Since the docile souls on the 8:16 gave me nothing to write about this morning, I’m forced to be creative. So here it is, off the top of my head and with a little help from Google, my four favorite instances of ballplayers taking the train to the game.
4. Former Met first-sacker John Olerud, unassuming as Ugly Betty, would take the 7 train to Shea because he lived on the Upper East Side and it was the easiest way to get to work. I remember reading how he used to grab a pizza after the game; wearing his Mets cap, the guys from the pizza place just figured he was a big Mets fan.
3. Former Phillies hurler Randy Wolf thought he found his soulmate while waiting for the 7 (or at least a really hot chick) 2003, and enlisted the local beat writers to help find her. (Teams visiting Shea typically stay at the Grand Hyatt, located right above the 7 stop at Grand Central.) He never did find her.
2. To get themselves psyched for the 2000 Subway Series, then-Mets Matt Franco, Kurt Abbott and Rick Reed rode the subway to Yankee Stadium. Franco told SI.com: “I got recognized by one guy in a Mets jersey who said, ‘Good luck.’ I just wanted to experience it. Tomorrow, I’m taking the team bus to experience that.”
1. John Rocker, of course. “Imagine having to take the [Number] 7 train to the ballpark,” he famously told SI’s Jeff Pearlman, “looking like you’re [riding through] Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids.
