Help Us Mookie

There are two Mookies of note in this neck of the woods. One, Derrell "Mookie" Mitchell, was released today by the Toronto Argonauts. Hearing that news got me thinking about the other Mookie.

When Mookie Wilson came to town, he was best known as the New York Met who hit the ball that fooled Bill Buckner. The 1989 Toronto Blue Jays season was full of drama. We had our first mid-season managerial change, George Bell said goodbye to Exhibition Stadium with a walkoff homer and Mookie Wilson came to town on July 31.

Mookie provided this intangible spark. You had to be there. He had this big smile, seemed to slap singles in the clutch and he was always hustling. I don't believe we'd have won the pennant in 1989 without him.

This song is "Help Us Mookie" by The Kokomo Beach Band. It's a parody of "Help Me Rhonda" by The Beach Boys if there are any kids in the crowd.