Link: ESPN.com - MLB - Alito, Bunning discuss Phillies' collapse in '64.
In 1964, the Philadelphia Phillies and star pitcher Jim Bunning dashed 14-year-old Samuel Alito's pennant hopes. Forty-one years later, Bunning can make it up to him.
Bunning, now a Republican senator from Kentucky, ran into the Supreme Court nominee in a Capitol bathroom last week.
Alito grew up rooting for the Hall of Famer in New Jersey, and had no problem speaking his mind about the Phillies' epic collapse.
"This jurist is probably the biggest Phillies fan in the world. He proceeded to tell me about the 1964 season and how we blew the pennant," Bunning said Tuesday.
[More on Alito's phanicity: "Alito a Phan"; Alito attended a Phillies fantasy camp, pictures at Jeff's Play.]
First of all I hope all of this did not commence while Bunning was at a urinal, because that would be a very awkward moment in SCOTUS history.
But second of all, it get's me to thinking...What would I do if I found myself alone with someone from a team I rooted for, and they took part in some type of major sports catastrophe or collapse?
First I tried to think of who that someone might be. The 1964 Phils were 9 years before my time, so it rules all of them out. Mitch Williams gave up a very hurtful homer to Joe Carter in the '93 World Series, how about him? Or how about David Bell? If he cleanly fields that grounder in the ninth against the Astros, maybe the Phillies are in the playoffs in 2005? Maybe Donovan McNabb for his, let's just say, "underperformance" in the closing minutes of last year's Super Bowl...
[For one thing, Philadelphia teams aren't in a position to succeed very often, so that cuts down on your list of potential athletes considerably.]
But now, assuming you have your particular athlete in mind, and let's say you unexpectedly bumped into him in a semi-private place...What would you say? I have my ideas, but I'm curious to see what all of you think...Leave a comment below...
