Which Players have you met?

[Dick Allen]

I knew Smith came up with someone else, I just couldn't remember who and which one won it......

Smith did come up with the Cubs. I believe he was runner up to Walton in ROY voting that year.

[Rex Hudler]

Smith did come up with the Cubs. I believe he was runner up to Walton in ROY voting that year.

 

thought he was close.........

[ptatc]

A more fun topic would be which players have you drank with  lol

 

I will say I have been very fortunate in my life to interact with a lot of great people and have remained friends with some (including the catcher none of you had ever heard of that hit a HR against the Sox today)......

 

But my favorite memory was being lucky enough to spend parts of three days with Willie Mays.  It was an amazing experience and nothing I could ever forget.

 

I remeber Sal from the minor league days with the Royals. He was a decent hitter then. I think it was 93 or 94. Tipped a few with him during ST that year

[Rex Hudler]

I remeber Sal from the minor league days with the Royals. He was a decent hitter then. I think it was 93 or 94. Tipped a few with him during ST that year

 

we used to chug beers in college..... I won most of the time (another once cool, now useless talent of mine), but it was always close

 

[Heads22]

I haven't really met with a whole lot, but Rick Ankiel gave my brother a bat (this was when Ankiel was the big new thing) and I thought Bags was pretty nice. Through e-mail, Sirotka was always really nice. Cotts is down to earth and Rex and I have mentioned in another thread how great Baj is.

[Texsox]

A couple of weeks ago while in Dallas, I bumped into about 1/2 of the Red Sox who were staying at the Four Seasons. Nice guys. Very quiet. Meeting Kap and his wife was the highlight of the trip, but this was a close second

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

I've never had the opportunitiy nor the inclination to hang with atheletes. However, I was driving north on the 5 freeway in L.A. county a few ago and saw a silver BMW with the license plate "Say Hey 2". Figured it was Willie Mays or a Willie Mays fan. He exited the freeway where I did and pulled into a Shell station. I followed and figured I better be extremely nice cause he has a rep of being surly. Buttered him up saying him and Mantle were the 2 best centerfielders of all time and asked for an autograph. He growled back "Do you mind if I get my gas first " ? After he got his gas he gave me his autograph. "Best wishes Willie Mays". Not a bad experience.

 

Quite a while ago I was in a little bar next to the Pantages theater in Hollywood when Muhamed Ali walked in followed by many people. He was out in public after having recently saved someone life. I couldn't get close to him but being rather tall, he caught my eye in the mirror behind the bar and said "Don't gimme no trouble big guy" in that typical Ali wide-eyed way. I stammered back being caught totally off guard that he spoke to me "don't worry I won't. " The bartender got me his autograph after that.

[knightni]

I've hugged Willie Harris!! wow, that was wonderfuL!

Look what I just found on chicagosports.com.

 

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...utility&index=2

 

 

Edited November 10, 2005 by knightni

[qwerty]

That is just kinda weird...

[Steve9347]

my favorite story is that when i was about 10 (1992-1993), i met Ozzie Guillen at a Target in Waukegan.

 

he was signing autographs and spoka no english.

[Heads22]

I know Jim Bullard.

[Punch and Judy Garland]

You did relatively well with Mays, who along with Reggie Jackson are considered among the more surly HOF'ers. Heres the guys I met

 

Pete Rose-met him at a show. I came away with an unfavorable impression of him although he didn't really say anything wrong. He'll give you a great autorgaph and inscription but he gives you a bit of a forced smile and you can tell he's there for the paycheck

 

Maggs Ordonez-Very pleasant at a bank opening or something like that. Smiled a lot and appreciated nice comments. Came away impressed

 

Carlos Lee-Didn't say a whole lot at a car dealership I saw him at. Wasn't mean or anything, just sort of a neutral impression

 

Harold Baines-not a warm and fuzzy guy but very accomodating and nice

 

Orlando Cepeda-seemed pretty nice at a show

 

Minnie Minoso-Seems like a great old guy. Met him at a show and was glad I did

 

Eric Dickerson-Terrific guy. Called me "playa". Can't tell you how great an experience it was to meet him at Ditka's annual show. Volunteered to stand up and take a pitcure with me. Wanted to know if I wanted the autpgraph large or small. Very thankful for compliments (looks like he could run for 1000 yards still).

