Up front, manager Johnny Lipon and pitching coach Cot Deal are lamenting the Clippers' injury problem. The first "shit" is followed by an apologetic "Sorry, lady," and the language quiets down for the remainder of the ride. The presence of a woman driver causes some immediate, albeit minor, embarrassment. There is the predictable early-morning sleepy silence, punctuated by an occasional reference to a Sunday box score and some of the playful joking you'd expect among a diverse group of baseball players thrown together into a sort of gypsy band.Īt 6:50, the bus rolls out for Port Columbus. A couple of the big tape players that are the traveling companions of professional athletes are already turned on. Several copies of the Citizen-Journal are open to the sports page. Only a little more than half of the traveling party gets on the bus at the stadium-the rest will get to the airport on their own-but the bus aisles and seats are strewn with suitcases and suit bags. It is 6:45 on a Monday morning, and the Clippers are heading out on a road trip that will take them to Pawtucket, R. "Do you blame them?" comes the reply from somewhere in the rear of the COTA bus parked outside Franklin County stadium. "You mean the home fans are turning on you ? " the traveling writer asks no one in particular. “Some guy sitting out near our bullpen was on us pretty good the last couple of nights," says Mickey Scott, a former major league pitcher who is having his troubles and is considered to be on his way another notch down the minor league ladder.” They've just dropped seven straight at home to begin the month of June-the longest losing streak in their brief history and the natives are getting restless. Fun fact: The following year, several of the players featured in this article-Dale Berra, Mike Easler, Doe Boyland-played on the World Series-wining team of the Pittsburgh Pirates, then the Clippers' major league affiliate.įor starters, you have to figure the Columbus Clippers are reasonably glad to be going on the road. Editor's note: In 1978, Columbus Monthly staffer Robert Tenenbaum spent a week getting an up-close glimpse of what life on the road is like for the Columbus Clippers.
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