An obscure former MLB sighting for the Reds fans....

[Vintagedeputy]

My son's little league team had their closing awards ceremony the other night. We were told that there would be a former major leaguer there to speak and sign autographs.

Here's my son and daughter with Mark Budzinski. He played in 4 games with the 2003 Cincinnati Reds. He went 0 for 7. Real nice guy to chat with.

[ironmanfan]

Thanks for sharing; I don't think there is one guy on this forum that wouldn't trade places with him for that experience!

[Vintagedeputy]

Thanks for sharing; I don't think there is one guy on this forum that wouldn't trade places with him for that experience!

Yeah that's pretty much what he and I talked about. We also talked about how he really wanted to get a hit but didn't in his brief cup of coffee. He said that he almost had a hit off Hideo Nomo - a fly ball to left field that Jeremy Burnitz made a stabbing catch at. I told him "all that matters is that you are in the books. You can tell your grandkids that you were a major leaguer, and there's thousands of us who would kill for that experience".

[metsbats]

What's that saying?

"It's better to have made it to the show and let go than never have made it to the show at all"

[metsbats]

Hi Jim! Great to hear from you!

[Vintagedeputy]

Hi Jim! Great to hear from you!

Hey David! Thanks! I'm still alive. Don't post much anymore and my collecting has taken a back seat, but I'm still here.

[allstarsplus]

Love the photo!

[Vintagedeputy]

Love the photo!

Thanks, Andrew! How have you been?

[jppopma]

Great story and I always love hearing stories of players being down to earth about their playing time. Wish more of the current players (especially minor leaguers) could learn that lesson and enjoy their time playing.