Originally Posted by
notin
Eck stole the Human Rain Delay nickname from Hargrove, the original owner of it.
Hargrove was the worst. After every pitch, he would step out, adjust his gloves, knock dirt from his cleats, adjust his helmet, step out and take 3 practice swings, step back in the box, adjust his glove, and adjust his helmet. And to make it worse, he was not exactly Mike Greenwell when it came to pitch selection. Hargrove was a very patient hitter who was frequently near the top of the league in walks. And to make it even worse than that, he frequently batted leadoff. So he did this 5 times a game.
Hargrove's reputation was so bad that in 1984 - and no idea why I remember this - the Twins were looking for a left-handed hitting 1B and acquired Pat Putnam from Seattle over Hargrove. One of their players quipped "Good. Now we can play 3 hour games instead of 4 hour ones."