirate teams has passed away from cirrhosis of the liver. Dock was a 19 game winner for the 1971 World Champion Pirates.  He also was the N.L. starting pitcher in the 1971 All-Star Game in Detroit.   It was at the All-Star Game where Dock gave up a  monster home run to Reggie Jackson, which hit a power transformer on the roof of Tiger Stadium.  Dock was also fined by the commissioner Bowie Kuhn for wearing curlers in his hair during warmups.  His most famous transgretion took place in S.D. in 1970 where he threw a No-Hitter while under the influense of LSD.  Dock was truly one of baseball's most colorful personalities.  RIP

 

True  Story

Ok here is the setting...

 Year 2000, GAP is holding an employee function at Pac Bell Park as the Giants are on the road in Montreal.  I am invited to attend and I am thrilled as I'm told we will get to go on the field and throw the ball around.  Thinking we will do nothing more than play catch in the outfield I dress accordingly(this will come into play later).  To my surprise we are not only able to throw in the outfield but also hit live off a pitching machine in the batters box, hit off a pitching machine in the Giants tunnel underneath the stands, field grounders in the infield as well as drink beer from taps in the dugout.  Basically every male's baseball wet dream.  

I take my turn at bat on the field against the machine and take two balls to the wall in left and feel pretty good.  From here I take grounders(and I must note I brought my firstbaseman's mitt because I thought I might get drunk and leave my glove somewhere because the girl that brought me, well thats what normally happened when we hung out).  Next I am in the outfield and we are being hit fungos and trying to rob homers in centerfield.  It is here I see Vida Blue(former A's/Giants great) is warming up and getting ready to pitch to batters.  Now I have already hit, but against the machine.  I have to find a way to get up against a former MVP/Cy Young winner no matter what.

 Fast forward and I have finnegled my way to be the last hitter of the day.  Vida has been blowing fastballs by every hitter he has faced.  Apparently he is getting ready for a radio event and what better way then to face a bunch of GAP employees.  Now it is my turn.  The first pitch he throws I rip down the third base line and basically come out of my Converse on the swing.  Vida is not impressed.  He stops and makes a point to let me know he is not happy.  He tells/asks me "Is that how you gonna swing against Vida?"(third person).  My response.."uhhhh.. I guess??".   Next pitch.  Over my head.  Ok, message received, people laugh.  Following pitch right at my head again but this time it connects and hits me in the neck.  The whole event stops.  Vida was still bringing it(low 80's) and it was scary to the GAP/Giants management because they see lawsuit.  It hits a good spot, doesn't hurt and I play it tough and on we go.  Every following pitch is a mile outside and thus the end of the event.

So a year later I have the chance to meet up with Vida again and I bring my photo from the event for him to sign.  He is still upset.  He couldn't believe that I would take such a hack against him and he had to show me I needed to recognize. He signs my photo "Fuck you, Vida".  Awesome!  So not only do I rip a former MVP/Cy Young winner, but I also get in his head.  Of course to his defense I was wearing capri shorts, low-top converse(no socks) and a NY womens baseball hat.  I would have hit me too.

 Anyway true story.

What Iron Mike and the pitchers really talk about.....

The key to this story is his dad taught him to throw with both arms...

Switcher vs. switcher confounds umps

NEW YORK (AP) - Ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte can confound hitters — and umpires — when he's on the mound.

The umps working a game Thursday night between the Class-A Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones had nothing to go by when Venditte made his professional debut, less than two weeks after getting drafted in the 20th round by the Yankees.

      

After retiring two batters and allowing a single in the ninth, Venditte found himself facing a switch hitter. That's hardly unusual. But it becomes intriguing against Venditte, a switch pitcher.

Designated hitter Ralph Henriquez, who had taken his on-deck circle swings as a lefty, entered the batter's box from the right side.

Venditte put his specially made glove (it has six fingers, two webs and fits on both hands) on his left hand, and got ready to pitch right-handed.

