Here's an excerpt from Simmons' latest entry on his homepage:
7. Did you see who's managing the Diamondbacks?
I'll let Minneapolis reader Jeff Branstad explain: "Are you aware that Al Pedrique, the new manager for the Diamondbacks, was the starting shortstop on the NL All-Star team in the original RBI Baseball? He played in a total of 93 games for the Pirates and the Mets in 1987 and hit .294 with one homer and 27 RBI, yet somehow the powers-that-be at Nintendo decided he should get the All-Star nod. Remember this?"
Of course! Who doesn't remember Al Pedrique??? When we played RBI Baseball in college, I always played the AL All-Stars against my buddy Kurt Sanger, who was always the NL All-Stars. We never played the Red Sox against the Mets because Kurt was a Mets fan and I was still harboring a huge grudge from the '86 World Series, so that was a potential deal-breaker for us. So we played the All-Stars to be safe; especially when we were drunk. Poor Kurt was stuck with Pedrique as his shortstop ... and neither of us had ever heard of him. I mean, EVER. Check out his lifetime stats -- they're beyond terrible. Somehow, Al Pedrique got the nod over Ozzie Smith (second in the MVP voting that year), Hubie Brooks, Shawon Dunston and everyone else.
Anyway, we decided that "Pedrique" was his full name, like Madonna or Gallagher. It made him sound like a French magician or something. It became a running joke for two semesters ... and I haven't thought about it since. Now he's the new manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. You have to love sports sometimes.
Solid... Wonder if Simmons knows about the page...
Hasn't he ever heard of a pinch hitter? :)
He only played with all stars and didn't know enough to pinch hit for Pedriq? The Sports Guy probably sucks at RBI.
I'm thinking if he adds that Pedrique never got to step out of the dugout because they never ever used him, then the story loses a little of it's flavor...