LIKE IT IS : Success hasn’t ruined major league ‘good guys’
A few items to clean out the notebook before heading to Birmingham, Ala., and the SEC Football Media Days Cliff Lee is a good guy.
Lee, who pitched a year for the Arkansas Razorbacks, continues to make Benton his primary home, and despite starting as a pitcher in the All-Star Game and being off to a 13-2 record with the Cleveland Indians, he has gone out of his way to be available to the local media.
Doug Crise did a big story on him for this newspaper, and Lee has appeared on several talk shows where it was discovered he has a great sense of humor.
When yours truly said he faced a Little League pitcher a few years ago, Lee chimed in and said: “I bet she struck you out.” When the season ends, he and his family will be back in Benton.
Along with North Little Rock’s A. J. Burnett, he is a big supporter of the Field of Dreams program, which, incidentally, has a Wiffle ball tournament this weekend to raise awareness and money.
Fame and fortune has not changed either of those major leaguers, and both are good guys.
nwanews.com
7/22/08
