Making a U-turn in Georgia

In one of the most bizarre occurrences on any level in baseball history, Doug Sisson abruptly quits 26 years ago today as manager of the wonderfully talented but woefully underachieving Class AA Harrisburg Senators to accept a job as an assistant coach at the University of Georgia.

Not that quitting in midseason is all that uncommon in baseball.

This story, though, quickly gets weird as Sisson, who blasts Harrisburg’s fans and media on his way out of town on July 5, 1999, arrives in Georgia only to realize that, well, he really does not want a college job after all.

Sisson then calls the Montreal Expos and begs for his old job managing their prized Double-A affiliate in Harrisburg.

The Expos say, sure, come on back, but only after publicly apologizing for his boorish behavior.

A week later, a most contrite Sisson returns to Harrisburg, apologizes to all.

Then the story gets even weirder as Sisson revives his once-moribund 1999 Harrisburg team in time to qualify for the Eastern League playoffs.

And just in time for Harrisburg to win a record-setting fourth straight league title with Milton Bradley – the outfielder, not the board game manufacturer – deciding the final game on a two-out, two-strike, straight-out-of-Hollywood grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a 12-11 victory over the New York Yankees’ Class AA affiliate from Norwich.

Really, you cannot make up this stuff. Any of it.