 

Gale Sayers-Kinda like another Harold Baines. Nice guy but obviously a reserved man

 

Ditka-Sort of like a Pete Rose. If you go into meeting him expecting him to be how he is on tv (you ehar this about Bradshaw too) you will come away disappointed. Not a jerk or anything but not particularly personable when I met him.

 

Buehrle-Very nice. Met him at a bank signing. Was gracious and pleasant.

 

Esteban Loaiza-Thought he was extremely nice. Met him at Bergies where all the yuppie kids were brats so when my buddy and I were talking to him he was extremely gracious and we came away big fans

 

Marty Booker-awesome guy. Too bad he's not here anymore

 

Peanut tillman-pretty good guy. Met him after his rookie year. Liked him

 

Ray Meyer-Wonderful man. Highly recommend meeting him if you get the chance

 

Bobby Hull-Seemed nice enough

 

Gordie Howe-Exceptionally nice guy

[BigEdWalsh]

Carlton Fisk, Hawk and Wimpy (Paciorek was a really nice guy) and Terry Bevington. Bevington was drunk and very obnoxious. Not a nice man.

I met Jim McMahon and though he's kind of an asshole he was a nice asshole. I was working security at a resort where he was staying and I had to go tell him and his friends to shut up at about 4AM. He was nice and cooperative.

The nicest guy in sports that I ever met was George Gervin. I actually rode around on a golf cart with him. He was as down-to-earth and friendly as you can get.

[KWs OK for Me]

Sadly most of the baseball players I have met have been Cubs or former Cubs . . . my dad has thrown out the first pitch at Wrigley a few times (Die Hard Sox Fan) so I've met random Cubs.

 

Ron Santo - Friendly enough but made fun of me years ago so forever on my s*** list

 

Billy Williams - Nice guy, down to earth, talked baseball for like 2 innings during a game

 

Steve Trout - Drunk self-absorbed bastard

 

Sarge Matthews - Funny funny guy

 

Other Sports:

Ronde (or Tiki) Barber - Nice guy, quiet, not to good of a blackjack player

 

John Elway - Denied being John Elway, one of the most easily recognizable sports figures of the 90s

 

Non Sports:

Chris Kattan - Might be the funniest guy I have ever met, played blackjack with him and everyone was calling him Mr. Peepers and just cracking jokes the whole time

[3RDBASE]

I had a few run in's but the two that will last forever in my memory banks are:

 

I was around 11-12 and this was @ the old Comiskey Park I was at the game where they..(JR/Bulls) had just drafted Scottie Pippen and he was throwing out the first pitch of the game...I had threw my glove into the home dugout hoping to get some auto graphs and my glove disapeared for at least 30mins...when it resurfaced...it had autographs from...Ozzie, Harold, Greg Walker, Fisk, Ivan Calderon, and last but ceratinly not least...Scottie Pippen who signed it as he was coming back to the dugout ....He was asked to sign it and returnit to the fan(me) I was overjoyed to get the glove back with the autographs but wasn't sure what to think of the Basketball players John handcock on it...well as we all know that glove is a rare peice of history...as he put his #33 on it How could I have known this man was bound for greatness along with all the other great names on it!!!!...one of my most prized posessions because this was pre-Bulls Championships/Pre-WhiteSox greatness....

