Hot Dog Gate

Eating a hot dog during a game is nothing new. Baseball people say that The Babe would eat hot dogs during games and I'll bet he snuck in a beer or two. But watching the San-chise eating a dirty water dog yesterday in the waning moments of a blow-out brought something else to mind for me. It brought me back to the days in the sandlot. When I started playing organized ball at age 8 or 9, I had a teammate who was bigger than the rest of us. Our own sultan of swat, his name was Tommy December, or as we grew to call him Two-Dog Tommy.
Time to connect the dots. Just before every game every game, he would ask his father for two hot dogs and he ate them in four bites just before every game that entire season. Tommy was a power hitter and a power eater. We all wondered if the hot dogs gave him the power to launch those line drives into the gaps, or make our hands sting when he threw the ball. But being 8 or 9 we got the most enjoyment from the thunderous belches that inevitably came around the 4th inning. Tommy was a character. Someone we could watch in amazement and laugh at all at the same time. He was a kid, a kid having fun in a place where fun is allowed, the ball park!
Athletes are kids, let them have some fun.
Dan Dierdorf made this incident seem like Sanchez was committing a crime. I guess DD has a high reverence for the game. This guy played alongside the dirtiest player to ever play the game (Conrad Dobler). Selective memory, or do only revere the game after you retire and get your bust on display in Canton!
Let the kids play and have some fun, that's what Two Dog Tommy's dad would say!

This week is about redemption...