Back in the summer of ’89 the camp I was in took us to a minor league base ball game that was stopped for 45 minutes due to rain. After the game continued the ushers let us all go down to (the now vacant) front row seats.
Later on in the game the catcher struck out and disputed the call with the umpire. The umpire kept quiet while the catcher was using vulgar language and making obscene gestures until he was ejected from the game. Unfortunately, to us young campers, the catcher was our hero.
One of the Rabeim knew he had to make a deep impression on us quick- I’ll never forget his Moshul the next day. “Do you know why the team picked him to be the catcher?, Because the catcher sits behind a cage (his mask) and that player is an animal who needs to be kept behind a cage at all times!”
It’s now almost 20 years later, and when I hear that players name mentioned I don’t think of his major league career or his minor league career, I think of him as animal who needs to be kept behind a cage.