Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Minor League Baseball interviews Jim Morrison

Don't be asking me "who's Jim Morrison?"

I'll tell you, though.

He managed the Columbus Catfish (Rays) to the South Atlantic League (Class A) championship last year.

It was his first year managing in the Tampa Bay system, and a very successful one. He did a great job. And, when they auctioned off special jerseys last year, I bought his.

I really enjoyed watching his team play ... and him manage the team.

He's been tapped to manage Vero Beach of the Florida State League (Class A-Advanced) for 2008. And I expect he'll do well there.

Anyway, Minor League Baseball has posted an interview with Jim Morrison. And I thought it was a good read. He does tell one interesting story about being kissed while batting. Really.

...there was a guy named Max Patkin, who was known as the Clown Prince of Baseball. He was a former Minor League player who had started this comedy act at Minor League parks around the country. Well, I didn't know who he was at the time, and I came up to bat one game during the middle of his act. He calls timeout, grabs me and kisses me on the cheek.


Jim, being the class act that he is, had nothing but good things to say about fans in the South Atlantic League, going so far as to praise them for their support, saying "anywhere you go ... the fans always come out."

That's quite an exaggeration, particularly for Savannah and Columbus.

The Sand Gnats don't draw well. The Catfish draw even worse.

But Jim ... who played college ball at Georgia Southern when my Big Sister was a student there, too ... had nothing but good things to say.

He's a class act. If only more in Columbus would show support for such folks.

3 comments:

  1. I remember him when he played with the White Sox, circa 1979

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  2. Oh, and Nancy Faust, the White Sox organist since 1970--still on the job--used to play "Light My Fire" when he came to the the plate. I think he made her stop--baseball players are quite superstitous

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  3. How I wish I had known about "Light My Fire." Not sure what I could have done with that information, but we'd have come up with something that would have brought a smile to his face.

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