Spareribs
Cool Runner |
 posted Aug-08-2007 03:01 PM   
Okay, the Eddie Stanky story. When I first joined CR I noticed how often people whined about the heat, so I wrote a post in which I threatened to fine people for complaining about it, as Eddie Stanky did, and that post started the whole notion of fining people. Here is the Eddie Stanky story, I think recounted by either Jim Brosnan in "The Long Season" a great baseball book, or by Jim Bouton in "Ball Four", another great baseball book.
Stanky managed the White Sox beginning in '66 and they played a doubleheader at home on a very hot, humid day. Before the first game all the players in the locker room were complaining about the heat and how awful it was to play two games in it. Stanky had had enough. He said, (paraphrasing here), "I'm tired of you guys complaining about the heat. It's the same heat the opponents have to play in. Forget about the heat and just play ball. The next guy who complains about the heat, I'm fining him $50!" (a big fine back in those days).
So they start the game and the Chicago pitcher has a very tough top of the first, taking a long time to retire the side. He is soaked through as he returns to the dugout, and he says when he gets to the top step, "MAN IS IT HOT OUT THERE!" and then remembering Stanky's threatened fine, he finishes with, "And that's just the way I like it!"
After I posted this, many Boomers would post, "It sure was hot today when I started my run, but that's just the way I like it..." We had fun with this thing all summer, but in fact, the complaining really did abate after that. Now that there is a new crowd of rookie Boomers, it was probably a good idea to recount the story as fines are next. Spareribs
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