The nicest people in sports

[Vuce]

Rory Sabbatini, though oft voted least liked on tour, treated me like an equal human about 12-13 years ago when I was a standard bearer at Travelers championship. He was super nice to me and I will always appreciate that. On the other hand, I walked 2 rounds with Bubba Watson as standard bearer and he didn't speak a word to the volunteers the entire time. Walked with a total of something like 10-15 golfers in total. So long ago I forget. Alot of nice guys like Padraig Harrington, Stephen Ames, Marc Leishman, Jason Dufner but Sabbatini and Watson were at top and bottom of the niceness range for me. Did get signed golf balls for all of them though. (Watson's caddie handed them to us and not him... ugh. Still annoyed by him. Haha)

Me and my friends have been standard bearers for years and years and same experience for us. Tons of nice guys on tour. During the tournament really don’t expect them to carry on a convo with us because they are laser focused on their play. But for the most part they are awesome. This year on Sunday at the Travelers I walked with JT and he couldn’t have been nicer to me and to the fans in general. And yeah it’s nice to get a signed ball at the end after they shake your hand and thank you for walking with them. We have a nice collection after all these years. The one exception over this time was Daniel Berger. I’ve walked with him twice and he doesn’t acknowledge anyone

 

[jibsey]

My son was just at the all star game in Atlanta as a guest of Capitol One and met Greg Maddox, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Derrick Jeter. Said they were all very nice especially Jeter.
It’s very difficult to make assumptions good or bad based on brief interactions. There are so many factors involved such as are they at their sports job or at a restaurant, or with family. It’s not really fair to them.
I met Pedro Martinez at DC airport and spoke to him for a bit and he couldn’t have been nicer. He smiled big when I told him that he and Koufax were the top dogs (pitchers) in the Hall of Fame in my opinion. He liked that.

 

[Mr. French]

My son was just at the all star game in Atlanta as a guest of Capitol One and met Greg Maddox, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Derrick Jeter. Said they were all very nice especially Jeter.
It’s very difficult to make assumptions good or bad based on brief interactions. There are so many factors involved such as are they at their sports job or at a restaurant, or with family. It’s not really fair to them.
I met Pedro Martinez at DC airport and spoke to him for a bit and he couldn’t have been nicer. He smiled big when I told him that he and Koufax were the top dogs (pitchers) in the Hall of Fame in my opinion. He liked that.

Maddux; Derek. Sorry to be the spelling police, just had to with those guys.

That's great to hear - those 3 Braves are some of my favorite players of all time, Maddux especially.

I would guess Smoltz is an awesome guy, that's the vibe I've always gotten. Maddux, Chipper and Jeter wouldn't surprise me either way, but I'm thrilled to hear the experience was positive for your son.

 

[Monte]

Ted Williams: Some friends and I were lucky enough to meet him in the Red Sox locker room after a game. He apologized to us for going hitless that day, but he hung around and gave us some autographs.

Steve Garvey: at a Dodger-Brave's game in Atlanta, I sat in the first row by the entrance to the Dodger dugout. Every time Steve came out to the on deck circle,
he nodded at me or said a word of greeting.

 

[Travelman6]

My son was just at the all star game in Atlanta as a guest of Capitol One and met Greg Maddox, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Derrick Jeter. Said they were all very nice especially Jeter.
It’s very difficult to make assumptions good or bad based on brief interactions. There are so many factors involved such as are they at their sports job or at a restaurant, or with family. It’s not really fair to them.
I met Pedro Martinez at DC airport and spoke to him for a bit and he couldn’t have been nicer. He smiled big when I told him that he and Koufax were the top dogs (pitchers) in the Hall of Fame in my opinion. He liked that.

Apparently Maddux was a legendary prankster in the dugout, but some of his pranks were downright nasty like wiping his butt on teammate towels.