Sosh - Just Your Everyday Normal Guy

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to go to a dinner with the Orem Owlz and they keynote speaker was Mike Scioscia of the Angels. I met with him very briefly before the dinner, shook his massive bearpaw, told him I was from Irvine, and then he asked me what I was doing in Utah. I told him I was going to school, that I've been a fan for years, and thanked him for always putting out such a great product. He's just what you'd expect him to be: he's just a normal guy, with no fanfare and pretense about him. He's really awesome. And. He must be at least 6'2" and just a big guy. I don't have a camera, so I wasn't able to get a picture with him.

The dinner was nice, but the really fun part was listening to him talk. He had some stories about playing for the Dodgers, and he was just a lot funnier than I would have expected him to be. I kinda forget about this, but when you get around just a bunch of dudes, jokes start flying all over the place. It's such a different dynamic than having mixed company, and it's something that I really miss out here in Utah. Some girls are funny, but guys tend to be really funny. I guess maybe being a guy I just appreciate that humor more. Anyway...

One question that I had that he ended up answering was whether it was better to win a World Series as a player or manager. Hands down, he said, it's better to win it as a player. The whole point of the game is to be playing it, and as great as it is to win it all guiding the helm, the reason the game happens is because of players. I thought that was kind of cool. He was taking some final questions and it fell on someone with a Yankees player, who began asking his question when Mike realized that he wasn't an Angels fan and went straight to someone else that was wearing the beloved red halo cap.

I'm kind of itchy for the baseball season to start back up even though I'm not that optimistic considering how much the Mariners were able to upgrade over the offseason. I think I might have found some people to go down to spring training in March. On top of that, I think with these people we have a place to stay. Woo! We'll see though...