 

 

the other was back in 1992-93 I believe, I was in the military then...the navy specifically...and was sationed in Jax Florida and around the time MJ was playing baseball in the minors...well this one weekend while they were in town to play the Jacksonville Suns...I headed for the game where MJ hit a homerun in...I got a chance to purchase a Mj rookie card for 25 bucks and wanted to get him to sign it...but no chance, later on that night I had to go to my Moonlighting Job I had as a dj in a Jax beach Nightclub...well low and behold MJ walks in and i noticed him first from my veiw high above in the dj booth...I got on the Mic and yelled out MJ's in da House, he proceded to get mobbed as usual and they told him to go to the VIP which was placed perfectly next to the dj booth...well neadless to say I never got a chance to get the card signed because he wasn't signing anything back then....especially that night...but he sat in the bar and it was just kool as hell...well later the bar ended up closing MJ and his posse who wanted to avoid the tons of people out front asked if there was a backdoor and I told him he could leave with me where i parked and loaded my records(yes records) Well we left together and I didnt bother him with signing the card but I did get to do something else...as we left the parking lot he wanted to know where the nearest gas sation was and I told him down the street a few blocks and that i could show him...well he was driving a white Pathfinder and I was with a friend in a Ford Probe and he and I came up to a light...I was in the passanger seat and he was driving the pathfinder....as I look over he was totally reving up the engine as to say wanna race? well he is as competative as they come cause when the light turned greeen we both took off like a two cars @ a drag strip...He totally smoked us and had no regard for the law (like anyone would do anything to him if he got stopped) We pulled into the gas staion a few seconds afterwards and laughed a bit before he went back to his hotel...good timez awsome memories!

[Milkman delivers]

Nobody's really saying that a player was a jerk. There's got to be some jerk players. Anyone know any of them?

[wilmot825]

Met Mark Buehrles girlfriend, she is a hottie...nice tush, then i met MArk he's a good guy

[BFirebird]

When I was a caddie at Olympia Fields CC I met and caddied for numerous athletes/celebrities but the best story was defenitely when I caddied for Paulie Konerko.

 

OFCC used to have this March of Dimes tournament where lots of athletes and celebs come. In the year 2000 I Paulie picked who was not that widely known yet. I picked him because, I of course, was a huge Sox fan.

 

Paulie was a very nice and engaging guy and decided to walk instead of ride so he could talk to me...I don't think he liked the other guys in the group anyways. They didn't really know who he was at that point and I did.

 

He didn't even have his clubs with him, he was using Greg Norton's but he played well nonetheless. Then came the par 3 third hole, which was about our 15th hole, with everyone starting on different holes.

 

He looks at me and says what do you think...7 or 8-iron? He had been swinging pretty well and with a nice tail wind I said 8. He hit a great shot and we are all thinking...man that might have a shot to go in. Goes in the hole. Paulie hits a HOLE-IN-ONE!!!!!!!! Unbelieveable...we all go crazy. That hole was sponsored by someone that was giving a free trip to Ireland.

 

So it was safe to say that I got a real nice tip that day and a memory that I will never forget. I have talked to Paulie since then and he still remembers the event...not really my face but a great memory nonetheless.

[Whitewashed in '05]

ahhh!! Damnit I am jealous of all you with cool stories. Besides meeting players while getting something autographed I have no special stories.

[santo=dorf]

I met Carl Everett and Willie Harris in the San Diego Mall over the summer.

 

My friend and I were eating at a grill food place, and he said "there's a guy who looks like Carl Everett over on the concourse." I turn around and look, but Carl went behind a post so I looked over at the counter and saw a much samller guy with his girlfriend and a bag of cinnabons. I told my friend, "that guy doesn't look Carl. He looks more like Willie Harris." It took about two seconds to put it all together and my friend screamed "WILLIE!" He looked over and I told how we traveled to see them sweep, and I asked about getting a picture, and I he kinda said something under his breath and left.

 

A couple of minutes later Carl, Wille, and Willie's girlfriend came back to the place and decided to eat there. We were already done with our meal so we decided to kill some more time by sitting around waiting to see what would happen. Carl sat down at a table behind us facing me and he was sitting in his blue suit all relaxed, so I decided to ask him "what's going on Carl?" He was really cool and like "eh nothing much man." I told him how we travelled over 2000 miles to see the Sox sweep the Pads, and he smilied. Then he asked where I was from, I told him Joliet, "we have a couple of casinos." "Oh I don't gamble," he responded. Our friend in the Marine corps (we were visiting him) called us during the time and didn't believe us when we told him who was sitting by us in the restarurant. (It was only us 5.) I told him I'll try to get a pic to prove it.

