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As soon as you saw the name Rich Folkers you thought one of two things. Either "Aw, jeez, did Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro seriously make another one of those crappy movies?" or "Oh, hey, that one guy Jerry Coleman said that one thing about that one time." It's the second one, of course. You know what I'm talking about: "Rich Folkers is throwing up in the bullpen." I wonder if Rich Folkers has thought of that line every time he's vomited over the past 35 or so years. If not, I'll still bet he gets sick of hearing "Oh, yeah, you're that one guy..." all the time.
But yeah, in addition to being part of the Colonel's lore, Rich Folkers did a little pitching back in the day. Four full seasons and part of three others, as a matter of fact. Two of those full seasons were with San Diego, where he was used as a swingman in 1975 and strictly a reliever in '76. His numbers were, well, better than mine would have been. Let's just leave it at that. It's the guy's birthday and I don't want to say derogatory things like "well-above-league-average ERA" or "negative WAR" so I won't.
Oh, did I not mention that? It's totally Rich Folkers's birthday. He was born on this day in 1946 which, if you math around on it for a second, means he's now 67. Wow, that's pretty impressive in and of itself. I wonder if I'll ever be 67. I mean, anything can happen. People get hit by buses every day, not to mention the ever-present threat of lightning strikes, heart attacks, and getting way too drunk then choking on your own vomit in your sleep. I guess the secret to avoiding that is just to get it all out of your system in the bullpen.
