Guadardo May Have Lost Edge, But Not His Humor

Seattle closer Eddie Guadardo has struggled all season, but has maintained his sense of humor. When millions of Latinos walked off the job to protest U.S. immigration policy this week, Guadardo led a contingent of his Spanish speaking teammates into manager Mike Hargrove's office to explain that they would not be able to play because they were leaving to join the protest marchers. They had Hargrove going for a moment, then they cracked up and told him it was a gag. Hargrove ". . .was getting red, like he was ready to pop a fuse," Guardado told the Seattle Times. The week before that Guadardo took all the bullpen pitchers and their wives to dinner and, after desert, called the waitress over to explain that according to custom, the player with the least seniority, 24-year-old Bobby Livingston, would pick up the tab. Guadardo, a multi-millionaire, then had the waitress run Livingston's credit card as all the other pitchers watched Livingston sweat. Livingston had yet to draw a single major league paycheck, and the bill came to more than $500. Guadardo finally broke down laughing and paid the bill.