Henriquez then changed his mind and switched sides of the plate, because a batter sees the ball sooner when it is thrown by a pitcher using the opposite hand. So Venditte shifted his glove to the other hand.

Then it happened again.    And again.    And again.  

Apparently unsure of how the rules handle such an oddity, the umpires didn't stop the cat-and-mouse game until Venditte walked toward the plate and said something while pointing at Henriquez. Umpires and both managers then huddled and the umps decided the batter and pitcher can both change sides one time per at-bat, and that the batter must declare first.

The ruling favored the pitcher, since he gets to declare last.   About seven minutes after he first stepped in, Henriquez struck out on four pitches as a righty against a right-handed Venditte and slammed his bat in frustration. Staten Island 

"It's probably been a long, long time since he's seen a right-hander as a righty," Venditte said. "I think in that situation, I had the upper hand because he wasn't used to that. It's been a long time since he'd come in the game as a switch hitter and faced a righty as a righty."

It wasn't completely new to Venditte, who went 9-3 with a 3.34 ERA and seven saves as a senior at Creighton.   "That same thing happened my sophomore year against Nebraska," he said. "But in that situation he got to hit off me right-handed, and I faced him lefty. He hit a line drive to center but it got caught, so I lucked out."

It's unclear what the MLB rule book says on the matter. While it's clear that both a batter and a pitcher are allowed to change sides once, the umpire's decision that the batter must declare first remains debatable.   "We're waiting on an official ruling on it," Staten Island media relations director John Davison said.

Pat Venditte Sr., who raised his son as ambidextrous from the age of 3, said the Missouri Valley Conference had rules in place for such a situation. There, the pitcher had to show which arm he was going to pitch with.   "My first thought was, isn't there a rule to cover that?" asked Venditte Sr., by phone from Nebraska.

Justin Klemm, executive director of the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation, said his organization was working with Major League Baseball to remedy the lack of a clear rule.   "We don't want to rush to any interpretation beyond what is in our manual," Klemm said, referring to the minor league umpire manual. "Obviously what's in our manual doesn't cover every situation. We want to be as fair as possible, but we're going to do that in a timely manner."

It's all happening because Venditte Sr. decided to experiment with his son at age 3, having him first kick footballs with both feet, then punting with both, and finally throwing with both hands. He and his 3-year-old son played long toss -- pitchers mound to plate -- with each arm.

Because his son was home-schooled, Pat Jr. wasn't dissuaded from doing something that might have been seen as "unnatural," his father said. By the time he started playing organized baseball, his son was already better with both hands than most kids were with either.   "By the time he played at 7, people were in awe," Venditte Sr. said. "It spurred us on. He was doing things that people found unique and different."

Some scouts have noticed that Venditte throws harder from the right side - near 90 mph as opposed to about 80 from the left side - and have decided that means he's naturally a righty.   Not so fast, his father said.

"The reason he's not as fast from the left is he drops his arm from the left side to get more movement, he throws a sweeping slider," he said. "The coach at Creighton thought it was more difficult to hit. He has equal arm strength. He can stand at home plate and throw it out of the ballpark from both sides."

The Yankees have enough faith that Venditte can bring his ambidextrous pitching game to the majors to draft him not once, but twice. They drafted him in the 45th round after his junior year as well, but Venditte chose to return to Creighton.

Venditte is not the first professional pitcher to throw with both hands, although he may be the first in the modern era with the potential to regularly switch arms.   Greg A. Harris, who pitched for Cincinnati, Montreal, San Diego, Texas, Philadelphia, Boston and the Yankees from 1981-95, was a righty throughout his career. He pitched from the left side for two batters in the second-to-last game of his career.

Jheri Curl All-Stars

This being the time to recognize those who are on top of their baseball game at the moment, I thought this would be a good time to touch on those who have been on top of their baseball hair-style game.  And the style that was and is..... the Jheri Curl.  Enjoy.

