Getty Images / Ezra Shaw
Juan Uribe knew scouting reports, knew how to punish pitchers’ mistakes and how to pick grounders.
It did not much matter that he apparently didn’t know most of his teammates’ names.
A couple fun Uribe stories emerged from Wednesday’s “Be Chicago: Together We Can” telethon on NBC Sports Chicago, including the fact that in a crowded baseball clubhouse, he might not have known whoever that guy was a few feet away.
Old pal A.J. Pierzynski saw it with the White Sox, saying Uribe could only name three of his teammates (although by “name,” he means he called Mark Buehrle “Bailey”).
And then Uribe moved to San Francisco in 2009, where he reunited with Aaron Rowand, who shared a story about an entertaining Giants bus ride.
“I grabbed the mic and I told Uribe, ‘We’re going to play a game. We’re going to see who you can name on your team,” Rowand said, via NBC Sports. “So he went down the aisle trying to name everybody. He got to our backup catcher, Steve Holm, and he said, ‘Uhhhh, No. 20.’ So it never changed. He never knew anybody on his squad.”
Of course, Uribe won the 2010 World Series with the club, ensuring Giants fans would remember his name. Though he then moved on to the enemy in Los Angeles — apparently because of a misunderstanding between the Giants and the infielder from the Dominican Republic.
According to former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, Bruce Bochy said the Giants would match any contract offered to Uribe.
The Dodgers offered three years and $21 million.
“Two days later, Uribe signed with the Dodgers. Bochy called me saying, ‘What the hell? What happened?’” Guillen said.
Guillen asked Uribe, who said, “$21 million is not $20 million.”
He could have used a translator.
“I said, ‘They were going to match! He didn’t understand it in Spanish,” Guillen said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tHcDNpbpjg
