"YA GOTTA BELIEVE!" was the southpaw's battle cry for the 1973 Mets which many of us remember vividly. Many of his other quotes, courtesy of the Baseball Almanac include:
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf." (Asked for a preference of grass or Astroturf)
"I have no trouble with the twelve inches between my elbow and my palm. It's the seven inches between my ears that's bent."
"Kids should practice autographing baseballs. This is a skill that's often overlooked in Little League."
"Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish Whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
"Ten million years from now, when then sun burns out and the Earth is just a frozen iceball hurtling through space, nobody's going to care whether or not I got this guy out."
Some great recollections by the people who loved him most - his teamates and opponents - are on that same page at the Almanac.
And the synapses of my thankfully healthy mind remember this tiny bit of trivia: His wit translated into a short-lived but much-beloved comic strip, "Scroogie" - about a (surprise!) lefty pitcher. The artist of the series was Mike Witte. I'm still trying to confirm if it's the same Mike Witte who currently lavishly illustrates just about every major magazine, including the New Yorker, Time, EW, Sports Illustrated and countless others (the example of the current Mike Witte is on the right). An assist here would be appreciated. As I said. Trivia.
Tug was a character in the truest sense of the word, and a real credit to the game. Forever 59 years old, Tug left us yesterday after a battle with brain cancer, and he'll be truly missed.