 

If you didn’t know it, it’s the 20th anniversary of the movie masterpiece that is Coming to America … the film that let loose “Soul Glo” on America.  You know, the homage to Jheri Curl - that awesome, dripping wet looking ‘do from the seventies and eighties that would stain anything it came in contact with.

Baseball is often a great place to see some fashionable hairstyles and facial hair trends and it was no stranger to Jheri Curl.  So let your Soul Glow and enjoy the best curls in baseball.        

Sammy Sosa  

 

When Sosa came up with the Texas Rangers, teammate Rafael Palmeiro described him as a skinny Dominican with Jheri Curls.  Seriously … check out Sammy protecting the ‘do by barely wearing an oversized hat.  A 1-year old could knock that thing off with a sneeze.

Sammy kept the ‘do after being traded to the White Sox.  After he trimmed his long drippy locks … his power stats eventually exploded.  Call it the “Reverse Samson” effect. 

The Perez Brothers - Melido and Pascual Perez 

 

                    The Perez boys owned the ‘do in the late 80’s early 90’s. 

Hey wait a minute … that’s three Dominicans already.  The hairstyle was very popular among Dominicans - there was even a DR street gang in New York called the “Jheri Curls.”

Jose "Joe Table" Mesa

Omar Vizquel's best friend

Lee Smith

 

                             That … is … awesome.  Do you ever wonder if the former all-time saves leader was ever doctoring the ball with some of that Jheri Curl juice right before he struck out some guy?

Deion Sanders

 

                           All I can say is … what has been seen cannot be unseen.

In 1989 (with that ‘do) the two-sport star known as ”PrimeTime” scored a touchdown and hit a home run in the same week.  First man to ever do that.  In Jheri Curls no less.

The Ty

Just like Samson the power to his pitching is definitely the hair.

George Bell and Jesse Barfield

 

               Another Dominican with the Jheri Curls!! And we’re not done either.

The Blue Jays had that incredible outfield of Bell, Barfield, and Lloyd Moseby in the mid-1980’s … and they had even better hair.  I even think Moseby had the Jheri Curls at one point as well …

I’m pretty sure George Bell was the first player to win an AL MVP award in Jheri Curls.  And Barfield led the AL in Home Runs in 1986.  Love the moustaches.

Steve Jeltz

 

                Gotta love that middle card of Jeltz wearing the batting helmet while playing defense.  Not to mention the do-rag in the third card.

There’s an unsubstantiated rumor out there that Jeltz petitioned the League to be able to wear his batting helmet in the field to protect his hairdo … and was denied.  I’d love confirmation of that.

Felix Jose and Juan Guzman and Julio Franco

 

                   Just another set of Dominican MLB’ers who had great Jheri Curls.  And decent careers.

Guzman went 40-11 during Toronto’s glory years in the early 90’s - Jose hit .280 over 11 seasons - and Julio Franco was the 1990 All-Star Game MVP (pictured), won the 1991 AL Batting Title, and played until his birth certificate said he was 49 … and could still probably play today. 

Don Sutton

HoF pitcher with a HoF set of Jheri Curls.  "Black and Decker"(known for doctoring baseballs) hurled his way to baseball's HoF through 23 yrs of Jehri Curled distinction.  As of late you can hear Sutton babbling through his activator on TBS....

Pedro Martinez

 

                           But the most wonderful HOF Jheri Curls in baseball history have got to belong to future HOP P, Pedro Martinez (yet another Dominican).  And he wore them all across this great continent with stops in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York … and maybe even a stop to the salons in Montreal. 

 

And remember.....Just let your soul glo.......words to live by.......

You make the call!

1. After beating out a grounder, the batter overruns first base by about 20 feet. He comes to a stop in fair territory, turns in the direction of second base and leisurely returns to first base. Is he liable to be put out?

2. With two strikes, a weak-hitting pitcher is trying to sacrifice. When the pitcher attempts to bunt an inside pitch the ball strikes his hand holding the lower part of the bat. The ball goes fair, the pitcher picks up the ball and fires it over the first baseman head while the batter and the other runners advance two bases. You make the call!

