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Super StarWelcome back faithful fans...it's been a long offseason but Screwballs is back...and my grammar hasn't improved at all. I welcome you all back with an interview...
He won 288 games in the majors, has a major surgery named after him, has never heard the saying 'You can't trust a guy with 2 last names' and has the scouting report for getting Tim McCarver out at the plate...he is none other than former MLB pitcher Tommy John.
Screwballs sat down with the former Indian, White Sox, Dodger, Yankee, Angel and A's pitcher to see what he had to say...
SCREWBALLS: What is Tommy John up to these days?
TOMMY JOHN: MGM re-released 3 great baseball movies. Bull Durham, Eight Men Out and The Pride of the Yankees. The movies are great and have tons of extras. There's an interview with Charlie Sheen for Eight Men Out, audio commentary with Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner for Bull Durham and on The Pride of the Yankees, an interview with Curt Shilling.
I'm particularly fond of Pride of the Yankees since I do a lot of work for ALS. 1 person gets ALS every 90 minutes and 1 person dies of it every 90 minutes.
SCREWBALLS: How did you get involved in the fight against ALS?
TOMMY JOHN: My friend and teammate Catfish Hunter had it. He called us all over to his house and told us he had ALS. He told us he was going to fight it as hard as he could and that he probably wouldn't beat it. He said he wanted to turn the fight over to his bullpen and that we were his bullpen so I took it to heart.
SCREWBALLS: You won 288 games yet your legacy might be "Tommy John Surgery"
TOMMY JOHN: I hear my name mentioned 2, 3,4 times a day and it's one of the things I'll be known for. When I had the surgery Dr. Jobe told me there was a 5% chance that I would pitch again...and that was better than the 0% chance I had to pitch without it.
Last year I had 8 guys on the team I managed have the surgery. (Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League). If you know anyone out there I'm looking for a few good catchers.
SCREWBALLS: Any guys that you managed with the Staten Island Yankees that we should look out for?
TOMMY JOHN: Jeff Marquez. He throws hard...in the mid-ninties. He just has to find out what he has to do be successful. There's power and there is pitching. Throw hard but only as hard as you effectively can.
SCREWBALLS: With this being the last year at Yankee Stadium...what was your greatest memory there?
TOMMY JOHN: 1981...we were playing the Brewers in the first round of the playoffs. That summer my son Travis was two and a half and he fell out of a 3rd story window. He was in a coma for seventeen days. Mr. Steinbrenner had him throw the first pitch out during the 3rd game of the series vs the Brewers, which I was pitching. The entire crowd was chanting his name. Reggie Jackson carried him out and he threw the first pitch to Rick Cerrone. it was a game that I will never forget.
SCREWBALLS: Do you remember facing Tim McCarver?
TOMMY JOHN: I seemed to draw Steve Carlton all the time when we faced the Phillies. And I loved to pitch against Carlton because you'd have McCarver and Carlton hitting 8th and 9th. I could get those two guys out pretty good. At least better than Mike Scmidt and Greg Luzinski.
SCREWBALLS: What was your game plan for getting McCarver out?
TOMMY JOHN: Fastballs down and in and curveballs away.
To get involved and help find the cure for ALS go to: www.alsa.org to find out more
Keep tuning in for more Screwballs all season long...and yeah, don't forget to watch the FOX Saturday Game of the Week. Check your local listing for games in your area.
