Bobby O'Brien

On July 7, 1971, Bobby O'Brien played his last game in the Major Leagues.  Most of you have never heard of Bobby.  He was a pitcher for the Dodgers, and he played for me in Pacific Coast League in Spokane.

To me, Bobby O'Brien represents something important. 

I can remember Cardinal O'Connor gave a memorial Mass for my mother.  After the Mass he said he wanted to see me, and he said that every time he heard me talk that I always talked about motivation. 

"Do you really believe that you need to motivate players making five, eight, 10 million dollars a year," he asked.

I told him that everybody in this country, from the President, down to the lowest job in the land, at some time or another needs to be motivated because they think they are doing their best when in reality they are not.

He asked when I started to believe this and I told him the story of Bobby O'Brien.

I knew the day I could motivate players.  We were playing in Tucson and I had a little left-hander on the mound named Bobby O'Brien.  The score was 3-2 in our favor and they had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th inning.

I thought now is the time I must go out to the mound and motivate my player because if he gets the out, we win the game.

I ran out to the mound and said, "Bobby, if the heavens could come apart and you could hear the voice of the Big Dodger in the Sky, and he says to you that this is the last batter you are going to face.  You're going to die and come to heaven with me."

I said, "Son, how would you like to go facing the lord, giving up a hit or getting this guy out?"

He said that he wants to go face the lord getting the batter out.

I said, "Well how do you know that when you make that next pitch that you're not going to die?"

I continued, "And if you do die Bobby, I want you to die getting this guy out!"

So I ran back to the dugout and before I could get back he threw the pitch, the guy got a hit, they went ahead by one run and I had to go back and take him out.

As I walked to the mound I said I thought I really had Bobby where I wanted him.

When I got to the mound I said, "Bobby, what happened?"

He said, "Skipper, you had me so afraid of dying that I couldn't concentrate on the batter."

If I could get a guy to believe he's going to die, I sure as heck can believe I can get him to pitch better.

Motivation.