The Bronx and the Texas Two-Step (Part 2)

Dallas and Dixie 

On Monday morning the 17th of June I hopped a Southwest Airlines jet to Austin, Texas. I'd never been to Austin but I got a chance to peruse the lovely airport for a few hours before catching another plane to Love Field in Dallas. Upon my arrival in Big D I picked up my car and headed to my hotel. I got about 2 hours worth of nap before heading off to towards Fort Worth in the town of Arlington. Arlington which my good friend Greg Cockrell refers to as "the armpit of DFW".  I'd forgotten how crazy Texas drivers were. I'd been to Houston for the first time last year when I visited Enron Field/Minute Maid Park. Dallas drivers are whack, but Houston drivers would easily beat them in a NASCAR race. No doubt. 

I met up with the aforementioned Greg Cockrell at the seats inside the stadium known as Globe Life Field. It is not to be confused with Globe Life Park which is across the street and is now known as Choctaw Stadium, home of the UFL's Arlington Renegades and I believe the soccer team known by the pretentious name FC Dallas. Greg had amazing seats right behind home plate. He'd brought along a few signs on poster board each measuring 24"x36". They were first used some 7 years ago. One of them simply reads "Lets Go Mets" while another is a drawing of the home run apple from Shea Stadium and now Citi Field. Greg and I met a few years ago at Mets Fantasy Camp. We lockered next to each other purely on the basis of our last names being sequential of all the players who had not designated another camper to team with. It turns out to be one of the most fortuitous things leading to a friendship that I have ever had.

The Mets came to town on a 5-game winning streak which was a lot considering how poorly they had been playing as of late. The game didn't turn out like we thought it would. They Mets homered three times on then night as part of a 22-hit barrage and a 14-2 victory over the defending World Champion Rangers. We glad-handed and cheered along with dozens of Met fans who made the trip from all over the country. Greg lives locally so his travel was considerably shorter. We were joined by another great friend of ours, "Bobble Ed" Moore. Ed is also a long-time Mets Fantasy Camper and a member of the MFC Hall of Fame. Ed also owns over 500 bobble head dolls in his collection, thus the nickname. During the contest we showed up a few times on the broadcast on SNY which is based in New York City and carries most of the games on television. I'm fortunate in that I am able to receive SNY on my DirecTV subscription. So friends of each of us are blowing up our respective phones telling us they just saw us after a home run or something like that. We left the ballpark with a good feeling after seeing our guys eviscerate the local nine. We looked forward to running the winning streak to 7 the next evening back at GLF.

Game two of the series saw Greg and I joined by another MFC brother one Steve Gruber. Steve lives in Scottsdale and was coming to town to see games two and three of the series. His travels were far more complicated than anyone's should have been. He was delayed 4 hours out of Phoenix. Somehow his bag did not make it onto the plane along with him. When he finally arrived into Arlington he couldn't get to his room right away because the fire alarm had gone off. As a matter of fact , Bobble Ed and I saw a couple of fire trucks head past us as we were having a snack before entering the stadium. Those fire trucks were going to...well, you probably guessed that by now. So Steve is without any Mets-related attire for the game and is simply wearing what he has had on since he arrived at Sky Harbor Airport earlier in the morning. His bag had not yet left the state of Arizona at game time. But on we go. 

Two days earlier Steve had texted me and asked me to please tell him I would be wearing The Mets Suit for one of the games in Texas. I hadn't packed nor even considered The Mets Suit for a game appearance. The Mets Suit is a sport coat, pants and tie which I have worn to the annual Casino Night during the week of Mets Fantasy Camp for the past three years. It was a late night purchase made on Amazon during COVID. It is a classic example in what can happen during a pandemic at 2 am on the internet with a charge card. It is 147% polyester which means that if I stand too long in the Florida or Texas heat I could literally burst into flames without warning. It's made by a company called Suitmeister, I believe. But I figured I could opt out if I chose to do so. So I packed it in my bag just in case. I told Greg on Monday not to mention it to Steve as to surprise him the next night. And surprised he was. So we were joined Greg's lovely wife Shari at the game and were seated in the row immediately behind the Mets dugout for the game. 

As I entered the ballpark I was greeted by a great many people who were stunned, shocked, amused and stupefied by my choice of wardrobe for the evening. Many fist bumps and high fives as I made my way through the concourse down to the lower level where my seat was located. I had a couple ask to take my picture as they were part of a scavenger hunt with some others. I hadn't heard about scavenger hunts since the movie of the same name back in the 70s or 80s, I'm not sure. Either way, it was a huge hit. People stopped me just to ask if they could get a photo with me. One Rangers fan asked me where I got it and I said, "Amazon.com". His reply was, "Is it too late to return it?" And that's when I stabbed him in the neck with a plastic fork. No, no, no, that's not what happened, but I thought about it. While having a pregame snack in the posh Lexus Club a server stopped over and asked me, "Are you a Rangers fan?" To which I answered, "Yes, the NEW YORK Rangers!" 

So the game turns out to be a very good contest. About the fourth inning word started to get passed around of the passing of Willie Mays. Mays was probably the greatest player of all time. I got to see him only once in person and that was during the 1973 season which was his final year playing for the Mets. So it wasn't the Mays that so many people saw in his prime, but just to see him on the field was very cool. The Mets got down 6-2 but scratched back and won it 7-6 for their 7th straight victory. On the way out the photo requests were plentiful. One woman said to her husband, "Just go stand next to him, he won't mind." And she was correct. I haven't taken that many photos with anyone since my days as T.C. Bear over 20 years ago. Now, people who know me best know that I am not someone who likes being the center of attention, but the chance to step out of that persona for a few hours was a nice change. Not a comfortable one, but a nice one. 

The Rangers put on a great show. Their game production is very good. They are true to their locale while trying to make the game as enjoyable to everyone regardless of their demographic. The have a mascot named Rangers Captain. He's a horse. A two-legged horse, but a horse nonetheless. I would've liked to have gotten a photo with Captain but he wasn't in my area either game unfortunately. The have cheerleaders. Cheerleaders don't belong in baseball. They belong about 1/2 mile up the street on AT&T Way at AT&T Stadium aka Jerry World. It is a behemoth of a building and the home of the Dallas Cowboys. If you are interested in games going on elsewhere in baseball it is not a good place, because they only update them one game at a time on their scoreboards. But that should be the worst thing that happens. If you get a chance to visit GLF definitely go. You'll enjoy it.

After a few hours of sleep I was on my way to Love Field to catch a flight to the busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. After I landed I got my rental car and headed north on I-285 to an area in Cobb County known as The Battery. They've done an amazing job of intermingling an entertainment area with restaurants and clubs with the baseball stadium. 

