Stupid Atlanta tornado...not waiting two more weeks to touch down >:[
I swear that JRoll and I are ~*MIND TWINZ*~
Okay maybe not really but. First he says int he 2007 yearbook DVD the same thing I'd been saying ad naseum regarding the Mets/Phillies "rivalry", and now he's saying the same about Chutley!, in his interview from the April issue of Men's Journal.
Rollins: I've never been cocky. But you've gotta have that swagger to play the game. If you don't have swag, you'll find yourself getting out of the game quick. Or you just won't be marketable. That's one thing I always tell Chase [Utley, Phillies teammate]: "Chase, smile a little bit. You're good; you have the looks. You just have to show that you have personality. You're a marketer's dream."
It is a rare occasion when I can somehow connect my "hometown" to my favorite basketball team. But, at the end of Feburary, KUTV in Salt Lake City did an interview with former Sixer and current Jazzman Kyle Korver. An incredibly AWKWARD interview. First of all, he's hugging a pillow the whole time. Which I find strange, though maybe that's just me. And, it starts out normal and then they start talking about religion (ooo in Utah. SHOCK!). Then it's boring again and 2:55 in the interviewer asks Kyle about being a "sex symbol" and he's obviously not too keen on that. And at 4 minutes, the interviewer's son pulls a PBJ sandwich out of her purse and gives it to Kyle. What?
And this will probably only be of interest to myself, other Phillies fans, and saxy_clarinet, but the Phillies are going to be releasing a DVD about Richie Ashburn entitled Richie Ashburn: A Baseball Life.
So, as I said, I have this like, 17 years-late crush on Steve Avery (He's the one in this pic that's not Smoltz or Glav). And not the sort of "crush" that I have on Glav where it's like, "you're a great pitcher but also a douche so I will make fun of you". No, this crush, (which I am not afraid to admit, mostly because he had little effect on my Phillies fanhood, seeing as how he was good before I got into the Phils/before they were in the same division, and then proceeded to suck when I started getting into baseball/they were in the same division) Avery is like, "holy cow you're an amazing pitcher and I wish we coulda hung out cuz although you are kind of a huge dumbass, we would have tons of fun". Plus he came up to the minors when he was younger than I am right now. It's weird when ballplayers are my age. I feel old. But anyway.
As I said, I have this collection of articles that prove he is awesome in his very um, special sort of way. Most of them are from the 91 postseason, as that's when my fic thakes place, but this one's from 92 spring training. And since I can't link to the actual AJC article, as you need speshul access (and I'm speshul, so I have access), I have it under the cut
It's late one Sunday night, and Steve Avery is sitting comfortably in his condominium. Atlanta sportscaster Jeff Hullinger is doing a live spring training interview for WAGA/Channel 5. The pitching hero of last October's National League Championship Series is in the middle of talking about the Braves' upcoming season when suddenly the bedroom door opens and out rushes Cyrus, his golden retriever puppy.
Pandemonium! Cyrus leaps onto the couch beside his master, then decides to rip off a few lightning-quick laps around the living room. Then he grabs the microphone in his teeth and tries to jerk it out of Hullinger's hand.
Leave it to a dog to accomplish what no human has been able to: take the attention away from Steve Avery.
The 21-year-old lefthander from Taylor, Mich., already one of baseball's best pitchers, also has become Mr. Popular in the Braves' clubhouse. Highly publicized phenoms who make it to the majors only two years out of high school often find some resentment waiting for them in big-league locker rooms. But Avery has captivated his teammates with his personality every bit as much as he has shackled NL hitters with his left arm.
Everybody knew the guy could pitch. But no one could have predicted that Avery, after going 18-8 with a 3.88 earned-run average in the regular season, would pitch two 1-0 playoff shutouts against Pittsburgh.
Now, just four years after being the third overall pick in the 1988 amateur draft, Avery might even get the nod over Tom Glavine, last year's Cy Young Award winner, as the Braves' opening-day starter.
Avery shut down the Dodgers in the exhibition opener and picked up another win Tuesday against the Yankees when he gave up two runs in three innings but wasn't hit hard.
But the season is still nearly a month off, plenty of time to collect Avery anecdotes. All his teammates have one. Some, like Otis Nixon, even have two.
Nixon's Avery anecdote No. 1: "He had two [fishing] poles lined up on each side of the lake the other day and Steve would sprint back and forth between, doing it seven or eight times. He would be on one side and then get a bite on the other. Then one of his poles is pulled into the water. This guy is not a fisherman."
