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Message: [QUOTE="Orangefan1, post: 5383712, member: 574"] Think about this for a second….he set mlb on fire for a few weeks then got sent down to fix his swing. I know fan experience is different from interactions with athletes when you’re working with them on a personal level. Delgado was one of the nicest players you could meet. I never had a bad exchange with him-and I was a young kid at the time. He was very disciplined in his craft but also kind natured, he truly cared about people around him and his personality was infectious. The 1994 Chiefs team was one of the best years I had seen in regards to talent up close in my life. They had some of the best talent! As a batboy then I realized I was witnessing it before my eyes, but also have many cherished moments with Delgado-there were many. Always brought his bats down to the dugout for him, always shined his helmet before the game, he always threw me the ball in between innings (when players warm up in between innings) which I’ll gladly say was scared to retrieve-why-because he threw so hard at my glove. He always smiled and joked around with me….was a hall of famer while there in his professionalism. Prior to him leaving to go up to Toronto the second time I remember sitting next to him basically depressed that he was leaving and talked to him next to his locker. He signed dozens of cards and also gave me one his bats which I have to this day in a case inscribed to me. I remembered telling him”well you’re going to forget me now.” His response was, that he wouldn’t and he appreciated everything everyone had done for him while down in Syracuse.” Following his move to Toronto, later in my career, I ended up visiting him with friends from the clubhouse and still worked for the team as a clubhouse assistant. The Toronto clubhouse guys were gracious and would let us in when we went out of our way to bring these things, they knew it was fun for us also as we got to stay overnight in Toronto, watch a game, go out in the city. Luckily I got to go in the locker room in Toronto and saw Delgado again. A very cool moment for me. As a clubhouse guy sometimes we delivered bats and/or personal items needed for a few players that were recently called up to Toronto. We did this on a few occasions. I could go on and on but it’s 200 am. Probably could write a book about all of these experiences but instead given what you shared I’m willing to share a little history with you. Lastly at a different game I went up to Toronto as a spectator he never forgot me which part of my conversation with him years before was that he would forget me while in Syracuse, but that never happened, he brought me on the field in Toronto, and as he warmed up I talked to him prior to their game starting with my good friend who also worked in the clubhouse., Delgado helped build my self esteem, helped me to realize that I was important, no he never forgot and we all have a right to our opinion but Delgado will always be a part of my history, that moment in time that I’ll never forget. Other players had a different impact on me but I wanted to share that about him with you. By the way-you weren’t the only scooch…there were a lot of scooches, although I could barely see out of the holes I ended up volunteering to be Scooch at crouse hospital (if you don’t believe me you’ll find me on the cover of the post standard in 1995) don’t worry I have the picture of it to prove I’m not lying, to support sick children, I don’t think I ever sweat and stunk so badly in my life and it was air conditioned hospital. I give you a lot of credit for wearing that during the game…one side note that I learned but not sure if it was true, Mcgruff Crime Dog had a fan in his nose, which at that period of time many mascots were jealous of. I know that Scooch would be jealous not to have a fan when it’s 80 degrees outside. Pay was decent to wear the mascot but you couldn’t be in there very long in my experience and I only did appearances to assist the team when necessary which in truth wasn’t many times but fun nonetheless…. [/QUOTE]

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