GaryMrMets
07-11-2004, 02:58 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/9121340.htm
Posted on Sat, Jul. 10, 2004
Squiggy's Pitch
By Michael D. Schaffer
Inquirer Staff Writer
Long before Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman began hanging out with Laverne and Shirley in Milwaukee, David Lander hung out at old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
Squiggy, the Shotz Brewery truck driver who lived upstairs from the bottle-capping gals in the ABC series, may have been a semi-moron, but Lander, the actor who brought him to life, most certainly is not.
Especially when it comes to baseball.
Lander, 57, a devoted follower of statistics guru Bill James, has been co-owner of a triple-A team and is now an associate scout for the Seattle Mariners.
Who knew that Squiggy's strange, pointy, slicked-down hair covered a seamhead?
Lander will throw out the first ball at today's game between the Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park.
But the actor's real reason for being in Philadelphia is to speak this morning to multiple sclerosis patients and others interested in the disease.
Lander was diagnosed with MS in 1984, a year after Laverne & Shirley ended its seven-year run. He was having trouble with his balance. "Also, I was tripping a lot," he said. "Every so often, I would have a massive attack" and couldn't walk.
The actor managed to keep his illness a secret for 15 years before going public in 1999. He told his story the following year in a book, Fall Down, Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody (Jeremy Tarcher, $22.95).
Lander's talk today at the Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing is free and open to anyone interested in learning about multiple sclerosis.
Lander will be joined by Steven L. Galetta, a neuro-opthalmologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, who will speak about the latest MS treatments and research.
"Hopefully, I get more laughs than the doctor," Lander said.
Lander speaks easily about both MS and baseball.
He said in telephone interview that he had a love affair with the Pittsburgh Pirates dating back to his childhood in - of all places - the Bronx.
"I was a Pirates fan because I loved the alliteration," he said.
Pittsburgh Pirates. It just sounded great to a 4-year-old New Yorker.
When it came time for college, Lander enrolled at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and made the Pirates an extracurricular activity.
"I used to always sit in the left-field bleachers" at Forbes Field, he recalled.
In 1980, Lander bought a small piece - 5 percent - of the Portland (Ore.) Beavers, then an affiliate of the Pirates. He sold out three years later. The other co-owners weren't comfortable with him, he recalled. "I was a player's owner," he explained.
About the same time he was exploring the nuances of Squiggy's character on Laverne & Shirley, Lander was becoming a fan of Bill James, whose statistical analysis has had a major impact on the current generation of baseball executives.
Lander put his baseball knowledge to work in 1995 as a special scout for the Anaheim Angels, at the invitation of Bill Bavasi, then the team's general manager. When Bavasi moved to Seattle, he invited Lander to scout for the Mariners.
Lander said he gets $250 if the club signs a player he recommended.
Who is the best player he ever spotted?
Easy, Lander answers. Randy Wolf. "The Angels were very impressed," Lander recalled.
Unfortunately for Lander, a lot of people noticed Wolf, including the Phillies.
Even Squiggy might have figured it out.
Posted on Sat, Jul. 10, 2004
Squiggy's Pitch
By Michael D. Schaffer
Inquirer Staff Writer
Long before Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman began hanging out with Laverne and Shirley in Milwaukee, David Lander hung out at old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
Squiggy, the Shotz Brewery truck driver who lived upstairs from the bottle-capping gals in the ABC series, may have been a semi-moron, but Lander, the actor who brought him to life, most certainly is not.
Especially when it comes to baseball.
Lander, 57, a devoted follower of statistics guru Bill James, has been co-owner of a triple-A team and is now an associate scout for the Seattle Mariners.
Who knew that Squiggy's strange, pointy, slicked-down hair covered a seamhead?
Lander will throw out the first ball at today's game between the Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park.
But the actor's real reason for being in Philadelphia is to speak this morning to multiple sclerosis patients and others interested in the disease.
Lander was diagnosed with MS in 1984, a year after Laverne & Shirley ended its seven-year run. He was having trouble with his balance. "Also, I was tripping a lot," he said. "Every so often, I would have a massive attack" and couldn't walk.
The actor managed to keep his illness a secret for 15 years before going public in 1999. He told his story the following year in a book, Fall Down, Laughing: How Squiggy Caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody (Jeremy Tarcher, $22.95).
Lander's talk today at the Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing is free and open to anyone interested in learning about multiple sclerosis.
Lander will be joined by Steven L. Galetta, a neuro-opthalmologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, who will speak about the latest MS treatments and research.
"Hopefully, I get more laughs than the doctor," Lander said.
Lander speaks easily about both MS and baseball.
He said in telephone interview that he had a love affair with the Pittsburgh Pirates dating back to his childhood in - of all places - the Bronx.
"I was a Pirates fan because I loved the alliteration," he said.
Pittsburgh Pirates. It just sounded great to a 4-year-old New Yorker.
When it came time for college, Lander enrolled at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and made the Pirates an extracurricular activity.
"I used to always sit in the left-field bleachers" at Forbes Field, he recalled.
In 1980, Lander bought a small piece - 5 percent - of the Portland (Ore.) Beavers, then an affiliate of the Pirates. He sold out three years later. The other co-owners weren't comfortable with him, he recalled. "I was a player's owner," he explained.
About the same time he was exploring the nuances of Squiggy's character on Laverne & Shirley, Lander was becoming a fan of Bill James, whose statistical analysis has had a major impact on the current generation of baseball executives.
Lander put his baseball knowledge to work in 1995 as a special scout for the Anaheim Angels, at the invitation of Bill Bavasi, then the team's general manager. When Bavasi moved to Seattle, he invited Lander to scout for the Mariners.
Lander said he gets $250 if the club signs a player he recommended.
Who is the best player he ever spotted?
Easy, Lander answers. Randy Wolf. "The Angels were very impressed," Lander recalled.
Unfortunately for Lander, a lot of people noticed Wolf, including the Phillies.
Even Squiggy might have figured it out.