Today’s reason to feel old: Ex-R-Brave great Ryan Klesko, the clean-up hitter in the Great Eight lineup, is retiring after 16 years in the bigs. Klesko had an unquestionably successful career — 278 homers and 987 RBI — though he also never ascended to superstar status, the way he seemed destined to back in his days here. He was always good, sometimes bordering on great, but still just one All-Star Game selection.
Klesko was one of the most entertaining players in the short history of The Diamond. He always played very hard, swung even harder — he could turn The Diamond into a little-league park with his power — and had a bit of a temper — you never really knew at the beginning of the night if he was going to do something a bit crazy.
My favorite incident was the night he used a little imagination to kick-start a bench-clearing brawl. Tensions were high, the opposing pitcher had hit a batter or two, there had been some jawing and the umpires had issued their silly warnings. When Klesko dug into the batter‘s box, everyone in the crowd sensed that something was about to happen. On the first pitch, Klesko pretended to attempt to hit the ball, instead flinging the bat right at the feet of the pitcher. The ensuing mayhem was frankly spectacular. At one point, Klesko and a combatant from the other team were pressed up against the backstop behind home plate, giving the box seat fans their money’s worth and more.
Klesko’s retirement means that of the Great Eight team, one of the most talented minor league lineups of all time, only Chipper remains in the majors. Melvin Nieves, Mike Kelly, Tony Tarasco, Ramon Caraballo and the late Jose Oliva are all long gone from the league, and Klesko and Javy Lopez retired this year. Chipper? He’s as strong as ever, hitting .443 with a .689 slugging percentage through Friday. There was never any question he was the best of a special bunch.
