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OT: Quotes from the 1979 Pirates...

That friggin team was huge. In this day and age of the supersized athlete, man, there were some really big boys on that team. Candy was like 6'7" 250lbs. Jim Bibby was 6'6" and over 250. Parker probably was 6'5" 230. Stargell was probably 6'3" 240. Donnie Robinson was about the same size as Stargell. Ed Ott was an all star wrestler in high school. That was a bad ass team.
 
Ed Ott was an all star wrestler in high school.

One of my most vivid memories from that season (I'm sure it was that season) was when the Mets' Felix Millan took exception to a hard slide Ott made into second, so he took a swing at Ott with the ball still in his hand. Ott grabbed Millan and body-slammed him into the infield dirt. The resulting shoulder injury effectively ended Millan's career.
 
One of my most vivid memories from that season (I'm sure it was that season) was when the Mets' Felix Millan took exception to a hard slide Ott made into second, so he took a swing at Ott with the ball still in his hand. Ott grabbed Millan and body-slammed him into the infield dirt. The resulting shoulder injury effectively ended Millan's career.
Yes. Definitely remember that.
 
There is a game on YouTube that was right after that incident. The announcers (Pitate crew) were discussing what the league was going to do about it. They made it sound like it was a big deal even by 79' standards. Did he get suspended? They were saying that he was a super nice guy but well known to be the last person that anyone in the league would mess with even to the point that nobody ever charged a mound with him catching. Even Dave Winfield wanted no part of him once.
 
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One of my most vivid memories from that season (I'm sure it was that season) was when the Mets' Felix Millan took exception to a hard slide Ott made into second, so he took a swing at Ott with the ball still in his hand. Ott grabbed Millan and body-slammed him into the infield dirt. The resulting shoulder injury effectively ended Millan's career.
I was at that game sitting behind third base. It was the quickest fight I ever saw. Ott slid in. Milan confronted him and Ott slammed him. It was immediately obvious that Millan was in a world of hurt when everyone immediately stopped in their tracks and everything got quiet. Not sure of the exact year. Could have been 79.
Edit: the article above says August of 77.
 
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I was a kid and met Ott at some winter function. Always thought him a jerk for the Millan fight but he was very cordial
 
I was a kid and met Ott at some winter function. Always thought him a jerk for the Millan fight but he was very cordial
He was great when I got to pose with a picture with him and sign an autograph for me. I was 13 years old, and they still had the Marlboro Man ads in the programs, and I can still remember Ed Ott's words to me in signing the autograph. He signed on the back page, on the Marlboro Man, in the white cowboy hat. He said, "I will sign here in the white hat, for the good guys!"

Still remember that like it was yesterday.
 
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I was a kid and met Ott at some winter function. Always thought him a jerk for the Millan fight but he was very cordial
In retrospect it would appear that Millan made a bad choice when he punched Ott in the head with the baseball.
 
I was at that game sitting behind third base. It was the quickest fight I ever saw. Ott slid in. Milan confronted him and Ott slammed him. It was immediately obvious that Millan was in a world of hurt when everyone immediately stopped in their tracks and everything got quiet. Not sure of the exact year. Could have been 79.
Edit: the article above says August of 77.
I was there, too. Millan hit Ott in the face with a baseball, and Ott planted him. Baseball justice. Bucs swept the doubleheader.
 
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