I parked about a mile away from the park for $40 but with the temperature of 95 degrees at game time it was money well spent. The Braves new home has a very clean feel to it and the game production is good. The skyline of office buildings is nice if you don't mind looking at corporate headquarters for xfinity/Comcast,  Racetrac and a large Omni Hotel. The organist is something I liked. The organist is very topical to visiting players' names like "The Can-Can" for Mark Canha, Theme from Scooby Doo for Alik Baddoo and things like that. They have a mascot named Blooper but I don't really know what Blooper is. I'm not sure anyone does. But it is definitely Dixie baseball. Nice people though, to be sure. There are a couple of in-game activities like HugCam, the ball-in-cap shuffle and their version of the Dot Race which is sponsored by The Home Depot and is run by a power drill, a hammer, a paint brush and a bucket. But the one event I was looking forward to seeing was "Beat The Freeze" where one fan gets to race a former college track star on foot from the left field corner to the right field corner. The Freeze has lost but one time I believe and that was last August. So even though you know the eventual outcome it is entertaining to this reporter, I will say. 

Following the game I headed south down I-85 to a soul food restaurant called Big Daddy's Dish. I frequented Big Daddy's when I worked for AirTran Airways as we were based out of the ATL. Bryn and I used to go there every time we would go see the Mets play at Turner Field, which was Olympic Stadium for the 1996 Summer games and then converted for baseball. But apparently it aged too quickly and less than 25 years after they moved into it the Braves left to head north about 20 miles and their new digs. 

One flight to Chicago and another to America's Favorite Twin Cities and I was soon with my three attack-trained watch dachshunds, Bella, Shea and Honey. They greatly excited but cared little about where dad had been and only wondered when the next meal would be forthcoming. But that's how they roll, and I'm okay with that. 

Three ballparks out of the way this year. Two remain on the schedule. Anaheim with the Mets on August 3rd and Philadelphia with the Mets on September 13th. On the flight home from Chicago I pondered what to do after I "complete the cycle". I will have seen games in the 30 current plus 10 ballparks which no longer exist. The Oakland A's are supposedly moving to Sacramento next season for three years so that's a possibility. Otherwise I could start the loop all over again. Boston for the first time in 47 years? Could be.

I'm just sayin'

The Bronx and the Texas Two-Step (Part 1)

 The first three weeks of June in 2024 have gotten me back to one of my bucket list items and that is to visit all 30 current major league baseball stadiums. Someone asked me two nights ago how this quest got started. Well, like a lot of things in life it didn't start out as a "bucket list" item per se. It evolved from my love of this game. My "first' ballpark would be Shea Stadium. It was geographically the closest to my hometown of Stamford, Connecticut. My estimate would be that my first game was there in 1965 at the age of 3. I have a ticket stub from a game from that season and I'm linking it to my first game ever. Shea is important to me for a couple of reasons. Not only was it the second home of my favorite baseball team but I found out an interesting fact when I was about 12 years old. My aunt Bea had collected every Met yearbook to that point and while flipping through the pages I saw a black & white photo of the groundbreaking ceremony for what was going to be called Flushing Meadow Park. The date of the photo was October 28, 1961. I was born just across the border in Stamford probably 10 hours later. So that was "a sign" to myself about what team I should follow. That and my aunt would have not tolerated any other team, period.

So it's a case of realizing that I had seen games in a good number of ballparks before I'd thought about "completing the set" so to speak. The second and now earliest park is Fenway in Boston. My brother Rudy took me to a game in 1978. I still have the yearbook and program from that day. My number was at 4 when I met my future wife Bryn in 1984. I told her early on that the best she could do with my heart was be in third place behind my mother and baseball. Somehow she decided that just being on the medal stand would be great with her. And so the ballparks began to add up. We married in 1991 and the ballpark number went up fairly quickly. We saw games together at 17 current parks and 8 that are no longer. Her breathing issues later in life forced her to leave the games to myself. Before her passing in April 2022 she told me that she wanted me to "complete the set" for us and that she would be with me in any case. 

When 2024 began I had just five more parks to visit. After perusing the schedule for months I laid out a plan to "run the table" this year. The schedule for the following year is now released before the end of the current season, which was not the way it was done until the past few years. I set my start point to be a one day out-and-back to the Bronx, NY to see the home team play, ironically, my former employers the Minnesota Twins. Here's my assessment of Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees are all business. They barely acknowledge that there may be fans under the age of 18 in the crowd. There's no mascot (although there was one named Dandy back in the 70's- google it), there are no dancers on top of the dugout, no dot races, no racing snacks, hardware store items, no masked sprinters, no random meat sprints, no giant dead presidents and no gargantuan former players. The closest thing they have to that is the grounds crew who during the second field drag and base change drop their rakes and dance to "YMCA" while it plays on the sound system. People dig that and I kinda enjoyed it myself. The soon-to-be-intoxicated revelers in the right field stand shout out the starting lineup for the local nine in the top of the first inning. I rather enjoyed that choreographed fan behavior. They had one trivia game where they asked fans to name the last 16 players to wear a particular uniform number. I thought that to be clever as well. There was the obligatory "find the ball under the hat" game which probably started as the shell game on the streets of New York. But the bottom line is they are "all bidness" at the place on 161st Street. They don't do the ridiculous City Connect jerseys because they don't have to. Their jerseys are pinstriped. "Crisp and clean with no caffeine" even though the logo on their caps does not match the logo on their uniforms. But I left the park having enjoyed the game and the stadium. I didn't wish to wear anything offensive like one of my Mets jerseys so I opted for my Roy Hobbs New York Knights jersey from "The Natural". Better safe than sorry, right? On the Sun Country flight back home I began thinking out the next trip. Just 12 days away before heading off to Dallas AND Atlanta. For the scoop on THAT trip tune in tomorrow. (Or later today if you're so inclined. I'm just glad you read it this far.)

I'm just sayin'

The Mets' 2015 Pennant Run

On Tuesday October 27, 2015 the New York Mets opened the 2015 World Series against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. It was the franchise's fifth appearance in the Fall Classic and the first since 2000. All of those have occurred in my lifetime, but it was the first since 1986 in which I had the chance to be "all in". Back in 2000 I was a full-time employee of the Minnesota Twins and was unable to track my boys' every day of the season.  

The beauty of satellite television, SNY Network and mlb.tv have gave me the opportunity to view the Orange and Blue over 150 games that season alone. I had watched this team from spring training through the entire season and seen them do amazing things. The 2015 version of the Metropolitans started off by reeling-off a perfect 10-game homestead in April. Now, of course no one could expect this trend to continue and of course it didn't. They were 2-3 after five games and were last at .500 on July 2nd at 40-40. On July 30th they lost to San Diego when with one out to go before winning it a torrential rainstorm caused a two-hour rain delay. The rain stopped just long enough for the Padres to go ahead 8-7 on a home run which was followed by another hour-long rain delay. Following THAT delay they could not muster a run and lost 8-7. They were 52-50 and they were pretty much languishing in their own despair. 

