Jim Strickland pitched for the Twins in the early 70s, and he briefly joined the Cleveland Indians in 1975. Jim sent me a great note recently.I asked him about stories relating to my state. "No Kentucky stories" he tells me.
He goes on with a great story about playing for the Pocatello Chiefs in Idaho. His manager at the time was Tom Lasorda! Well, the future Dodgers manager started a brawl against Idaho Falls. It was the 25 players from Jim's team, against the 42 with Idaho Falls. Jim was pitching that day. The fight lasted 20 minutes, and Jim stresses that everyone fought.
Jim fought the pitcher for the other team. Jim says that after the fight ended, he was the first hitter- hitting against the guy he was just fighting! Jim hit a line drive between the pitchers legs and drove in two runs.
This was Lasorda's first year managing. Jim says he knew Tommy for a long time- he was the scout that had signed Jim!
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