Heroes and Villains
Baseball
was different not that long ago. Consider the 1972 Oakland A’s.
Blue
Moon Odom, a solid veteran pitcher for the team, spent his off-season working
at a store, where he was shot twice trying to stop a burglary. He recovered and went 15-6 that year.
Meanwhile,
another pitcher on that same team, Vida Blue, a winner of 1971’s Cy Young and Most
Valuable Player awards, patiently listened as A’s owner Charlie Finley told
him: “You have as much chance of getting $115,000 from me as I do of jumping
out of my office window.” The amazing part: Finley was right.
