It's only right that this card depicts Brady Anderson in a dirty uniform. Like several of the Orioles of the Cal Ripken, Jr. era, you practically had to drag him off of the field to get him to take a day off to rest. He kept on playing right through a broken rib, broken hand, appendicitis (yes, really. He declined the surgery and pilots on O's charter flights were given emergency landing instructions should things take a turn for the worse!). My favorite Anderson story involves a close call on the way to the ballpark. He was rollerblading to Camden Yards (because it was the '90s and he was Brady) when a nearby bus driver didn't spot the outfielder and turned right into him. Brady was knocked underneath the bus, but of course he pulled himself back up and made it to the stadium. In his own words, “It hurt pretty bad. I came into the weight room and took off my pants, and I was bleeding all over the place.” Somehow Anderson kept the incident under wraps, played the game, and racked up a couple hits and a few strong plays in the field. Talk about your close calls.I didn't have nearly as close a call as Brady Anderson did, but I still haven't wrapped my mind around the Metro car collision near the Maryland state line Monday afternoon. I take the Metro every day, and it never occurred to me that there could be an accident that would claim the lives of nine people. As it so happens, my daily commute doesn't go near Fort Totten. I only take the Red Line for three stops, from Metro Center to Union Station. Still, I occasionally drive to Greenbelt instead of riding the MARC Train, and in those instances it would be feasible for me to stay on the Red Line up to Fort Totten before switching to Green. By the time I got off of work, the accident had already occurred, though I didn't know the extent of the damage. For me, it seemed like no more than a 10-minute inconvenience in a day that had already been full of them. But the details started trickling in: two trains collided, one train wound up ON TOP of the other, possibly some fatalities. It was bizarre to have aunts and uncles and cousins calling the house to make sure that I was still alive.
In case you're wondering, I took the bus instead this morning, but was back on the Metro in the afternoon. Random as it may be, life goes on.
5 comments:
Wow that thing with brady and the bus is somthing. If the was in '96(50 HR's) I bet the roids had nothing to do with his abilty to get hit by the bus. Good post man I never knew that about brady.
Kevin, that Red Line crash is a mystery. How could it even happen? What were the motormen doing? We always took the Red Line but never past Brookland. Horrible circumstance.
Sean - Everyone who played in the 90s is under suspicion - I get that. But sometimes, flukes are flukes. Do you think Davey Johnson was on anything the year he hit 43 HR?
Patricia - From what I understand, the railcars are mostly automated, and the human operator tried to emergency brake too late. Sad stuff.
Glad to hear you're alright. When I interned on Capitol Hill (August-December '07), I only took the blue and yellow lines to and from Crystal City. Funny thing is last year I was trying to get a job around D.C. and I wanted to live in the Wheaton/Glenmont area.
Kevin, I'm so glad you're ok. I only have one friend who takes the metro for work (other than you of course, ;-)and know that he goes nowhere near Fort Totten, but it didn't stop me from freaking out for him at the time. What a sad, sad thing.
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