Brad Mills-INF Montreal Expos 1980-1983 and current manager of the Houston Astros-July 24th, 2012

Brad Mills was drafted in the 17th round by the Montreal Expos and by 1980, he was in the major leagues.  In 1983, he suffered a severe knee injury, which ended his playing career, but not his career in baseball.  After his injury, he got a job managing in the Cubs minor league system and spent parts of 11 seasons with the Cubs as well as the Dodgers and Rockies. By 1997, then Phillies manager Terry Francona hired Brad to serve as a bench coach, a job he held until 2000.  In 2003, he returned to Montreal to serve as a bench coach before being tapped once again by Terry Francona to join him in Boston. In 2009, the Houston Astros hired Brad Mills to manage the team.  It's been a rough 2 1/2 years for Brad, but he continued to help the young talent develop and lead the team during a rebuilding period. 

I was able to catch Brad before the game on Tuesday and ask him who his favorite player was.He spent some time thinking about it saying, "it's a real tough question, but I would have to say Willie Mays."  I didn't get to ask him more as there was a lot of noise going on in the field and he could barely hear me, but I was thankful for the time he took to answer my question. 

Here is a picture of the ball Brad signed for me.

Brad Brach-RP San Diego Padres-July 8th, 2012

Brad Brach is a young pitcher with a lot of talent.  Drafted from Monmouth College with the Padres 42nd round draft pick in the 2008 draft, Brad has moved quickly through the Padres farm system.  Between 2008-2012, he has saved 115 games and is looked at as a future setup man or closer by the club.  He has a fastball which has been clocked as high as 94MPH and his slider comes in between 80-85 MPH with a lot of movement.  He's struggled with his control since coming up to the big leagues, but has shown flashes of brilliance.  As Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley says, "he needs to trust his stuff."

Before Sunday's game, I was able to talk to Brad about who his favorite player was growing up.  Brad is a "Cal Ripken Jr. Fan."  He grew up watching Cal play and he told me "I grew up playing SS in Little League because it was Cal's position."  Brad took this picture with me and I thanked him for his time.  Keep up the hard work Brad. 

Dusty Baker-Former OF Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's & current manager of the Cincinnati Reds-July 5th, 2012

Dusty Baker was a hard-nosed player who hit well in the clutch. He witnessed history from the on deck circle on the night of April 8th, 1974 when he saw Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run.  Drafted out of high school in 1968, he quickly made his major league debut in 1969 and came up to stay in 1972 and hit for a career high .321 average.  Traded to the Dodgers in 1976, he became their starting left-fielder.  He made history in 1978, when he became the 4th Dodger to hit 30 home runs in a season, a feat that no team before had ever accomplished.  He remained with Los Angeles for 7 seasons and won a World Series ring with the 1981 team.  He left the Dodgers in 1984 and joined the Giants for a season before moving on to Oakland where he played his last 2 seasons.  After his retirement, Dusty joined the San Francisco Giants as a coach and became their manager in 1993.  He led the Giants to a 2002 World Series appearance, losing to the Angels who were led by former teammate Mike Scioscia.  After the 2002 season, Baker jumped to the Chicago Cubs and in 2007, Dusty became the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, the team he currently manages.

In my last blog, Ron Washington had told me his favorite player was Dusty Baker because, "he took care of me when I first came up."  I couldn't wait for the Reds to come to town so I could mention this to Dusty and I was lucky because the Reds were the first team the Padres played on their next home stand.  My friend Brian and I got to the ballpark early and walked to the Reds dugout and saw Dusty walking out of the dugout.  We got his attention and had him sign my new baseball and a ticket for the game.  I asked Dusty who his favorite player was and he said, "Hank Aaron, because he was the best player ever." I told Dusty I asked Ron Washington the same question and he has said it was you, because you took care of him when he first came up.  Dusty responded, "I did take care of him and I felt the Dodgers didn't play him enough." It was great to hear Dusty's reaction to what Ron said about him.  Here is a picture of the ball Dusty signed: 

Ron Washinton Former MLB Infielder Kansas City Royals, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros & Current Manager Of The Texas Rangers-June 19, 2012

Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1970, he spent 7 years in the minors before the Dodgers briefly called him up in 1977.  He batted .368 over the course of 10 games before being sent back to the minors.  In 1981, the Twins brought him up and he spent 9 seasons in the major leagues before retiring as a player in 1990.  He moved on to coaching, spending 5 years in the New York Mets system and in 1996, his former manager with the Astros Art Howe picked him to be on his coaching staff.  He coached 1B, 3B and worked with the infielders.  3B Eric Chavez credited Ron for helping him become a 6 time Gold Glove winner. On November 6, 2006, the Texas Rangers signed Ron Washington to become the manager of the team.  During his tenure, he has shown that he is a great manager who will use every man on the roster during the course of the year.  He wears his emotions on his sleeve in the dugout and is loved by his players. 

