Great headline; wish I could take credit for it. John Lott's excellent feature on Aquilino Lopez is a must read.
"He's shy, but he's a bright kid," (J.P.) Ricciardi says, perhaps momentarily forgetting Lopez is no longer that 22-year-old the Mariners thought they had. "He can explain the pitching process. After he struck out Bret Boone [to end a game in Seattle], he told me he knew everybody in their dugout had told [Boone] to expect a slider. So he threw him a fastball."
Thanks to the BB reader who alerted me. I often miss Lott's work, because I rarely read that paper, but I will be visiting TruNorth Baseball more often. It's a great resource, with links to many interesting articles we may have overlooked here. There's even a mention of our "fascinating and wide-ranging" J.P. Ricciardi interview, and you can get lost in the archives. Check it out.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030906115940999