Ruminations and ponderings by the Last of the Montgomery Rebels Fans on the Montgomery Biscuits and Montgomery Alabama area baseball history, author of "Black Baseball in Alabama" coming March of 2026.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Marching Along...
Ah the WBC continues rolling along!
Tonite I will am watching the last of the tourney games in Japan, though I will miss the enthusiastic crowds of Tokyo and from the first round in Fukuoka. Those folks know how to cheer their team on something wicked.
Speaking of wicked - Kenta Maeda is making those watching the world tournament aware of what Hiroshima Carp fans have known for a long time, that Maeda has an unhittable slider as well as a full repertoire of other pitches that are just as effective. WBC announcers ponder "if he could make it in the Majors" and I just laughed. Half the teams in MLB would gladly utilize Kenta in the top half of their rotation, and he would crack the starting five for all but a handful of teams. Yes, Kenta Maeda is wicked enough for MLB!
Tim Lincecum
Kenta Maeda
Team Japan finally opened up and hit the long ball against Cuba and look to head to San Francisco as a team that is showing the form that made them WBC champs in the last tourney.
NEW BISCUIT
SP Enny Romero
Welcome Enny Romero, sent to the Biscuits spring group in the first round of cuts. The lanky six foot three lefthander from Santo Domingo won five games for the Stone Crabs last year. Lost in his pitching stats is the fact that he is a .500 hitter lifetime, going two-for-four in 2008 at the no-A rookie level Dominican Summer league.
He tallied the century mark in strikeouts last year in 125 innings pitched, and has worked his way up the ladder for the Rays, spending all summer tossing for A+ Charlotte as a 21 year old. He is a 40 man roster member and played in the 2012 Futures Game. A workhorse lefty, Enny has over 100 innings pitched the past two seasons while making 51 starts for Bowling Green and Charlotte. He should be a nice top of the rotation starter for the Biscuits.
HENWRIGS
Saw Henry Wrigley wearing #73 for the Rockies in a spring game yesterday. He was up to his usual tricks, picking throws out of the dirt at first base and knocking base hits to the opposite field. He is pretty deep on the Colorado depth chart so he will most likely start the year at triple-A, barring a trade to the Yankees. Still its nice to see Henry get some national tv face time!
Bad Henry getting used to wearing purple
HISTORY TIME
or
THE TRAIN TO THE WORLD SERIES GOES THRU DOTHAN
probable Dothan site of Giants-Cubs game
Yesterday I mentioned the Giants vs Cubs in Dothan in 1936, Charlie Grimm references this game but his reference isnt based on what happens between the chalk lines. In his reference to that trip he is in error, he recalls being there to play the Red Sox. In fact it was the Giants, who would go on to lose the World Series that year. But we can forgive Jolly Cholly for mixing up the details of the game, its an off field memory he took away from the the wiregrass matchup. And not only is it not of the game, its not even about any of the players!
1936 Giants were World Series Bound
At that time, a batch of media types traveled with the team, including this spring tour which Grimm calls one of the highest mileage road trips known during the era of train rides. The route from Catalina to Chicago was filled with exhibition games all the way to Pensacola and northwards to the Windy City. Included on this long distance barnstorm were games in Alabama, in both Selma and Dothan. The records show an overnight stay in Montgomery for the Cubs, but no game was on the schedule the day they were here. Probably a stop at the casino and a chance for a good meal at the Exchange Hotel.
Jolly Cholly Grimm was skipper three times but only fired once!
In his book, "Baseball I Love You", Charlie recalled an incident at the Dothan hotel in which the team stayed, late in the evening screaming was heard from the room of one of writers who were traveling with the team.
Ed Burns, dignified sportswriter
Upon investigating, Cubs beat writer Ed Burns discovered fellow writer Jimmy Corcoran pinned underneath an overturned wardrobe/armoire. It is supposed that Corcoran was hiding his bottle of hooch in the wardrobe after a night out when he was upended. Burns helped the trapped Corcoran out from under the furniture, telling him "this wouldnt have happened if you were looking for a Gideon bible".