3. The batter hits a pop fly behind second base with runners at first and third with one out. The second baseman camps under the ball, then steps aside and deliberately allows it to fall untouched. The batter, assuming he would be an easy out, does not run on the play. The second baseman picks up the ball and fires it to the first baseman who tags the runner on first, then the bag. How many are out?

4.  A runner at third base attempts to score on a ground ball to short. Before he reaches the plate, however, the throw strikes him in the head and knocks him unconscious. The catcher retrieves the ball and tags the fallen runner. Is he out?

5.  There are runners at first and third with two out. As the pitcher starts his delivery, the umpire signals balk. The pitcher, however, continues and the batter connects for an apparent extra-base hit. Both runners cross the plate and the hitter pulls up at second. Then the shortstop calls for the ball, touches second and appeals that the runner form first missed second base. The umpire agrees and calls out the runner. How about that?

Answers below, and remember none of these would be called correctly in the SFNABA:

 

 

1.No. The runner can turn either way, in fair territory or foul, to return to first base. However, this right to immunity is immediately forfeited upon any act which, in the umpire's judgment, indicates the batter-runner will try for second base. (7.08j)

2.. Because the pitch struck the batter on the third strike, he is out and the ball is dead. The runners must return to their bases. A player's fists are not considered a part of the bat (6.05f, 6.08b-Approved Ruling, 2.00-Bunt, Strike)

3. 26. Both runner and batter are out and the side is retired. The runner would have been protected if the infielder had intentionally dropped the ball. In this case he did not touch it until it had struck the ground. (6.05l-Approved Ruling, 7.08e)

4. Yes. When a player is injured while a play is in progress, nothing can be done about the injury until the action is completed. The ball remains alive. (5.02, 5.10c, 7.08c)

5. First, the balk was nullified when the batter hit safely and all runners advanced at least one base. In this situation, the runner who missed the bag is nevertheless considered to have advanced to second base. Further, the third out was a force play, so no runs could score (8.05-Penalty-Approved Ruling, 7.12)

What'chu talkin' bout blue?!!

Gary Coleman got ejected from a minor league baseball game

 


Never one to believe in only 15 minutes of fame, former child star Gary Coleman signed a one-game deal with the Madison Mallards.

Surely some hijinks would ensue.  And they did. 

Too much pine tar on your bat and superballs inside the bat will get you thrown out of the game.  Even if your at-bat is a total sham.  Of course corking your bat, steroids, pine tar...None of those are enough to get you ejected from a SFNABA game,  just don't say the words "Horse Shit" or you'll be forced to leave and wash your mouth out.

Here’s the video of Coleman’s “at-bat”.

Superstitions

 

Baseball players and their fans have always had their fair share of superstitions.  Well maybe more than their fair share.  From Boggs eating chicken on game days, to No-Mahhh having an epileptic fit at the plate to the seventh inning stretch.  Baseball has it's quirks, but that's what makes it so special.  Here are just a few of the good ones:

Basic universal baseball superstitions:

  • Never step on either foul line
  • Never talk about a no-hitter while it's in progress
  • Never give a pitcher the game ball when the game is not over(see Dusty Baker)
  • Never talk about your hot streak before a game(a sure fire 0-fer)
  • Never wash your lucky jock strap/socks/shirt/etc. no matter how long your hot streak lasts
  • Never f@#k with a winning streak

Here are some not so universal superstitions that heve been used by various big leaguers:

