Who were some of the surliest ballplayers we grew up watching in the 70's, 80's and 90's?
Odessafile
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Jim Palmer fit that mode? Reggie ? Guys it seems like it was hard to like: Steve Carlton, Eddie Murray..... but Reggie I've never even heard a good story about... and he was as big a star in MLB as there has ever been in his time... the '77 Yanks ~ 3 homers vs the Dodgers ..... Reggie even had his own Candy Bar....
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Not sure if we just caught him on a rare bad day, or if it was a fair representation of how he always was, but based on an interaction before a game at the ballpark in the '80's, I'd add Harold Baines to that list.
Dave Kingman, Albert Belle, Jeff King, Randy Johnson, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jose Guillen, Goose Gossage, Rob Dibble, Gary Sheffield...
Paul O’ Neil
John Denny
Bob Gibson
@mickeymays Along Bob Gibson lines...I even heard TIm MCcarver was a douche....
Nolan Ryan
The Oz
Cal Ripken, Jr
The first and third on my list have records that will never be broken. Nolan Ryan has two. NR has two. Number of no hitters and strike outs. Seven and 5,500.
The best hitter ever was Ted Williams. He also has a record that will stand forever as he hit in 56 consecutive games. I realize we did not grow up with him playing as he fly fighters for five years in WWII and the Korean war. They just don't make em like they used to.
Pretty sure that was Joe D with the 56 game hitting streak. Ted Williams was the last 400 hitter
Take all these above guys with their issues and throw em up against the behavior of a Derek Jeter or Aaron judge, a Jose Altuve and even Giancarlo Stanton...... its a pretty stark contrast. One of Reggie Jackson's Yankees teammates , Catfish Hunter, was asked about Reggie and he said Reggie was the kinda guy who would give you the shirt off his back but call a press conference to announce it.
Bill White was roommates and good friends with Bob Gibson during their years in St Louis. White was traded to Phillies, first time at bat against Gibson, Bill was intentionally hit with a pitch. Bill said he knew it was coming, Gibson wanted Bill to know they weren't friends anymore.
I'm aware of many of the Reggie Jackson stories, but I believe it is often necessary to put them into context. The guy was a product of the 60s, and all of the social issues of the day. He was recruited to play Division 1 football, and would have been the first black player to play at several of those schools. He instead, went to Arizona State on a football scholarship, tried out for the baseball team, and was so good, that when he was finally eligible to play his sophomore year, he was the starting center fielder.
He was an All-American in college, and the second overall pick in the draft. He hit one of the most famous All-Star game homeruns, helped win 5 straight division titles, 3 straight World Series, was both a regular season and World Series MVP... and yet always had to fight Oakland management and the press that he wasn't really that good or deserving of the money he was making or the hype he was getting.
So, with free agency on the horizon, he was traded by the A's to Baltimore, basically out of spite. Once he was a free agent, suddenly every team is telling him how great he is as they wine and dine him. Certainly, it had to feel good to finally be appreciated for the star he so clearly was. Reggie supposedly took far less money to go New York, but his salary still dwarfed most of the players on that team that had just been swept in the 1976 World Series. Whatever your thoughts are on the famous Sport Magazine article, New York wasn't going to make Reggie a star - he clearly was already a star before arriving. The famous "I'm the straw that stirs the drink" quote was in that article, which Reggie claims to have never actually said. I can imagine, many of his Yankee teammates were jealous of him and the money he was making and the attention he was getting, let alone what Billy Martin thought. I'm sure it would be tough walking into your job everyday with a sunny disposition in the middle of all of that.
Besides winning back to back titles in 77-78, the Yankees won 100 games in 80, but lost to the Royals in the ALCS. The Yankees went back to the World Series in 81, finally losing a series to the Dodgers. Reggie moved on to the Angels in 82, where they should have gone to the World Series that year, but choked away a 2-0 lead in the ALCS, losing the last 3 games of what was then a 5 game series. Same thing in 86, where the Angels famously blew a 3-1 lead to three Reds Sox in the ALCS, losing the last 3 games, including dramatic fashion in Game 6.
I'd have to say, among post-expansion MLB players, Reggie is far and away the standard when it comes to winning, as he won wherever he went. It's too bad he's remembered more for the controversial stuff than the positives of his career.
Kingdome - San Diego Chicken Day - Lou Piniella genuinely went after Ted because he had enough of his antics. Lou was prickly as a player and manager. Didn't he get in a fight with a player on his own Reds team?
