PEOPLES IS PEOPLES

Steve Keane, sole owner and proprietor of The Eddie Kranepool Society, writes:

Alex,

Great work as usual on the Olney interview. I was struck by a few things Buster said.

About Tom Lasorda, My wife and I were going to the theater about two winters ago when we ducked into the Marriot Marquis on Time Square to warm up. There was a sportswriters dinner going on and I happened to see Lasorda standing near by. I went over to say hello and the guy looked at me like I asked him for a loan. What a phony bastard.

I go to Cape Cod every summer for vacation. Peter Gammons is a year round resident of the Cape and I got to know him a few years back seeing him at Cape Cod baseball games. He is a true gentleman. Not only is he baseball guru but his knowledge of rock n roll music is unmatched.

You would think just by accident some player would ask a beat writer about his family or where he went to school or any kind of personal small talk. I mean you see these guys the whole season. I guess the players are as self centered as we believe they are.

As a whole, I think athletes are self-centered, but not any more so than your run-of-the-mill actor, musician, or artiste. As a side note, Steve mentions today that it may be time for the ancient mariner of the Mets radio broadcast booth, Bob Murphy to step down. Personally, the less coherent Murphy becomes, the more I enjoy listening to him. His voice, garbled, and slurred, sounds like Schlitz Beer, if Schlitz Beer could talk.

"Eeeeeee Strugg 'im out."