Ever talk to a ballplayer ?

[Archive]

Posted By: MINE'S MINT

Too many to list.. in my 22 years ive been very fortunate to have had the opprotunity to meet and speak with numerous ball players.. so i will just name a few..

-I got to train with Darryl Strawberry when he was making his come back with the Yankee's.. i shagged batting practice and played catch with him every afternoon for a week.. he gave me one of his bats and signed it in return for my services.. very very nice person, even told a news reporter to leave when he and I were talking baseball and the reporter tried to push past me for an interview.. he got a World Series ring that year by the way thanks in part to his clutch hitting..

-former Giant Tito Fuentes hit me fungos in candlestick park.. he's a really funny guy..

-former Dodger Bill Sudakis was the manager of my pony league traveling All-Star team..

-assisted former Angels all star pitcher Clyde Wright with a baseball seminar..

-played catch and chatted with Duke Snider.. funny thing is that it was with a football.. i had mentioned to someone trying to get a football signed at the Drysdale Classic Golf Tournament that he was a high school quarterback.. and shortly after, the ball was fair game..

-got to hang out with ROY winner Todd Hollinsworth for an hour at the airport when his flight was delayed.. very cool to talk baseball with..

-Jimmie Reese was always the nicest person every time i met with him.. fungo always in tow.. told me his famous "rooming with the Babe's luggage" story.. i still remember when he passed.. i had written him in the hospital and not too long after i recieved correspondence.. i caught word.. baseball lost one of its greatest personalities that day..

my only real bad experiences were with Willie Mays, Warren Spahn and Jim Edmonds..

-Mays was held up at the Drysdale Classic waiting to tee off for like 30 minutes.. would not sign and was extremely rude to me.. saying that I (a 12 year old kid at the time) should have payed $500 to attend the previous nights celebrity dinner to even have the chance to speak with him.. he just sat there in his golf cart ingnoring us.. me and my Dad just decided to make fun of him because he looked like Dorothy from "the Wizard of Oz" in his red patent leather golf shoes.. after over hearing us he sure was pissed off.. haha..

-when I met Spahn I was probably 13 and oddly enough shooting the breeze with Jim Thome and Tim Wakefield at an airport.. my father spotted him in the crowed,pointed him out and Thome and Wakefield followed me when i went to ask for his autograph.. believe it or not he was rude to all three of us..

-Edmonds (an Angel at the time) didnt like the fact that i was wearing an Indians shirt when i asked for his autograph and told me to get lost because of it.. to this day my father and I always root against him when he comes up to bat..

Brooks Robinson, Berra, Bench, Robin Roberts, Kiner, Zimmer, Clemens, Brock, Schmidt, Skowron, Tommy Davis, Maury Wills, the list goes on.. and i have alot of storys.. but if i listed them all Leon would more than likely delete my post.. haha.

psa/dna authenticated signature -> Richard M.