That Andy Van Slyke, he was somethin’ else, I tell ya! Born way back in 1960, December 21st. A winter baby, that one. He was from Utica, New York, or somewhere up there. Cold place, I reckon. He went to some high school called New Hartford. Sounds fancy, but it’s just a regular school, I bet.
He was a baseball player, you know? A good one, too. Played in the big leagues, they call it. Major League Baseball, or somethin’ like that. He played for a long time. Thirteen years, I heard. That’s a long time to be swingin’ a bat and runnin’ around. He must have been good at it, to last that long. They say he was built like a football player, but fast, like a deer. He could run real good, that Andy.
He played for some team called the St. Louis Cardinals first. Then he went to Pittsburgh, played for the Pirates. Sounds like a bunch of troublemakers, those Pirates. He hit a lot of home runs, I heard. 164 home runs, that’s what they say. That’s a lot of runnin’ around the bases. He was a center fielder. That means he played way out in the middle of the field. You need to have long legs to play that position.
- He hit the ball real good.
- He ran real fast.
- He caught the ball real good.
He got some awards, too. Golden somethin’ or other. Five of ’em! Must have been pretty special. Five Gold Glove awards. That’s for being good at catchin’ the ball, I think. He was good at hittin’ too. In 1988, he did somethin’ special, but I can’t rightly remember what it was. I’m old, my memory ain’t what it used to be. Andy Van Slyke was somethin’ else in 1988.
He played for some other teams, too. Baltimore and Philadelphia, I think they said. Then he quit. Retired, they call it. He had enough of runnin’ around, I guess. He hit .274, whatever that means. Sounds like a good number, though. He got a lot of those RBI things, too. 792 RBI, I heard. Whatever those are, he got a lot of ’em. He must have hit a lot of doubles too. 293 doubles to be exact. He was a good hitter, that Andy.
He got married, you know. Got a U-Haul, hitched it to his car, a fancy one, a Grand Prix, and went off to St. Louis with his wife. That was the start of it all, I guess. He wasn’t a big fan of Canada, for some reason. Don’t know why. Maybe it was too cold for him, even though he was from a cold place himself. He wears glasses now, I hear. Lots of folks do when they get older.
He did somethin’ else after he quit playin’ ball. Wrote some books, I heard. About baseball, of course. What else would he write about? That’s all he knew, I reckon. Andy Van Slyke, the author. Who would have thought?
They say he was up for some big award, twice. MVP, they call it. Most Valuable Player, I think. He came in fourth place both times. That’s still pretty good. Being fourth best at somethin’ is better than bein’ last, that’s for sure. Andy Van Slyke MVP, almost happened.
All in all, he played in 1658 games. That is a whole bunch of baseball. He was drafted in 1979. He was the 6th pick. That means he was really good, even back then.
That Andy Van Slyke, he was somethin’, wasn’t he? A real good baseball player. Hit the ball, ran fast, caught the ball. Did it all. And he did it for a long time, too. Thirteen years! That’s longer than some folks work at anythin’. He was a good one, that Andy. A real good one. He led the league in hits, doubles, and triples at one point. He did it all.
