Brush with (Hopefully Future) Greatness
I have to share with my fellow Yankee obsessed bloggers what happened at Flashbacks in Scranton last night. For those of you who don't know, Flashbacks is a 70/80s themed dance club where I work as a doorman. I was checking IDs at the door when a group of tall athletic looking guys comes in. One of the first ones in hands me a Nebraska drivers license with the name Joba Chamberlain on it. I had never seen his picture before, so I said "As in Joba Chamberlain from the Yankees?" He just said "Yeah." (As I thought about it afterwards, how many Joba Chamberlains could there be?) He was followed by Jeff Karstens, Chris Britton, T. J. Beam, Eric Duncan, Ben Kozlowski, and a couple other guys from the local Yankees. I was waiting to see if they had an attitude but they all seemed like pretty decent guys who just wanted to have a couple drinks and have a good time. As a Yankee fan, I was so excited. The funny thing is that 99 percent of the crowd had no idea who they were. I was dying to talk to them but I didn't want to be the annoying dorky fan guy bothering them when they were just trying to have fun. I really wanted to ask Chris Britton why he hasn't gotten more of a chance with the big club, but he left before I got up the nerve to talk to him. Eventually I did talk to Joba and he was such a nice guy and very humble. I also spoke to Karstens and he was also very cool. They said they really liked the bar and they would keep coming back so hopefully I'll get to talk to them again.
posted by critch_dog at 6:07 PM
17 Comments:
Who bounces the bouncer when he won't leave the patrons alone?
Too bad you don't keep a box of Yankee memorabilia in your car, I'm sure they wouldn't mind signing autographs for a swell guy like you.
That's cool though. If you were the only one drooling on them then maybe they'll be back more often if people don't know them.
They give any inside info if Alex is resigning? Do they think Torre's coming back?
Good job knowing your Yankees. I wouldn't know too many of those guys. Maybe if Rickey Vaughn and Willie Mays Hayes came but that's about it.
Who would have thought professional baseball players are like regular people?
Luckily there was no Brien Taylor incident. Or was there Critch?
I probably wouldn't have known them if I didn't check their IDs. Maybe I would have recognized Karstens because he was with the big club for so long. I was worried that something would happen and one of them would get injured. We don't have too many fights but you never know. Or somebody could slip on a wet spot from a spilled drink. Luckily nothing happened. I wouln't want to be responsible for ruining somebody's career.
I would be worried to. One minute you Karstens could say I'll make one more start here then I'm getting called up. Then he goes to the bathroom, slips on a wet spot, breaks his right arm in 2 places and never pitches again. Oh, did I mention you spilled your drink because you were so gitty that you recognized someone who maybe nationally known.
Mike, that's great! What sort of stuff did Chamberlain say? Were women all over them?
Great story!
Welcome back to the blog, Critch.
I asked Chamberlain how to pronounce his first name, if it was Job-a or Joe-ba. He said it was Job-a. I wished him good luck for the rest of the season and commented that he could end up in the majors soon. He said thanks, we'll see what happens. Even though the rumor mill has him with the Yanks by the end of this week, it seemed like he didn't want to mention it, whether he didn't want to seem cocky or he didn't want to jinx it, I'm not sure. He said he liked the club and that they had a good time. I told him that it is a pretty laid back place with a usually older crowd on the weekends, so nobody would bother them. He said that they would definitely be back. I told him that it was great to meet him, thanked him for coming to the club and shook his hand. He said thanks back, and left.
At first, they were mostly just hanging out with each other. Like I said, I'm not sure if anyone else knew who they were. Eventually a group of attractive young ladies from a bachelorette party started paying a great deal of attention to them. I don't know if it was because they were Yankees or because they were young, fit, and good-looking. At the end of the night, I told the bartender that they were getting their drinks from who they were. She had no idea, but she said "No wonder they tipped so good."
I hope this isn't an inappropriate question, but did any of them seem gay, available, and interested in men of tall stature?
This is about the only reason I'd ever step in Flashback's again.
Oh, and Tex is an Atlanta Brave now. You know what to do Critch.
Hey Scooter, take 'er easy. A man had a moment with men who might one day be his heroes. I'm thrilled he shared the tale with us.
Don't you remember what it's like to be adored?
Don't be that guy, especially here of all places, the hallowed blog of the best darn Bomber fans around.
Joba the Hut and Ian Kennedy were interviewed on the local news WNEP tonight. He mentioned a nice doorman he met the other day.
Hey Coward or I mean Anonymous, you obviously don't know me. If you did you would have known I wasn't being "that guy."
Honest mistake on your part.
Now go with Christ, Bra.
That might be the funniest send off in the history of this blog...
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