Dave Cripe 1978 Royals

Dave Cripe played professional baseball for several years mostly holding down third base.  He did pitch 1 inning in 1980.  AND he played in 7 games for the Royals in 1978 earning the right to brag about a major league baseball career!

Dave sent me a very kind letter recently.

He recommends that I find the book "A Year in the Minors" which was about the 1973 San Jose Bees.  He played on that team and there are some interesting interviews with guys on that team in the book, including Dennis Leonard and Jamie Quirk.

He says he loved Jacksonville, but hated playing there as it was hot and humid with lots of rain.  It was a tough league with lots of travel and bad stadiums in the mid 70s.  The lights were bad too.

He says that for no reason but that he has hated the Yankees, and cheers for Boston, the Padres, and any team that plays the Cardinals.

I could not find a card of Dave, and I asked him about that.  He says there are some out there, noting that he saw one recently of him from when he played in Venezuela.  He suggests not paying much for a card of his though, joking that his picture and stats aren't worth too much.

He says that he loved managing in Asheville for the Astros in 1982.  He says it is a beautiful city.

When he played for Omaha, they went in to Evansville to play.  He thinks the town was "dry" on Sundays back then, so they had to go to Kentucky to buy beer!

Thanks for the great letter Dave!  I love stories about Kentucky and the unique town of Evansville Indiana!