Character Roles Get Noticed

Graig Nettles tells an Ed White story. . . maybe the Ed White story.

Nettles’ New York Yankees and White’s Minnesota Vikings were in Honolulu for one of those “made for television” Super Teams competitions in the 1970s. Not surprisingly, a few of the lads were telling stories over liquid refreshment.

“Johnny Bench was popping off about how he could beat anyone at arm wrestling,” Nettles recalled. “Ed was already in bed, but some of the guys went and woke him up. He got up, came downstairs, went boom, boom, boom, just smoked Bench, and went back to bed.”

Nettles laughed.

“Ask him if he remembers,” he said.

White did.

“Wally Hilgenberg woke me up,” he said. “He and Johnny Bench had a bet. I guess some other guys did too. I smashed him and went back to bed.”

Yawn.

These are two characters with character. . . Graig Nettles and Ed White. They have traveled separate but amazingly parallel courses to a common destination. Both will be inducted into the Hall of Champions’ Hall of Fame at Tuesday night’s banquet.

These were lads who went through boyhood in a simpler San Diego, went away to enjoy their first professional successes, returned as key contributors to two of San Diego’s most successful teams, played beyond their dreams and are now employed as coaches.

“It’s amazing how our careers paralleled,” White said. “Heck, we were both drafted by Minnesota teams.”

They were not entirely the same, to be sure. Nettles was an urban kid and White a country boy. Nettles was a baseball player who weighed maybe 190 and White was a football player who weighed close to 300. Nettles, still more urbane, lives in a yuppie neighborhood inland from Solana Beach and White, still the country guy, lives in the woods near Lake Cuyamaca.

What we’re talking here is sporty convertible vs. four-wheel drive, in so many different ways.

But look at these men as kids. . . Nettles on life in North Park:

“I had an advantage over kids growing up in the suburbs. We had a playground four or five blocks away in University Heights. There was always a game going on, no matter what sport was in season. I feel sorry for Little Leaguers who play twice a week and have to be driven to and from practice. Things are just too structured now.”

White on life in Lemon Grove:

“We had a group of guys who got together and played tackle football on the lawn in front of the junior high school. Just a bunch of unsupervised little kids having fun. And six of us got major college scholarships.”

So maybe there was not that big of an advantage to the urban life. White, who started at Helix High but finished in Indio, got a scholarship at California. Nettles, who went to San Diego High, accepted a basketball scholarship at San Diego State but focused on baseball when he realized he was not getting any taller or faster.

And, yes, their paths were to cross professionally, because Nettles started with the Twins and White with the Vikings. Two San Diego kids had gone their separate ways to the same place.

White would play in four Super Bowls with the Vikings, and Nettles, eventually traded to the Yankees, would play in four World Series for them.

These were undoubtedly quieter times for White, with the stone-faced Viking coach, Bud Grant.

“Minnesota had a real businesslike atmosphere,” he said. “I enjoyed playing on winning teams, but the offense was always so methodical, with the short passing and ball control running.”

Nothing was businesslike or controlled for Nettles in New York. He had George Steinbrenner.

“I remember one year George was getting on me because he thought I was too heavy,” he said. “I came out of the shower one afternoon in Boston and George was sitting at my locker talking to reporters. I walked up and looked at him and said: ‘George is right. Nettles really is getting fat.’ ”

In spite of the success these men enjoyed in the hinterlands, they would ultimately find their most enjoyable times in another common place.

San Diego. . .Nettles with the Padres’ National League championship team in 1984 and White with the Air Coryell Chargers.

Nettles: “I’ll always remember ’78 with the Yankees, because we were 15 games behind the Red Sox in the middle of July and caught them and beat them in that one-game playoff. And then we got behind 2-0 to the Dodgers in the World Series and beat them. But my favorite year will always be 1984. Just being part of a pennant-winning team in my hometown was an unbelievable thrill. That series against the Cubs was three days of hysteria.”

Occupationally, they are together again. White is an assistant coach with the Chargers and Nettles is first base coach with the Yankees. Together, yes, but apart.

Naturally, you would not expect them both to be under the same roof for the Hall of Champions dinner. It never works quite that way with these guys. Nettles is already in Florida for the start of spring training.

Just like that long ago night in Honolulu, Ed White will rise for the occasion and then go up the hill and tuck in for the night.

And there is one more parallel with that night in Honolulu. Graig Nettles wasn’t there for the conquest of Johnny Bench either. He just heard about it.