Local Man Still Trying To Think Of That One Player's Name

Scottsdale, AZ. (May 9) - Local baseball fan Charles Lucas still hasn't thought of the name of that player he was referring to in a recent story he was relating to friends, according to reports.

"God, it's on the tip of my tongue!," Lucas cried in despair as he was forced to halt the telling of the anecdote in front of several friends at a birthday party last Sunday. Lucas, friends say, was in the middle of telling a story about a game he went to once as a teen between the Oakland A's and Milwaukee Brewers -- a game in which this one player (the one Lucas can't think of, dammit!) made an incredible catch, only to forget how many outs there were, allowing runs to score anyway.

"He (Lucas) was really sucking us into this story," said friend Bob Huffmeyer, who was present when Lucas launched into the anecdote, which started with Lucas saying, "That reminds me of this game I went to when I was in eighth grade." Then, anxiety struck as Lucas couldn't think of the player's name. "At first we thought he was just going to tell the story anyway, you know, finish it," Huffmeyer said. "But every time he started to continue, he'd go right back to trying to remember the player's name. It got to be very distracting."


Lucas, in a photo taken at the fateful party last Sunday, trying to think of that player's name


Eventually, according to Huffmeyer, the friends began dispersing -- leaving to refill beer cups or grab another plate of nachos. Only a couple returned, and when they saw that Lucas was still agonizing over not recalling the player's name, they too wandered off, leaving Lucas to stew.

"I felt sorry for him, but I was like, 'Dude, it's no big deal; just tell us what freaking happened'," said another friend, Lance Moore. "I was kinda pissed, to be honest. He got us all interested and then he freaks out when he can't remember the guy's name. Who cares? It's what happened that counts, isn't it?"

As of late last night, according to sources, Lucas had yet to remember the player's name, despite opting for such devices as putting it out of his mind for awhile, hoping that it would come to him "out of the blue"; going through the alphabet, hoping that a certain letter would jar his memory; and even purchasing (for $49.95) a Baseball Encyclopedia, and perusing rosters for the A's and Brewers in 1981, when Lucas was "pretty sure" the game occurred. The encyclopedia purchase has helped, sources say; Lucas is "almost positive" that the player is either Brewers OF Ben Oglivie, Gorman Thomas, or Thad Bosley. Lucas "thinks" he can eliminate Thomas because he's "got a feeling" that the player was black; Thomas is white.

Lucas says that if he can't think of the player's name by the weekend, then he will "kill myself; just absolutely kill myself. Damn, why can't I think of it?!"