Some Drama Next Sunday

Next Sunday the Pirates will face the Indians in a Spring Training exibition. What gives this game some extra drama is the fact that it will be the first time ex-teamates Jose Mesa and Omar Vizquel will be facing each other since Vizquel put out a book that made Mesa slightly unhappy. Did I say slightly? I meant outraged. Here are just a couple of things that Mesa had to say after reading the book last spring;

"If he comes to apologize, I will punch him right in the face. And then I'll kill him. If you're a writer and you wanna write a good book, you don't write a story about somebody else."

And, "I will not forgive him [Vizquel]. Even my little boy [Jose Jr.] told me to get him. If I face him 10 more times, I'll hit him 10 times. Every time. I wanna kill him." Yikes!

Mesa and Vizquel play in different leagues - so this may the only chance for Mesa to "get" Vizquel. Knowing the bad blood between the two players - I doubt either team's manager will put Vizquel in a position to face Mesa at bat but you never know.

Oh yeah - Vizquel basically blamed Mesa for the Indians failure to win the 1997 World Series in his book.