Slouching Toward Fargo : A Two-Year Saga of Sinners and St. Paul Saints at the Bottom of the Bush Leagues with Bill Murray, Darryl Strawberry, Dakota Sadie and Me

by Karlen, Neal

• ISBN13: 9780380792153
• ISBN10: 038079215X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-02-17
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

In this era of spoiled millionaire athletes and Big Business baseball, the spirit of the Game is alive and well -- if a bit deranged -- in America's heartland.In SLOUCHING TOWARD FARGO, author Neal Karlen describes his two-year journey with the St. Paul Saints -- the most audacious bush-league ballclub ever to plumb the bottom of the pro sports barrel. Co-owned by comedian Bill Murray and run by Mike Veeck -- son of the infamous sports promoter Bill Veeck -- this motley collection of mutts, hopefuls, and has-beens has become a national phenomenon for playing with as much gusto off the field as on ... while proudly adhering to the timeless sports credo that it takes heart, skill, and cheap theatrics to plant devoted butts in stadium seats. This is where Darryl Strawberry was rehabilitated (the first time) and began his long comeback climb to the Majors. Jack Morris -- once baseball's winningest pitcher and biggest s.o.b. -- joined the team only to vanish without a trace. Baseball's first femaleplayer, Ila Borders, made history on the mound of the Saints' ever-sold-out Midway Stadium. And St. Louis Cardinals phenom, J.D. Drew, played here for $300 a month while holding out for Major League millions. Here is the true story of one championship season and one complete collapse; a tale told with high spirits and genuine affection of frantic fans and baseball Annies, a back-rubbing nun, a blind sportscaster, and a 300-pound pig ballboy; a glorious celebration of the boys who still play the game for the best of reasons: SO THEY CAN GET CHICKS.

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters	ix
Map of the Northern League	xvi
PART ONE: The Season of Last Chances
Introduction: The Redemption of Cigarette Boy	3	(20)
Waiting for Bill Murray	23	(9)
Veeck and Son and ``Disco Demolition Night''	32	(14)
Strawberry the Elephant Man	46	(11)
The Most Beloved Woman of the Northern League	57	(26)
In Which Ballplayers Fuck on Opening Day in Duluth	83	(24)
Sister Roz Explains It All to Me	107	(11)
Zen and the Art of Minnie Minoso	118	(16)
Bill Murray Gets Set Up for His Hatchet Job	134	(24)
Darryl Goes to the Show	158	(25)
A Jew in Fargo	183	(16)
Eleanor Mondale Does the St. Paul Macarena (The Second Half of the Season)	199	(32)
The Mutt King Returns for the Coronation	231	(25)
Strawberry Fields Forever	256	(19)
PART TWO: The Season of First Chances
1997: First and Only Chances	275	(21)
1997: Marty Frets, Twig Pets, and Ila Has Left the Building	296	(37)
Veeck Goes Fishin'?	333	(11)
Epilogue	344	(8)
Acknowledgments and Author's Note	352	(4)
Index	356