Comments on: Johnny Wockenfuss

By: nunyer

nunyer — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:42:16 +0000

I can remember being very sad when I found out that Johnny Wockenfuss was no longer a Tiger, one of those baseball names that always stays with you… Just like how I was bummed when I found out Enos Cabell was no longer a Tiger. Of course, I don’t think I really gave Johnny Wockenfuss much thought as 1984 rolled along and Willie Hernandez, acquired for Wockenfuss and Glenn Wilson, was helping close down games during that magical championship season.

Still, it would have been sweeter if some of the great baseball names of the 83 Tigers could have been around to get a ring… Sure, we still had Johnny Grubb and picked up Sid Monge… But Enos Cabell, Johnny Wockenfuss, Wayne Krenchicki… some classics right there. My ten year old self thought they deserved better. Memorables names and/or hair was a solid 40% of a player’s value as far as I was concerned back then.

By: celerinosanchezsombrero

celerinosanchezsombrero — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:02:42 +0000

I always thought that this player secretly longed to be called “Little Johnny Wockenfuss”.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:43:35 +0000

17. 16 : Astute question. I meant to mention somewhere that he's one of the "Play Ball" law-bearers, rules instead of a game action on the back of his card.

By: Brotz13

Brotz13 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:52:32 +0000

16. Josh, I just realized that Johnny Wockenfuss hasn't been added to the ongoing Love v. Hate game. Was there a rain delay?

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:22:28 +0000

15. Here’s an enjoyable and informative article on Wockenfuss (which mentions the finger-waggling stance) from the Daily Fungoes site:

http://www.dailyfungo.com/2008/02/27/happy-birthday-johnny-b/

By: JL25and3

JL25and3 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:18:30 +0000

14. My friends and I used to call him Fuckin' Wuss. It just seemed obvious.

By: JL25and3

JL25and3 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:17:40 +0000

13. 7 Extremely, extremely closed stance. Then he'd waggle the fingers on his right hand in an odd, fidgety way.

By: be2ween

be2ween — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:26:36 +0000

12. Aurelio Rodriguez is my Johnny Wockenfuss. Totally get it.

By: Eric Enders

Eric Enders — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:13:14 +0000

11. I don't know if it was intentional, but the last few paragraphs of this post have me imagining Josh looking like a heavily-made-up Orson Welles.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:22:36 +0000

10. 9 : Here's some more specific info on the change in the story, from the wikipedia entry on the Snuffster: "In an interview on a Canadian telethon that was hosted by Bob McGrath, Snuffy's performer, Martin P. Robinson, revealed that Snuffy was finally introduced to the main human cast mainly due to a string of high profile and sometimes graphic stories of pedophila and sexual abuse of children on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. The writers felt that by having the adults refuse to believe Big Bird despite the fact that he was telling the truth, they were scaring children into thinking that their parents would not believe them if they had been sexually abused and that they would just be better off remaining silent. "