Pinch Hitting

At Gheorghe, like everywhere else in the 'sphere, we often pause to acknowledge the passing of those folks whom we have enjoyed for whatever reason.  The G:TB roster is filled with cinema enthusiasts, and so we tip our caps to recent departees Richard Dawson, Andy Griffith, and Ernest Borgnine.  Even people who weren't necessarily onscreen but brought us love stories that generated interest for Shlara or Rob (Nora Ephron) or interesting stories of degenerates the rest of us love (Henry Hill). 

Somewhere in our diligent pursuit of such acknowledgment, however, we missed one.  (I blame the interns here at Gheorgherica.)  Someone who contributed directly to comedy film greatness, if just once . . . and if very indirectly.

Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbón . . . Manny Mota (Mota . . . Mota . . . Mota)

Pedro Borbón closed out his final inning on June 4.  Here's to Pedro, a damn fine reliever in the Big Red Machine years, and here's to Manny Mota (who's alive and well), for reasons that are obvious.

One thing that always bothered me, though: Pedro Borbón and Manny Mota were never teammates, not once.  I thought perhaps that they might have played on the same NL All-Star team, but Borbón never made one.  Manny Mota never could have been called upon to pinch-hit for Pedro Borbón.  I mean, do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. Sorry, that's a dumb question... skip that.