RU4Scuba Wrote:+1 for Sean Casey: I met him a few times while playing for the Akron Aeros. Class act all the way.fsulevine Wrote:As bad a rep as he has for whatever reason, Frank Thomas was one of the nicest ballplayers I ever had the opportunity to meet. Pat Borders and Sparky Lyle also stand out in my memory.Thomas has a bad rep in some clubhouses, but he has always been a class act towards his fans. Also, there is no nicer player in all of baseball than Sean Casey. Todd Jones is a close second.
Here is a suprise nomination: Albert Belle! Usually a very gruff guy, but I happened to catch him leaving the stadium one night with about 5-10 other people. Not only did he sign for everyone there (albeit asking to have everyone stay behind a guard rail), but as he was getting into his car a lady came running up to get a picture. He got back out of his car, posed for the picture and then left.
Charles Nagy : He was at a Wahoo Winterfest and was headed up on the elevator to do a class on pitching. My wife and I were on the elevator to go look at silent auction items. We had a chance to talk with him for a couple of minutes and he was very polite. Later that day, I got an auto from him at the signing session and we had a chance to talk briefly there as well. No, I did not get an auto in the elevator- it seemed like I would be intruding on his personal time.
Mike Hargrove: He used to eat where I was serving. Usually his wife and him would come to our restaurant at least 1x per week that he was at home. I never bothered to get his auto- I avoid intruding on time with family. Besides, I had a chance to serve him 1 - 2 x's while there.
Last one: Paul Molitor - I have not IP met him, but did talk to him over the phone. Back in 1995, I was preparing to ask my wife to marry me. Since we both followed Molitor, I wrote a letter to him asking if he could help suprise my wife at a baseball game later that summer when the two teams were playing (I believe he was with the Brewers at the time?) I never heard anything, so I went to plan be and we were engaged in September of that year. The Indians were in the WS and I get a phone call at work (I had left multiple #s on the letter). My boss tells me a "Paul Molitor is one the phone". I assumed she was playing a trick and asked to verify. She said, that is what the person said, so I took the call. It turned out to be Paul calling me in regards to my letter I wrote earlier in the year. He apologized for not calling sooner, but his mail went to the clubhouse where it was separated into 2 groups - fan mail and personal mail. The personal mail was sent to his home. He had not gotten to the letter until just before he called. We talked for about 10 minutes about the Indians, the WS, etc and that was it. Needless to say, he gets my top vote.