Jimmy "The Cork" Corcoran
This is the same Jimmy Corcoran who, during spring training on Catalina Island, was one of many newspapermen who took offense to the new media covering the sport. At that time it was radio as the new method of getting fans their baseball fix. Of course, any new media upsets the guys who have been doing it old school, guys like Corcoran and Burns were offended that the radio reporter would set up at the main press table behind home plate. After the game they took their complaints to the bar and commiserated on their collective woes when Jimmy the Cork felt he had enough liquid courage to take a swing at one of the offending upstart radio men. When the intended target stepped back from the drunken punch delivered by the diminutive 140lb writer, the roundhouse right landed in the midsection of big Ed Burns!
Big Ed and Jimmy the Cork on a night out with the boys.
The intended target? From Des Moines radio station WHO, young radio man Ronald Reagan was the one who was able to dodge the drunken swipe! Grimm says a few days later the young Reagan stated he was leaving spring camp for an audition in Hollywood and was never seen again. Those wacky sportswriters.
Ronny knew how to dodge a punch or two
FROM THE DR MIRACULOUS ARCHIVES
With spring training coming along, the talk is all about prospects. Well we have seen some prospects come thru, some bona fide some not. Here is a vid of one of this years touted MLB Prospects for 2013, Danny Hultzen of Seattle picking off a Biscuit who has thoughts of a stolen base last summer.
Next up from the archives, since we dont have game footage or pics to offer yet, is this cool bit of Montgomery Biscuits history!
Thats Jim Tocco and Jesse Goldberg-Strassler battling the CSX trains at Riverwalk Stadium in 2006. Once that train starts, you might as well hang it up, you cant hear yourself think much less anyone talking near you! A fine job they did though, they were a great team in the broadcast booth during that championship season.
Quiet on the Biscuits front, too quiet.
This team's ownership simply needs to do more for its fans, both in season and during the offseason. Not hearing from the team from October thru March would certainly explain why they have seen their business fall off. Come on guys, step up!
MAX CAPITOL CITY CLASSIC
The college game wasn't much to speak of, a cold night probably kept the crowd down. I never go, as I can't really get into that level of the game. Hard to explain, just not my bag.
IN OTHER BISCUIT NEWS
The organization is holding auditions for the National Anthem and tweeted about it. I suggested they should go with the old recording of the Air Force Band doing it as instrumental. Kate Smith also has a popular recording that could be used less painfully than some of the folks that end up being selected. I hate to think who gets rejected!
THE OTHER GUY
Speaking of being jilted by the minor leagues, lets not forget that the subject of last weeks post is not the only mascot in town! In fact, as far as height is concerned, Big Mo is rather dwarfed by the actual namesake mascot - Monty the Biscuit.
Monty the Biscuit
Monty appears in more places than Big Mo at the ballpark. Once the season starts I will take a tally of which mascot is used where, but I am sure that the Monty sitting on the giant scoreboard is at least ten feet tall and looks down on the field with goo goo googlie eyes!
Monty in foreground on dugout & background on scoreboard (upper left)
Monty is all over the ballpark and website, but never as an actual person in a suit. While it must have been discussed early on and dismissed, since walking food with a face can border on spooky side of Puff-N-Stuff, I think there are some obvious advantages worth considering.
It would give Big Mo a foil, a competing mascot for races and promotions, and another option for Biscuit fans to snap a pic or two. How tough is it to get someone in a Biscuit costume to wander around the park?
Too Flaky?
What are Montys origins? That depends on who you talk to, here is one side of the story.
required "intelligent design" theory option
I havent checked the facts personally, but it sounds pretty much like how things work down here, so we can probably take that account as "mostly factual" concerning the giant baked goods beginnings.
