Tale of Bison & Tim Teufel

This morning I read a nice article on how Bison are being migrated around in small herds to somewhere in Montana. It was a nice story, trying to reestablish a breed of animal slaughtered so many years ago. Almost as interesting as those folks trying to reanimate a live mammoth from DNA.

Then I saw the announcement from the Buffalo Bison of our very own International League. It was announced that former 2nd Baseman Tim Teufel will take the reins of the team as manager in 2011. Good for him, good for the Bison and, hey, good for us too. Teufel had managed the AA affiliate for the Mets in Binghamton in 2010.

Teufel spent 1983 to 1993 in the Major Leagues with the Twins, Mets and Padres. I mainly remember him as the platooned 2nd baseman for the 86 Mets, the other half being Wally Backman. Hopefully, Teufel doesn’t have as much on his plate to distract from managerial duties as Backman did in 2004 where he was selected to be the Diamondback’s manager only to be fired shortly after the press leaked information of Backman’s financial and legal troubles. Enough of that… I’m not posting about Wally Backman although he may have had something to do with me naming my dog “Wally.” One of those names that just sticks in your head I guess.

So the tale of the Bison turns into a tale of two former 2nd baseman. Our own Ryne Sandberg vs. Tim Teufel. Sounds like an on field promotion if I ever heard one!

Really, it will be good to see another familiar name here at The Coke. Good times in only 76 days!

OinK!