  • Jason Giambi wears a Gold Thong to break out of a slump(don't ask)
  • John Smoltz, who once was doing jumping jacks in the clubhouse during an Atlanta Braves rally,was afraid to stop because he didn’t want to be held responsible for the end of the Braves’ scoring. He ended up doing jumping jacks for nearly half an hour
  • Larry Walker is obsessed with the number “3.” He sets his alarm for 33 minutes past the hour, takes practice swings in multiples of three, wears No. 33, was married on Nov. 3 at 3:33 p.m., and bought tickets for 33 disadvantaged kids when he played in Montreal, to be seated in Section 333 at Olympic Stadium. His last contract included a joint $3,333,333 donation to children’s organizations in British Columbia and Colorado. Finally he has 3 kids.
  • Wade Boggs. Where do I begin. He ate chicken before every game, woke up at the same time every day, took exactly 150 ground balls in practice, took batting practice at 5:17 and ran sprints at 7:17. His route to and from his position in the field beat a path to the home dugout, and he drew the Hebrew word “חי-Chai” (meaning “life”) in the batter’s box before each at-bat (Boggs is not Jewish). He always ended his pregame infield practice by stepping, in order, on the third-, second- and first-base bags, stepping on the baseline, taking two steps in the coach’s box and trotting to the dugout in exactly four steps.
  • Moises Alou pees on his hands before games to prevent blisters(teammates invented the fist bump)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Big Papi spits on his right hand and claps before each at bat
  • Joe Dimaggio would always touch second base as he ran to the dugout between innings
  • Pedro Cerrano would pray to Voodoo God Jobu to help hit the curveball

Here are some of the All-Time Hall of Fame Superstitious Ball Players:

  • Mark Grace:  Inventor of the well known "Slump Buster".  And after 2445 career hits  there can be no arguing its success                                                                                                                              
  • Frank Viola:  Back in 1984, Minnesota Twins pitcher Frank Viola noticed a large banner at the Metrodome that said "FRANKIE SWEET MUSIC VIOLA." He also noticed that whenever the banner appeared, he seemed to pitch well, and, in fact, never lost. According to Sports Illustrated, the banner's creator, a fan named Mark Dornfield, introduced himself to Viola in 1987, and the two talked for two hours. That season, Viola went 15-0, with four no-decisions (all Twins victories) in banner games.

    The Twins made the World Series that season, and Viola learned that Dornfield didn't have a ticket. That prompted Kathy Viola, Frank's wife, to call Dornfield up and offer him tickets to Games 1 and 7. As SI reported, "With the banner proudly unfurled, Viola won both games and was named Series MVP."

  • Eddie Mathews(HOF):  The so-called "Sports Illustrated Jinx" starts with Milwaukee Braves slugger Eddie Mathews, who was on the very first SI cover while the Braves were in first place. Mathews promptly hurt his hand, missed seven games, and the Braves fell out of first place.

  • Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh:  would wear woman's garters while pitching which keeps one side of his brain occupied while on the mound.  Thus keeping his brain slightly off center, which is where it should be for artists and pitchers. 
       
        

  • Turk Wendell: Turk was on a world unto himself.  Just a few of his "quirks"
      Wendell insisted that the umpire roll the ball to the mound rather than simply throw it to him (If an umpire would ignorantly throw the ball to him, Wendell was known to let it go past him, or even to let it bounce off his chest, after which he would retrieve it from the ground).
      Whenever he began a new inning, Wendell would turn and wave to the center fielder and wait for him to wave back before proceeding.
      At the beginning of each inning, Wendell would reportedly draw three crosses in the pitcher's mound dirt.
      Once Turk Wendell got in a "who has more testicles" contest with Lance Armstrong. He won by 7.
      Whenever his catcher stood, Wendell would crouch down.
      When entering or leaving the field, Wendell would always take a tremendous leap over the baseline.
      Wendell would chew black licorice (an alternative to the chewing tobacco used by many players).
      Wendell often brushed his teeth between innings (some claim that he brushed between every inning). While brushing, he often hid in the dugout, either by ducking behind objects or by facing the wall.


  •   Wendell forcefully slammed his rosin bag onto the pitcher's mound between outs.
      Wendell wore jersey number 99, in honor of Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn, the main character in the movie Major League (played by Charlie Sheen). In addition, in 2000 he signed a contract worth $9,999,999.99.[1]
      Wendell wore a necklace made from the claws and teeth of various animals he had hunted and killed.
      While in the minor leagues, rumor was that he drank only orange juice (no food or any other drink) on days he pitched. But he also claimed to drink four cups of coffee before each start.
      Wendell sometimes threw his glove into the stands when leaving a game.

