Free Byrd by Paul Byrd

Author:Paul Byrd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2008-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

7

LARRY THE LEGEND

IN 1999, the year after my fateful start against Randy Johnson, I got to dress next to him on the National League All-Star Team in the Fenway Park locker room. When we shook hands, I felt like I was looking at a totem pole with a fancy mullet, one that reminded me of my hair back in college. He was more intimidating up close and I wondered how many times he had hit his head while walking through doorways.

Bruce Bochy, the Padres’ manager who captained the National League’s team, selected me to be on his pitching staff for that midsummer classic in Boston. In less than one year, I went from getting bombed in Triple A and failing to stay on a major league roster to having a locker next to some of the greatest players in the world.

Hours after I walked into the clubhouse, I pulled up my high red Philadelphia socks, put on my uniform, and sat on the freshly cut green grass about ten feet away from home plate to watch the home run contest. My son Grayson Byrd sat on my lap and we watched Mark McGwire hit towering home runs over the left-field Green Monster that headed out toward the famous neon Citgo sign. The white baseballs literally vanished out into the steamy darkness. Grayson chuckled with excitement at each crack of the bat and pressed his back against my chest as the famous St. Louis Cardinal known as Big Red hit about fifteen of the most spectacular fly balls that I had ever seen. Near the end of the exhibition, Jim Thome, a great power hitter from the American League, dropped to his knees and began to raise his arms up and down in a worshipful fashion. Respect!

Ken Griffey, Jr., a tremendous hitter from the American League, won the contest that night, but to be honest I thought that Mark McGwire stole the show. After the smoke cleared, Big Red grabbed a black Sharpie marker and signed a jersey for Grayson right there in the locker room. After his name, he wrote the number seventy. It signified the amount of home runs in a season that he had hit the year before to break the long-standing record of the big-gunned Roger Maris.

The next night was equally chilling as Kevin Costner introduced the All-Century Team to the baseball-crazed Boston fans. He called out names like Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, Carl Yastrzemski, Tom Seaver, and Say Hey Willie Mays. All of the legends stood out on the infield surface receiving praise from standing fans of all ages who were screaming and sounding off horns.

You could feel a volcano-like tension at the end of the ceremony when Kevin Costner announced that he had one name left to call. After a few moments, he raised his voice to a new level and introduced Ted Williams, calling him the greatest hitter of all time. Even though a near standing Hank Aaron could have protested that statement, I

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