FACE OF THE FRANCHISE
Monty got the trophy, not Mo
As for me, I am more fond of Monty than I am of Big Mo. The reason I find Monty more appealing than Mo is that I dont see any other teams using baked goods as the face of the franchise. And Monty is the face of the franchise, have no doubt. Monty appears on the uniform and the tickets and many other aspects of the teams materials made for both public and private consumption. Let me put it another way, when you get a business card from someone that works for the team, you dont see Big Mo but you do see Monty the Biscuit.
Monty peeks out from behind the M on Desmonds cap
There are many interesting features about having an anthropomorphic baked goods mascot. He has hands in the tradition of mickey mouse - white three finger and a thumb gloves. Im okay with the hands, but I wonder how Monty fares without arms.
Or legs, though he has feet. Monty wears white baseball cleats that have yellow stripes and blue laces. He never takes them off because he has such trouble tying the laces, having no arms and only three fingers on each hand.
Oh, and he is all face. He has googlie eyes, sitting at the top of his crusty biscuit head, crossed at the center which must affect his depth perception. His lips are turned up in a flaky smile revealing the buttery pat that is his tongue.
Must be a smooth talker with a butter tongue
WBC ADDICTED
Man those games in Japan start late! That is some serious baseball though, and I love seeing the teams with totally different styles trying to adapt quickly in tournament play. However I do have a few suggestions for the next time they have it.
He es no Semi-Pro
I think the team that wins the world series should represent the USA. As the reigning champ, there's no reason to drag a bunch of stars out of camp when the team that holds the trophy would be able to show the WBC what the top team looks like. Well, okay, what the top team looks like three or four months after winning it all in the big leagues.
Although, it is great to see AllStar teams like Samurai Japan and team USA face the "semi-pro" guys and have trouble with them!
BASEBALL, I LOVE YOU
By Charlie Grimm
A very nice read, not exactly graduate level writing but a view into a managers mind in a different age. The references Grimm makes (probably thru ghostwriter) to the Chicago Cubs are so drastically differently slanted that its hard to admit that hes writing about the same organization that inhabits Wrigley Field today.
In fact, he states flat out that the Cubs had won 17 pennants between 1876-1945, which means they topped the league about once every four years. Thats in stark contrast to the no world series Cubs since 1945, who have been turned away annually since the end of the second world war. Futility and lovable losers are the catchphrases of todays Cubs, along with curse, billygoat and Bartman. Not so much in Jolly Chollys time, when the lighthearted team won more games than it lost as it took trains instead of planes across the league, which at the time extended only as far west as St.Louis and as far south as.... St.Louis.
Grimm relates stories of the Cubs spring trainings spent on Catalina Island, most of which was owned by the Wrigley family. He tells of breaking camp for spring in 1936 and making stops to play exhibition games along the way. One of those stops was in Dothan Alabama against the Red Sox (internet check says it was the NY Giants). I have a hard time seeing those great teams here, but its true, they played in Selma and Dothan - with no game listed in Montgomery. Ain't that typical?
A good read about the Cubs in their winning era! Hack Wilson stories abound, as well as the truth about how many times Grimm was fired as Cubs manager.
I would like to start by going back in time a little.....
Back to Evan Longoria driving in a run vs the Mobile BayBears in 2007!
Not a bad start to the video side of the blog, right? Longo already had the batting stroke down and it would not be long before he would be firmly entrenched at the hot corner for Tampa. Now he is a new dad, congrats to evan and jaime on their baby girl!
NOW
AS PROMISED
BIIIIIIIIIIIG MO!!!!!
I recalled this day as being Big Mo's first introduction to the fans, but I seem to be wrong about that. Either way you can hear me muttering at one point something to the effect of "if this thing crashes I am gonna get it on vid". Gladly there was no crash, though it is the only time I have seen a helicopter land at Riverwalk Stadium during a game! Certainly the biggest entrance from the Biscuit mascot to date.
