7/21/2006

July 21, 1988

Baseball provides material for one of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld, The Caddy.

1988» Seattle sends DH Ken Phelps to the Yankees for OF Jay Buhner and 1B-DH Steve Balboni.

That trade leads to this exchange between Frank & Estelle Costanza and "Big Stein" in January 1996

Steinbrenner: Mrs. Costanza?

Estelle: Yes?

Steinbrenner: My name is George Steinbrenner, I'm afraid I have some very sad news about your son.

Estelle: (gasps)

(Costanza living room)

Estelle: I can't believe it. He was so young. How could this have happened?

Steinbrenner: Well, he'd been logging some pretty heavy hours, first one in the morning, last one to leave at night. That kid was a human dynamo.

Estelle: Are you sure you're talking about George?

Steinbrenner: You are Mr. and Mrs. Costanza?

Frank: What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?! He had 30 home runs and over 100 RBIs last year. He's got a rocket for an arm. You don't know what the hell you're doin'!

Steinbrenner: Well, Buhner was a good prospect, no question about it. But my baseball people loved Ken Phelps' bat. They kept saying "Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps."

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