JULY: THE BASEBALL GURU
ARTICLE FROM
ONEMOREINNING
THE
LONG AND
WINDING
TUFFY AND DUSTY
The Year was 1970, the song
was Paul McCartneys, THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD and I loved
it. It wasnt typical Beatles, Paul disavowed it, Beatles purists thought
it was despicable, but the public embraced it and it became their last hit.
McCartney gave it as one of the six reasons that caused the Beatles to break
up.
Well, in baseball we have
had long and winding roads as well but their names are spelled
With five games to go American
import & now present day outfielder for the KINTETSU DRAGONS has hit
his 55th homerun. Its 2001 & it has tied the great Sadaharu
Ohs
record
and
the future doesnt bode well for
Tuffy
to
break it. Thats especially
true since the next four games that Tuffy will play will be against the Yomiuri
Giants. And by the way the Manager of the Giants just happens to be Mr. Oh.
And by the way, from that moment on Tuffy gets nothing to hit and I mean
nothing! He will
end up tying the record and the same will hold true for Alex Cabrera one
year later when he gets 55 homers. The pitchers were ordered to give both
American players nothing to hit at and rumor has it the orders came from
Oh.
Its interesting to note
that the baseball Gods work in strange ways. In Tuffys case he went
from being just another ordinary player here in the states to a superstar
in
From 1990 to 1995 he drifted
from the Astros, to the Cubs, and then on to the Red Sox with so-so results.
Sensing that his Major League career was going nowhere he signed with the
Conducting himself as a perfect
ambassador for
In 2005, while with the
Yomiuri Giants, he was injured and
was released at the end of the season. Once again he tried to make it in
the Major leagues, failed, and in 2007 was back in
By the way his
55th homerun in the Japanese league was hit off a flame throwing
pitcher by the name of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Perhaps youve heard of him.
And
then theres the other
James Lamar Rhodes came to us on
It was in the 1954 World Series that
the nation really began to take notice of him. In game one Rhodes hit a pinch
hit homerun in the tenth off the great Bob Feller to get the win for
Willie Mays said it best about
After his career was over (a short seven years)
things became difficult for
him. He was always a drinker and because of that had trouble holding down
jobs. Finally a good friend got him work on a tugboat. He stayed with that
for 25 years and has said it was something he loved doing. His last hurrah
was in the 2004 Summer Olympics where he coached the Greek Olympic baseball
team.
In explaining why his career was
a short one , he has been quoted as saying, After Durocher left the
Giants, baseball wasnt fun
anymore.