BIRTHDAY: May 23, 2003 DRAFTED: 1st round, April 2004 JERSEY NUMBER: 04 HEIGHT: Seven Feet WEIGHT: More than a baker’s dozen
FAVORITE FOOD: Biscuits, of course! FAVORITE MUSIC: Bring On The Biscuits and Take Me Out to the Ballgame FAVORITE QUOTE: “Now you tell me, if I have a day
off during the baseball season, where do you think I’ll spend it? The
ballpark. I still love it. Always have, always will.”
– Harry Caray ABOUT BIG MO: Big Mo is a fuzzy and fun Biscuit Lovin
Beast. Big Mo is one-of-a- kind! Big Mo is responsible for
entertaining fans young and old. He’s out at Riverwalk Stadium each and
every game. Seven feet of baseball love, hailing from parts unknown, the
eighth wonder of the world and the Biscuits’ biggest fan!
So who is the REAL Big Mo???
We will break down the Mascot scouting report later, some of these notes leave the details in the dark. Ah but the best way to learn about wild creatures is to observe them in their natural habitats. So here we see Big Mo in several different situations.
Big Mo on-field attack of Fernando Cortez in 2004
Big Mo used to be seen on the field between innings horsing around with players. There were incidents. Often. After that first year he didn't go back across the white lines for a long time. I guess someone sent a message and Big Mo got it.
Was Big Mo called to the carpet for his antics?
So now we see "the beast" turning an unblinking eye towards different prey. One a little less able to defend itself. One that wont go crying to the manager or GM.
Would you let a "biscuit loving beast" hold your baby?
Big Mo loves children. From the looks of it, he is about to enjoy this kid in one bite. At the park we have a saying for how to handle Big Mo... "Dont make eye contact".
Uh-oh, I think its spotted us....
If further evidence is needed for the reader to suggest a reason to give a wide berth to the "eighth wonder of the world", I am happy to oblige. Often we are judged by the friends we keep and the circles we travel in, but who is Big Mo hanging out with? See for yourself.....
Who your mother warned you about
As we have seen, Big Mo is a tough character, attacking players, hanging out with the hardened drunks, snatching children from parents arms, hijacking aircraft, accosting fans and players alike.
smiling but nervous
While Big Mo has been trained well enough to do the dances with the Biscuit Bunch, they still feel a need to employ a handler for the creature. Anytime Mo is wandering the stands during the games, there is a staffer or two close by. I suppose its just in case, you never know how a wild carpet covered creature will behave in a crowd under the lights. Perhaps one of those folks with a Biscuits logo on their golf shirt has a cattle prod hidden as a contingency plan should Mo go rogue suddenly.
Big Mo - The Scouting Report
another Big Mo photobomb
Mo is obviously intelligent enough to dress itself, though it cant differentiate between long pants and shorts. Which it should, since its essentially a bi-pedal Snuffleuphagus - the mopey muppet friend of Big Bird. If you are going to walk on two legs, you probly need pants, unless you are a Warner Bros pig, but thats a different blog entirely.
The Bio says Mo was a first round draft pick in 2004, so that could be a first round MASCOT draft? Which begs the question, who did we pass up for this guy?
2004 olympic mascots
Whatcha drinkin Ronnie?
Big Mo implies his home is at the ballpark, invoking a Harry Caray quote about getting the day off. This should be a big clue, as we all know Harry spent more time in bars than ballparks and hung around with less than savory fellows.
As seen above, Big Mo is not above being seen with known boozers, and even Young Boozer has been known to be seen with Big Mo. If that doesnt say something, I dont know what does. And dont tell me. I dont want to know.
Last of February!
Pitchers and catchers have reported, the Yanks already have an injury - Granderson - the RedSox are already looking for someone to blame - owner Henry - the Cubs are already trying to trade their veterans - Soriano and Garza - and its not even March yet!
Knows where his bread is buttered
In Biscuits news, the teams rent for the past three months was the lowest ever, which means the team brought in the lowest amount of money since its inception. That just illustrates what I have been saying here in the blog and at the park... the Biscuits need to step it up or lose revenue.
