Charlie Sheen

Issue: He has been in two baseball movies (Major League 2 does not count), is that what this post is about?

Short Answer: No.

Reasoning: Charlie Sheen has been in the news a lot lately.  Something about how awesome he and his life are, and, how everyone else is jealous of him.  I don't care about celebrities at all, but, based on how popular reality television, US Weekly, People, and E! Television are, Charlie may not be that far off.  The greatest thing about people falling off the wagon (or, in Charlie's case, jumping back on - again) are the stories from the past that come to light.  Some of these stories are rehashed only because they are hilarious, others may have never been heard before.  And, a story I have never heard before, about Charlie Sheen, is why this post was written.

You see, Charlie Sheen is a big Cincinnati Reds fan (who knew?).  Martin Sheen, Charlie's father, was born in Dayton, Ohio, and lived there until he moved to California.  So, Charlie's first few years on earth were spent in Dayton - which is where his love for the Redlegs comes from.  Now, I'm not sure why a person would leave the utopia that is Dayton, Ohio either, but, some people just don't know a good thing when they have it (if you can't sense my sarcasm here, check your pulse, because you are dead).  The move seemed to have worked out well for both Sheens.  Whatever.  Like many others, Charlie didn't lose his love for his hometown team when he moved across the country.

Flash forward to the late 1980's - early 1990's, when, the Reds are actually good.  Charlie Sheen is a fairly prominent actor, having even starred in "Major League" as "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn ("Okay Vaughn.  They say you're a pitcher, you're sure not much of a dresser.  We wear caps and sleeves on this level, son.").  And this story ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer, which details (kind of) two absolute blow-out parties that Charlie Sheen threw for the Reds when they were in town playing the Dodgers.  I wonder if any of the early-90's Reds are just now having to answer for what supposedly went on at these parties?  In this day in age, your past is hard to hide.  Especially when the guy throwing the parties decides to go crazy 20 years later.

The funny thing is - I can totally picture this.  I can see Sheen with the Nasty Boys (Charlton, Myers, Dibble) going so far beyond sobriety that it's not even funny - Charlton especially.  I picture him, shirt off, twirling it around his head, screaming at Eric Davis and Billy Hatcher to drink more beer.  I picture even Sheen shaking his head at ol' Norm.  I picture Piniella in the corner, talking to no one, Budweiser in hand.  I can see Tom Browning and Joe Oliver drinking canned beer and telling each other hunting stories, both greatly exaggerating their kills.  And, if there were hookers there, I can see any and all of the players partaking in the festivities.  I am from the school of thought that famous people caught cheating are just the one's who are dumb enough to get caught.  That before the internet, and Facebook, and Twitter, and blah, blah, blah, things like this went on more than one would think.  Today, pictures from parties like this would be posted on some social networking site in real time.  I'm sure athletes today are jealous of athletes of yesteryear, i.e., the good ol' days, when a married athlete could have a hooker at Charlie Sheen's house and not have to worry about it become public knowledge in 3.6 seconds (not that I condone that sort of thing).

I can also picture the Reds' players faces today, 20 or so years after the parties actually took place, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, wondering how these parties are being talked about again.  Charlie Sheen strikes again.