The Washington Nationals, who were the preseason favorites to win it all, were underachieving and the Mets' front office decided that if the Nats wanted to spend the month of October on the golf course then they would assist them in their tee-time scheduling.  After a couple of brilliant acquisitions the team took off. They won 37 of their next 54 games. 

In early September I made a "magic number countdown" sheet which I quickly drew up one day while on a break at work. It showed the schedules of the Nationals and Mets through remainder of the month. I guessed which games each teams would lose and this would show a running magic number down the side. I didn't anticipate a rainout which the Nationals had in Baltimore, but it came out with the Mets clinching the division during either the third or fourth game of their series in Cincinnati.  Now, I have a high school friend who lives in Cincinnati and had made arrangements to have tickets to the Saturday game in The Queen City. These tickets had been purchased BACK IN JUNE. It was just going to be a fun out of town trip to see some late-season baseball, because there was no expectation that a division title may be at stake when the purchase took place.  

My late wife Bryn had become a big Mets fan over the years of our marriage, at that time closing in on 24 years in length. I wanted her to experience firsthand what it was like to be at a game with playoff implications. So on September 14th we traveled to New York to see the Mets take on the Miami Marlins in seats located just 5 rows directly behind home plate. We see them win 4-3 and head back home the next day. I told her that the Saturday game, which we already had tickets for, was the game which I predicted would either clinch a tie for the division title or a flat-out winning of the NL East. 

The magic number 1 going into the Saturday game against the Reds. We left Minneapolis early in the morning and had to fly to Columbus and then drove the 100+ miles to "The 'Nati". We arrived at Great American Ballpark in the bottom of the fifth due to a 90-minute flight delay out of Chicago Midway and some traffic on the interstate.

We'd listened to the game while en route on the Reds' flagship station, WLW-AM.  The Mets were in great shape and lead by a 7-2 score with Matt Harvey on the mound. The game was 10-2 going to the bottom of the 9th frame and Jeurys Familia on the mound to close it out. Familia had been a savior of the season out of the bullpen. He was penciled-in to be the set-up man for the closer Henry Mejia.  Mejia got hurt warming up on opening day in Washington and went on the injured  list. But before he could get off of the IL he was suspended for 81 games for violating MLB's substance abuse policy. Familia didn't miss a beat and just after the All-Star Game Mejia was eligible to return.  But before that could happen, Mejia was suspended again for the same offense, this time for a full year. And thus the legend of Jeurys Familia was off and running.

Familia closed out the division clincher by striking out future Met Jay Bruce and the team celebrated on the field and then in the clubhouse. Bryn and I had been seated directly behind the Reds' dugout and made our way down the  concourse to the sections behind the visitors dugout. At one point the team came out and greeted those of us Met fans who were behind their dugout after they had partied in the clubhouse. It was such a blast to be a part of the on-field celebration. I actually ended up with champagne getting on my jacket in the post-game, sprayed on us by none other than manager Terry Collins himself. So it was from one Collins to another, I guess. Who wouldn't love being a part of that? 

The playoffs brought the Los Angeles Dodgers in the League Division Series. The Mets won game 1 and lost game 2 after the now-infamous sliding play involving Chase Utley. I will save my opinion about the umpires' decision for another time, but it mattered little as the Mets then took on the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series.  They won the best-of-seven series 4-0, surprising the masses and making the Mets' fan base ecstatic.  Not many people could've imagined this scenario back in June or July. 

The World Series began in Kansas City due to the fact that the American League had won the All-Star Game in July. The Royals jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning as they scored on an inside the park homer on the first pitch thrown by Matt Harvey. They came back to tie the score and even go ahead, just to lose the lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Royals won in the bottom of the 14th inning. 

From there the team just wasn't quite the same. They only won the third game of the series, the first World Series ever played at Citi Field. The "feel good" game, as I call it. The Royals closed out the series on a strikeout of late-season hero Wilmer Flores. 

The trip to Cincinnati was an absolute blast. It's hard to believe that 8 years since that day we traveled to Ohio to see the clincher. Bryn lost her 3-year battle with COPD and Parkinson's in April 2022, but I know she enjoyed the trip and the eventual outcome. And for that September 26th will always be a special date. 

The 2022 Hall of Fame Class

This Sunday, the baseball Hall of Fame will welcome its induction class of 2022. Seven former players will be inshrined in Cooperstown, New York. Of those seven I can say that I've had interaction with four of them. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had these interactions and thought I'd take a few moments to share some with you. 

On my first visit to Kansas City my late wife Bryn and I visited the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame Museum located in the city's 18th & Vine section of town. It was a thrill for myself to see photographs and actual footage of these pioneers in the league who were barred from participating in the major leagues simply because of their race. The displays were great and I learned a great deal during our visit. As we were getting near the end of the self-guided tour we heard a very familiar voice coming from the area of the gift shop just down the hallway. We each looked at each other and in unison said, "He's here!" 

"He" would be one John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil. A former player in the Negro Leagues. Having seen "Ken Burns Baseball" on PBS not too long before this day we were ecstatic with the possibility of meeting the man in person. We made our way toward the gift shop and there he was. It was mid afternoon on a weekday so there weren't very many people in the gift shop, but we slowly moved towards mr. O'Neil and listened like little kids as he waxed rhapsodic about some of his experiences back in the day. We went over to look at some of the items for sale in the shop and each picked up a commemorative baseball with the intent of having Buck sign them for us. This meeting took place, sadly, before the advent of the cell phone, so we have no photos to document the moment. But we approached him and kindly asked for him to sign each our baseballs for us. He graciously did so with that incredible smile and we left with the thought that we'd "caught lightning in a bottle" in the fact that we'd seen him in person. He went on to work tirelessly to have Negro League players inducted to the hall. When there was a special ballot in 2006 for Negro league players, managers and executives 17 of those figures were selected but somehow he himself was not. Later that year O'Neil passed away at the age of 94 due to heart failure. But meeting man himself was surely one of my greatest meetings ever.

David Ortiz came to the Minnesota Twins on September 13, 1996 from the Seattle Mariners. He was essentially traded for a third baseman named Dave Hollins as part of an earlier transaction. I'd become a full-time front office employee of the Twins in February of 1996. Before that i'd been on the fan relations staff which allowed me to have some occasional contact with the players. Hollins is without a doubt the most despicable player I ever dealt with. He might just as well have worn a blaze orange t-shirt with "I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE" in large letters on it. So when I heard that he'd been dispatched to the great Northwest I was certainly pleased. He wasn't known as David Ortiz then. He was actually known as David Arias, Arias being his maternal family name. Ortiz is his paternal family name. 

