Mookie Denied

One of my all-time favorite colored ballplayers was Mookie Williams, who used to play outfield for the Mets. The "Mookster," as we liked to call him at O'Shea's, had the complete package - he could hit, field, and was always polite and well-spoken when interviewed after the game. All the fellahs at O'Shea's thought him a credit to his race.

That's why I almost shit myself when I read in the paper that Mookie was on death row in California, convicted of killing a bunch of Chinese guys in a robbery.

I says to Whitey, who was sitting next to me at O'Shea's, piss-your-pants drunk, "You hear about Mookie Williams?" I says.

"No." says Whitey. "Who's Mookie Williams?"

"He's the colored ballplayer from the Mets who hit the ball that went throught that homo Bill Buckner's legs like so much dick through his ass! Who the fuck else do you think I was talking about? Your wife?"

"Oh yeah. What about him?"

"He's on death row in California, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenberger ain't gonna' grant him clemency." I then explained to Whitey what clemency was, along with the gory details of Mookie shooting those slants. Awful stuff, I tell ya'; the details aren't right for a family blog.

I don't know what happened to Mookie, but whatever it was, it was a damn shame. You'd think a guy who'd made a few million dollars playing pro ball would have something better to do with his spare time than rob slants and start gangs, for Christ's sake.

He got awful fat, too.

- Frank McManus