Life imitates art … MiLB imitates ‘Bull Durham’
By Gerard Gilberto
In honor of the 3oth anniversary of Bull Durham, below are some of the more memorable quotes from the iconic film and how they might relate to recent Minor League storylines.
“All the great ones have nicknames.” — Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh
Astros second-ranked prospect Kyle Tucker earned the nickname “Ted,” because of a swing reminiscent of Hall of Famer Ted Williams.
“The Clown Prince of Baseball, Max Patkin.” — Teddy (Garland Bunting) Brewers veteran right-hander Tim Dillard has more than 37,000 Twitter followers after producing a constant stream of entertaining viral videos.
“I actually saw him read a book without pictures once.” — Max Patkin
Cubs infielder Austin Filiere and Mariners left-hander David Hesslink were teammates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before following a path to professional baseball.
“Kinda dubious honor.” — Crash Davis
Beyond the revelation that Crash Davis is a real person, Erie hitting coach Mike Hessman has often been referred to as the “real-life Crash Davis.” His 433 home runs are a Minors record.
“Strikeouts are boring, and besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some ground balls, they’re more democratic.” — Crash Davis
Royals No. 20 prospect Daniel Tillo wouldn’t crack the top of any league with 58 strikeouts, but he gets grounders on 63.4 percent of batted balls, which is best in the Minors among pitchers with at least 70 innings.
“We got ourselves a natural disaster.” — Crash Davis
A particularly ugly spring caused a rash of postponements throughout the Minors and Majors, so much so that it was noteworthy when Triple-A Louisville avoided the nasty weather until mid-May.
“Breath through your eye lids, like the lava lizards of the Galapagos Islands.” — Annie Savoy
If only Charles Darwin knew what lurked beyond the walls of San Antonio’s Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium.
“You think this is a little excessive for the Carolina League?” — Crash Davis Top Brewers prospect Keston Hiura batted .433 over the final 14 games of May and was promoted from Class A Advanced Carolina to Double-A Biloxi after the first five-hit game of his career.
“Don’t be such guys.” — Annie Savoy
A brawl in Dayton last May resulted in the suspension of five players from the Dragons and West Michigan.
“Candlesticks always make a nice gift.” — Larry Hockett
Yankees right-hander Andrew Schwaab, Brewers outfielder Weston Wilson and D-backs prospect Tommy Eveld each successfully proposed marriage to their significant others at their respective home ballparks last year.
“One more dying quail a week, and you’re in Yankee Stadium.” — Crash Davis
Yankees Rookie of the Year candidate Gleyber Torres opened the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was promoted to “The Show” on April 21.