Ortiz had great power and showed it early in his time with the Twins. He was slated to be their first baseball for 1998 but fractured his wrist in May of that year. My very first interaction with him came in July of 1998. It was a game night and he stopped by my office which was just down the hall from the Twins locker room. His English was nowhere near what you hear from him today own Fox Sports. But he came in the door and told me that he was being sent to Triple-A Salt Lake and he needed to know where they were currently playing on the road. For some reason I had a pocket schedule for the Buzz in my desk drawer. Rather than try to explain to him where he would need to be traveling to I just handed it to him after showing him where on the calendar were currently were. He was incredibly grateful and he told me that a couple of years later when he came back to the big club. the Twins ran our of patience with his productivity and he was released at the end of the 2002 season. 

The Boston Red Sox signed him as a free agent before the 2003 season. And the rest, as they say, is history. "Big Papi" was born in Beantown. One of the funniest things I've ever read in Sports Illustrated was penned by comedian Seth Meyers, who on January 23, 2003 wrote: "We just signed some guy named David Ortiz. I was excited until I saw he was RELEASED BT THE TWINS!!!!!! WTF are the Sox doing signing a guy who was RELEASED BY THE TWINS?! It's time to admit we're going to die without ever seeing the Red Sox win a World Series. I'm done with baseball. I'm going to use the free time to learn French. Au revoir." 

The Red Sox went on to win three World Series with Ortiz becoming one to the greatest designated hitters in the history of the game. I was working at the airport one evening and the Sox were leaving town that night on a charter. I was working the checkpoint that night and recognized some of the players. He saw me and came over and gave me a huge hug which nearly took most of my available breath away. My co-workers were stunned and I just told them that we'd known each other before he was Big Papi. So to see him honored in this way is very cool because I really DID know him when not many had. Bravo, my friend. Bravo.

My best times with Jim Kaat would have to have been in the Twins dining room at the Metrodome. My office was on the other side of the wall of the dining room. So on game nights I would often head around the corner and grab a seat in the back corner with some of the announcers and other media folk. It would look the same every night except for some of the media personnel from the visiting team would change depending on the opponent. Bob Casey would bring his grumpy self into the room and write the starting lineups on the chalkboard on the wall. No dry erase board for Bob, he was old school. Chalk. Eraser. Mission accomplished. But on the nights when "Kitty" was at my table I was all ears. He told so many great stories about his career, not only with the Twins, but with the other teams he hurled for. He was like listening to an audio track of a documentary. Those of you who know me know how much of a documentary junkie I really am. To see him go to the hall is a thrill as well because he's so humble and a genuinely kind human being. He was a great of the game. He always treated me well and I appreciate that so very much.

Finally, a bit about Tony Oliva. Tony Oliva turned 84 years of age this week.........or DID he?

When I think of Tony I flash back to two different experiences in my baseball past.  

In addition to my normal 9-5 shift I would often work as an usher's supervisor during games. I would often wear a suit during the games to at least look like I had some authority. But anyone who knows me knows that I'm more comfortable in a suit than anything other than a baseball uniform. 

As a front office employee I had access to "house seats" for myself and/or guests to use at each home game. One weekend evening my wife had use of my tickets and she was seated near the top of section 125 at the Metrodome which was directly behind home plate. The seat next to her was open at a time when I was near this section and so I took a seat for a short spell. I was seated in an aisle seat and a gentleman approached me as he ascended the steps to my left. He extended a new baseball toward me along with a pen. I said to him, "Who do you think I am?" He smiled and said, "You're Tony Oliva, right?" Now I don't really look much like Tony other than skin tone, although I DO slightly resemble his son, Pedro. I leaned forward and told him that I wasn't Tony but that Tony WAS seated directly behind me, which he really was. I stood up so that he could use the space to chat with the man himself and went back to work in the concourses. 

But my favorite memory took place without a game going on at the time. 

It was 22 years ago this week. About four or five of us front office employees were sitting in an office in the marketing/promotions area of the offices at the Dome. When I walked in the group was watching some of Tony's "greatest hits" on VHS videotape. (You youngsters may need to Google that term). We all were amazed at how great a hitter he really was. We wondered what he could have done if he'd played during the astroturf era. 

Minutes later the man himself walked through the door. We knew he was in the building and would be joining us shortly. So after we all greeted the should-be Hall of Famer someone in the room asked him a couple of questions. I wish I could remember exactly who it was, but I'd only be guessing. "Tony, if you had played during the astroturf era would you have been able to hit .400?" After a short pause he said, "Oh yeah. I could have." We all chuckled at his confidence level on this topic. But the funniest moment of his visit was yet to come. 

Someone said, "Tony, we know your birthday is this week. The Star Tribune said you were going to turn 62 but the media guide says you're going to be 63. So, what year were you born?" So the room got totally silent. Now, due to a paperwork switch at Tony's arrival in the U.S. to reflect the name and birthdate of his younger brother Pedro Jr. in order to appear younger to major league scouts, many newspapers reported the 21-year-old Tony as his 18-year-old sibling. 

So after a few seconds of contemplating the question he replies to us by asking in his unmistakable latin accent, "What year is good for you?"  The room totally broke out in hysterical laughter, because I don't believe any of us had anticipated such a response.

Tony remained my choice for the most-deserving major league player who has yet to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He had a career average of .304, won the rookie of the year award, won three batting titles and was an 8-time all star. I only hoped that this changed and especially while he is able to enjoy the induction. And on Sunday it WILL change as he gets his due.

So there's my take on some of the inductees who are getting there just rewards in Cooperstown on Sunday afternoon. As I often tell some people, "Most of life is timing". And my fortunate timing has had me cross paths these four baseball greats.

Some have said I'm kinda like a sports version of Forrest Gump. I believe there may be a book in there somewhere. If that happens, I'll make sure you all know about it. 

I'm just sayin'

Hey Hey Hey, We're the Buccaneers

Many of my friends and acquaintances know how much I love baseball, auto racing and hockey. But not very many know that I was a musician at one time. No, not a full-time musician, but a pretty decent one nonetheless. 

In the fall of 1979 I began what would become an incomplete bachelor's degree quest at the University of Tampa. I was a trumpet player in the concert band and eventually added jazz band to my schedule as well. A number of my band mates at UT, I found out, were members of the marching band for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team. I know what you're saying. A marching band for an NFL team? Well, yes. They were one of only three teams who had marching bands. The others being the Washington Commandos and the Baltimore Colts. Other teams, the Kansas City Chiefs for one, had bands who played one the sidelines but did not march on the field. 

My Bucs Band career unofficially began in the fall of 1980. It was shortly after I attended a Rams-Buccaneers game on the Monday night of week 2 of that season. The ticket which I purchased from a scalper got me a seat right near the band. I knew some of the members and I watched them as they performed and seemed to have a great deal of fun. I wanted in. So I inquired as to how I might be able to make this happen. My bandmates told me when the next auditions would be and I made plans to participate at that time.  

