here's an excerpt:
The tools of his trade were a brush, a piece of cloth and a container of shoe polish. That was all Mejia needed when he left his house in Santo Domingo each morning and walked 30 minutes to the downtown cafe where he made his living.
On an island where baseball is like a religion, Mejia preferred shining shoes for 300 pesos a day, the equivalent of about $8.
"I didn't like baseball," Mejia said. "I just wanted to make money."
And another:
Mejia started shining shoes when he was 11. He didn't necessarily enjoy the work, but he took pride in earning money when other kids he knew were picking pockets.
"I didn't want to steal," he said.
http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2010/03/mets_top_pitching_prospect_jen.html
That's a nice story...as long as he likes baseball now...
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated subject, has anyone ever heard of a team going 0-9 with the following stats: team ERA: 10.88, runs given up: 114, hit by pitch: 35, walks: 30 , errors: 25, and hit .250 as a team? I have....
This reminds me of when I heard Curtis Martin speak. He said he never liked playing football, and to this day never really loved it.
ReplyDeleteAmazing for a certain HOFer