Kevin Mitchell and the Urban Legend?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

This was being discussed in the Babe Ruth thread. Did Kevin Mitchell cut off the head of cat in a fit of rage?

http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/mitchell.asp

[chicagowhitesox1173]

It is kinda far fetched but it's hard to believe anyone would make a story like that up too. Some of these in between types of stars seem to be more whacko than the big names.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Kevin Mitchell was certainly one of baseball more colorful players of his era. This masked that fact that Mitchell was a great hitter when he was healthy. His 1989 season was pretty beastly.

[JR Hart]

Mitchell is from the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego. That neighborhood is directly east of the 32 St San Diego Naval Station, when I was stationed. I don't know about now, but back in the late 70s, it was a baaaaaaad place.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Mitchell is from the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego. That neighborhood is directly east of the 32 St San Diego Naval Station, when I was stationed. I don't know about now, but back in the late 70s, it was a baaaaaaad place.

I was stationed there too. I never knew Mitchell was from there though.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I was stationed there too. I never knew Mitchell was from there though.

From what I remember one of the reasons he was traded from the Padres to the Giants in 1987 was that he was hanging out with his old thuggish friends in San Diego too much. This concerned Padres management greatly.

[EdTarbusz]

Mitchell is from the Logan Heights neighborhood of San Diego. That neighborhood is directly east of the 32 St San Diego Naval Station, when I was stationed. I don't know about now, but back in the late 70s, it was a baaaaaaad place.

I was stationed there as well. It was a bad spot in the 80s. When I was in San Diego it was reputed that Mitchell had been a gang member while living there.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

From Sports Illustrated June 26, 1989.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mitchell swung from the hips. "I didn't mess around," he says. "If anybody looked at me funny, Pow! I'd knock him out." He landed with a street gang called Pierules, whose members were known by the green rags they carried around with them. "If another gang caught you and burned your rag, you'd have to fight out of honor," he says.

Years of defending the rag left Mitchell's young body looking like a relief map of an old battlefield. A .38-caliber bullet incised a thin white line on his right thigh. A smaller slug put a welt on his right wrist. A shotgun blast of rock salt inscribed a crescent on his back. "Of course, I packed a gun," he says. "I wasn't gonna get shot and have nothing to shoot back with. I only have a certain amount of lives: One."
.....

Mitchell was playing for the Mets' Triple A team in Tidewater, Va., in 1984 when Whitfield called to tell him that his 16-year-old stepbrother, Donald, had been shot and killed by a rival gang. The cops had found Donald's body lying across a railroad track. "I was so sad that I just walked to the outfield and cried." Mitchell says. "I knew who'd done it, and I was prepared to go home to take care of the situation."

Mitchell was talked out of his revenge mission by coaches and teammates, who feared that a return to San Diego could end in disaster. They had cause for such concern. The hostile Mitchell had walked into camp that spring with his fuse lit, hitting as soon he arrived: baseballs, water coolers, teammates. It had been that way from the beginning with Mitchell and the Mets.

SOURCE

[toomanyhatz]

As a cat lover, I have always hoped that story wasn't true. And as a journalist I've always known that it was possible that it was either completely made up, or an exaggeration of the truth. That's often the case, maybe Gooden remembered a story where he threatened to do something like that, and it got embellished in the telling.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I once heard Mitchell threw his father out on the streets when he didn't pay his rent.

[ian2813]

Amazing how many people were stationed in San Diego on this board.

I remember hearing about this story when it was first published. I believe it was in a magazine review of Dwight Gooden's autobiography (where this tale stems from), and the review felt it necessary to mention it. If I recall, the review only said something to the effect that "there was an unforgettable story about former teammate Kevin Mitchell and his girlfriend's cat." I was so curious that the next time I was in a book store, I sought out that book to find out what the story was. I was pretty shocked.

As Snopes says, we'll probably never know for sure if it really happened, unless someone else comes forward with more information.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Amazing how many people were stationed in San Diego on this board.

I remember hearing about this story when it was first published. I believe it was in a magazine review of Dwight Gooden's autobiography (where this tale stems from), and the review felt it necessary to mention it. If I recall, the review only said something to the effect that "there was an unforgettable story about former teammate Kevin Mitchell and his girlfriend's cat." I was so curious that the next time I was in a book store, I sought out that book to find out what the story was. I was pretty shocked.

As Snopes says, we'll probably never know for sure if it really happened, unless someone else comes forward with more information.

Yeah it sounds like we were all stationed there in different decades.

JR.Hart 1970's
Ed Tarbuz 1980's
Myself 1990's

Yep I think we can all agree that it's always been a pretty rough neighborhood. I always had fun at those Philipino bars though.

I did hear a story once about Gooden and Mitchell seeing each other at a card show or something and Gooden apologized but I kinda feel Gooden apologized because he was afraid of gettng beat up by Mitchell.