When downtown favorite Boomer T's closes down and the owner says it "just cant compete anymore" with other local businesses it should send the same message to the team. Being the only baseball team in town doesnt mean being the only entertainment. Montgomery people are wise about their dollars and the Biscuits will have to lower prices more than they did last summer or learn the harsh lesson in Montgomery economics.
This is why other Montgomery entertainment venues go bad - they start well by offering competitive prices. After the initial setup they jack prices up. At that point people will stop coming. Its not just baseball, though the Montgomery Rebels felt the pinch when they raised prices and it eventually cost the city its team to poor attendance.
Is the Basket half full or half empty?
Its also Jubilee Cityfest, the recently deceased festival that was the best thing to happen to the city when it started. Of course, when it started it was FREE. Once it got to the point that organizers were paid huge salaries to turn it into a way to harvest local wallet-stuffing the citizens saw and realized it for what it was. The more they tried to herd families into chain link fenced areas and charged more and more to get in, those families stayed away in droves.
Fans make loud statements quietly
We dont truck with ripoff artists or snake oil salesmen. We want a good level of entertainment for our dollar, and if its a value we will gladly pay for it. Some even pay for a double helping. But if we think you have tipped the scales or shortchanged us, we here in Montgomery wont make a fuss. We will just quietly walk away and in most cases, not come back.
Biscuits ownership has fallen into a rut of propping up the team in spring only to abandon the efforts when it gets warm in Lansing. With each new team the owners catering company signs on with, the concessions at home suffer. There may come a day when they need to decide if they are baseball owners or concessionaires.
Sometimes owners can be motivating
Simply put, something has to give, and its not likely going to be the fans with the wallets. As has been shown by the figures upon which the rent is paid, those fans are walking away.
One of the best parts of the winter is watching signings, the highest levels of talent set the market and tend to take their time. If they would go ahead and agree to terms early we wouldnt have so many ballplayers wondering where they will be working. I wonder if this isnt why some guys take jobs in Japan and other countries, the lure of a sure thing has to have its merits. Its a nice option compared to waiting to see if you get a good paying job or a lower level minor league job or even no gig at all.
FORMER BISCUITS
Nowak hitting at home
A couple weeks ago Chris Nowak signed with the Dbax, he led the independent Atlantic league with 34 homers last year. Nowak really knows the strike zone and plays nice defense. He will never steal twenty bags but has sneaky speed when he needs it, especially for a corner infielder. I hope he enjoys working out west!
Reid Brignacwas sold to the Rockies for cash, providing insurance and depth off the bench in case of Tulowitzki injury. This will be the first season in a looong time that Reid hasn't been in the same organization as Longo. At one time they were the left side of the future for the Devil Rays.
Reid Brignac wearing Ocho for the Skitz
Derek Dietrich
Mentioned already out of the Marlins camp as a possibility to break camp with the team, Deet hit a solid .271 for us just this past summer and played a very good defense. That being said, he let one or two balls get by that would have really changed the outcome of some big ballgames, but for the Marlins Derek is one good spring training from making the Big Leagues.
The Marlins love Derek's enthusiasm!
Elliot Johnson was named as the PTBNL and joins the ranks of the "former Biscuits no longer with the Rays". In a related story, I dont have a pic of him as a Biscuit.
Izzy is rehabbing as Jose Lobaton checks his watch
Jason Isringhausen took a job as a pitching coach at an Illinois university. He had stated last year that he was likely to retire, and does so as the former Biscuit with the most major league saves. Four games were the extent of his appearances for Montgomery, four walks, two hits one earned run. No decision for him here but he retires with an even 300 Major League saves!
JAMES SHIELDS
Man, we liked Shields here! Not just for his witty comments, I wish I had access to the recordings of the pregame interviews he did with Jim Tocco - it was a comedy routine if you could cut through his Dizzy Dean-meets-surfer accent. If clubhouse hilarity is worth anything, I am sure Kansas City is getting more than just a boost to the starting rotation!
you can tell its 2004 - no tall sox plus the curved nameplate!
