In February 2011, Major League baseball sent out casting call for an innovative new experience. It was called the Ultimate Dream Job. This is the bio that was submitted by Marcus “Mookie” Anderson, aka The Sports Daddy along with a video:

I was born in Milbank, SD birthplace of American Legion Baseball. My Great Uncle Sid Lundquist is in the state’s Baseball Hall of Fame.  The game is in my blood, but no one from my family has ever made it to the Major Leagues. Read more…

Congratulations to the newest member of the Baseball’s Hall of Fame, Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven! FINALLY!!!!

The honor was way overdue! It’s finally time for his Uncle Charlie to join fellow Twins Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, and Kirby Puckett in Cooperstown.

Now let’s get that jersey retired, and start taking bets on the number times Bert will circle it as it displays down the left field pole at Target Field!

Blyleven, who pitched 11 of his 22 seasons in Minnesota, was elected after garnering 79.7% of the vote, with 75% required for election. It was his 14th year on the ballot.

The right-hander notched 287 career wins, 27th on the all-time list, and is fifth in career strikeouts with 3,701. He is 11th in games started with 685 and his 60 shutouts are ninth all-time. Blyleven also ranks 13th all-time in innings pitched with 4,970. In his second stint with the Twins from 1985-1988, Blyleven led the Twins to the World Series title in 1987, going 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four starts that postseason.

The first time I witnessed Bert Blyleven, the non-pitcher, the prankster in action was on TV when a local station.
In the segment, it showed Bert doing crazy things like giving “rookies the hot shoe” and making weird faces, and wearing goofy glasses. There has to be that type of player on every team. The guy that keeps thing loose, and makes everybody around him less tense. Read on…

Married for 13 years, with 2 kids, I often start wondering were I rank in priority with my wife. It’s tough, because I know she is a good person,  and she would do anything for the welfare of our kids.
I appreciate that I can trust her when it comes to the kids, but what about me?

At the risk of sounding like a selfish prick (Yes, I have been accused of being “something like that” from time to time) I embark in part 3 of this series, “What do Sports Dads want from their wives?” Quite frankly, the sports dad just wants to feel that their wives really care about their welfare on more than a superficial level. Think of like this.

Imagine you are an aging Major League Superstar, who’s skills have diminished over time. As Toby Keith sang, “you might not be as good as you once were, but your as good once, as you’ve ever been.” I think of current Twin’s star Jim Thome’s situation he was in after the 2009 season.

His hometown team, the Chicago White Sox traded him at mid-season to the National League’s Los Angeles Dodgers. As an American Leaguer, he was able to be a Designated Hitter without playing a position in the field. With the Dodgers, he was used in rare situations, and didn’t get much of chance to show he still had a Hall of Fame bat. At the end of the season, Thome found himself “unwanted” by many baseball teams. That’s a familiar feeling for many of sports daddy’s who have been married for several years to the same spouse.

In our minds, we still believe that we are that we are that “baseball legend” husband that their wives chose to marry once upon a time. On our wedding days, we were all considered “royalty” waiting to be crowned in Cooperstown. Our in-laws loved us, and our wives still had that honeymoon twinkle in their eyes. Life was good, and felt even better.

So what do sports dad’s really want from their wives? We just want our wives to tell us that they still believe in us too. We all want to play on a team (wife/family) that knows our strengths, and can live with our weaknesses. It would be nice have our partners demonstrate that they do want to spend time with us, and that they are still concerned about our health, happiness, and well-being. We want to be on a team that will accept us for who we are, as is, knowing, trusting that we can still deliver in the clutch.

From first-hand experience, I know once the kids were born, my wife started paying more attention to them than me. I understand why, but that cannot mask my inner desire to have my wife’s exclusive attention from time to time. Even if it’s not intended on her part, feeling that our wives don’t really care about our welfare, cuts deeply. In numerous homes, this dynamic is what gets off balance and leads to serious relationship problems. The wife thinks she’s doing what’s best by putting the kids’ needs first, not realizing that the husband is as hurt as he is by this.

It’s tough to beg for this attention, and even harder to ask for it. Sports daddy’s often withhold their hurt by the lack of affection and caring. They don’t want their wives to see them as selfish, looking for attention with feelings that our preferences and needs are overlooked.

Fortunately for Thome, he found a team that needed, wanted and obtained his services. The Minnesota Twins signed him last off-season, and he has proven that he still has that Hall of Fame swing several times in 2010.

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself,

“It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than selfish and worry about my liver.”- Jack Handy

This quote above reminds me of the conversation that I had with John Randle back in 2007. I was attending the Matt Blair Celebrity Golf Tournament for Special Olympics at Hazeltine, and I got the opportunity to chat with both Randle and Randall McDaniel during the event.

I was their to volunteer for my company (the name sponsor) by assisting with coverage for use in our internal communications. We were video taping the various athletes and celebrities for “on the record” comments about our company, the Olympians, fund raising, and other “yadda, yadda, yadda” type spin.

Off the record conversations were much more fun, and when the camera was off “Big Dog” and I chatted about Vikings football, jersey sales and fans who tailgate in parking lot. I remember telling Randle that I wore his jersey from time to time, that I was big fan, and always enjoyed his funny commercials, and style of play.

He thanked me, but noted that I was dating myself,

“Man, that number #93 belongs to another guy now,” he stated, referring to defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Somehow we got to talking about tailgaters, drinking beer and watching Vikings games. I remember him alluding to how big of a business that had evolved into, with NFL “official” beer sponsorships, commercials, and the corporate money machine.

“Well ya know,” he said, “the beer doesn’t drink itself.”

Then, like Jack Handy himself, I looked at myself in the mirror and reflected on the comment.

Think about it.