I caddied for both George Blanda and Stan Mikita (one time each, separately)
Obscure sports stats
- Thread starter 4Afan
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I was in my office yesterday and decided to turn on the Brewers, Yankees opening day game at the stadium. Catcher Austin Wells led off for the Yankees and hit a homerun. A little later Joe Buck said it was the first time in MLB history a catcher hit a leadoff homerun on opening day and he was the first Yankee to hit a leadoff homerun on opening day. I would never have guessed the second part of that in thinking about the Yankee history.
Joe Buck said it. Must be true, right? LOL!
And, in other news. The White Sox won yesterday! As Mel Allen would say; "How about that?" The White Sox!! The Chicago White Sox!! The FIRST PLACE White Sox!! 😄 😄
Joe Buck said it. Must be true, right? LOL!
And, in other news. The White Sox won yesterday! As Mel Allen would say; "How about that?" The White Sox!! The Chicago White Sox!! The FIRST PLACE White Sox!! 😄 😄
I am and have been personal friends with some past MLB players. One in particular. How many stories do you want to hear?
I will tell one but this guy is not the one I am closest to. I haven't spoken to him in quite a while, in fact. Back in 1986, 87 or 88 I was at a Twins White Sox game at old Comiskey Park and it began to rain and the game was delayed. I decided to take a walk on the lowest level around the concession stands. As I went to the 3rd base side I saw Ozzie Guillen looking out of the clubhouse door.
He saw me and we smiled at each other and he called me over. We knew each other from minor league ball and he took me into the clubhouse to shoot the sh*t. We did some laughing about that team and we also agreed that the manager of the team was a real jag. A REAL ass. Neither of us could stand him. Steve Lyons came over and said hi. I didn't know him but he just seemed like one of the crazies. He looked like he loved to have "fun."
I was in there for about 20-30 minutes until it was time for them to go. Ozzie could have blown me off. But he didn't. There were some people who didn't like him but I got along with him. It was a nice gesture by him.
I do have another Ozzie Guillen story from opening day on that team we played on. There is some irony in it.
I will tell one but this guy is not the one I am closest to. I haven't spoken to him in quite a while, in fact. Back in 1986, 87 or 88 I was at a Twins White Sox game at old Comiskey Park and it began to rain and the game was delayed. I decided to take a walk on the lowest level around the concession stands. As I went to the 3rd base side I saw Ozzie Guillen looking out of the clubhouse door.
He saw me and we smiled at each other and he called me over. We knew each other from minor league ball and he took me into the clubhouse to shoot the sh*t. We did some laughing about that team and we also agreed that the manager of the team was a real jag. A REAL ass. Neither of us could stand him. Steve Lyons came over and said hi. I didn't know him but he just seemed like one of the crazies. He looked like he loved to have "fun."
I was in there for about 20-30 minutes until it was time for them to go. Ozzie could have blown me off. But he didn't. There were some people who didn't like him but I got along with him. It was a nice gesture by him.
I do have another Ozzie Guillen story from opening day on that team we played on. There is some irony in it.
Surprisingly no. He's 62 now (can't believe it)! However Rich Hill is still trying. Which lead me to this stat "Hill is the only pitcher in MLB history with a perfect game broken up by a ninth-inning fielding error and with a no-hitter broken up in extra innings by a walk-off home run, both of which occurred in the same game in 2017."
And they used to train at the old Maine North high school, which was also used as an athletic club at the time. I used to swim there in summer of 83 and met Greg Landry and George Allen.
Decades ago my young son and I went to a Sox game early with our gloves for batting practice. It was cancelled for some reason that day. So we just walked around the outside of the stadium and saw Guillen standing at the top of some stairway. He waved, disappeared briefly, then came back out with a ball he threw down to my son. Unforgettable to this day.
Ozzie was a great person, a great manager, and a great comedian. Too bad Jerry has no sense of humor.
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My Realtor was Mike Tomczak’s mom. She showed me a ton of homes when I moved to Chicago in the early 90’s. She was a really good realtor and an even a better person. 🙂
Did the Bears ever have a worse quarterback? Yes, there are many players competing for that honor. But Tomczak is uniquely qualified. As the captain of some very good teams, he could single-handedly turn a win into a loss. And he did it so many times that it became a trademark. Okay, here's my obscure sports stat: From '86 through '89, he threw for 30 TDs and 42 INTs.
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His record as a starter for the Bears was 21-10. That would put him as one of the best QBs they've had. He didn't light it up with his numbers, but he won.
Also, he only started more than 10 games once, in 1989 he started 11 games so not sure he was ever a captain.
Can’t disagree. I had a conversation with his Mom. She said the Steve worked his butt off but only made to the USFL but Mike was loaded with talent but didn’t have the work ethic. That said he played for the Bears and Steelers for a long career. Cool to talk to her. I talked to Steve a lot while working out at his gym. There dad Ron coached at Thornton then helped coach special teams at LWE as did Steve with the Quarterbacks. Nice family.
Every quarterback is a captain, at least in a figurative sense.
First time hearing this, but it explains a lot.
Just no. He wasn't even a full time starter. So using this logic you viewed Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton as captains? Does that mean someone like Deshaun Watson should be viewed as a captain just because he's a QB?
As it relates to Tomczak, "didn't have the work ethic," consider the year 1984, his last at Ohio State. He broke his leg in the Spring Game at OSU to return during Week 2 of the regular season. He led the Buckeyes to a 9-3 record, Big Ten title and 3-point loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. Must have been some rehab work put in.
Tomczak must have had something going for him, he played 15 seasons. That's a solid NFL pension
I can't say I was a huge fan of Mike Tomczak. But I didn't hate the guy either. It was going to be hard for any QB to follow Jim McMahon because Bears fans loved McMahon...at least until the end of his Chicago career.
I do recall an incident between Tomczak and Jim Harbaugh when Harbaugh accused him of relaying signals to Jim McMahon on the Chargers sideline during an preseason game while Harbaugh was in the game. I guess Harbaugh approached Tomczak after the game about it and Tomczak said he and McMahon were just messing around and it wouldn't happen again. Good thing there wasn't a fight because I doubt the outcome would have been favorable for Tomczak.
I do recall an incident between Tomczak and Jim Harbaugh when Harbaugh accused him of relaying signals to Jim McMahon on the Chargers sideline during an preseason game while Harbaugh was in the game. I guess Harbaugh approached Tomczak after the game about it and Tomczak said he and McMahon were just messing around and it wouldn't happen again. Good thing there wasn't a fight because I doubt the outcome would have been favorable for Tomczak.
If we are going to talk about a Bears QB without a good work ethic the guy at the top of the list is Jim McMahon. But he did win games and is still the only Bears QB who has won a Super Bowl. One off season he was doing commercials for Taco Bell and showed up for training camp 30 pounds overweight. Somehow he escaped a lot of scrutiny which goes to show, as long as a guy is winning people will let a lot of negative things go. But the minute he starts losing everything seems to come to the surface quickly.
He really changed course on sign stealing over the years
Aaron Judge became the first Yankee to hit four homeruns in the opening three games of the season. Again, another surprise considering their history. The Yankees also became the third team in MLB history to hit nine homeruns in a game when they accomplished the feat on Saturday with Judge contributing three blasts.
On Saturday, they also became the first team in MLB history to hit home runs on the first three pitches.
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