I was warmly greeted into the Bucs Band in the spring of 1981. My first gig with the band would be during the band's annual weekend at Disney World. I was kinda nervous going into it, but my bandmates made me feel at home. I made the drive north on I-75 towards the Magic Kingdom. For those of you "youngsters", Disney World at that time had but one exit in each direction to take you to the park. Even then, after taking the exit you drove past countless orange groves and undeveloped land which made one wonder whatever would they do with this seemingly vast wasteland of nothingness. Currently, I believe that there are 4-6 exits in each direction off of the interstate which will take you to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot (which was still 18 months from opening), Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and all of the hotels and vast array of Disney properties which now exist. We played in an area at what is now known as Disney Springs. But the biggest thrill of the weekend was playing in the Main Street Parade on Saturday afternoon. After that show they shuffled us off to a "backstage" area, like all acts normally would. This put us into an area where the general public never gets to go. All around we were surrounded by cast members who are moving themselves from one area to another. Some in full costume others in partial costume. Let me tell you, it's more than a little disconcerting to see Chip AND Dale strolling around holding their little chipmunk heads under their little chipmunk arms. Come to think of it THIS may have been the beginning of my interest in being a mascot which topped out when I was T.C. Bear with the Minnesota Twins some 19 years into the future. 

Being in the band was fun. We wore these bright, nearly fluorescent orange uniforms made from approximately 124% polyester. The shirts had ruffed sleeves much like Jerry Seinfeld's pirate shirt. The collars were pointed and extended out to our shoulders. We supplied our own white pants and white shoes. The uniform also included a red sash which went around our waists and then the sash had the picture of the team logo, which was a character named "Bucco Bruce". Bruce was inspired by actor Errol Flynn as he starred in two films, "The Last Of The Buccaneers" and "Captain Blood". His likeness was joked about by other teams and even our own fans, especially when the team was not playing well, which was more often than not.  The knife in Bruce's teeth would sometimes be drawn as though it had been transplanted from his mouth to being inserted through his ear. But his likeness stuck around and was used for over 20 seasons. There was even a stylish red hat which reminded me of the character Huggy Bear from the tv show "Starsky & Hutch", but I don't remember ever wearing it for any performances. 

The band was popular. Very popular. We would perform at the weekly pep rally at Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg on Thursday nights. We would play a few tunes and the cheerleaders, the Swash-buc-lers, would perform as well. There was even a mascot known as the Baaad Buc, who was sponsored by WDAE radio. The cheerleaders would sign autographs and so did some band members. I will never forget the first time I had a young man ask me to sign his Gameday program. I was stunned, first of all, then flipped to the band photo near the back of the issue. It was my first autograph in a "fan" setting. 

I had a number of other memorable moments while donning the most outrageous outfits in music since the fall of the last days of disco. My very first regular season home game was on September 5, 1981. We opened the season, because if the high temperatures in Tampa, on a Saturday night. The opponent? The Minnesota Vikings. MY Minnesota Vikings. As was the regular schedule we were due to perform three songs on the field after the game was over and the fans were exiting the stadium. So we had ourselves positioned just behind the out-of-bounds line behind the end zone. The end zone which the Vikings were driving toward with under two minutes to go in the 4th, trailing 14-13. I was going to see my team win a game, literally, a stone’s throw away from me. But attempting to get into better field position for the potential game-winning field goal Viking QB Steve Dils attempted a screen pass on third down.  His pass was picked off by Neal Colzie along the sideline, only 30 yards directly in front of me and proceeded to hightail it 82 yards in the other direction to make the score 21-13. The temptation to drop my horn and chase Colzie down myself was immense, but I resisted it and my bandmates, who knew of my allegiance, let me know about it. 

In 1981 the Bucs were in the hunt for a playoff spot. On the final Sunday of the season they were playing on the road against the Detroit Lions. The band had a prior commitment for that afternoon as we were giving a holiday concert at the Bayfront Center Theatre in St. Petersburg. We knew that if the team won they would make the playoffs. This meant that we would hustle ourselves to be at team headquarters, known as One Buccaneer Place, after the team landed at nearby Tampa International Airport. When we did stage concerts we did not wear our usual marching uniforms. We wore simple white polo shirts with the band's logo on the breast pocket. Viewing the game would not be as easy as it is today.  Keep in mind this is 1981. Cell phones had not yet been invented. But a number of band members had portable black & white battery-powered televisions with a 5" screen on them. That's right, a tv with a screen smaller than the one on many new cars' dashboards and it was black & white. Some of you younger readers may never have seen a black and white tv picture anywhere other than a museum or the History Channel. The audience couldn't see the tvs on the floor on stage but we were keeping track as the clock wound down with the team leading the Motor City Kitties 20-17. When the game ended we all knew that would need to get back across the bay and head over to Buc Place before the team arrived. After they did there were a bunch of us who got there and made our way through the crowd that was forming to meet the team. It would be the second postseason appearance in the team’s sixth season and the crowd was hyped. My boldest memory is being on the back of the flatbed trailer with a bunch of other band members, and some of the players, holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and my horn in the other and playing all or part of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" over and over and over again as the temperature after the sunset dipped to the mid 30s. Sometimes nights in central Florida in December aren’t all that balmy. We partied late into the night and the following week in the first round of the playoffs the Bucs were eviscerated by the Dallas Cowboys 38-0.

Other memorable moments include the afternoon when we were in marching formation and we were playing the Theme From New York, New York. This would normally have been okay, except we were attempting to do this while playing from memory without sheet music and remembering all of the correct steps to take in formation on the field. Only one week earlier we'd performed the same routine flawlessly but it was to the tune of the Sam & Dave hit "Soul Man". At one point I found myself seconds away from colliding with two drummers who were approaching me from the opposite direction. One of those drummers was my great friend Rick Mayer, who was he person who designed the marching formations we were using at that exact moment.  This was not how it was drawn up, trust me. The video from the press box view was like watching a Keystone Cops film. 

When Washington played the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII, Tampa's first time hosting the event, the Buc Band agreed to be the band for the Raiders as Washington was bringing their own band to the game. In the pregame band members and their guests participated in the national anthem by holding the huge flag on the field while the song was performed by Barry Manilow. We played  touchdown songs quite a few times as the Raiders scored often on the way to a 38-9 victory. 

I also got greetings from ESPN's Chris Berman on December 13, 1981 while we were waiting along the sidelines to hit the field for our postgame show. I had met Chris at a spring training in Clearwater some 10 months earlier. He's got a great memory. The band was impressed that we knew one another. But the coolest may have been an event which occurred on October 6, 1985. 

The band had a tradition where during the game four of the trumpeters would leave the stands and head down to the field.  Once they got there they would stand shoulder to shoulder in one corner of the area directly in front of the crowd and play six notes which signal fans to yell "Charge!" at their completion.  They would play this three times in succession and then move down the sideline until they'd made a complete circuit of outer edge of the field. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do this once during my 4 seasons as a trumpet player. (My final two seasons I was in the french horn section).  On the day I was chosen to be one of the "fantastic four" we were playing the Bears.  