 

So when Willie and Carl got their food, I figured that'd be the best time to leave and ask for a picture. I told Carl and Willie that our buddy didn't believe they were here, and ask if I could get a picture of the two.

 

"Who's going to take the picture" Willie asked (similar to Hawk's "where's he going to play?" line.)

 

I told them I was just going to take a picture of both of them, but Willie told me I had to be in the picture and Carl in his deep voice chimed in with "that's the whole point of a picture!"

 

So I asked Willie if he would mind taking a picture of Carl and I. Carl got up and stuck his middle finger up in my face and yelled "take the picture!" Willie waited for us to settle down and took the pic.

 

I thanked them and asked if the were in the lineup tonight (saturday) and they both said "don't know yet" at the same time.

 

It was really cool.

[knightni]

What's with the girlfriend?

[SnB]

i talked to hawk for about 5 seconds, got his autograph and picture taken with him.

 

what?

he was a player.

[santo=dorf]

QUOTE(knightni @ Nov 10, 2005 -> 10:22 PM)

What's with the girlfriend?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We're talking about Willie Harris and MLB players. Do you really think he was committed to that woman?

 

At that point I just remembered Steff laughing at someone's comment of Willie Harris and his girlfriend at Soxfest.

Edited November 11, 2005 by santo=dorf

[Soxpranos]

I played basketball with Jim McMahon... My uncle is a mormon and we played every week at the Church he attended. Jim was nice and very wierd to say the less... Good player. Met Dan Marino in Florida, very cool guy. Got a autograph and tried to talk to him, but it was almost impossible as everyone surrounded the dude. Met Carlos mayorga (boxer) in Vegas, funny guy... had 4 babes with him heading up to his suite. Met Ron Kittle 3 years ago outside the Cell, was late tot he game and he was leaving the ball park. Julio Zuleta (former scrub player) very nice guy, him and his wife (Only his wife) tanned at our tanning salon. Julian Taveraz outside Wigley, had to blondes with him.. dude looks like Freddi Crougar... was tanked and was talking spanish to me how he was gonna bang all 3 girls, kinda of a beat off if ya ask me. John Madden in Miami outside Pro player stadium , massive guy... signed auotgraphs and chatted for a bit with about 5 of us that were there early, then left as the crowd stated getting bigger. John Garland , chatted with him for about 30 minutes before a Scrub vs Sox game.. was outside in the bullpen bar area before they put the 2nd level seating... got a auotgraph and gave me some Yankees and mets Wolrd series balls they used for batting practice. Dave Martinez nice dude... very down to earth. Dick Butkus, nice guy. Quinton Richardson his senior year at DePaul at Ruth Cris steak house.. talked to him for a bit till his SUV pulled up... ( you know it was his) some coach was with them and was the driver. Rodman allot of times at Crobar in Chicago and Crobar in Miami... nicest dude you will ever meet.

Edited November 11, 2005 by Soxpranos

[White Sox Josh]

I met a lot of Cardinals at a hotel that i was staying at a couple of years ago. THey stayed at the same hotel that i did. I met these players:

 

Edgar Renteria: Doesn't speak much English but seemed like a nice guy.

J.D. Drew: Very Nice guy. Very personable.

Mark McGwire: Another nice guy. Didn't sign autographs but was nice to all the fans.

Tony LaRussa: Great guy. Met him in the elevator as i rode the same one down to the lobby that he was in.

Dave Duncan: Was with LaRussa

 

Other players I have met:

Ray King: Really cool guy. Saw him as he was getting into a cab when he was with the Braves.

Gary Sheffield: A real Prick

 

Sox players I have met:

Joe Borchard: Really nice guy. I met him while i was on the escalator at Sox Fest. Hope he does well elsewhere.

Don Cooper: Met him outside of the Cell. Cool dude.

John Rooney: Not a player but met him at Sox Fest. Very nice guy.