Inside The Clubhouse: Commanding Presence

A few days ago, I received another story from Scott Thigpen among my many e-mails. As Scott even says, it's more entertaining in person than in print, but it still shows a revealing glimpse behind the scenes.

This time, the story is about Carlton Fisk. His accomplishments deserve respect and he apparently got respect from playing the game right. I'll let Scott take over.

I'd like to share a story about Carlton Fisk. When my Dad and I went down to Sarasota, Fisk was in his last year (I believe, it's been a while). Anyway, he was one of the players I wanted to meet since he was a legend. I didn't get to meet him, but that was ok, I wasn't going to bother anyone, I was happy to be in the clubhouse :)

My Dad and I went to the practice the day after we got there and got to watch BP and it was cool. Remember, this was my first experience at a major league club, spring training or otherwise, so it was all pretty cool. My Dad and I sat in the bleachers and named players on the field and just enjoyed being there.

If I remember correctly, the clubhouse was out beyond right field. We saw a pretty big guy step out of the clubhouse and walk slowly to the batters box, where a couple of younger players were taking bp. As the player got closer, we saw that it was Fisk. As he got to third, everyone in the cage, packed up their stuff and headed out. There were three or four players in line and taking turns batting. They all cleared out when Fisk got there. It was cool, seeing the old warrior stride up and all the young guns clear out.

We had been watching BP for a while and it was funny to see how he walked up, took his swings and walked back to the clubhouse.

Anyway, that's one of my favorite stories from that weekend. In print, it's not quite as entertaining but I thought you'd like to hear it.

I loved hearing about that, Scott! That certainly paints a picture of how much even the rookies respected Fisk. I'm sure all the Fisk fans who read this blog will appreciate that story!

Thanks, Scott! I really appreciate that you take the time to share these stories with me and you allow them to be passed on to my readers.

Inside The Clubhouse: George Bell's Hat Escapade

Today we will debut a new feature which will tell stories from inside the clubhouse from the people who were actually there. I'm not sure how regular this feature will be, but when I get good stories, I will post them.

The first story comes from Scott Thigpen, brother of ex-Sox closer (and Savemaster) Bobby Thigpen. The story is in Scott's own words.

Back in 92 (or 93....), my Dad and I drove down to Sarasota to see Bobby and the Sox in a preseason game. This is the only major league game I have ever seen.

It was great, we got to meet most of the Sox players, Bo, Ozzie, Jack, Frank and others. We tried to not bother anybody but many of the players would find out who we were and say 'Hi'. We did end up spending some time around Bo and Ozzie but that's a story for another email.

George Bell was playing with the Sox at the time and what little I knew of him, I had the idea he was a bit 'gruff'.

After the game, we were in the clubhouse talking waiting for Bobby to get ready when these two skinny teen age kids walk in. One of them was wearing a Yankee hat.

George Bell walks by and notices and says: 'Hey, what do you have on your head?!'

The kid wearing the Yankees hat tries to say something but he didn't really know what to do. George Bell was a pretty big guy and this kid probably weighed in at 115 pounds or so...

George Bell repeated 'What do you have on your head?!' in a loud voice. By now, it seemed to me that several people in the area were looking a bit worried for the kids health.

The kid looked like he was about to make a run for it when George took a step closer and said 'Take that hat off your head'.

The kid did and George, looking as mean as he could, took the hat, turned and walked away.

The kid looked relieved that he was still breathing but still a bit scared.

George then reappeared with an authentic Sox cap and gave it and the Yankee hat back and said, 'There, that's better...'

Anyway, thought you might like that story.

Indeed I did Scott! That was a great peek behind the scenes. Even if George wasn't exactly setting the world on fire with his batting during his White Sox tenure, he still knew how to scare the heck out of kids and turn it around into a positive experience. George sounds like he was fun around the clubhouse.

Thanks for the story, Scott!