People in Sports Revered in Death or Retirement Wo Were Jerks

He was pretty tough then. I'd heard that the Streak changed him, the weight of it, but I didn't know him in his younger days so couldn't vouch.

 

I don't anything specific, except he was a cranky asshole with reporters, and that shitty clubhouse was so shitty in part because (not surprisingly) young players took his lead. I think the Orioles really suffered for having him there at some point.

 

Has been a major pain in the ass since the first couple years with the Cardinals. But time has a way of evening things out. I saw him when the Angels visited NY last year and not once in his three days did I see anyone approach him for anything. Playing with the best player on the planet (who happens to be from the area) can turn even Hall of Fame-bound players into furniture. Also, has any future Hall of Famer faced from the public consciousness like Pujols? Leaving St. Louis turned him completely anonymous.

 

He's not/was not really a major star, but Al Leiter was a real dick to me when I interviewed him before a Marlins-Braves game in Atlanta for a story about then-teammate Todd Jones, who was from the local area of the paper I worked for at the time. Leiter basically answered every question I asked with some version of "well, what do you think?"

Then-Marlins manager Jack McKeon, on the other hand, sat there for about 15 minutes in his ill-fitting uniform and answered every question I had like he'd never been asked it before. And Jones was cool, too.

 

Didn't go as well as Greg meeting Wes Parker.

 

Brett's big brother "ooooowns da Chiefs." Bobby and the family (George and Kemmer) also own some minor league baseball teams.

 

Wow. When Sidney Ponson, the guy who punched a judge, and Arthur Rhodes don't crack the top five of your undesirables list...

 

Padres were probably missing a few game balls next home game.

 

"Judge puncher" is a fabulous descriptor for someone. Says so much.

 

Who would he replace on that list? maybe Mussina? Thing about Mussina was it seemed he was more of a douche to guys he felt were trying to sound smarter than they are. At times he was a bitch though. His complaining about opening the season in Japan was classic. Forget the year, but he also wouldn't go on three days' rest when Davey Johnson asked him to in the final week.