Work is going to be crazy today. Looooong, grueling and crazy. So I have time for just a quick post, and I guess it should be about something that I like about my job.So I'll mention one of the other major leaguers I've talked to in my job, and he's probably the nicest guy in all of major league baseball by a considerable margin. Sean Casey's nickname is "The Mayor" because of his knack for making pleasant talk wherever he goes. All you have to do is watch one game in which he's playing first base. He chats with just about anyone there. The runner, the first base coach, the umpire.
Casey used to play minor league ball in my town. In fact he was part of the most successful Single A team to ever play here. He led the 1995 Watertown Indians to a New York-Penn League championship. He was a great player to talk to then. And wherever he went, throughout the minors and then onto the majors, articles would appear about how approachable this guy was.
A few years later, he was playing for the Reds. Major League Baseball used to have this arrangement where media members could interview a different player each week through a teleconference set-up. They abandoned this pretty quickly, probably because they couldn't get enough players to do it, but it worked great with Casey.
Casey remembered everything about his minor league days back in Watertown and was happy to talk about it. He owned major league pitching at the time of the conversation, so it was nice that he could reflect on a time when he was just a beginner. He talked about his upbringing in Pittsburgh, who he rooted for as a kid. But the best part was when he talked about the time he offered to help some less fortunate folks.
Here is how I began that story in the article I wrote:
A few years ago, Sean Casey stopped by a Richmond, Va., organization that helps children affected by cerebral palsy and asked if he could volunteer his time.
"'You're not the Boston Strangler?' That's what they said," Casey said laughing. "I said, 'no, far from it.'"
Casey, now nearing the end of his playing career, is still active in charitable organizations, and as talkative and likeable as ever. No matter what team he's playing for (and fortunately he's never played for a team I dislike), I root for him.
He's a reminder of why I enjoy this job. I get to talk to some interesting, pleasant people. It balances out work days like today.
Comments
When he came back to root for Charlie Manuel during the World Series, he was great to talk to and spoke to everyone as though he has known them for life.
Ah, the other man who made me feel this way Bobby Murcer. One of the highlights of short career, which will make a blog entry one day.
Sean was thrilled to see Eric again, and asked - by name - about the other students in the class. He still remembered them after 12 years! He said that his time at the CP Center was the best time of his life. Pretty remarkable since he had played in the World Series the year before!
I guess it shouldn't surprise me. We should all be like that. He's a great example.