The Power of I'm just sayin...

This blog has become more powerful than even I could have imagined. And I imagined quite a lot.

Yesterday, I told you about Jeremy’s boy Hanley Ramirez (no relation to former Brave Rafael Ramirez). Well, it seems Hall of Famer Andre “The Hawk” Dawson saw what I had to say and decided he needed to have a talk with Hanley. Jeremy was kind enough to pass along an article describing the meeting between Dawson and Hanley (which included Hall of Famer Tony “Doggie” Perez). I don’t recall ever seeing Perez play, though I may have seen him once or twice on TV against the Braves at the end of his career. I do, however, remember watching Dawson play. He is not someone I would want to make mad. While I don’t know the story behind his nickname, I can tell you they called him “The Hawk” because... well, he let them. It’s that simple. This is the kind of guy that scared me even when he looked happy. I must point out that we have never met (we could just never work it out in our schedules) and I’m sure he’s a nice guy... but he has an intimidation factor (on a scale of 1-10) of 15. By the time I started watching him (after he came to the Cubs) his knees were already shot. He had to go through hours of pre-game prep just to be able to go out on the field each night (or day, if it was a Cubs home game back then). He played the game the right way. He respected the game because he understood that the minute you start thinking you’re better than the game, the game will kick you’re a**. Anyway, I recommend you read the article. I will tell you it starts off by saying something like “The door shut and Andre Dawson looked directly into Ramirez’s eyes”. That sent chills up my spine. As someone who has been robbed at gunpoint, let me say in all honesty I would rather be robbed at gunpoint than be in a room with an angry Andre Dawson. And I sure as hell wouldn’t look an angry Andre Dawson in the eye. Ramirez later apologized to his teammates (something he had said he wouldn’t do) and was put back in the line-up. And he got two infield hits (which, as someone who rarely hit the ball out of the infield, I can tell you requires a lot of hustle). So, maybe this will be a “wake up” call for him. Maybe not. Time will tell.

During a game, former Cubs pitcher (now ESPN color analyst) Rick Sutcliffe said about all of this: “I don’t know if I could have whupped Hanley Ramirez or not, but I’ll be honest with you – after watching that, we would’ve found out”. I love Rick Sutcliffe.

Before finding out about the Dawson/Perez/Ramirez meeting, I had an idea on how to take care of this. Just show Ramirez the scene from Bull Durham that goes something like:

Manager: “You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!”

Larry: “Lollygaggers!”

Manager: “Lollygaggers. What’s our record, Larry?”

Larry: “8 and 16”.

Manager: “8... and 16. How’d we ever win 8?”

Larry: “It’s a miracle”.

Manager: “It’s a miracle. This... is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball”.

Of course, having Dawson and Perez meet with him was probably the better way to go. But watching that scene from Bull Durham would have been a lot more fun.

The Wife has told me that I will be attending a graduation tonight at Mary Ruth and Susie’s daycare. I feel I have to point out that the only graduation I have EVER really wanted to go to was mine a few weeks ago... and that was just because I thought there was a chance I’d get a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich (and I was right). This one isn’t even for my child. Mary Ruth still has another year. But, I have been told that I will be there because Mary Ruth (and her classmates) will be singing (or doing some kind of performance). Oh well... that’s the life of a parent I guess.