Kirk Gibson as a retired played he mentioned regretting being rude to fans.
from what I have heard, Jack Morris
also known as Jack the Jerk
and yes, there is a video clip out there during the 84 world series,
where a fan approaches Gibson on the field after the win
and kirk just pummels him
I've seen Kirk at the stadium doing autos
and a fan kisses his butt with a compliment
and he wouldn't have anything to do with it
basically told him that he's signing but cut the BS
and gave the look of death
this was during his return to Detroit & happy to be there
I know some people had first hand experiences with these players that are quite negative, but as countdouglas noted, it is important to keep things in context. A few minutes of an encounter does not define a person even though all actions should be owned by that individual. These players are famous and recognizable and probably approached many times, sometimes even by fans of the rival team poking fun at them. We do not know how this impacts an individual. Someone on this board mentioned meeting Albert Belle at a restaurant. He approached Belle very politely and told him that he respected his privacy but just wanted an autograph once he was done dinning. Belle agreed and even motioned to the fan when he was ready. The fan was delighted and praised Belle for being cool with everything. I can imagine Belle being teased by rival fans and that can get to a person after awhile, so when fans approach him with sincere intentions, he relies on his knee jerk reactions. I am not excusing any bad behavior, just trying to dissect and analyze it.
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Have met Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken Jr many times and they have been very pleasant....Current Oriole who is a consistent jerk to fans is Darren O'Day.
The players who I've seen being sour or outright hostile to fans...
Dave Parker
Eddie Murray
Barry Bonds
Mike Schmidt
Some may be just a bad day. Schmidt was suffering through a cold when he was signing but he wouldn't even acknowledge the paying customers were there. He never looked up or replied when people talked to him. Parker's incident was when he was in the throes of drug addiction in the early 80s and the fans were giving it to him as he was leaving the stadium for getting paid so much and not producing.
Well back in the 90s I always liked to refer to Albert "Joey" Belle as the Dennis Rodman of baseball...think he fit that bill?
Well Belle didn't have Rodman's colorful appearance and lifestyle but other than that... 
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
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I went to Columbia U. in the late 70s and watched the whole "Reggie act."
While people found him annoying?
He "did" deliver. Mr October - promise of WS wins - and predicted he would have a candy bar named after him.
BTW - the Reggie bar was not bad - chocolate/caramel/nuts.
I used to attend day games - sat in the bleachers - buck fifty - real fun.
People used to taunt Reggie - sometimes we would hear the chant - Reggie, Reggie, Reggie... And not because he was loved IMO.
Never met him and that's fine - he was a great player. I will say tho - he wasn't the best "fielder" - some reporters said "Reggie could bring Excitement to the Routine play." But, he "did" have an incredibly strong arm.
Well, that's all I know about "Mr October."
I do remember Reggie and Billy Martin going at it - Reggie was the front office's "pet" and Billy hated that. In fact, Sparky Lyle wrote in his book (The Bronx Zoo) that "Reggie was the Straw that stirred the drink" - or something like that - I'm sure he was thinking Reggie stirred more crap than he was worth in some ways?
Also, since I'm the elder statesman here? My early memories go back to Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider and Willie Mays - all center fielders - all in NYC at one time.
And, don't want to get people started about Mays.
On the opposite spectrum ... Dale Murphy was a gentleman ... as most would expect ... if he were playing today he’d likely be sponsored by whole milk ... I used to see the braves and orioles a lot down in Miami ... Dennis Martinez was a hot pitcher there for a while ... I recall giving him a card to sign of Tippy Martinez and politely said “this is tippy” ... I had a stack full of cards and he helped go thru them to find his card and he signed my glove, my folder and two of his cards ... he then went to the expos that year ... he was a good role model
This is pretty obscure, but I recall Mike Lansing having a reputation for being a real jerk. He was widely despised when he was in Boston - I think he actually believed he was one of the best 2B in the league.
Keith Hernandez - He spit on a fan!!!
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This one is so trite, I'm reluctant to mention but have in the past.
1992 National.
My son is 9 and he paid for a ticket to get Mays' auto on his ball.
Mays didn't even look at him or say anything.
At the same time Johnny Bench and Pete Rose were having a great time next to each other and being friendly with the fans.
Their line: long. His: very, very, very short.
Would this explain why Mantle has been the traditional king of baseball cards (well post 1948 anyway) even though Mays was the better all around player, if not THE best all around player in history?
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Maybe 20 or so years ago he did an appearance on a radio show on site visit at a sports entertainment complex. A friend and I were off that day and I had brought a marker and a Topps 1989 Big card for him to sign. Once he was interviewed and there was a break, we approached him and he gladly signed. Shortly thereafter he was mobbed by the 60 or so fans there. I was surprised how quickly it happened, but then he is royalty in Los Angeles. He muttered about how this wasn't a signing event, but proceeded to sign for everyone except one guy that had about 10 items. He got salty with that guy and I don't blame him.
LOL I think Tommy may have been the worst