 

Finally the best one comes from a little known player named Kevin Rhomberg who appeared in a grand total of 41 games for the Cleveland Indians, from 1982-84. His superstition can basically be called a compulsion. There’s no other way to describe it.His superstition was the need to touch back someone who had just touched him. Like tag during recess in grade school. However doing it when you’re an adult makes you strange. The need to touch someone back was so necessary that if a person somehow eluded his return touch, Rhomberg would send a letter that said, “This constitutes a touch.”Of course this gets ball players thinking about how they can have some fun at his expense.Rick Sutcliffe once reached under a bathroom stall to touch Rhomberg on the toe. Not knowing who did it, Rhomberg went around the clubhouse and touched each player. Brook Jacoby once told of tagging Rhomberg with a ball in the minors, then throwing it out of the stadium. Jacoby said that Rhomberg spent two hours looking for the ball before finding it. An umpire once halted play during a game in New York to tell Yankees players to stop touching Rhomberg.

Lastly the thing to remember is this; 

"A ballplayer on a streak has to respect the streak.  They don't happen very often.  If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid or because you're not getting laid or because you wore red silk panties---then your are!!!" ____ Crash Davis (the player to be named later)
    

 

Rod "Shooter" Beck 1968-2007

 
The place to go where no one knows your name

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com

 
DES MOINES, Iowa -- From the foot of his Iowa Cubs locker to the front porch of his home, former major league pitcher Rod Beck walks 159 steps. Down the hallway, through a thick blue double door, out a green door and along a flattened path of what's become dead grass.

 
Rod Beck's trailer, parked just behind the outfield wall, is where Iowa Cubs fans can share a beer (but not Miller Light) with the former major-league pitcher.
It's the greatest commute in baseball.

The roughly 400 feet that separate home from office, play from work, is a shorter distance than home plate is from the centerfield wall in some ballparks. And it's only possible because Beck has chosen a most unique place to call home during his comeback stint in Triple-A.

The guy known as "Shooter," the guy with the shaggy mullet, the bushy Fu Manchu and the endearing beer belly, the guy who laughs contagiously, smokes religiously and looks more like a plumber than a professional baseball player, lives behind the right field wall of Iowa's Sec Taylor Stadium. In a motor home.

"For as long as I've been around this game, there have always been guys who have strayed from the norm," said Jerry Reuss, the I-Cubs pitching coach and a veteran of 22 major league seasons. "Then there are the guys that take it to a whole new level: Jay Johnstone. Mark Fidrych. Guys like that. Living in your own personal trailer park behind center field? This qualifies him in that group. I've never seen anything like it."

After missing all of the 2002 season following reconstructive elbow surgery, the 34-year-old Beck has stopped here for what he hopes will be a path back to the major leagues. Though the velocity on his fastball pales in comparison to that of Atlanta's John Smoltz, who leads the majors in saves, Beck has been dominant. He's compiled a 1-1 record and 0.37 ERA. In 25 innings, he's walked five and struck out 20.

The mullet is gone, replaced by a shiny bald dome that glistens with sweat. But the Fu is still there. And so is the personality. Despite the travel delays and the doubleheaders so common in the minors, Beck is having just as much fun off the field as he's having on it.

His wife Stacey and their two daughters are back in Arizona, but he isn't alone. For it isn't uncommon for Beck to leave the clubhouse, walk home and find strangers hanging out at the RV, curious if the rumors that have spread across Iowa's capitol are true. Does Rod Beck really live here? Does he really sign autographs after games? Is he really down to earth enough that he'll offer a Coors Light and tell old baseball stories to just about anyone who stops by?

  Yes.