Nixon's Avery anecdote No. 2: "Deion [Sanders] goes on the Arsenio Hall show a month or so ago and they ask him about his friends on the team. He mentions Otis Nixon and Steve Avery. Steve didn't speak to me for a week because Deion mentioned my name first."
Sanders tried to give Avery some sartorial advice. "I told him I needed to teach him how to dress," he said. "I told him, `You give me $6,000, I'll buy you some clothes.' The worst thing was he was wearing these big, white Fruit of the Loom underpants."
Greg Olson, who refers to Avery as "the Ave-dog," recalled that Avery has a reputation for falling asleep in the clubhouse before a big game. "He does this before Game 6 of the playoffs. [Owner] Ted Turner walks in and thinks, `What in the world is a pitcher in a playoff game doing?' and he's all worried. Jane Fonda comes in, and she's not worried and blows him a kiss good luck."
Avery has answers for all of them.
To Olson: "He was just jealous."
To Sanders: "What am I supposed to say about underwear?"
To Nixon: "Otis puts me down because he thinks he's a better fisherman. Just ask him about yesterday when I caught nine pounds of fish and he caught hardly anything. And as far as Arsenio goes, I was upset. Deion keeps saying that the second guy you mention always is remembered most. Like Siskel and Ebert, you always remember Ebert. I don't buy it."
Once Avery steps onto the field, the fun is over. "I can get down there with [John] Smoltz or Glavine and we think about something funny and it would loosen everybody up," said pitching coach Leo Mazzone. "But there is none of that with Steve."
Said Avery, "I'm paid to pitch. I play when I'm not throwing that ball."
Now, after an offseason highlighted by a November marriage to his high school sweetheart, Heather McMillan, and a ton of interviews (including one for a profile in Sports Illustrated), Avery is ready to get back to work.
Like I said: Papelbon, is that you?
Before I finish this: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, jollygreenpear!! Hopefully Cloby had tons of makingouttage in your honor!
Also, tomorrow is my first day down in the watches department. Yeah, I switched departments because I need more hours. A maximum of 22 just ain't cutting it. I'll miss all the cute outfits up in infants, and I'm a bit tenative about having to stand in one spot mostly, as opposed to in Infants/Girls, I did a lot of walking, kept myself busy. But it seems like the people there are really nice. So. Yay, mostly.
Oh, and I hope the Phillies' shittastic spring training is their way of "starting off slow". Oh the humanity! :C
Okay maybe not really but. First he says int he 2007 yearbook DVD the same thing I'd been saying ad naseum regarding the Mets/Phillies "rivalry", and now he's saying the same about Chutley!, in his interview from the April issue of Men's Journal.
Rollins: I've never been cocky. But you've gotta have that swagger to play the game. If you don't have swag, you'll find yourself getting out of the game quick. Or you just won't be marketable. That's one thing I always tell Chase [Utley, Phillies teammate]: "Chase, smile a little bit. You're good; you have the looks. You just have to show that you have personality. You're a marketer's dream."
It is a rare occasion when I can somehow connect my "hometown" to my favorite basketball team. But, at the end of Feburary, KUTV in Salt Lake City did an interview with former Sixer and current Jazzman Kyle Korver. An incredibly AWKWARD interview. First of all, he's hugging a pillow the whole time. Which I find strange, though maybe that's just me. And, it starts out normal and then they start talking about religion (ooo in Utah. SHOCK!). Then it's boring again and 2:55 in the interviewer asks Kyle about being a "sex symbol" and he's obviously not too keen on that. And at 4 minutes, the interviewer's son pulls a PBJ sandwich out of her purse and gives it to Kyle. What?
And this will probably only be of interest to myself, other Phillies fans, and saxy_clarinet, but the Phillies are going to be releasing a DVD about Richie Ashburn entitled Richie Ashburn: A Baseball Life.
So, as I said, I have this like, 17 years-late crush on Steve Avery (He's the one in this pic that's not Smoltz or Glav). And not the sort of "crush" that I have on Glav where it's like, "you're a great pitcher but also a douche so I will make fun of you". No, this crush, (which I am not afraid to admit, mostly because he had little effect on my Phillies fanhood, seeing as how he was good before I got into the Phils/before they were in the same division, and then proceeded to suck when I started getting into baseball/they were in the same division) Avery is like, "holy cow you're an amazing pitcher and I wish we coulda hung out cuz although you are kind of a huge dumbass, we would have tons of fun". Plus he came up to the minors when he was younger than I am right now. It's weird when ballplayers are my age. I feel old. But anyway.
