Wanting More in ’94

For those of us who have been playing Fantasy Baseball long enough to still call it “Rotisserie Baseball”, memories of baseball seasons gone bye and the people in our life circle bring back a flood of memories on a regular basis. I’d already been thinking about the truncated 2020 season and its correlation to the strike-shortened 1994 campaign when the sad news arrived that a long-time friend had passed away from Covid-19.

Of course, Terry Brutocao was much more than a friend. We first met in the 1970’s as two of the “young lions” of the Southern California bowling industry. He was a lawyer by trade but his family operated three very successful bowling centers and he became an integral part of that success as his Dad & Uncle grew older and withdrew from day-to-day operations. We seemed to become good friends from day one and had wonderful times at industry conventions, golf outings (his family had a Condo at Indian Wells), sports events and social gatherings. We also found time to give back and volunteered our time to the industry’s trade association and helped with charitable events that raised scholarship dollars for youth bowlers.

In 1984, when the original “Rotisserie League Baseball” book landed in book stores, Terry was one of my first phone calls and he quickly became a charter member of our league. He and his partner Paul were perfect Fantasy league members…competitive but clearly understanding that it was all about having fun. Each April at our Draft, they would present the “Big Flush” award to the team that had taken the biggest “dump” the previous season. It wasn’t a trophy, it was a toilet seat.

Terry played for 15 seasons and coincidently, his team (the T.P Express) won their first Championship in that 1994 season, outdistancing my Donald’s Ducks by 5 points. Of course, I told him that if there had been 162 games instead of 114, the standings would have been different. He just smiled…and then he won again in ’95.

So, as a symbolic tribute to my dear friend, here’s his championship squad from 1994…

1B) Eric Karros

2B) Roberto Mejia

SS) Kevin Stocker

3B) Arci Cianfrocco

C) Kelly Stinnett

C) Charlie O’Brien

1/3) Rickey Jordan

2/S) Rickey Guiterrez

OF) Deion Sanders

OF) Bernard Gilkey

OF) Larry Walker

OF) Moises Alou

OF) Raul Mondesi

U) Greg Colbrunn

P) Todd Worrell

P) Rheal Cormier

P) Greg Maddux

P) Jeff Fassero

P) John Burkett

P) Jeff Brantley

P) Norm Charlton

P) Orel Hershiser

P) Bobby Jones

The team led the league is SB’s (Sanders had 38) and three of the four pitching categories (Maddux won the Cy Young Award). Walker and Alou had spectacular campaigns and Mondesi won the ROY. Ironically, Burkett bowled on the PBA tour after his baseball career was over.