Are You Off Your Rocker?
With the Diamondbacks in Philadelphia last week, the Phillies, in honor of 6-foot-10 Arizona pitcher Randy Johnson, awarded free admission to any fan 6-8 or taller.
Then, when the Cardinals and Mark McGwire came in later in the week, the Phillies admitted free anyone whose name began with “Mc” or “Mac.”
This week, with the Reds visiting, to honor Ken Griffey Jr., all fans get in free, if they’re also a junior.
Bigots will gain free admission when Atlanta visits.
Hold on to that
The ball that eluded Bill Buckner found a new home - in the prize collection of a lifelong New York Mets fan.
Seth Swirsky, a songwriter and author in Beverly Hills, Calif., paid $63,945 Friday in an auction to get the ball that Mookie Wilson grounded through Buckner’s legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
“I think that ball is one of the few pieces in sports history that every single fan knows where they were when that play happened,” Swirsky said. “It’s a part of sports folklore.
“I grew up in New York and love the Mets, and that helped, too,” he said.
The ball previously belonged to actor Charlie Sheen, who paid $93,500 in 1992.
He should be writing the blues after paying $64,000 for a ball Billy Buck couldn’t stop and Charlie Sheen didn’t want.
What’s this humility stuff?
Charles Barkley to the Houston Chronicle on his retirement:
“Nobody has had a better life than me. Every night I pray and say, `I don’t know why you chose me, but thanks.”’
You get what you pay for
Cincinnati general manager Jim Bowden, after his Reds were swept and outscored 36-7 by the Los Angeles Dodgers:
“For whatever reason right now, we’re atrocious. We’re just playing bad baseball. You can’t put too much camouflage on it.
“Right now, the general manager stinks, the starting pitchers stink, the relief pitchers stink, the hitters and fielders stink. We need to buy some deodorant and cologne.”
It’s nothing a future Hall of Fame bargain center fielder couldn’t fix.
Self esteem not a problem
The secret to NBA playoff success is Jerry Stackhouse. Just ask him.
“When I look back at this team’s playoff history and I see how they kept getting bounced out of the playoffs after the first round, well, all I can think is, I wasn’t here and maybe that’s why,” said Stackhouse, a swingman for the Detroit Pistons.
No explanation yet as to why the Pistons were bounced again this year.
The last word …
“Have you checked out Houston’s Enron Field? They ought to call it the Anti-Dome. Don Zimmer could go out of that place with his fungo bat.”
- Jim Armstrong, Denver Post