Derrick Turnblow Blurb

Apparently there's a must read in the current version of Sports Illustrated. It's contains excerpts from a new book coming out from a former Angels Minor League "player" named Matt McCarthy. I put quotes around "player" because it seems like this guy only had 1 year in the minors.

Anyway, a good post was written covering the entire piece over at Midwest Sports Fans...which used it to write an adoration post on Bobby Jenks, who apparently was covered a lot in the book.

The post is long, but definitely not a wombat...so check it out. For our purposes though on our fine site, we'd like to point out some of the tidbits mentioned regarding one of old punching bags, Mr. Derrick Turnblow. Here's a piece from the book (pulled from Midwest Sports), chronicling a training room event back in the day between the author (McCarthy), Jenks, and Turnblow. Enjoy.

“What are you reading about?” I asked.

“Me,” he said flatly. “Everybody’s got something to f—–g say about Bobby Jenks. One day I’m an alcoholic; the next day I’m the second coming of Christ.” I laughed awkwardly, trying to think of how I would describe him. “I’m a damn bargain is what I am,” he continued as he rolled onto his stomach. “Hundred-and-seventy-five-thousand dollars for a guy with my s–t?

“And what do they do? They send me to this hellhole with guys who don’t belong in pro ball.” It wasn’t a stretch to imagine he was talking about guys like me.

“How many guys can throw a hundred miles an hour?” he asked me as he tossed the magazine on the floor.

“Probably a dozen,” I offered.

“How many guys on this planet can throw a ball a hundred miles an hour?” he said in a much louder voice as he sat up.

“I can think of one,” said a large man with shoulder-length brown hair as he sauntered into the room and calmly submerged himself in a vat of ice. It was Angels reliever Derrick Turnbow, in Mesa on a rehab assignment. A year earlier he had suffered a displaced fracture of the ulna while throwing one of his 100-mph fastballs.

“Now, I can’t say that I’ve ever seen you hit triple digits,” Bobby said playfully.

“Go to hell, Jenks,” Turnbow said…”Talk to me when you’ve pitched a game in the big leagues.”

Good times in the minor leagues! So there's Turnbow, on rehab...big leaguing Jenks (who at the time can only be described as a lazy punk with talent) after Jenks talks trash to him. Apparently Jenks wasn't done with Turnblow however. According to the excerpts:
According to McCarthy, Jenks called out then-Angels farmhand Derrick Turnbow for being “so ‘roided out, it’s ridiculous.” Turnbow, of course, would later become both an All Star and the first Major Leaguer to be publicly identified as having tested positive for steroids.

Ahhh...so there you have it. The legend of Derrick Turnblow continues to grow. It's funny to think back about the fall and rise and subsequent fall of this guy. Roid user. Down and out. Has a ridiculous year out of nowhere in 2005. Makes the all star team in 06 before IMPLODING in the 2nd half. Decent in 07 but faltered down the stretch with too many walks and becomes a fan punching bag. Injured in 08, and now followed Mike Maddox to the Rangers like a little puppy dog. What will the next chapter of his strange career look like? As Kent Brockman would say...only time...will tell.