Consider a game last week, when Beck showed up after a 3-2 Cubs win to find 11 fans milling about a plastic picnic table next to the 36-foot Winnebago Journey DL. One of the guys, confident he is welcome, but yet still nervous as Beck approaches, offers a can of Miller Lite and asks, "Is this cool? Do you want a beer?"

"Yeah," Beck says. "But sure as hell not one of those."

He unlocks a compartment beneath his RV, turns on the stereo and pulls out an ice cold Coors Light. His T-shirt reads, "You're killing my buzz," but his actions speak anything but. He tells baseball stories of the past, baseball stories of the present. He signs autographs. He offers cold beer. He gives tours of his luxury-laden RV. He lets people fiddle with the stereo, use the bathroom. On this night, his home is their home.

"Hey Shooter," one fan asks. "Can I check the Lakers score?"

"Yeah," Beck replies. "But you'll need the remote. I think it's on the table."

Complete strangers. Yet Beck welcomes them like longtime friends. Even autograph collectors, who admit they're going to take the signature Beck just gave them and sell it for a profit, are welcome.

"Hey, if you can make money off me defacing a baseball card," Beck says, "Good luck."

He's like the guy on the floor of your college dorm that has all the cool stuff: the big TV, the booming stereo, the PlayStation, the DVD player and the fridge stocked with cold beer. And his door is always open.

"I'm not a superstar in my eyes," Beck said. "I never was. If plumbing was a sport, all those guys would be on TV and I'd work 9-to-5 playing baseball. And it wouldn't mean a difference to me at all. I just like relating to people."

He hangs with teammates. He hangs with groundskeepers. He hangs with fans. Even former Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy has told people that he wants to head to Des Moines and meet Shooter.

"That would be something," Beck said.

  The rules of Casa de Beck are simple. There's only one: When the neon blue, martini-glass-shaped light is on, the bar is open. When it's off, it's time to go home."And I promise you, that light never goes off," Cubs reliever Phil Norton said. "I'm not even sure it has a switch."Said Beck: "I didn't want to get a liquor license, so I just give the stuff away for free."

Not everything is fun and games. Beck signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs last winter, but failed to make the big league club coming out of spring training. They sent him to AAA, where he has a handshake agreement that he can leave the club if a major league opportunity arise.

Last week, he struck out all five batters he faced in 1 2/3 innings of work. His fastball tops out at just 86 m.p.h., but he says that's enough to get major league hitters out. His catcher agrees. Keith McDonald said there were a handful of times in spring training when Beck was hitting only 81-82 on the radar gun, but would call for the fastball anyway.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'This guy's got brass balls,' " McDonald said. "And then the pitch would come and they'd swing and miss it. Whatever they were looking for, he would give them something else. The guy knows how to pitch."

Said Beck: "I think half the time, I was throwing my fastball, but they thought it was a change."

Beck said three teams have called his agent with major league offers. But he's waiting for the right fit and won't pitch for the major league minimum of $300,000. He's 34 saves away from 300 and is convinced, "if you tell me that I'm your guy and you give me the ball everyday, I can get you 35 to 50 saves a year. Guaranteed. I just need the opportunity." Rod Beck thinks he can still give the Cubs a lift, like he did when he beat his old team, the Giants, in the 1998 NL wild-card game. Rod Beck thinks he can still give the Cubs a lift, like he did when he beat his old team, the Giants, in the 1998 NL wild-card game.

Reuss, who sends daily reports to Chicago on the improvements of all his pitchers, thinks Shooter needs a little more oomph on that fastball. "It isn't a necessity, but it would certainly help make his job easier when he gets there," Reuss said. "Right now, at 84-85-86, his fastball is below the major league average. It's his third best pitch. And if he gets too much of the plate, they're going to get it."

Interestingly enough, the team that Beck most wants to pitch for again, the Chicago Cubs, doesn't have room for him. But Dusty Baker (the man who made him a closer in San Francisco), Dick Pole (his pitching coach with the Giants), Mike Remlinger (his former minor league roommate) and Dave Veres, another old friend, are all there. And, after all, he pitched for the Cubs in 1998 and 1999.

