There was a time when Rick Dempsey was the king of rain delays.
His “rain delay theater” performances gave fans stuck waiting for play to resume at the ballpark something just as entertaining to watch, as he’d stuff his shirt with pillows (or something), maybe put on underwear over his pants (making fun of Jim Palmer’s underwear ads), and mime hitting inside-the-park home runs. The exclamation point was a head-first slide on the wet tarp into “home plate.”
Here you go:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/_HHIpci-Edc[/youtube]
Now that’s fun.
(Although, now that I think about it, if Twitter’s reaction every time someone starts “the wave” at a game is any indication, poor Rick would probably get booed off the field now. Kids these days hate everything. /drunk uncle’d)
Anyway, Rick Dempsey was the 1983 World Series MVP at age 34. That was 31 years ago.
Nowadays, “rain delay theater” is just the 64-year-old “Dipper” snagging some Z’s, as evidenced by this tweet from Bud Norris this evening:
Caught in the act. @RickDempsey24 sleeping during the rain delay. pic.twitter.com/qNsgcXc40B
— Bud Norris (@BudNorris25) April 15, 2014
Father Time: still undefeated.
One Response
I thought Rick Dempsey’s “Rain Delay Theater” was the funniest thing I’d ever seen on a Baseball Field. Like Rick, I was a catcher. Nobody but Rick Dempsey would have thought to entertain fans and players alike with his Rain Delay Theater. Thanks for the memories Rick.