The legend of Pat Burrell continues to grow.
Burrell, a former slugger with the Philadelphia Phillies now working as a scout for his most recent team — the San Francisco Giants — decided to take a hack during Giants BP before Wednesday’s game as part of a bet with manager Bruce Bochy.
It didn’t matter that Burrell was wearing some low-top casual sneakers, slacks and a polo shirt. When you’ve clubbed 292 career home runs in the majors, that kind of crap doesn’t matter.
So Burrell stepped to the plate and went yard on what was his first swing of batting practice, all while Bochy was protesting in the background.
Why was Boch protesting? According to the SF Chronicle, Boch and Burrell had a bet that Burrell couldn’t hit a home run cold. Burrell supposedly cheated by taking some warmup swings in the batting cage underneath the stands before coming onto the field.
Burrell has always been known as a big home run hitter on and off the field. He gained some notoriety for being “The Machine” in that extremely bizarre video with Brian Wilson a few years back, and the stories about his prowess with the ladies are plentiful. Back when I worked for the Dodgers several years ago, there was a gorgeous girl who also worked for the team. She always spoke fondly of Pat.
Apparently Pat still swings a big bat:
Pat Burrell on dating as a scout as opposed to as a player 'I can still pluck one from the herd once in a while' #BTH
— 95.7 The GAME (@957thegame) April 2, 2014
They just don’t make ’em like Burrell anymore, I tell you.
H/T Crossing Broad, Deadspin
