Some of you might remember the column I wrote about Calgary Vipers star Darryl Brinkley a few weeks ago. I didn't make too much of a fuss about his age, and good thing. Click below to find out why (and a thanks goes out to online reader Paula Hoffman for directing me towards this 2007 article tough to locate in extensive Web searches because of the newspaper's size and scope.)
The fact that it strongly resembles that Rich Pohle Sr. story posted on the blog here earlier this week shows how the practice is probably far from rare throughout baseball.
]]> Cooking the Books?Chasing .400 a difficult feat at any age
CHIP MALAFRONTE
Published: July 22, 2007
Time marches on for everyone, but Stamford's Darryl Brinkley is doing his best to stave off Father Time in a young man's game-in more ways than one. The ageless Brinkley (more on that in a moment), a 15- year pro now playing outfield for the independent Calgary Vipers, is on pace to become the first player in Northern League history to hit .400.
Through Friday, Brinkley's .403 average was tops by 35 points, and would shatter the league record of .376. Quite impressive for a player who, with a listed age of 38, is easily the league's oldest player. However, Brinkley has apparently been fudging his age for the last 16 or so years. Seems he's not 38. He's 41.
Since beginning his professional career in 1991, Brinkley has listed his birthdate as Dec. 23, 1968.
But he graduated from Stamford High in 1983, when he averaged 29.2 points per game and was named to the Register Class LL All-State boys' basketball team.
If his 1968 birthdate was correct, Brinkley would have been only 13 when his senior year of high school started in September, a season in which he scored 40 or more points three times, including 44 in his final game against Staples-Westport, with several triple-doubles.
When Brinkley enrolled at Sacred Heart University that fall, where he remains the school record holder for career batting average at .421, he would have been 14. He played baseball for the Pioneers from 1984-86 and again in 1988, when he led NCAA Division II with a .529 average.
Circumstantial evidence suggests Brinkley is at least three years older than he claims. Then there's the hard evidence. Brinkley's birthdate is listed with the Sacred Heart registrar's office as Dec. 23, 1965, as reported in a 1996 Register story by Sean O'Rourke. In that story, Brinkley also said he was playing baseball at Sacred Heart in 1983.
Brinkley refused interview requests from the Register this week. "I asked and he told me he was unavailable," said Patrick Haas, the team broadcaster and media relations director.
Maybe he knew a question about his age would arise. But why not fess up at this point? Brinkley's quest for .400 is only more remarkable considering he turns 42 in December. He hasn't played affiliated ball in five years, so the dream of the major leagues is likely over. Independent teams will still pay him considering he's still hitting. That he's over 40 only makes him more of a box office draw.
What can't be disputed is that Brinkley has always been a pure hitter. He twice topped the .350 barrier while playing Triple-A (for the Pirates in 1998 and in 2000 with the Orioles) and hit a combined .360 last season between San Luis of the Mexican League and Calgary.
Charlie Dowd, general manager of the Connecticut Defenders who was with the Bridgeport Bluefish a year ago, signed Brinkley for the Bluefish's stretch run. He played in the final 12 regular games last September.
"We tried numerous times to sign him over the years," said Dowd, unaware of Brinkley's age discrepency. "The guy has hit a ton wherever he's been. I think he wanted to play closer to home, but with his ability was able to command more money playing in Mexico."
It's not hard to see why Brinkley felt the need to make himself younger.
Undrafted and unsigned after finishing up at Sacred Heart in 1988, he toiled for three years in the Stamford Twilight League while working on the loading docks for a trucking company. Professional teams are reluctant to sign players older than 22, especially those who aren't power hitters or power pitchers. At 5-11 and 190 pounds, Brinkley, as talented with the bat as he was, suddenly became attractive when he said he was 23 as opposed to 26.
His first opportunity came in the Netherlands in 1991, and he moved on to Italy in 1993. He parlayed his overseas experience into a contract with Winnipeg of the Northern League in 1994, and an unsuccessful stint at Toronto's spring training in 1995.
Brinkley, 30 at the time but claiming he was 27, caught on with the Padres in 1996, and hit .363 at Class A Rancho Cucamonga before a promotion to Double-A Mobile.
He quickly advanced, and spent four full seasons and parts of a fifth in Triple-A, compiling a .315 career average at the highest level in the minors.
Yet he never got to taste life in the majors. There was a close call in 2001, which failed to come to fruition because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Supposedly, the Orioles, down an outfielder because of injuries a week after the minor league season ended, put out a call to Brinkley for help.
Brinkley, a plane ride away from his dream, was unable to fly to Baltimore because the attacks shut down U.S. air travel. By the time he was able to catch a flight, the Orioles went with Tim Raines Jr. instead.
Yet much like his birthdate, Brinkley has a different version of this once-in-a-lifetime event, too.
In a story that appeared in USA Today in 2002, Brinkley said he was in Los Angeles when the Orioles called. Yet he told the Calgary Herald in May that he was stranded in Australia at the time. Minor details? Perhaps.
But there's no disputing Brinkley, who still calls Stamford home, has made the rounds in his well-traveled career. Besides the Netherlands and Italy, he's played in Canada, Mexico, Korea, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He's seen a million places, and raked them all.
This summer is shaping up to be his masterpiece. It started with a 23-game hit streak early on, and snowballed. His 52 RBIs rank third, and he's near the top with nine homers. His eight stolen bases in 15 attempts-Brinkley once swiped 61 in a season-are about the only statistical category that has trailed off.
There's still plenty of season left in the Northern League. Two months, to be exact. Lots of time for an average to rise or fall. But the pursuit of the magic .400 mark is a feat to be celebrated, no matter what level of the minors it's accomplished. Or what your age is.
Still, wouldn't it be a little sweeter to come clean and say you did it at 41?
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