I have had seldom brushes with professional players, but Cincinnati Reds related I do have a story. It may not rise to "jackwagon" status, but here it goes.

 

My cousin was flying back home at the time, so I accompanied her and my aunt/uncle to the gate (this was before 9/11, so you could go to the gate). A tv camera and reporter was awaiting the arrival of Deion Sanders who was just picked up by the Reds. We strike up a conversation and he says he should shortly be arriving into town. Prime Time flew in privately and on schedule he exited the plane and did an interview with this reporter. This was not a mob-like scene; it was the two person tv crew, my aunt/uncle, me, and maybe a couple other spectators. Deion was a big deal at the time so I was excited to procure his autograph. I was stiffed. After the interview he ignored my request and went back out to the tarmac. In short, I was the first fan to see Deion when he arrived in Cincy, and first stiff arm he handed out in Cincy. :lol2:

I've met and hung out with quite a few MLBers. I played in college with John Mabry (current Cardinals hitting coach), so I met many of his old Cardinal teammates, and by and large, most were really nice guys, including Pujols. I played with and against Red's Triple A manager Delino Deshields....he and I were never friends.

 

I've also met many former Phillies. Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox, Mickey Morandini, Kruk, Bowa, Luzinski to name a few. All good guys.

 

As far as Reds, I told my Pete Rose story...again, not a fan of the guy personally. Bumped into Dave Parker once and he was very nice. Saw Bench once at a restaurant....I've heard lots of bad things about him, but he seemed ok.

 

One other former player that stood out to me as not a very nice guy was Dave Justice. He came into the store I was managing at the time a few times, and was pretty crappy to everybody he encountered every time he was in.

I'm curious about Brantley??? Anyone? Seems like I remember someone, maybe gametime, saying a few years back that he was quite a jackwagon.

Dimitri Young lived in our neighborhood back when he played for the Reds. I never met him, but on a whim, I put a new baseball in his mailbox with a note and asked him if he would sign it for my 9 year old son whose birthday was coming up. A few days later I found the ball at my front door with not only his autograph, but a lot of the current players as well. My son was thrilled and so was I.

Dimitri Young lived in our neighborhood back when he played for the Reds. I never met him, but on a whim, I put a new baseball in his mailbox with a note and asked him if he would sign it for my 9 year old son whose birthday was coming up. A few days later I found the ball at my front door with not only his autograph, but a lot of the current players as well. My son was thrilled and so was I.

 

That's awesome. Dimitri was something else!!! Pretty darn good hitter too.

I've played blackjack with a few, they seemed ok, but I didn't bother them. A friend who works there said Reds tip a lot better than the Bengals.