The Berks Barrister Winter 2017 - 13

w w w.BERKSBAR.org

Brian C. Engelhardt, Esquire, John Kruk and Mark S.
Caltagirone, CPA
inch Randy Johnson, then of the Seattle Mariners, there he was
facing him in the third inning.
Kruk blamed this on American League manager Cito
Gaston; on hearing of Kruk's reluctance, inserting the lefthanded Johnson, whose pitches ranged in the high 90s and
sometimes topped 100 mph, especially to face the left-handedhitting Kruk. When Johnson's first pitch sailed ten feet over
his head, Kruk ducked, had his hand flutter over his heart, had
three halfhearted waves at the next three pitches, then bowed
in what appeared to be a gesture of joy of being alive. Players in
both dugouts were laughing. Kruk repeated the statement he
made at the time: "You can't hit good when you're dead." (Kruk's
amusing, more elaborate account of these events is found in his
autobiography "I Ain't an Athlete, Lady..." written in 1994, Simon
and Schuster.)
Kruk's highly theatrical at-bat in the 1993 game (BTW....
the American League won, 9-3) is probably one of the main
factors for the powers that be in organized baseball taking
the "now it counts" steps that still have fewer and fewer
people watching the game each year. To revisit the offending,
but very funny, at-bat, see: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=9SH715tr6ek.
1993, besides being the year of Kruk's Lifetime Achievement
Award at-bat against Johnson, was a magical year for the Phillies.
The team won its division that year, despite six losing seasons
leading up to that, including a last place finish the year before.
They would go on to take the National League pennant by
winning a playoff series against an Atlanta team, then lose the
World Series in 6 games when the loathsome Joe Carter had
his-now ok to say-walk off home run.
At the luncheon, Kruk related stories about his teammates
who comprised that 1993 Phillies team-termed "Macho Row"
by the press at the time: including Lenny Dykstra, Dutch Dalton,
Pete Incaviglia, Dave Hollins, Jim Eisenreich, Micky Morandini,
Kevin Stocker, Mario Duncan, Milt Thompson, Larry Andersen,
Tommy Greene, Danny Jackson, Curt Schilling, Mitch Williams,
and Terry Mulholland, to name a few. Describing the group as
"insane" but always ready to play when the game began, Kruk
spoke of how they would spend hours hanging out in the training
room after games, "ripping each other but talking baseball."
Kruk related how he personally gave outfielder Jim
Eisenreich the nickname "Dahmer," after mass murderer Jeffrey
Dahmer who ate parts of his victims. Observing how the quiet
Eisenreich, who had Tourette's Syndrome, kept a bow and arrow
in his locker, Kruk speculated that Eisenreich was possibly
Continued on page 14

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Winter 2017 | 13

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Berks Barrister Winter 2017