The four of us hit the field and we played our way around the field, only playing while the Bucs were on offense.  The Bucs' sideline was first as we moved counter-clockwise around the floor of Tampa Stadium.  We made the turn and headed behind the area behind the Bears' bench.  I was the furthest to the right as the four of us watched the action on the field during a short period just prior to our next mini performance. 

While watching the game, a glance to my right left a short gap between myself and one of the Bears players. With helmet under his arm and intensity in his eyes the player glanced to his left and we each acknowledged one another with a "Hey, man. How ya doin'?" We each nodded and then went back to what we were doing.  The player? #34, Walter Payton.  

We finished our rounds and headed back up into the stands to join the rest of the band.  The rest of the game was a bit of a blur as I tried to process what had just happened to me.  I had spoken to Walter Payton DURING a game on the sideline.  While the number of people who have done this is quite extensive, I never thought that I would be on it.  

The Buccaneer Band is no longer a thing. The only current bands in the NFL are the one in Washington (although they are going to have to write a new fight song at some point),  a new "official" band has now begun in Buffalo and the Ravens have one in Baltimore. Many teams now have drum lines. Drum lines? Really? Don't even get a horn player started on that. The Ravens Band is actually the continuation of the Colts Band which was left behind when they skittered away to Indianapolis in the middle of the night in March of 1984. ESPN did a great documentary about the Colts Band called "The Band That Wouldn't Die". It's very well done and if you've ever been in a group like this you'll find it quite touching. 

This Sunday's Big Game? i have a passing interest, but nothing that's gonna make me crazy come kickoff time. The Big Game at my house will most likely be Puppy Bowl XIX. Team Ruff vs Team Fluff (and that "vs" in the middle is pronounced "VER-SUS", not "VERCE". I cannot believe the number of announcers today who are too lazy to correctly pronounce a two-syllable word for cryin' out loud. Team Fluff is favored by 2. 2 what's? I know not. But it should be a "barn burner", which always makes me ask "Why is the barn on fire in the first place". But I digress......again.

The creamsicle orange uniforms are gone and Tampa Stadium is no more, but I was lucky enough to be a part of some of the fun. Plus, there's no telling how I may need to wait for the Vikings to win a championship. I waited until 1994 for the New York Rangers, so I have hope. 

But not much.

I'm just sayin'.  

Major League: Back To The Minors

 In 1989 Paramount Pictures released to movie theaters across the land the film "Major League" as it opened on April 7th. It was a box office smash as it coincided with the opening of the major league baseball season. The movie told a fictional tale involving the Cleveland Indians over the course of a full season. The characters, to those of us old enough to remember, are as current today as they were back in summer of '89. Mention the names Jake Taylor, Roger Dorn, "Willie Mays" Hayes, Pedro Cerrano and Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn and you're bound to hear quotes from the film that have become part of the lexicon of baseball fans one the last three decades. The film cost  $11 million to make and grossed just shy of $50 million at the box office. It spawned a sequel, Major League II in 1994. The latter took in some $30 million at the box office. 

But we're not gonna talk about either of these movies.  

We're gonna discuss the third cinematic masterpiece in the series. It was called Major League: Back To The Minors. Okay, cinematic masterpiece might not be the term one would use after investing 100 minutes to view it in its entirety.  It was released on April 17, 1998, once again coinciding with the start of the real major league season.  This time the Cleveland Indians weren't really even involved in the plot line.  The major league foils for BTTM would be the Minnesota Twins. Interesting choice that they chose a franchise which had actually won their second world championship just 7 seasons earlier. When the first Major League film debuted the Indians hadn't been won a championship for 41 years. That was part of the charm of the film, in that it was a franchise that hadn't even made the postseason in 35 years. But things in the Twin Cities had taken a downward slide over the past few years. After they won the 1991 World Series  the 5 previous seasons before the release of the film the Twins had finished in either 4th or 5th place and had averaged ending the season 24 games out of first place. Attendance had dropped by nearly half between '93 and '94 for four straight years. So they were easy to make fun of, I suppose. 

How do I fit into this storyline? Well, In February of 1996 I became a member of the front office of the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club. It was a fantastic gig and I enjoyed it immensely during my time there. I was notified by a co-worker that the production company would be shooting scenes for the film at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for a couple of weeks. I inquired as to if I may be able to participate in some way. I received an email at the ballpark from Sonny, who was casting coordinator the extras for the Minneapolis unit. 

Now, here's where I learned about how things work in the world of television and movie production. Sonny originally told me that I was actually going to appear as an extra on the Twins' bench. I thought that to be a fairly cool thing. But prior to the start of filming at the dome I learned that the only remaining uniforms they had were going to be too small for my 6'1" frame.  And so I would need to be given something else to do. I was then offered a chance to be on the "second team". The "second team" would be the people who set-up the shots, set the proper lighting and such,  before the actual actors step in and film the scene that makes the cut. So my acting career took an abrupt turn, but I still wanted to be involved. So the B-team would be my contribution. One of the actors whom I would "stand-in" for was an actor named Thom Barry who later would have a starring role in the CBS series "Cold Case"

The shooting schedule would begin at 8am each day, an hour before my normal shift at the ballpark normally would. But since the 1997 season had ended a few weeks earlier I was under not much pressure to be in my office throughout the day.  My boss was gracious enough to let me participate on the film. Plus, my office wasn't all that far away, because even though I was on the field during shooting, a short walk up the four flights of stairs and a short right turn would have me at the door of my office. 

Now, not all of the stars of the film were part of the Minneapolis shooting crew. Corbin Bernsen (Roger Dorn), Walton Goggins ("Downtown" Anderson) and Dennis Haysbert (Pedro Cerrano) were not with us, unfortunately. I was really hoping that Mr. Haysbert would have been with us as I wanted to see Jobu in person. But there were a couple of guys who were in the group whom I knew from their prior roles. 

Eric Bruskotter, who also appeared in Major League II was in the group. Ted McGinley, who had just finished his 8th season on Married.......with Children was cast as the Twins' manager and Scott Bakula, who I had enjoyed watching on Quantum Leap, was cast as the manger of the Charleston Buzz. 

The plot of the story is this: Roger Dorn is now the owner of the Minnesota Twins. Aging minor league pitcher Gus Cantrell, who plays for the Fort Myers Miracle, is planning to retire. Then, Roger recruits Gus to be the manager of the Buzz, the Twins' AAA minor league affiliate. Gus's mission is to make a real team out of a bunch of players who include ballet dancer turned ballplayer Lance "The Dance" Pere, minor league lifer Frank "Pops" Morgan, Rube Baker, Taka Tanaka, Pedro Cerrano, pitcher Hog Ellis, home run hitter Billy "Downtown" Anderson, and pitcher Carlton "Doc" Windgate, a medical school graduate who throws the slowest fastball in the minors.

