Randy from PA


I rode to the Yankee game the other day with Randy from PA. He's a greeter at Wal*Marts, which is a pain because they've just changed his work hours to two-eleven. The change interferes with his real avocation - Bleacher Creature.

Randy is more a Creature trainee than an actual bonafide Creature; you have to work your way into the brotherhood over a number of years. But he has the fire - along with a tattoo on his arm telling the world who his favorite team is.

Randy also knows the fielding statistics of every Yankee going back to Greg Nettles. Everybody knows batting averages and home runs, he explained, but being able to cite Celereno Sanchez's error rate on bunt attempts separates the men from the boys - or the Creatures from the wannabes.*

Me, I'm just sitting up in tier these days.

Excuse me, the Grandstands.

* Clereno had 14 errors in 71 games in 1974 . . . not going to cut it if you hit under .250. Great baseball name, though.