TSN 100 Greatest...

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I don't know.

We all have hangups. I would imagine that if my father were a former pro ballplayer - and a very good one at that, and my godfather were one of the greatest to ever set foot on a baseball field, and I was surrounded by great players during my childhood...

and I had superior natural abilities that were clear even as a child,

and as a college student it was a given that I was going to be a great Major League Baseball player,

and I had the obsessive-compulsive tendencies that are pretty normal in pro athletes,

and I lived at a time when 24-hour news and sports channels followed my every move,

and I didn't have the greatest people skills in the world,

and I saw the country fawn over Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa even as I knew they were cheating,

then perhaps I would be a steroid-bloated jerk as well. But hopefully I wouldn't beat any one-armed hecklers.

-Al