I was also going to mention, I cleaned out my car today, and in there were the tapes of my interviews with the Indians for WCBE. One tape was from before the 1994 season, and the other was from before the 1995 season, which was news to me, because I had no idea this was more than a one time thing, but I guess it was.
Anyways, in 1994, I talked to no less than three members of the 500 Home Run club (Eddie Murray, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez) and another guy who will probably make the Hall of Fame to, in Omar.
I really just wanted to share with you Manny's advice to kids, which was "The only way you can win is to play hard, and say no to drugs". I feel like a lot of players from that era actually found out taking certain drugs doesn't hurt your chances either.
Anyways, I also notices that almost all of the Hispanic players, mentioned how important it was for kids to listen to their dads and moms, while American players did not mention that.
But also, from the 1995 tape, I only talked to Hargrove, and I was not aware of the situation. I did not know that the strike did not end until April 2, 1995, with replacement players about to take the field. So when the Ohio Cup happened, it was with replacement players. According to Wikipedia, here is how that game went down...
"With the 1994 Major League Baseball strike only coming to an end on April 2, replacement players traveled to Columbus to take part in the Ohio Cup. Teamsters picketed outside the stadium as snow fell. Two of the first three batters reached base on errors while the bundled-up crowd booed. With temperatures near freezing and replacements Tim Delgado and Rich Sauveur taking the mound, only a couple thousand fans made it out."
Anywho, in my interview I asked Hargrove what the rotation would look like, should the real players return, and he mentioned about six guys, but said if they went out and signed someone like Orel Hershiser, that could change. Well, they did go out and sign him, and I had the scoop.
Lastly, an interesting note regarding some replacement players. One of them, Brendan Donnelly, now plays for the Indians. As with other replacement players, he is not allowed in the Major League Baseball Players Union. Apparently this causes problems when you win the World Series....
(Wiki) "In 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, players who were part of the World Series winning New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Anaheim Angels and Boston Red Sox were not permitted on commemorative merchandise because players on the teams were declared replacement players for their participation in spring training. The players who were noted are Shane Spencer of the 1998, 1999 and 2000 New York Yankees, Damian Miller of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, Brendan Donnelly of the 2002 Anaheim Angels and Kevin Millar of the 2004 Boston Red Sox."
It also causes problems on video games, since they are licensed by MLBPA, they cannot use non-members, so they have to make up fake names.
Speaking of which, as I am sure you knew, the union representative of the Indians was Casey Blake, so I am sure you were wondering who took over for him. It is of course, Ryan Garko...
1 comment:
You need to rip those up as mp3's and save them so you don't lose them. I want to listen some time. I like Grover giving the big scoop to a little kid on a proposed trade.
I remember the scab Ohio Cup. I think Dad kind of debated going, but it would have broken an attendance streak for us/him, plus you had your big job to do. I definitely did not know that replacement players can't join the MLBPA and get any of those benefits. I certainly have mixed feelings about the MLBPA and how it affects baseball, but this is an issue where I like their stance.
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