LOS ANGELES — In 1984, Joe Maddon was the manager of the Peoria Chiefs, a team that played in a cozy Illinois ballpark located next to an agricultural research center. The minor leagues were, shall we say, a little more informal in those days.
As he scanned that Peoria roster on a recent afternoon at Angel Stadium, the names and faces came alive. There was the player who skipped a game to see a Van Halen concert. There was the player whose breath reeked of one too many beers when Maddon visited him on the mound.
And there was Benny Gallo, a left-hander whose career was derailed because his pitches had only a casual acquaintance with the strike zone.
