The Bronze Titan, Jose Contreras, is still going

It seems like a hundred years ago that Jose Contreras swam up from Cuba to play for the Yankees. Fidel Castro was still composing sentences. Wasn't Harry Truman the president? The Yankees had money to spend. Ahh, those were the days...

Back then, any mystery man on the international scene was predestined to play in New York. It was a given that Old George would capture every back page in obscurity, always gather one major spring Sports Illustrated profile and rule the TV airwaves with the latest speculation.

What a bunch: Irabu. Godzilla. El Duque. Igawa. El Duquecitto. Kats Masomethingorother - the Japanese pitcher who died his hair. And of course, the Bronze Titan himself - Contreras. George stole him from the Redsocks, (and it was downhill from there. ) George was like the promoter in the King Kong movie. He had to bring every monster to NYC.

 Well, Jose Contreras - one of George's great disappointments - is still at it. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday. He's 41 (assuming that's his correct age; the guy looked 41 ten years ago.) He's recovering from surgery. He's actually had a fine career. If we had stuck with him, we might have won a World Series around 2005-06. But George had moved on, I think, to Kei Igawa. Ahh, those were the days...

Austerity anyone?