Stories like this make me sad that there's no Plog news category called "Whaaaaa?!"
As the rest of us barricaded ourselves against snowpacogeddonalypsomg, or whatever cute name you want to use for it, the Kansas City Royals were busy getting one of the most notorious first basemen ever back on the company payroll.
Tuesday, the organization announced it had hired the 56-year-old Willie Mays Aikens
as a minor league coach to work out of the Royals' complex in Surprise, Arizona. Until June 2008, Aikens served roughly 14 years in federal
prison on gun, bribery and drug charges. The man had a taste for the
cocaine, for those of you who don't know baseball.
Besides the coke and legal problems that would eventually force him off the team and finally out of major league baseball, Royals fans should remember Aikens most for his 1980 World Series performance.
Even though the team lost the championship, Aikens was a badass, hitting home runs and game-winning RBIs. Since he got out of prison, he's been giving anti-drug speeches and working construction jobs. It's hoped that he has it together enough now to make something out of this new chance.
Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the wall in the meetings for this hire?
