jason grimsley adds another chapter to

Jason Grimsley Adds Another Chapter to Storied Career

Apparently, Diamondbacks reliever Jason Grimsley owned up to having

used performance-enhancing drugs (specifically, human growth hormone),

prompting federal agents to ransack his home for six hours. This is,

at best, my second-favorite story about Jason Grimsley.

The very best Grimsley anecdote, of course, occurred on July 15, 1994.

During a heated division game, the White Sox were tipped off that

Cleveland slugger Albert Belle had been using a corked bat. Sox

manager Gene Lamont complained, and Belle's bat was confiscated and

taken to the umpires' dressing room.

Well, of course, Belle's bat WAS corked. The Indians could not afford

to lose Belle to suspension in what was a tight division race with the

White Sox. Therefore, Jason Grimsley (only 180 pounds at the time)

volunteered to crawl through the air conditioning ductwork into the

umpires' room, replaced the bat with a different one, and crawl back

into the Indians' clubhouse.

Grimsley succeeded in the task, although the umpires immediately

suspected foul play when they returned to their dressing room after

the game. After all, the replacement bat read "Paul Sorrento" on it.

Grimsley's excuse for replacing Belle's bat with a Sorrento bat? He

had no choice: all of Albert's bats were corked!

Grimsley is now listed at 205 pounds. I guess we now know from whence

that added bulk stemmed. It's nice to see that HGH was helping

Grimsley overpower hitters: his ERA is now at 4.88 (4.77 career), and

opponents are hitting .280 off of him.

There are some guys who--no matter their career accomplishments--will

always be remembered for something besides their on-the-field

accomplishments. Por ejemplo: What's the first thing that comes to

mind when the name Robin Ventura is mentioned? That he was a solid,

decent-hitting third baseman with a long career? Hell no--you remember

this: