Pete Mackanin stood at home plate in 1980 and watched his fly ball soar towards the Fenway Park grandstands. It would surely be foul, Mackanin thought. But the wind was howling and soon the ball began to curve towards the Green Monster.
“I’m not going to run. If I run now it’ll look bad,” Mackanin thought.
The ball hit the Monster – of course, the Phillies manager said — and Mackanin took off for first. He only had a single to show for it. Gene Mauch, Mackanin’s manager with the Twins, was livid.
Mackanin has crossed paths with countless characters on his half-decade journey through professional baseball.