James got here in 2004 for an audition and then spent the majority of 2005 as a Biscuit. He made four starts for us in that inaugural April and was quickly sent back to Bakersfield. As bad as we were that year, I dont think anyone familiar with the team even noticed, you could stump the staff with the question "how many games did James Shields win for the Biscuits in his first season with us?" Answer = None.
2005 was much better for James the Biscuit. He went 7wins and 5 losses, an ERA in great shape with 2.80 and 104 punchouts in 109 innings. He was rewarded with one start for Durham late in the season as the Bulls headed into the playoffs and never came back. By the start of the next June he was in Tampa earning the nickname "Big Game" James. A significant upgrade from the 2004 nickname of "Panty" Shields that he got by losing his first four starts in Double-A.
Coco Crisp learns about James Shields "intangibles"
JAPAN VS HIROSHIMA
I saw the first game of the year already, and it was the same players as the last game I saw - NPB!
The Samurai Japan team was shut out by the Carp in a pre-season matchup highlighting some of my fave players on both teams. Kenta Maeda of the Carp is fun to watch pitching and 3b Shota Dobayashi is on par with any cornerman in the game at any level.
As for the opposition, Samurai Japan is simply awesome in spite of being shut out in what equates to the first spring training game of the year. CF Chono is quick and the protypical leadoff guy. Shinnosuke Abe is the cleanup hitter as well as the respected veteran catcher of Yomiuri Giants fame, fresh from the offseason after celebrating the Giants victory over the rest of the Nippon League. Yoshi Itoi and Sho Nakata also patrol the Samurai outfield, both excellent defenders and smart ballplayers. Up and down the lineup, its all about Japan league allstars and plus defenders.
The pitching staff is a dream machine that just needs to be tuned, and that job falls to the manager, who must have it tough with only a few short weeks to prepare.
I dont usually cover the Boston Red Sox, as I am not much of a fan of that areas teams as I am closer to home. Plus they get so much coverage anyways.
I found a mention about something I hadnt heard of, so I looked it up.
Mike Napoli will have another MRI on his hips during spring training.
Napoli's hips remain asymptomatic for avascular necrosis,
which is what he was diagnosed with during his pre-signing physical. The
Red Sox wanting to keep a close eye on the condition, though, so
they'll give him another MRI after he ramps up activity. The hip issue
isn't expect to be a problem for Napoli during the season.
"Osteonecrosis
is bone death caused by poor blood supply to the area. It is most
common in the hip and shoulder, but can affect other large joints such
as knee, elbow, wrist and ankle." says PubWebHealth.org
Okay. Dead bone, gotcha.
But what causes this, pubwebhealth?
Can the Biscuits contend this year, after noone expected any team in the southern league to get anywhere near the Jackson Generals? We put together a nice run in spite of having the best players moved up to Durham when we needed them, and not getting replacements where we could have used them.
If the core of this team comes together like it did, and there are a couple surprises, it could be a great season to be a Biscuits fan!
WIL HE COME?
Among the possible surprises would be the arrival of new prospects. A check of the official website of milb shows they list the Biscuits roster having Wil Myers. That would be a surprise indeed, as Myers hit over 300 at triple-A Omaha. However, it isnt beyond the realm of reality to have him come to the Southern League and play for the Biscuits.
For starters, Myers will be in the minors on opening day, so as to delay his service time which delays his being eligible for salary arbitration in a couple years. Its cheap, its questionable, its maybe not even morally just, but its Tampas method.
Also, the Rays know that Double-A is where you spot issues in development and they love to have players here. Even for a few weeks, just to make sure the guy is able to get himself to the ballpark on time or figure out how to pack for a road trip. Maybe its to scout him out to learn if he snores, but whatever it is they often do it. Just ask Scott Kazmir, who started for the Biscuits for less than six weeks after arriving in a huge trade with the Mets back in 2004.