When the Rangers came here on their last home stand, I was able to ask Ron who he loved as a player.  “Dusty Baker, because when I first came to the majors, Dusty took care of me”, was the response from Ron.  He signed my well worn (and now retired from getting autographs on) ball.  Ron Washington is a nice man who proves to one and all that persistence pays off.  He never quit, he continued working hard, and now he’s one of the top managers in the game. 

I wasn’t able to get a picture with him, but my best friend Dr. Rebecca Herman did. She was granted a 30 minute interview with Ron to discuss a book she is working on.  Here is a picture of them together.

John D'Acquisto SP/RP San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's-May 30th, 2012

Growing up as a kid in San Diego, I remember the 1978 season.  It was the first season my Padres finished over .500 at 84-78.  One of the key players for the Padres that season was a man named John D'Acquisto.  He was a first round draft pick of the Giants, and became the became the 1974 NL Rookie Pitcher of the year.  When he arrived with the Padres in 1977, he had already started the transition to the bullpen.  In 1978, he had his best season as a pitcher.  Spending most of the season in the bullpen, he pitched 93 innings, striking out 104 hitter with a 2.13 ERA and he had 10 saves.  Several times during that season, he came out of the bullpen to bail Rollie Fingers out of jams using his 95 MPH fastball (a fastball that you could hear all over the stadium when it hit the catcher's mit).  John continued his career until 1983, when arm injuries finally caused him to retire from the game he loved.  Through the years, I would always look back and remember that '78 season and could hear hear in my mind the call of the Padres PA announcer, "now coming into the game....#16...John D'Acquisto!" Such wonderful memories......

Fast forward to last year.  I was on Facebook one day when a name popped up that jarred all the memories of that season back; John D'Acquisto!  I couldn't believe it when I saw the name and I immediately requested him as a friend and he accepted my request.  I told him how much I liked him and remembered him playing when I was a kid, and he was so kind in his words and happy to hear I remembered him.  I finally worked up the courage to ask John the question who his favorite player was and why, and he graciously took the time to answer my questions.  His favorite players?  "Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Nolan Ryan, but I was influenced by Koufax and Marichal."  He told me that he wore Marichal's #27 when he was in high school.  Knowing that he was with the Giants toward the end of Juan's career, I asked him if he ever worked with him while he was with the Giants.  He told me, "Yes I did..I was in spring training when I was 19 and had the pleasure to work with Juan in 71, 72, and 73 before I took his place and he was traded to Boston."   "He taught me a lot about the slider and how to bring my hand straight down and not wrap it because it could effect my control..Juan Marichal was a magician with control."  "I could remember when we were in the first day of spring training and Marichal was on the mound throwing and he was painting the corners with something on it and he hadn't done anything all winter long."  "Quite an amazing pitcher."

Thank you so much John for sharing your memories of your hero!  

Sargeant Slaughter Former AWA and WWF Heavyweight Champion-May 26th, 2012

Growing up in the 80's, I started watching professional wrestling as it started to become more mainstream.  As the WWF grew in popularity, other wrestling leagues starting getting tv time, and this is when I first heard the name Sargeant Slaughter.  He first appeared in the WWF, but moved to the AWA and became a huge name in the wrestling business, even branching out into a GI Joe character on their cartoon series!  He soon claimed the AWA Heavyweight Champion defeating Larry Zbyszko.  He continued to wrestle with the AWA until 1990, when he then jumped back to the WWF and after years of being a good guy, became a heel and defeated The Ultimate Warrior at The Royal Rumble to claim the Heavyweight title.  During this time, he was forced to wear a bullet proof vest due to death threats made by fans.  He later lost the title to Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 7, and then once again became a good guy helping Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a match and he's remained a good guy ever since.  He served for a time as the WWF Raw Commissioner and currently is a goodwill ambassador for the now WWE.


I had the opportunity to meet The Sarge at a Lake Elsinore Storm baseball game.  He made an appearance to celebrate Memorial Day and to throw out the first pitch.  When I met him, I asked him not about wrestling, but baseball.  Who would a former WWF, AWA Champion love as a ballplayer?  "Mickey Mantle" said the former champ.  He talked about "growing up listening to baseball games on his transistor radio and the Yankees were the only team he could get on radio, so he became a Mickey Mantle fan."  He then took pictures with my kids and myself and of course, I asked to be put in his finishing hold for the picture.

Love the Sarge!

Kevin Quackenbush RP Lake Elsinore Storm-May 26th, 2012

Drafted  in the 8th round in the 2011 draft out of the University of South Florida, Kevin is quickly moving up.  He spent last year playing between Eugene and Fort Wayne compiling a 2-1 record with 18 saves with a 0.64 ERA, with 12 walks and 71 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched!  Currently, he is pitching with the Lake Elsinore Storm in the Cal League (A-Ball) and is tied for the league lead in saves with 10.


Kevin was doing an autograph signing at the ballpark right near our seats.  I walked over and told Kevin I was a blogger and gave him my card and asked him who his favorite player was.  Kevin's reply to me was "Roger Clemens" because "he was a great pitcher into his 40's and I grew up a Yankees fan watching Roger pitch."


I thanked him for his time and took a picture with him.  Good luck Kevin and I hope to see you at Petco soon.