sammyt

Totally off-topic and I'm not even sure why I'm posting this, but Snutchy, we just named a cat Snutchy (inspired by your posts here). Hope you don't hate cats! By the way, a simple web search showed your posts at OH as among the top results for a search on "Snutchy", so it appears that you've cornered the market on that name. Except for our cat. I'll try to post something more worthy next time.

So glad to see that Jones chose the Buffalos and not a soulless team like the Giants! They are a classy and fun team with a tradition of interesting foreign players. They split their games between the Osaka dome and the outdoor park in Kobe (maybe 30 miles away). The park in Kobe is an ideal spot to watch a game for those of you who are ever a threat to visit and Kobe is one of the nicest cities in Japan. Used to watch Ichiro there when he was with the Oryx Blue Wave. Back in 1990, Oriole Jim Traber (anyone remember him?) went to the Buffalos after his last game in the MLB in 1989 with the Birds. I lived near the stadium where the Buffalos played at the time and caught a lot of games. Traber was very predictable in going to certain bars after the games, so I would frequently go to the same bars with some friends. Traber loved to talk and tell stories. He's teammates clearly loved him even though they didn't have the foggiest idea what he was saying or doing half the time. I think he's actually a radio talk show host nowadays in his native Oklahoma. After a few beers, Traber was also predictable, he would want to go eat Korean barbecue, so on more than one occasion, I tagged along. I was 22, so all of this made a big impression on me. I'm pretty sure he was above 250 pounds at the time. The ladies at the restaurant would tease him about his size. The other famous heavy American baseball player from that era was Randy Bass, who helped the next-door team (the Hanshin Tigers) win their first championship in 50 years. The waitresses would tease Traber and call him Randy, though I think the meaning was lost on him. When the Tigers won that championship, the fans in Osaka had a mini riot and threw a giant statue of Colonel Sanders from KFC into the dotonburi river off Osaka's most famous bridge. Why? Not sure, but it was some kind of an homage to Bass. Ok, I've rambled a bit. Good luck Adam!!! Katobase Jones!!