After forcing myself to wait until the price came down some I finally bought this book yesterday on my Kindle for $5 and at about a third of the way through so far I'm loving it. The fact it was written by the CHB scared me at first but it feels like Tito wrote it instead. Full of stories and language formed by a lifetime spent in baseball parks across the country you can hear Tito's voice in every sentence.
Best part of the book so far? The back story behind the home plate argument between Manny Ramirez and Yadier Molina in Game 4 of the 2004 World Series. While the two of them screamed profanities in Spanish at each other, Umpire Chuck Meriwether waved Francona out onto the field.
Upon arriving at home plate Meriwether said he couldn't understand Spanish, thus he couldn't understand what in the great wide world of sports was going on.
Francona: "What do you want me to do about it? I don't speak Spanish either." Turning to Manny he asked "What's this about?"
Ramirez: "He thinks I'm stealing their signs."
Francona: (chuckling) "Chuck, Manny doesn't even know OUR signs!"
I miss goofy, pre-steroid knowing about, blissfully unaware Manny.
And while I think John Farrell is going to be a fine manager?
I think I'll always miss Tito.
No comments:
Post a Comment