General manager Jack Zduriencik was talking tonight about the early days of his scouting career, and told this story on himself.
“I was at the College World Series, watching Joe Magrane pitch, and St. Louis had their scout, Hub Kittle there,” Zduriencik said. “Now Hub Kittle had been in the game 30 years by that time, and I thought I could learn a lot from him.
“Someone introduced us at the hotel that night, and I started the conversation saying something like ‘What’d you think of that Magrane kid today?
“Hub looked at me and said, ‘That big donkey? Guys like that are a dime a dozen?’ I remember thinking I probably had a lot to learn, because I’d really liked Magrane.
“Two days later, St. Louis drafted Magrane.”
I have a short story about Hub Kittle…
My father was a catcher and player manager with Hub Kittle. Hub pitched and one day my father was furious with him. Hub had given up several runs and a few long balls. When they returned to the dug out Hub said to my father that he was thinking how to pitch to the next batter when they took the field. My fathers reply was “for Christ sake don’t, think you weaken the club” So I thought I would share this. The term big donkey made me chuckle cuz it’s something my father said all the time..
Baseball is such a wonderful game.
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