Kazmir with the Inaugural Biscuits team
Another reason they might want to consider having Myers at Montgomery would be to make sure that .300 average wasn't a product of Pacific Coast League ballparks. The PCL is known to be hitter friendly, batting averages are often higher and pitcher stats suffer from it. Wil split time at Double-A and Triple-A last year, hitting huge 37 homers, putting up over a hundred runs batted in and batting at an excellent .314 clip.
A month in the Southern League would be a nice reassurance that Myers numbers from 2012 were the real deal and that he has developed well past his last full season at Double-A levels when he hit a much more pedestrian .254 with eight homers.
Myers looks confused about it himself
A slow spring training or any sort of physical setback could bring this talented prospect to the capitol city nine, which would seriously boost the lineup for the duration of his presence. More likely, Myers is headed to Durham for the first six weeks of the campaign, but I like to be optomistic!
Nice, I like feb alot!
Its when pitchers and catchers report!
And when the prospect lists start coming together, the Caribbean Series and all sorts of baseball related activities. It means March Madness is just around the corner and that spring training games are just a few short weeks away. Its a fun time, when we start looking forward to what warmer weather may bring.
FOLLOW UP
Recently in a blog post I touted Johnny Price and his amazing acrobatic baseball work. You are in luck viewers, as I have found the film! Hold onto your hats, prepare to see baseball like you never have before!
Dude is impressive!
Much more of a natural athlete than other clowns, and totally entertaining.
I was reminded of this a couple years ago when the Evan Longoria commercial came out, showing his supernatural reflexes!
Longo is amazing, I have seen his work up close and in person, but I might need a vid of him taking swings and making contact while hanging upside down from his ankles.
I bet he could.... mebbe we can ask him to give it a go sometime and accept the challenge!
LEFT OF LONGO
Reid Brignac was given the dreaded "designated for assignment" tag by the Rays, his career with Tampa likely over. At one time it seemed that he and Evan were destined to be the left side of the Rays infield for the next decade plus, but the quiet middle infielder has struggled to put the ball in play consistently. At this point a change in venue is probably best for all, though Reid could have plenty of good years ahead, although it wont entail playing a few feet to the left of Longo.
Reid Brignac wearing #8 for Montgomery
DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
Back in April of 2005, the Biscuits held their meet-the-team event. Pure Americana under the roof in front of the ticket office. Some folding chairs were set to face other folding chairs, no risers or elevated stage, just at face level. At that time there was a handful of fans and interested parties, but the players outnumbered the attendees.
As it rained cats and dogs and even some small farm animals, I recall meeting James Shields and telling him "oh yeah it rains like this about three times a week". Pure lies, but it was great to see the look on Shields face as he pondered leading the league in rain-outs!
James Shields working quickly before it rains again
Also on that team, two shy but obviously gifted athletes - Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes. They both appeared nervous to be in a close setting with fans, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. The irony of Delmon getting a new contract on the same day of Elijahs arrest this offseason was not lost on me. Heres one guy who has just helped his team to the World Series, and the other so out of baseball that another drug bust doesnt even affect his playing time.
The odd part is that while we hear about his legal troubles, I never hear about Dukes being a jerk to random people on the streets. While on the other hand, Delmon is known to be the kind of guy who will make anti-semitic insults to people in a New York hotel before slamming them to the pavement.
Dukes swipe of third as a Biscuit wasnt a felony
Yet its Delmon that gets a share of world series money and a contract with the Phillies -albeit with a six million dollar pay cut. Still, better than a poke in the eye, as my mama would say. Or better even more than Dukes January 22nd drug arrest. Its odd to see two people diverge in such dramatic fashion.
Delmon as a Biscuit in 2005
That being said, I have to point out that its just some pot, people. At least he wasn't injecting heroin into baby seals or mainlining guppies in front of pregnant women. Its not like he threw a bat at an umpire, right?