However, Gus clashes with Leonard Huff, the snobby manager of the Twins. One night in Minnesota, Gus and his fiancee Maggie Reynolds are having dinner with Roger and Huff at an upscale restaurant, where Huff challenges Gus to a game between the Buzz and the Twins. Gus accepts the challenge.

The game is scheduled to take place at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minnesota. The Twins take a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning, but Downtown hits a home run that ties the game at 3-3 in the 8th inning. But with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, and with Doc one strike away from striking out home run hitter Carlos Liston, Huff has the stadium's lights turned off so the game can end with a tie rather than give the Buzz a chance to win in extra innings. However, the media reports that the Twins were still outplayed by the Buzz.

Huff now wants to bring Downtown up to the Twins, even though Gus believes that he is not yet ready. However, Anderson jumps on the opportunity, turning his back on Gus. Without Downtown, the Buzz start losing again. With the Twins, Anderson starts hitting poorly, proving Huff wrong. Gus manages to get the Buzz back on track, and Downtown is sent back down to the Buzz, where Gus teaches him how to be a more well rounded hitter. Gus leads the Buzz to a division title in their league.

Gus issues a challenge for Huff to bring the Twins to Buzz Stadium for another game. If the Twins win, Gus will give his salary for the year to Huff. If Gus and the Buzz beat the Twins, Gus can take over as the manager of the Twins. Huff accepts the challenge and takes the Twins to play against the Buzz. This time, the Twins take a 4-0 lead in the 6th inning, but the Buzz still manage to come from behind with three runs, and then win the game, 5-4, thanks to a game-winning two-run home run by Downtown. Gus decides that he wants to stay with the Buzz so he can continue to work with minor league players on their skills and hopefully turn them into stars.

One of the cool things that occurred during the filming was the scene where the lights go off in the dome. Now, I had worked as an usher's supervisor from 1989-1995. When it rained heavily we would sometimes have leaks in the roof. (Not making this up.). We moved our fair share of fans from seats where puddles would begin to form during rainstorms. But we'd never had the lights go out, at least not on purpose. The only problem with filming that scene was that it took what seemed like an eternity for the lights to get back to full strength so we could continue shooting. 

Now, at the time the movie was being shot, the Twins' Triple-A affiliate was the Salt Lake Buzz. The uniforms were the same, but the team didn't actually play in Charleston, as the plot line said. Since they were a Twins affiliate I actually owned a number of Buzz-themed items. I had the cap, a jersey and a cool nylon hoodie. One afternoon when we were done filming for the day I was walking off the field while wearing the hoodie. One of the wardrobe ladies ran over to me and told me that I'd need to return the jacket to the wardrobe rack. I politely informed her that the Buzz indeed were an actual baseball team and that I was the owner of the jacket which I was wearing. Seems, some people involved in the film did not know that the Buzz was not a fictional team.

At the end of the filming I was given a choice. I could get paid for my time in a check from the production company or I could get on-screen credit which would make me a member of SAG (the Screen Actor's Guild). I took the money. In retrospect, I wish I'd made a different decision because I'd be able to see my name in the closing credits at the end of the film.  

When the release date arrived my wife and I made our way to the local theatre which was showing it on one of their screens. Sure, it wasn't an epic by any stretch of the imagination. But it was a movie which I had actually worked on. There were a number of flaws in the production. A fairly glaring continuity issue on the scoreboard during the game played at the home field of the Buzz being on of them, which I noticed right away during our viewing. One odd thing was when showing Roger Dorn's private suite at the stadium there is a framed Twins jersey with the last name "Collins" and the number "4" on the back. This jersey only makes an impression on someone who saw an entirely different movie called "Little Big League" in which the Twins figure prominently on the plot line and was filmed in the Twin Cities. That movie was released in 1994. 

I don't even recall the amount of money which I was paid for my efforts. It could not have been all that substantial. It was badly panned by critics, and deservedly so. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 21% rating. It cost $18 million to make and grossed a whopping $3.5 million at the box office. The nice theatre manager let me come back and pick up the poster for the film after it had ended its run. I had it framed and it still resides in my man cave as a reminder that sequels are almost never as good as the original. 

I'm just sayin'

Yes, it really IS hot in there

Now that I think about it, it probably was the gorilla suit. 

Oh, you're probably wondering what the context of that random statement is about. If you aren't, then you can stop reading now and go on back to whatever you were doing.

Those of you who know me know how much I love sports. I also love being a bit of a goofball at times. What entity could magically blend these two things in a serendipitous fashion? A mascot. That's right, a mascot. Sometimes furry, usually full of energy and devoted to the cause for the team which they represent.

I've thought about how in the world I ever even ended up in the various costumes that I've put on over the past 40 years or so. 

In 1980 the American Tourister luggage company produced a commercial which showed an airline employee placing two bags on a luggage belt behind the counter. The bags find their way back to the bag room where the luggage is separated into the proper carts to then be loaded onto the correct aircraft before departure. But in this ad the baggage employee is a gorilla. A gorilla who is not happy about something. I don't know if he was upset because a co-worker is late in returning from a break. I know not. But whatever the reason, this gorilla takes out his aggression on this one poor bag. When the bags reappear on the baggage carousel one of them is is trashed with a few items protruding from it while the American Tourister bag is virtually unscathed. 

During this time the folks at American Tourister entered into a dual advertising campaign with Polaroid. A purchase from one of the vendors in a specified value or more would get you a coupon (remember those?) that could be used to purchase something from the other vendor. I was working at the time selling cameras for JCPenney in south Tampa. Our management decided that it'd be cool to have a gorilla in-store for the promotion. The folks at Busch Gardens on the north side of town were unwilling to send a real gorilla to us for the event. So I volunteered to put on the gorilla costume and make appearances at two different stores on the same day. My first stop was my home store at Westshore Plaza in Tampa. I took photos with customers and made silly mannerisms for an hour or so. After that, I hopped in my car and drove over to St. Petersburg to a different mall. The same thing happened there, although I nearly scared the last three years of life out out of an elderly woman who turned around and saw me as I was just emerging from the dressing room. 

It was a bright and sunny summer day. Probably about 90-95 degrees. But I must admit that I had a blast. Never before had I been in such a costume. But the fact that I didn't have to speak, could make a fool of myself in total anonymity and still get paid for it appealed to me, I must say. What I didn't know is that this was just the beginning. The beginning of a part of my life which I never anticipated.