As I said, I have this collection of articles that prove he is awesome in his very um, special sort of way. Most of them are from the 91 postseason, as that's when my fic thakes place, but this one's from 92 spring training. And since I can't link to the actual AJC article, as you need speshul access (and I'm speshul, so I have access), I have it under the cut
It's late one Sunday night, and Steve Avery is sitting comfortably in his condominium. Atlanta sportscaster Jeff Hullinger is doing a live spring training interview for WAGA/Channel 5. The pitching hero of last October's National League Championship Series is in the middle of talking about the Braves' upcoming season when suddenly the bedroom door opens and out rushes Cyrus, his golden retriever puppy.
Pandemonium! Cyrus leaps onto the couch beside his master, then decides to rip off a few lightning-quick laps around the living room. Then he grabs the microphone in his teeth and tries to jerk it out of Hullinger's hand.
Leave it to a dog to accomplish what no human has been able to: take the attention away from Steve Avery.
The 21-year-old lefthander from Taylor, Mich., already one of baseball's best pitchers, also has become Mr. Popular in the Braves' clubhouse. Highly publicized phenoms who make it to the majors only two years out of high school often find some resentment waiting for them in big-league locker rooms. But Avery has captivated his teammates with his personality every bit as much as he has shackled NL hitters with his left arm.
Everybody knew the guy could pitch. But no one could have predicted that Avery, after going 18-8 with a 3.88 earned-run average in the regular season, would pitch two 1-0 playoff shutouts against Pittsburgh.
Now, just four years after being the third overall pick in the 1988 amateur draft, Avery might even get the nod over Tom Glavine, last year's Cy Young Award winner, as the Braves' opening-day starter.
Avery shut down the Dodgers in the exhibition opener and picked up another win Tuesday against the Yankees when he gave up two runs in three innings but wasn't hit hard.
But the season is still nearly a month off, plenty of time to collect Avery anecdotes. All his teammates have one. Some, like Otis Nixon, even have two.
Nixon's Avery anecdote No. 1: "He had two [fishing] poles lined up on each side of the lake the other day and Steve would sprint back and forth between, doing it seven or eight times. He would be on one side and then get a bite on the other. Then one of his poles is pulled into the water. This guy is not a fisherman."
Nixon's Avery anecdote No. 2: "Deion [Sanders] goes on the Arsenio Hall show a month or so ago and they ask him about his friends on the team. He mentions Otis Nixon and Steve Avery. Steve didn't speak to me for a week because Deion mentioned my name first."
Sanders tried to give Avery some sartorial advice. "I told him I needed to teach him how to dress," he said. "I told him, `You give me $6,000, I'll buy you some clothes.' The worst thing was he was wearing these big, white Fruit of the Loom underpants."
Greg Olson, who refers to Avery as "the Ave-dog," recalled that Avery has a reputation for falling asleep in the clubhouse before a big game. "He does this before Game 6 of the playoffs. [Owner] Ted Turner walks in and thinks, `What in the world is a pitcher in a playoff game doing?' and he's all worried. Jane Fonda comes in, and she's not worried and blows him a kiss good luck."
Avery has answers for all of them.
To Olson: "He was just jealous."
To Sanders: "What am I supposed to say about underwear?"
To Nixon: "Otis puts me down because he thinks he's a better fisherman. Just ask him about yesterday when I caught nine pounds of fish and he caught hardly anything. And as far as Arsenio goes, I was upset. Deion keeps saying that the second guy you mention always is remembered most. Like Siskel and Ebert, you always remember Ebert. I don't buy it."
Once Avery steps onto the field, the fun is over. "I can get down there with [John] Smoltz or Glavine and we think about something funny and it would loosen everybody up," said pitching coach Leo Mazzone. "But there is none of that with Steve."
Said Avery, "I'm paid to pitch. I play when I'm not throwing that ball."
Now, after an offseason highlighted by a November marriage to his high school sweetheart, Heather McMillan, and a ton of interviews (including one for a profile in Sports Illustrated), Avery is ready to get back to work.
Like I said: Papelbon, is that you?
Before I finish this: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, jollygreenpear!! Hopefully Cloby had tons of makingouttage in your honor!
Also, tomorrow is my first day down in the watches department. Yeah, I switched departments because I need more hours. A maximum of 22 just ain't cutting it. I'll miss all the cute outfits up in infants, and I'm a bit tenative about having to stand in one spot mostly, as opposed to in Infants/Girls, I did a lot of walking, kept myself busy. But it seems like the people there are really nice. So. Yay, mostly.
Oh, and I hope the Phillies' shittastic spring training is their way of "starting off slow". Oh the humanity! :C