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April, 1998
In life, as in sports, you usually don't get to pick your spots.
There are exceptions, of course.
Rick Pitino comes to mind.
Ever mindful of the right situation, Pitino moved to New York as the Knicks coach for the 1987-88 season...after that franchise had won just 24 games the previous year.
Utilizing multiple pressure defenses, the Knicks won 38 and 52 games in the next two seasons, before Pitino, calling himself a college coach at heart, found a down-in-the-dumps college program to resuscitate.
That would be the Kentucky Wildcats, a tradition-bound basketball school if there ever was one.
But under Eddie Sutton's leadership, the Wildcats were in the grips of NCAA-mandated sanctions that no doubt singed the ears of proud Big Blue backers throughout the mid-South.
So the time was right for Pitino to rescue UK, and his Wildcats literally came all the way back when they won the NCAA title in March of 1996...and made it to the finals the following year.
But Pitino had always talked of coaching his beloved Boston Celtics...and sure enough, under the "leadership" of M.L. Carr, after the 1996-97 season, the Boston NBA franchise had sunk to a new level of futility.
Welcome to Boston, Coach Pitino.
Cardinal shortstop Royce Clayton's timing is not as good as Pitino's.
You know the story.
Clayton was a star athlete who grew up in Los Angeles playing shortstop and idolizing Ozzie Smith.
Clayton then turned pro and, after some initial success at shortstop in San Francisco, needed a change of scenery after the 1995 season.
Sure enough, prior to the '96 season, Clayton then landed in St. Louis...and smack dab into the middle of controversy.
Controversy in the form of his hero, Ozzie Smith, who, after missing much of the '95 season due to injury, was looking to reclaim the job that he believed to be rightfully his.
Putting it mildly, the situation was not a pleasant one for all concerned.
Recall that manager Tony La Russa saw fit to start Smith one, and only one, game during each 1996 series.
The strategy was a good one as far as wins and losses were concerned.
The Cardinals won the NL Central in '96, in no small part due to the quality shortstop play provided by the Clayton and Smith duo.
Indeed, Smith, in his final season, hit .282 and perhaps more importantly, went out as part of a winning team.
But Smith, feeling slighted by La Russa, believed that his manager did not follow through on promises made at spring training.
And for whatever reason, it was believed by some within the Cardinals clubhouse that The Wizard at times appeared to disrespect Clayton.
Never mind that Smith's main beef was with Father Time first, and perhaps Tony La Russa second.
All of this clearly had an effect on Royce Clayton the man, at least as far as his clubhouse persona was concerned.
But (and this is important), Royce Clayton never publicly complained about "The Situation".
At the very least, though, Clayton was confused by it all.
But in public, Royce Clayton's response was always gentlemanly.
And for that Clayton is to be commended.
Fast forward to April, 1998.
After four games of the new season, the Cardinals' record was 3-1, and Royce Clayton exceeded all expectations while batting in the lead-off spot (La Russa referred to him as "Rickey" [Clayton]).
Clayton , during a post-game interview...was quite explicit about certain aspects of his St. Louis Cardinal past, present and future.
But Clayton's demeanor remained guarded, and his responses were somewhat cliched, for the entire eight minutes of the interview...except...
Except when he was informed that, in the wake of a superb defensive play by the Padres' shortstop, that two press box-types remarked, out loud, that "Royce Clayton could have made that play".
Royce Clayton's response was clear and genuine, too: a broad smile, a sigh, and a subdued, relaxed laugh.
Royce Clayton knows better than anyone that Wizards do indeed cast shadows. In his own quiet way, he just wants to build a shadow of his own.
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