Pat Jordan on Chasing Jose Canseco

I talked to Seaver once when he was with the Reds, and another time I was there when he said to the herd, "Sorry, guys, not tonight." He was firm but polite.

One time during the Carlton era I was in the Phils' locker room and Pete Rose was the only Phillie who would talk, except for one pitcher (I forget his name) who would speak in Spanish to a Spanish-speaking reporter, but apparently not about much. Geez, what a bunch of bubbly, chatty guys in that locker room. If that had been my beat, I'd have lost my mind by the All-Star break.

 

Seaver was always a prickly shithead, but I suspect he talked to the Times because he had a personal relationship with the writer rather than because it was the Times.

 

Yeah, Smasher, you're right. I figured that pretty quickly afterward, too. But as a relative newbie to the business, it stung and I disliked the guy from that point forward. Guess I failed by never having thrown harder than him, a la Mr. Pat Jordan.

 

The last game at the Vet, the Phillies brought back all of their past stars, including Steve Carlton. It was a great event, a really touching ceremony that saw Tug McGraw relive his celebration after the final out of the 1980 World Series. Afterward, a couple of us went up to Carlton in the old-timers' locker room, seeing if he would comment about the days' festivities. "Not today guys." What about seeing all of his former teammates and taking in the applause from the crowd? "Not gonna happen." I know he had this media boycott, but come on, that was like 20 years ago.

 

I remember when Carlton started talking, and he said some pretty weird stuff. I liked him better when he was silent.

 

http://www.slate.com/id/2190955/pagenum/all/#page_start

 

The last graph of Jordan's story is killer. The rest is filler.

 

"Uh, Steve, this is the only day. It's not like you're going to be here tomorrow."

 

I'm a big Jordan fan. Nothing real poetic about his writing. He just gives it to you straight. A very understated style, but a style nonetheless. Just finished "A False Spring" not long ago and have started "A Nice Tuesday." ... Will probably buy his collection that just came out, if I don't get it for Father's Day, as requested. Amazing that he's survived just on freelancing all these years.

 

Dan Shaugnessy chimes in: http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/05/25/we_now_have_a_bad_connection/?page=full