I had the dreaded "husky" label as a youngster (and still do), so I naturally had a soft spot for the, uh, rounder gentlemen in baseball: Steve Balboni, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett. I did have one thing in common with Balboni: lots of strikeouts.
Down Houston way in the '60s, we had righty reliever, Fred "Flintstone" Gladding, 6-1, 220. He was pretty good, but would get.....uh, rocked, fairly frequently. Catcher, John Bateman, was a round then, too, at 6-3, 210, which was more traditional for a backstop, but he was S-L-O-W, and had an unfortunate array of acne pockmarks on his face.
I remember somebody in the 'Stro organization (another player? broadcaster?) once said that Bateman's face could hold 3 days of rain. Someone else once said that Bateman was the only player in history to be standing on second, and thrown out at home on a batter's triple! Ah, there was no place like Dome!
I had the dreaded "husky" label as a youngster (and still do), so I naturally had a soft spot for the, uh, rounder gentlemen in baseball: Steve Balboni, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett. I did have one thing in common with Balboni: lots of strikeouts.
I also shared that with Balboni. But I could also draw a walk. I guess I was ahead of my time.
Down Houston way in the '60s, we had righty reliever, Fred "Flintstone" Gladding, 6-1, 220. He was pretty good, but would get.....uh, rocked, fairly frequently. Catcher, John Bateman, was a round then, too, at 6-3, 210, which was more traditional for a backstop, but he was S-L-O-W, and had an unfortunate array of acne pockmarks on his face.
I remember somebody in the 'Stro organization (another player? broadcaster?) once said that Bateman's face could hold 3 days of rain. Someone else once said that Bateman was the only player in history to be standing on second, and thrown out at home on a batter's triple! Ah, there was no place like Dome!
Good reminder to anyone complaining about their catcher being unable to hoof out a double— it could always be worse!