Yup he was a straight up badass. Real cowboy type. I have gotten to meet him several times in my life thanks to my parents and have a couple balls autographed. Got to have him sign my glove as a graduation present too. He led a pitching camp I went to when I was younger and was always my favorite player growing up, and to meet him in person you'd think he'd known you for years. Really down to earth, it feels like talking to one of my dad's buddies from work or something. Pretty funny guy too.
I wouldn't have wanted to bat against him in his hay day though. We don't have pitchers these days that completely intimidate a whole lineup like he did.
Although not a modern day pitcher, Roger Clemens reminded me of Nolan in a lot of ways.
Both Texans, both threw heat, both were very aggressive and would throw 100mph into a guys rib cage to send a message.
Near the end of Clemens career (2008/2009-ish), Clemens son was playing for the Lexington Legends minor league team. During the season, there was a bench clearing brawl incited by Rocket Roger after both teams had hit a couple of batters, and Clemens got suspended for a few games. So he used that suspension to take a mini vacation to come to Lexington to watch his son play.
I was working as a manager at a national chain drug store. Clemens came into the store around 11pm to buy a bunch of groceries for his stay in Lexington. This was 2 days after the bean brawl.
He was a really, really cool guy. He started explaining why he was here in the middle of the season, and I said I saw what happened, and he just laughed and said "Oh, so you saw me clean that mess up, huh? They didn't throw at anyone else the rest of the night, but I got a little vacation out of it". It was funny how he said it.
I miss those types of pitchers, although I will say that old red ass himself, Madison Bumgartner, is from that mold. Dude don't take any shit from anyone, umps included.
love October baseball
