WITH MIKE O'NEIL  12/6/01

This is what you've all been waiting for!  We finally got a chance to sit down with our team's star pitcher Mike O'Neil.  This interview was originally recorded on a mini tape in Mike O's living room.  His answers required 462 hours of typing so you better enjoy this!  Giddyup...

1.  You were the team's Cy Young award winner for 2 straight years until Randy Dell made his amazing return.  What are your thoughts on this?

I'm glad Randy Dell came back on the team because we could use the second pitcher.  He's a valuable player and a good friend.

2.  What past baseball experience do you have?

I've played for over 30 years.  I've played in a world tournament.  I've played tournaments around the country.  West Virginia one year and Ohio another year.

Is that for the world tournamet?  (Dogs breathing heavily by the microphone)

Yes, The World Softball Tournament.

3.  How did you earn the nickname "The Rock"?

I think Casey just said it.....no, what actually happened was my older brother one time was talking about my other brother and I, one had said something about one of us doing something and my older brother said "Let Mike do it, he's the rock" meaning that I was the most consistent of the 3 brothers.

4.  On a scale of 1 to 10.  1 being Good Afternoon and 10 being Will Do, rate the following ball players:

George Kell=  I think George is a great hall of famer, what can you say.  He brought an interesting approach, his southern type of talk is interesting.  I would say George...I would give him a 9.
Al Kaline=  I give Al an 8.  Im as much a fan of Al Kaline as I am of George Kell.  And you did almost run him over once.  I did, thats true I did.  I almost took big Al out.
Scott Krimms brother in law= Mark's a nice guy.  He works for Hostess.  He said he'd like to play with us although he's not as dependible as some, and he's a good hitter so we should consider him.
Mark McGwire=  I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for him.  I think he's not only a great ball player but a good family man.  Throughout the years there's never been any scandal about Mark McGwire, he's a good family man, and he's retireing and hopefully he stays retired and doesn't pull a Michael Jordan but I don't think he will.  He seems to be a person of his word.  10.
Barry Bonds= Who is this?  Barry Bonds= Barry Bonds.  I'm not a big fan of Barry.  He certainly is an athelete and a great ball player but he has emotional problems and  I rate him a 5.

5.  What are your 3 favorite things about being on the team?

Well number 1 is being able to play ball with my son.  Every father who has a son dreams of growing up and being able to play ball with him if you can.  Number 2 is just the fact that I'm still active and being out there with the young guys and have fun, its exciting, and see you guys get better every season.  I think being able to pick and choose when I want to play.  I know that I'm not that valuable on the team and I can be replaced so it's not something that I really have to worry about.

6.  If you were stuck in an elevator and could have 2 teammates with you, who would they be and why?

If we were stuck in the elevator.  Who would pass the time.  Well lets see, here's the question, are you stuck and can't get out and you have to get out of the elevator or are you stuck temporarily and it will be a little while and spend time in there.  I think if you wanted to bust out of that elevator you think of Carl and probably Anthony, a few loose cannons to let go on the door.  But who would I want to just spend some time with?  It's hard to say because theres so many guys there that are really nice.  How many times have you (Matt) and I got a chance to sit down and talk?  Not very often.  Yeah, there was a little kid down the street and the little kid kept getting older ya know and of course I never got older but you do.  And we'll talk about your ageless body later.  Oh, well, ok, yeah.

7.  Finish these sentences:

The best thing about our website is  ahh, that you're doing it and you're enthusiastic and having fun.
One time when I was in the bread truck and I thought no one was looking, I ahh, one of the things I've always held and this may sound a little goofy and silly, but Ive always felt that no matter where you were and what you did, I pretended that my father or my mother was watching what I was doing, and if I was to embarass them I would embarass myself so I very rarely do anything thats......maybe thats why they call me The Rock.
I tell the best jokes because people are willing to laugh and they're polite enough to laugh even when they're not funny. So it's always fun.
Casey can achieve the level of greatness of his father if he would just I think that he  (Casey shouts from the bathroom "I RULE")  haha, it's a matter of analyzing what you're doing and be the best you can be and I think Casey does that.  I think he'll get better as time goes on.  Getting it all together, sometimes it takes a long time.  He'll be a much better ball player in years to come.
If I had one wish I would wish for well, as far as the ball team goes I would like to be able to put it all together and win a championship, but that sort of thing is unrealistic.  But we've had individual games where we've put it all together and sometimes those games make it worthwhile.  Golfing, just to get a great shot you say "My God I actually did that" so even in one game.  Like last season we played that team that had mercied everyone and bragged that they were going to mercy us and we didn't think we had a chance but we went out there and everybody didn't screw up, we just played good baseball and we beat them and left those guys talking to themselves so that was fun, that was really fun. It feels good to win the big ones.  Thats right, and with us anyone you win is a big one. HAHA, don't print that.  Ok Mike.

8.  How did it feel to get your 1,000th lifetime hit playing on the same team as your son and the team name being Peetage?  Does it get any better than that?

No it doesn't.  I'm not quite sure what Peetage is all about.  People ask me and I tell them it's a secret.

9.  You're a hard working man.  You wake up for work at 3:00 a.m.  The team is dying to know.  What kind of cereal do you have for breakfast?

I never eat breakfast.  Just get up and go.

