Tom, Atlanta, GASubj: Too legit to quit
Hey Ryan, is it true that M.C. Hammer used to work for Major League Baseball?
That’s correct Tom. Long before becoming the best-dressed celebrity on Hollywood Squares, Stanley Kirk Burrell worked as a batboy for the Oakland A’s from 1972 until 1980. Of course, fetching bats was only part of his job. Notoriously paranoid owner Charlie Finley also depended on him to be his eyes and ears in the clubhouse, a duty for which he earned the nickname “Pipeline.” As he recalls, “Every time I came down to the clubhouse, you know, Rollie Fingers would yell out ‘Oh, everybody be quiet! Here comes Pipeline!’” Luckily for Burrell, the derogatory nickname was soon replaced when Reggie Jackson began calling him “Little Hammer” due to his uncanny resemblance to a young Hammerin’ Hank Aaron. The name stuck and M.C. Hammer has been 2 legit 2 quit ever since.
