The Major-Leaguer Just Down The Street

I lived in the same subdivision as Clark Kellogg and Vern Fleming in the late 80s.

 

I got nothing, but the house down the street is vacant and has a pool,
so I was thinking maybe Chipper Jones could move in there? Thanks.

 

Our "go-to" football analyst when I worked in local TV sports was a former NFL QB in the 80s. Good guy to just shoot the shit with.
I've gotten to know a few pros from various sports through beat writing and TV. I wouldn't consider any of them friends, but they know who I am when I walk up to them.

And as of last week, my old part-timer at my first newspaper is now a major league umpire. I've been meaning to track down a game he is at and boo him!

 

NHL players Brendan Shanahan, David Bolland, and Dave Clarkson grew up in our Mimico neighbourhood in Toronto. As did that OK ballplayer Joey Votto. My son played HS baseball with him.

Not a big deal. Because they're from Mimico, they're just regular guys.

And Shanahan and Bolland have brought the Stanley Cup to The Blue Goose Tavern. And David will bring it again soon.

 

Not kidding here ... I really like your style!

 

Spectrum was a band in the 1980s.

Guitarist/vocalist Glen Lawson was my next door neighbor for several years.

His son would tell us he was gone off singing, but had no clue his dad was doing concerts.

 

The father of my son's best friend played in the NFL for 10 years, has a Super Bowl ring and is the nicest, most normal guy you will ever meet. Our sons play on several sports teams together and he's fun to watch games with because he just watches, doesn't get excited, usually sits way far from the action. . He's also my son's math teacher. My son stays at his house, and vice-versa, all the time.

And the kid who had my son's bedroom before he did is a major-league baseball player. We bought the house from his family when he was 8 or so.

 

A childhood buddy of mine married Reese Witherspoon.
Remember meeting Mike Bibby at my high school gym when he was 10.

 

We lived next door to a major-league pitcher for about four years when I was a kid. Very nice guy. Actually the first person I ever interviewed. I was in elementary school. Maybe 10 years old. Ran into him a few years ago and he was kind enough to bluff like he remembered us and ask about my family when I told him we used to be neighbors. (It was pretty clear he didn't remember).

His kids, on the other hand, were obnoxious little shits.

 

Did you flame-war with the kids?

 

Willie Mays used to live in my neighborhood. We played stickball in the street.

 

Ray Oyler lived across the street from my grade school and I still remember getting an autograph in first grade.
And I delivered newspapers to Kirk Gibson, then Ron LeFlore on my route -- 10 houses away from mine.