When it's dinner time, he's a meat and potatoes man, thank you. And when TV time rolls around, if he is home and it's a "Seinfeld" night, he is glued to the tube.
But when it's time for work, he heads off to the ballpark where he thrills fans every day -- with his bat, with his glove and, yes, with his mere presence. Baseball, you see, is his life. It's in his genes.
HE WAS BORN on a late-August day in 1960 in the Maryland town called Havre de Grace. His dad was a minor-leaguer who graduated to the big-league ranks -- as a manager and coach, not a player.
It is generally true that when a father plays this game, his sons usually try to follow in his footsteps. They will do so either out of admiration and respect, or out of dad's driving them to the diamonds, both literally and mentally.
In the case of this young boy, it was out of admiration. His father never forced him into anything. Perhaps that drove him a little faster to the Little League ballpark, where he began his baseball career as a catcher. After all, that was the position his father was playing back then in the minors.
"I was copying my dad," he said later in life. "He never pushed me, but I think he wanted me to be a catcher. ... I liked pitching and playing the infield better."
THERE WAS MORE in his father than just a role-model, however. There was a coach and a motivator, someone this young lad could look up to for inspiration. And that was doubly important since baseball was never just a game in this family.
"From 8 or 9 on, I knew sports were my life," he said. "The teachers would say, 'Write down what you want to be,' and by 11 or 12 I had narrowed it to baseball."
Brother, was that an understatement.
There is a story that's told about how when he was 7, his parents heard noises coming from his room at night. They surmised he was being naughty, staying up when he should be asleep.
As they pushed open the door, they found their young child running atop his bed -- asleep. What caused this weird behavior? He told them he was dreaming he had just hit a game-winning homer in the World Series.
THE TEENAGE YEARS CAME and this right-handed player, who was only 5-foot-7 at the time, wound up on the Aberdeen (Md.) High School team. But not as a catcher. He was a pitcher now. A darn good pitcher, in fact.
So good the great Earl Weaver once said: "Let me tell you, he would have been a successful major-league pitcher. He had a great arm."
He had grown to 6-foot-2, two inches below his present height as a senior. A small version of Randy "The Big Unit" Johnson. And like the Mariners ace, he was hot on the mound. He had a 7-2 record with a 0.70 ERA and had struck out 100 batters in just 60 innings. Equally impressive was his bat. He hit .492 in his final high school season and led his team to the state championship.
Naturally, a career in pro baseball was assured -- as a pitcher, that is.
"EVERYONE SAID THAT IF they drafted me, it would be as a pitcher," he says. "I didn't know how to feel about that. It was nice to know there was strong interest in me, but I thought I had enough talent to be a regular player."
Think about those words carefully: "regular player."
The draft for him came in 1978. He was taken by Baltimore on the 48th pick. But, as he said, he didn't want to pitch. He wanted to play. Every day. All 140 games per season at the time.
The Birds gave him his chance by making him a third baseman in the minors. And he rewarded his teams with steady improvement. In his first minor-league season, he hit .264 win no home runs. The next year at Single-A Miami, he got better, hitting .303 and earning a promotion to Double-A Charlotte at the end of the season. In 1980, he came alive. He hit .276 with 78 RBIs and 25 homers. He knew he was on the right track. This playing every day was fun.
In 1981, he began the season at Triple-A Rochester. He finished that year on the Baltimore roster, mainly taking up a spot on the bench. But since the day he came off that bench, he has become a legend, probably the biggest legend in the game today.
Who is this kid? If you don't know, here's the rest of this story.
He got the nick "Worm" because as a little kid when he played pinball
he wiggled like a worm.
-- From Sean Strachan at a netins kind of net.
Abso-posa-lutely right, Sean. His grandmother noticed that about him and gave him the name.
Can you please tell me who in the NFL played the most seasons with the same club? Me and my buddies are arguing over this one.
-- From a Jim-bo dude at an infi.net.
You can stop the arguing, Jim. It was another Jim -- Jim Marshall -- who played 19 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings from 1961-1979.
I want to know who the youngest pitcher was to win the Cy Young award.
-- From Timmy J. on the AOL channel.
I've gotten this one so many times, Timmy, that I almost know it now by heart! It was Doc Gooden, who won that award in 1985 at the age of 20. He was the Mets ace back then.
I liked your story, man.
-- From some Worm at a rodman kind of org.
I sort of figured I might hear from you, D.R., especially since you had an extra day off last week. Take care, man. And keep the faith. The NBA is nothing more than a show these days, and you are always center-stage.
1) How many times has he been named to the All-Star team? Give up?
2) How many consecutive starts has he had at shortstop before being moved back to third base? Give up?
3) What was the name of the Japanese player who had 2,215 starts, a record that he broke? Give up?
4) How many consecutive games has he played in going into the 1997 season? Give up?
5) How many times has he been named MVP? Give up?
Mike Emmett has been kicking around sports departments in newspapers and online operations around the U.S. for years. Got something to say to the Irishman? Email him with a click here.
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