Glory Days: Who was the nastiest player you ever went up against?
 

Hey All,

I thought the watercooler might be a good place to drum up a conversation about the glory days. Who was the most dominant player you ever went up against?

I've got a couple of interest. I went up against East Buchanan's Robert Gallery (second overall NFL pick) in basketball. He was just a skinny dweeb at that point, and not a really good player. 4 years at Iowa where he was chained to a squat rack with an Andro IV changed everything I guess.

I also had the pleasure (yeah, right) of getting dunked on by the NBA's Nick Collison when he was at Iowa Falls. Moral of the story, never play help defense on a back door lob.

Anybody else go up against the pros?

When I was in high school Lyle Alzado once pushed me against the wall and said if I didn't get a haircut he was going to beat me up. But I can't really count that as going up against him, since he was about twelve times my size. And by the next day he forgot who I was anyway.

I played against three in high school who made it to the show. Aaron Scheffer (cup of coffee in the majors with the M's), whom I got a hit off of in my last high school at bat. His team ended up winning the Class A state title. JJ Putz was a sophomore when I was a senior and we beat up on him. I don't recall if I got a hit, but we knocked him out after 2 innings. By the time he was a senior he dominated everybody. I also played against Mike Cervanak, an outfielder, who is has had bit times with a few clubs. He is still playing AAA. Watched Putz play quite a bit of hoops, he was pretty decent.

I played HS baseball against Spalding Academy in the late 70's. Their star player at the time was Joe Girardi.

Later, in college, a young kid showed up at the gym to play pick up basketball. His name was Rick Fox, he was from the Bahamas, and even at
age 15 you could tell he was real good. He played then for North Carolina, and a dozen or so years in the NBA. I can say, "Rick Fox blocked my shot".

I played against
 

NFLer Kerry Collins in both baseball and basketball. He was a good all around athlete. I also played against Donyell marshall many times in Basketball. He wasnt tough he was actually a skinny wimp and we'd push him around. He exploded his senior year, he was the grade below me though we were same age. I also coached former NFL QB Matt Lytle for legion baseball, and NFL Lineman and current ESPN analyst Ross Tucker was our waterboy my senior year of football in high school. Went to college with John Mobley, NFL player, though I was hurt and never got to be on the same field as him.

Rick Fox of Dancing with the Stars fame. My wife says his last name is no misnomer

My roommate played David Price several times in both Basketball and Baseball. He has made me watch the VHS of him lighting up Price for 36 in a District Championship game dozens of times. It's his shining moment.

Elston Howard
 

I had a tryout at Yankee Stadium in the late 70s, Elston Howard was pitching when I came up to hit