One day I'm hitting in the batting cages. I hear a sound that you do not hear outside of a Major League ballpark. I'm not going to tell you his name because he went on to be MLB Rookie of the Year. And he owes me 25 cents.
So I'm in the batting cages , and right next door is a guy that could hit home runs like nobody's business. And I'm looking and I'm gawking. The sound when that ball came off of his bat sounded like thunder. If you ever saw somebody crush the air out of a baseball, that was it.
I'm just slack-jawed watching this guy hit. And his hitting exhibition distracted me. $0. 25 worth of baseballs and I never got to swing at one.
So I meet Mr. Baseball hero at some event. And you guessed it. "Dude, you owe me a quarter." And once in a blue moon, we see each other at a other thing, and keep the joke running.
Oh, and another one:
I'm kind of short, so when you need a guy to reach the top shelf of the magazine rack, get the center for the Chicago Bulls. Thanks Horace !
And I met Harry Caray too many times to count, back when he was cool and with the White Sox. And I met Bart Starr in an airport.
Jimmy Piersall was the White Sox announcer, with Harry. So my mom and my brother are walking down the street in Chicago. TreeMan is 10 years old. Mom's looking at Jimmy and Jimmy is looking at my Mom. Confused. My mom said " I'm thinking is this one of my husband's friends? " It turns out Jimmy is thinking, ''' is this one of my wife's friends?"
TreeMan pulls on Mom's skirt. "That's Jimmy Piersall.