Official Publication of

The Lincoln Chiefs

Special Edition of

From the Bullpen

Guest Editors:  Screech and B.T. (in absentia)

   2003 Season

Edition No. 16

June 17, 2003

Greetings:

Frightened by the prospect of co-authoring this week’s narrative, BT has skipped town under the guise of his annual trip to Lake Powell.   Not since John Kruk bailed out on one too many high and tight Randy Johnson Melon-Missiles in the All-Star game has such an abandonment of responsibility been witnessed.   But the Chiefs will not be without representation.  With that, you all pay the price, as I’m afraid you’re at the mercy of Screech-mania.

I witnessed my first Major League ballgame at beautiful Kauffman Stadium in 1978.  It was a great night full of wonder and excitement.  The Royals, who had a season to remember in ’78 making it to the ALCS before falling to the Yankees 3 games to 1, were victorious that night of June 19.  The Cleveland Indians, led by Andy Thornton’s 3 RBIs, fell a run short of the Royals, 6 to 5.  The Boys in Blue were led by Hal McRae and his 3 for 4 night at the plate, and Clint Hurdle’s 2 for 2 night with 2 runs scored.  As I clutched my .50 cent program and climbed towards the stars and my $1.50 seat I remember how steep the stairs seemed and thinking that I may have to crawl up them.  And now I realize I’ve come full circle in my KC experiences, as I recall the last time I drank too much rum at the marina at Lake Lottawanna and had to crawl on hands and knees to get up the stairs to the lakehouse.  Oh well…

On to The Bronx Zoo.   I’m sure we all have a childhood memory of loosing a baseball legend.  My most vivid is the day Thurman Munson died tragically while practicing take-offs at the Akron-Canton airfield.  Us neighborhood boys went outside and played catch for hours, talking baseball.  I think it a fitting tribute to who was at that time the first Yankee captain since Lou Gehrig.

We’ll take a brief timeout to give Mouse a moment to compose himself.  OK, onward boys…

From Thomas Boswell in the Yankees Reader, “Most 24 year olds would recall the winter night when they received the MVP plaque as one of glory.  Don Mattingly says, “I don’t remember much about it, except our son Taylor lost his pacifier and we were up all night with him.  That will bring you back to earth.” 

Donnie Baseball was an easy one idolize, he played the game as it was meant to be, full out on every play.  His only flaw?  Being too tough to stay in one piece.   I love this game.

Enough of the sappy, childhood baseball memories and on to the random voices tumbling around in my head……

	SloPay – I’m still having nightmares of the image you so eloquently painted of a “Pirate doin' his cabin boy over the guardrail with a face like George W. Bush”.  Counseling seems to be helping.
	Is the 2003 edition of the Detroit Tigers the worst team in MLB history?  Talk amongst yourselves.

	Padre Shamu, a beautiful profession of your faith.  Seriously, that took tremendous commitment.  And in this crowd, big brass giblets.  I may need your help in prayer in The Queen City with that ever popular and all too frequent invocation, “If you’ll just stop the bed from spinning I will never drink this much again.”
	Brilliant evaluation of talent, drafting Gil Meche in the 28th round.   Not so brilliant managerial move, the quick trigger on Gil Meche.   I appreciate your generosity Curby.

You will all be pleased to know that The Great American Ballpark far outdistances all other ballparks in the Beer Outlet Quotient.  That is, it has the best ratio of beer stands, carts and vendors to the number of fans in all of MLB.

I don’t know that I have ever seen a more disinterested collection of ballplayers, and I use the term ballplayers loosely with this group, than I saw when the Omaha Royals played the Oklahoma Redhawks at Haymarket Park earlier this year.  It’s no wonder the Baby-Royals draw 500 a night.    With Mike Kelly and James Baldwin setting the tone, these stiffs didn’t run out groundballs and strolled leisurely off the field with each passing inning.  The only player showing any heart was Brent Abernathy, and that’s only due to the threat of being returned to the Devil Rays.

Itchie, even the playing field, get a job. Go SaltDogs!  Go Yankees!  Go Chiefs!

Screech & BT (in absentia)

WEEK 11 POINT TOTALS

STANDINGS THROUGH

June 15, 2003

PLAYER RANKINGS

PITCHER RANKINGS