Fast forward to 1994. I was working in Minneapolis as a fan relations supervisor for the Minnesota Twins. On a Friday home game we had a giveaway with the folks at Kellogg's. I was assigned to escort the gentleman in the Tony The Tiger costume for the entire game. I took pictures for fans, handed him items and a Sharpie which would allow him to sign items. It was a bunch of fun. During the game we should stop to relax in one of the empty suites around the ballpark. The guy inside the tiger costume, who's name I wish I could remember, told me about other characters he'd been recently and how much he enjoyed doing that job.  

I will admit that I never really gave much thought about it again for quite some time. But in 1996 I landed a position in the front office with the Twins. Never did I ever dream that I would find myself working for a major league baseball team. The Twins had not had a mascot at their games since 1981, which was the last season that a character named Twinkie the Loon roamed Metropolitan Stadium. 

Oddly enough Twinkie only lasted for two seasons. I can't figure out why? Can you?

In 1998 the Seattle Mariners marketing department started a promotion called "Turn Ahead The Clock" which would see the Mariners wear futuristic uniforms. The following year MLB sold the promotion concept to Century 21 Real Estate. All but eight teams participated by sending their teams onto the field wearing special sleeveless jerseys with oversized front logos and surnames printed alongside the backside numbers as opposed to the traditional location above them. Some jerseys were relatively normal. Others were just garish. Some teams modified the advertisements on their outfield walls. For example in Minneapolis the Northwest Airlines ad was changed to Northwest Spacelines. 

To stay with the futuristic theme (games were "set" in the year 2021), the Twins decided to have their pre-game announcer, my great friend Jim Cunningham, dress as Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek. They also located a local gentleman who owned one of the original Chewbacca costumes from the first three Star Wars films. The fourth movie in the series had been released only two months prior. As fate would have it the owner of the costume was unable to be in Minneapolis to wear the costume at the game for us. About a week prior to the game an email was sent to all front office personnel asking if any one knew of someone who would want to wear the costume. I replied immediately and we got things set up. On July 24th I took to the field wearing said Chewbacca costume. Standing next to the batting cage during pregame warmups I met Tiger Woods, who was in town for a tournament. After that I roamed around on the field, signing autographs along the foul lines and taking pictures for the crowd, what little there was of it. That game was also the same night when Seattle outfielder Butch Huskey ran face-first into the left field wall while chasing a Jacque Jones home run. The event even got my picture in The Sporting News. A publication which I read religiously while growing up. Page 3, half-page picture next to catcher Terry Steinbach and pitcher Joe Mays. Of course, no one knows it's me between them. More details about that whole thing are in a different blog entry known as "Wookie of the Year". Look for it here in the future. 

The fan reaction to having a "mascot" in the house was very positive, so plans to bring back a Twins mascot went forward for the 2000 season. When the mascot character had been chosen it became time to find someone to actually wear the costume. Tryouts were scheduled and I chose to throw my hat in the ring. Keeping mind, I already had a full-time job with the team as it was. So I was only trying out for the chance to be the 2nd-string mascot, so to speak. 

Tryouts took place one weekday afternoon around 5 pm. There were eight candidates for the gig, including myself. The team had rented a polar bear costume from a local costume shop. All eight of us would take turns in this same costume and would have five full minutes to entertain a group of about 30 kids aged 6-10 as best we could. We literally drew straws to decide the order in which we would all don the polar bear costume. The later in the order you were, the more sweat you had to deal with from those who had gone ahead of you. I drew spot number four. We each had five minutes worth of music that we would perform to. So we each entered the Twins' clubhouse to keep these kids as entertained as possible.  Let me tell you this- five minutes is much longer than you think, especially when you're wearing a sweat-laden polar bear costume in front of a crowd of kids while dancing to who knows what songs I chose. It was probably "Get Down Tonight" by K.C. & The Sunshine Band. 

I got the backup gig. I was the 2nd-string T.C. Bear. During home games I would add to my full-time gig by taking being one of the Mountain Dew Funatics. These are the guys who load the t-shirt gun in order to disperse said clothing items. 

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On the rare occasion that I was inside the second costume I would do things like hospital visits, softball tournaments, school outings and parades of various types. 

The costume isn't all that complicated. You step into the legs and get the straps settled on the top of your shoulders. Once you get that done, you get your shoes on. There are regular athletic shoes covered by the character's shoes which everyone sees. Given the fact that I'm the backup, I had to wear size 10 1/2 shoes even though I wear size 12s in real shoes. 

Being in the costume is a huge thrill. It matters not how well the team itself is performing. Kids are always so happy to see you. But being a mascot is not what my friends would believe I could do. I'm usually quite low-key and being a mascot is far from low key. But the anonymity is what I got comfortable with and that allowed me to make the character lively and likable.  

There are little tricks that one must learn when one becomes a large, smiling and dancing bear. Hydration is important. I lost about 10 pounds every time I did a performance. Outdoor gigs were higher weight loss numbers. My first parade was tough in that I didn't drink anything while on back of the convertible. The following day I was so dehydrated that I was nearly delirious. The next year I figured out a way to situate a water bottle inside the costume so that when I lowered my head I could easily reach the extra-long straw which ran into the bottle of ice water. This saved my bacon a number of times after my first failure. 

Being a mascot can also be advantageous when a minor mistake is made on the highway. On one stop in Duluth, MN my assistant was driving us to a T.C. hospital visit. He made a minor mistake and ended up going in the wrong direction on a one-way street. When the officer pulled us over my assistant apologized profusely and informed the officer that we were on our way to the local hospital with the Twins' mascot. The officer looked at me in the passenger seat of our Dodge Durango and I realized that I needed to quickly produce some proof of this fact. So I reached into the back seat and exposed the face of the smiling bear which was in the carrying bag. He understood and offered to escort us to the entrance of the hospital. So we went from receiving a citation to receiving a police escort in a matter of minutes.

In my final appearance in the costume, I actually took the role of C.T. Bear, T.C.'s brother who lived in the forest and had never seen a baseball game before. So we located a large flannel shirt (size 4x) to accommodate the costume and a bright  orange toque, which is a knit hat worn by many hunters in this part of the country during the cold weather. T.C. had hosted a celebrity home run hitting contest before every Saturday night home game.  C.T. was going to be the celebrity this time. Now, I've been playing Sunday night softball since 1989, but never had I hit a ball while looking through the mouth of a character. I enlisted my good friend Nate to come down to the batting cages after the Twins game so that I could practice just a bit before the next night's contest. I didn't hit all that well, but that's how a bear who's never seen a baseball game should hit.  

The following night was a great. I was introduced to the crowd as T.C.'s brother and performed in the home run contest as I should have.  We made our way through the crowd all evening and it was probably the coolest thing I'd done in a mascot costume. 

So, there you have it. It's a different world, to say the least. I don't know that ALL mascots have as much fun as I did, but if they don't they need to look for another gig. 

Gorilla costume. Gorilla costume indeed. 

And yes, it IS hot in there.

I'm just sayin'