Posted on 06/08/2006 4:10:20 PM PDT by Chi-townChief
White Sox fans best remember Jason Grimsley for his role in ''Batgate,'' a controversy involving a corked bat used by Cleveland's Albert Belle and confiscated by umpires in a game against the Sox on July 15, 1994.
During the game, Grimsley climbed through the false ceiling of the visitors' clubhouse at Comiskey Park to retrieve Belle's corked bat from the umpires' room. Although he was successful, the theft was discovered and Belle eventually was suspended.
''It's funny now, but it got a little out of hand,'' Grimsley told the Sun-Times in 2000. ''Looking back, it might not have been the smart thing to do, but it seemed like a good thing at the time. It made for a pretty good story.''
It was no easy task for Grimsley, a 6-3, 180-pounder who had to crawl several dozen feet through a cramped ceiling to get to the bat.
''We were sitting there in a pennant race, and for some reason I got it into my head, 'Go get the bat,''' Grimsley said. ''I just went over and got it. ... I figured if [the umpires' room] was on the same side of the walkway [that runs around Comiskey Park], there had to be a way over. So I found my way over there.
''It was hairy. There were some parts that were scary.''
The caper was uncovered because the bat Grimsley used to replace Belle's had teammate Paul Sorrento's signature on it. Police were called to the scene, and the Sox threatened to press charges. But at the time, no one was saying who the culprit was.
Grimsley later owned up to the deed, and no action was taken against him.
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