"It's an absolutely perfect situation," he said. "All my worlds have come together. Now I just need to figure out where I fit in."

One team that has a struggling bullpen, that some say could use a veteran like Beck, is the Boston Red Sox. But he had a bad experience with them from 1999 - 2001, clashing with general manager Dan Duquette and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan. "Everyday was like banging my head off the wall," Beck said. "We just didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. I've heard things are a lot better there now. But if those guys were still there, I wouldn't go back for all the money in Boston. And there's a lot of money in Boston."

  With a flick of the switch, the lights come on and the party's on at Beck's RV.
For now, he's stuck in Iowa. And loving it. A green extension cord connects his home to a power outlet inside the garage of the ground's crew. When he pops a circuit, he hops out of his RV, walks into the garage, waves to the guys and flips it back on. He uses a rental car to run for groceries. His bathroom is smaller than most closets and yet holds a magazine rack that carries the last three issues of Maxim. There's a leather couch. A double bed. A microwave. And mounted speakers for the stereo and television.

"Why rent an apartment, rent furniture, sign a lease, do all that stuff when I can just bring my own home, with my own stuff and then pick up and go whenever I want," Beck said. "It just made sense."

Outside, there's a plastic picnic table. Some old, ragged office furniture. And spotlights. On one of his first days in Des Moines, Beck threw what he called a "Brat-B-Que," inviting all of his coaches and teammates for brats, burgers, hotdogs and cold beer. Beck even hung Christmas lights on the overhang of his Winny.

"People aren't quite sure what to think," Beck said. "I get some looks. Brady Anderson was in here not too long ago and he goes, 'I hear you're living in an RV out there.' And I'm like, 'Sure am.' And he sort of stood there, looked at me and after some awkward silence said, 'Well … that's cool.' "

Beck figured he'd hate this. When he left for Iowa, he warned Stacey, his wife, that he probably was going to be a tad grumpy until he made it back to the bigs. Three different times along the drive, he stopped the trailer, sat on the side of the road and wondered what the hell he was doing.

After five days of what he thought would be a six-day drive, he was barely in Texas. "That ain't right," Beck said. "But I was by myself and I kept thinking, 'I don't need this. What am I doing?' "He thought back to his rehab, when for the first time in his life, he lifted a weight and he took care of his arm. "I'm old school, I was taught that ice was for bourbon, not for your arm," he said. He thought back to his daughters, who told their Daddy they wanted to see him pitch again. And he decided that he had gone too far to give up now. So he met up with his brother-in-law, who drives for Beck on the International Hot Rod Association, in Amarillo, Texas, and the two finished the drive together.

He couldn't be happier with his decision. He doesn't want to stay forever, but he says he has enjoyed AAA. As enlightening as the experience has been for jaded baseball fans, it's been just as rewarding for Beck. Just last week, as Beck was holding court outside his RV, standing in a semi-circle and talking to four strangers about baseball, another man in a shirt and tie timidly walked up.

 
The man was shy, quiet and waited five minutes before saying a word. Eventually, he began with an apology. "I'm sorry to interrupt. ..."Beck sensed the nerves and, though he didn't know the man, made him feel instantly comfortable. "Awe, hell," he said, motioning to the group around him. "I don't know any of these idiots any more than I know you. What's up? What can I do for ya?" The guy wanted an autograph. "Hell, that's easy," Beck said. "That's it?"There was nothing else. The guy was in Des Moines on business, had heard about Beck being in town and wanted to take a signed ball home to his son. Mission accomplished.

"Being here has helped me," he said. "Maybe mentally as much as physically. It helped me remember why I do this. "This is not a game or an occupation, it's a lifestyle. I was 17 when I first signed. I'm 34 now. That's half my life. So if I give this up, what the hell else am I going to do?"
 

 

 

 

Rod "Shooter" Beck  1968-2007  RIP

worst look in baseball, maybe ever

But hey, Fresno St. did win it all so whatever works!!