10.  What do you remember about the following years:

1944=  Actually the war was going on, just ending then.  They dropped the bomb in 45 but there wasn't a lot to remember.  Not a lot of good things happened.
1945=  That was the year they dropped the bomb. (Incohearent mumbling)
1979=  The begging of peetage?  No.  Casey being born?  There ya go.  Yeah
1986=  (Mike clears his throat)  Ahh,,LOUD COUGH.  I don't remember.  I'm trying to think.  I can't remember anything other than that was the last yeah Minnesota beat the Michigan Wolverines in 1986.  Lou was the coach then and we were number 1 or 2 in the nation, undefeated, and their quarterback Richie Foggie ran all over the field and they ended up beating us.
2001=  I think Randy coming backto the team to play was a good thing this year.  As a matter of fact I always thought to myself how good it was how everyone got along, but evidently I didn't know all the undercurrents going on.  Evidently we're not getting along as well as we thought we were ya know.  I hate to see the guys break up, but sometimes it's better because you really want to have fun and play baseball.

11.  You're currently the oldest team member but you certainly don't play like it.  Can you reveal to us your key to success?

As long as I keep from falling on my ass at pitching.  It seems that when I throw the ball I back up and when the ball is hit, especially those low bouncers you try to stop and go forward and your legs give way, but theres really, the only thing like anything else in life, as long as you're enthusiastic about what you do and you don't make excuses (Casey shouts "NO MORE BREAD FOR ME") you just go out there and do the best you can you'll do real well.  I'm not saying that I do real well, but I think I have a lot of fun.

12. Who is your favorite former Peetage player and why?  (Ex:  Lorne, Kyle, Scott, Craig, Jeff, Gary, Ritz, Jimmy "airwolf" Moore, Scott Krimm's brother in law)

Craig.  Hall of famer.  Being an older fellow we got along alot.  We can identify with the same kind of problems.  It's hard for me to sit and talk to some of the guys about kids and how much trouble they are. haha.  Alot of the guys don't have kids.  Philippe just had his second.  Sometimes Philippe is in another world and other times he plays fantastic baseball and you think who is this guy?  It must be an evil brother. Are there Phillipe twins?  One comes then the other one comes...or he doesn't show up at all you know, HAHA.

13.  Has Mike O'Neil ever:

Openly admitted he's an inch bigger than Tim Orow=  HAHAHA, Tim is really a great guy, we had a lot of fun and I really enjoy Tim on the team.  It was really nice of him to have the party.
Wanted to be the Taystee bread mascot=No
Pitched a no hitter= In fact I was on a team, it was a 3 hitter in a championship game for Detroit parks and recreation and we won 1-0.  It was really an incredible game.  We played a team that won 16 straight games.  They were in another division.  They put both divisions together for the playoffs and in a 2 game knockout we never lost a game and the first game we beat them 1-0 and the second we just anialated them about 15 to 4.  Once we beat them they fell apart.  In fact I didn't pitch the second game, the second game I played second base.  I played second base most of the time.  One of the games the wind was blowing, no one could hit them out, there were no fences and they relied on hitting the ball over the fence a number of times and when we played the open field we were able to run them down.  It was really a great game and the closest I've came to a no hitter.
Tried to breakdance=No, I've fell a few times but it was by accident.
Hit for the cycle= Oh yeah, years ago.  We were playing a team in the Detroit barber college.  I got out at 5:30 and the game started at 6:00.  So I had to bring my stuff to work and change in the car on the way over to the field.  When I got there I was the number 3 hitter.  I pulled up and ran out of the car I was up, we batted first.  I got a single, a double, a homerun, then a triple.  Those were the days I could run to third without oxygen.  Those days are gone.  What year was this?  Around 67 or 68.  Really......(awkward pause).....let's move on.

14.  Tell us one thing about yourself that the team doesn't already know.

Like wearing womans clothes?  You don't have to talk about that if you don't want to.  Ok I won't.  I don't think they really know how proud I am of these kids.  It's fun to watch them go out there and try hard.  I think about last year and all the injuries and all the blood was dropped.  It's hard to think back to those days diving and taking one for the gipper, but I really am proud of these guys.

15.  Word Association.  Mention the first thing that comes to you when you hear:

Dogs barking loudly= I remember Casey saying something about his dogs.  I remember one game we played where we were behind in the last inning and Casey said something about where are my dogs and everyone started woof woof woofing and all that stuff.  We won that game.  Do you remember that?  I remember one of my favorite games where we were down 15-2 and we came back to win 25-21.  That game I wasn't there.  That was the second game of a double header wasn't it?  I played the first game and not the second. That must have been quite a game.
Wintergarden= Beer
Scott Krimm= Scott Krimm and the twins
Good Afternoon= HAHAHA take a message
Gouda cheese= That was the cheese you had given me for my birthday
A long joke with a bad punchline= A waste of time.

16.  What are your plans for the offseason this winter?

Making a living, feeding my family, and hoping my son gets a good job.

17.  If you really did face Bill Marken in a "Chair match", being that the first person to get out of their respective recliners loses, who would win?  (The use of depends under garments is not permitted.)

Well I tell you what it would be, what your dad an I would do.  It would be like Friends with the two of them sitting in the recliners watching tv and having a brewski, haha.  Your dads a good guy and a good ball player.  It's too bad he couldn't have played with us more this year.

18.  This is starting to become a regular question in this interview so please answer honestly because the team is very curious.  If you could be Carl for a day, what would you do with yourself and to others.

If I was Carl I would have so much talent and ability I'd try to really focus on getting better.  Sometimes when you're really good and you really have a lot of natural talent you don't make the effort because you don't have to.  You still do real well without even trying.  It scares me sometimes to think that if Carl really tried and focused what he could do.  Thats deep right there.  Well, what can I say.

19.  Would you object if the team really wanted to mold a Mike O'Neil bobblehead doll?

No, I think that would be something that could be a real collectable, haha.

20.  Did you enjoy your 20 Questions mike O'Neil?  (Also use this space to say anything you want or plug your stuff/website/merchandise.)

No plugs necessary.  I think it's a good idea and you make lots of tapes and have a comedy hour or something.  Thanks it was good talking to you.  By the way how is your back.  My back?  Or was it your legs?  ...End of tape.