Happy Birthday Lou Merloni!

Billy Jo Robidoux is from Ware, Mass which has traditionally led the state in the incidences of teen pregnancies and STD's.

I'm serious.

Billy Jo Robidoux is from Ware

 

Yes.

Turk Wendell is from Pittsfield and outside of Massachusetts he is best known as a somewhat eccentric pitcher but inside the Commonwealth he is best remembered for both inventing the drinking game popularly known as beer pong and for sodomizing Brent Musberger with a police billy club.

 

I thought BJR was from Wareham, then I looked it up...yep, Chris_L is right.

I remember the year he came to the Sox (1990) and someone in his family was stuffing the all-star ballot boxes...he had something like 20,000 votes. Imagine how many he'd have now with Internet voting.

I left off Wohlers because I was trying to go with guys who had somewhat substantial major-league careers. After the World Series flameout, he dropped off the face of the earth.

Is Gedman still coaching at Belmont Hill? He started there right after I stopped covering preps here.

I saw Manny Delcarmen pitch one game his senior year against Oliver Ames...his breaking ball was sick. I'd love to see a city kid do good.

(Where is Steve Lomasney nowadays? And is Jeff Allison making another comeback try?)

 

That reminds me:

 

Not to nit-pick, but Wohlers DID have a pretty substantial major league career.

Pitched in 533 games over 12 seasons, was a dominant closer on a WS champion and another NL pennant winner, played in four World Series and seven LCS overall, held the Braves single-season saves record until Smoltz broke the NL record in 2002, was involved in the combined no-hitter against San Diego in September 1991, etc., etc.

Yeah, he fell off the face of the earth from 1998-2000. But to say he didn't have a "substantial major league career" ... that's a little much.

 

Wicked - Rich Gedman is now Manager and Director of Baseball Operations for the Worcester Tornadoes in the CANAM League.

Another interesting player from Massachusetts is Doc Martin who was originally from Milton and who played parts of three seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 1900's. Doc Martin is of course better know for the shoes he created which bear his name.

Doc Martin learned about shoe-making while in prison for running an illegal cock-fighting ring. He learned shoe-making from another Central Mass legend - Thom McAnn who was in jail at the time because of debts. Thom McAnn later died pennyless after killing Buster Browne over a business dispute.

 

The things you learn on SportsJournalists.com.

 

Jeff Reardon from Dalton. Now go protect your local jeweler.

 

If Lou Merloni was from Sioux Falls, S.D., he would have been out of baseball four years ago. Instead, he turned into a cult hero and gets to bounce around the majors and minors.

 

Lou Merloni's grandfather - Taggart Merloni - was a WWII hero. He once single handedly saved the entire crew of the USS Lexington by throwing a perfectly placed fastball to knock an attacking Japanese Kamikaze Zero out of the sky but in doing so he blew out his arm and his dream of pitching in the major leagues died a hero's death.

Taggart's deathbed wish was for his grandson Lou to play in the big leagues.

One of the people Taggart Merloni saved on the USS Lexington was Don Knotts Selig (father of Bud). Knowing that if it wasn't for Taggart's sacrifice and pinpoint pitch control - Bud never would have been born - it has become Bud's mitzvah to help out Lou Merloni.

And now you know the rest of the story.