BASEBALL: Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers traded pitcher Nigel Thatch to the Fullerton (Calif.) Flyers for 60 cases of beer.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Go 2 Guy: 'Leon' puts bitter face on recent beer trade

If not the strangest trade in baseball history, this one is certainly the most recent, and it even showed up in transactions in Australian newspapers:

BASEBALL: Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers traded pitcher Nigel Thatch to the Fullerton (Calif.) Flyers for 60 cases of beer.

By now you've heard the story and reasons why -- Thatch was Leon, the cocky, all-about-me athlete in those memorable Budweiser commercials, thus the publicity stunt to trade the minor leaguer for a pallet of brewskis earlier this month.

For more information, I called Fullerton Flyers GM Ed Hart the other day, and in so doing, highlighted my ability to multitask.

Right when Hart was explaining the trade, I was directing the Rescue Rooter guy to the bathroom where one of the Go 2 Twins lodged a golf ball in the toilet. The twin is just 2 years old but already finding water hazards.

Hart and I continued our conversation $152.26 later, while Michael took a drop and was hitting three on a dogleg left toward the kitchen.

Kevin Outcalt, commissioner of the Golden Baseball League of which Fullerton is a member, proposed the idea to Hart.

"What do you think?" Outcalt asked.

"Kevin," Hart said, "he's not going to make the team."

"I know," Outcalt said, "but let's have fun with this."

So the deal was made and fun's been had, though Thatch is unamused.

"Nigel is not interested in some kind of media circus," said Thatch's agent, Frank Murtha, who is familiar with sideshows, representing Steve Bartman of Chicago Cubs foul-ball fame. "Nigel is serious about trying to pursue a career in baseball."

Thatch has not reported to Fullerton, wanting more than $700 a month, which is what he's been offered, a typical contract for players like him.

The Flyers issued a news release Monday night saying negotiations have been suspended, making Thatch a holdout, which is perfect because that's what Leon would be, too.

Hart said Fullerton is willing to give him an opportunity, saying: "It would be in our best interests for him to come in and dazzle. People would come out when he pitches. It'd be like a car accident -- you have to slow down and look."

Thatch, who took acting classes at UCLA, is more apt to land or crash elsewhere.

"We're not going to do anything with those guys," Murtha said. "They're more interested in the theater of it. As far as we're concerned, the Fullerton thing is a dead-end situation."

The detour leads to points unknown. Murtha is working on a couple of independent-league options for the marginally talented Thatch, who throws fastballs in the mid-80s but until last year hadn't played organized ball for 10 years, since his days in high school in East St. Louis.

In seven starts for Schaumburg, Thatch, 29, went 0-3 with a 10.22 ERA. Murtha said his stats were tarnished by one bad game in which he essentially threw batting practice, giving up three homers, including one that soared toward the light towers.

Asked afterward what Leon would have said about that outing, Thatch blamed his teammates, saying the outfielders should have gotten ladders to catch the balls and help him out.

Thatch has potential, a 6-foot right-hander with control, a Greg Maddux type on a much lesser scale, Murtha said.

Leon had a motormouth, but Thatch doesn't want to discuss his value in barley and hops, Murtha declining an interview request for his client.

Here's what they have in common. It turns out that Leon's slogan -- "I ain't playin' unless someone's payin'" -- is Thatch's, too.