Athlete Run-Ins: When This Port-A-Potty's Rockin' ...

Today's final athlete run-in story involves Angels first baseman/outfielder/hustle enthusiasts Darin Erstad keeping his cool in a situation that, we'll confess, we'd have considerable trouble with. It comes from Michael in Nebraska:

One Husker Gameday is where comedy ensued. We were tailgating before the game, and it happened to be one of our bigger tailgates. Many kegs, tons of people and a general good time. However, between two big parking lots and bigger parties, there was only one Port-A-Potty. Well, two of our buddies, they really needed to use the bathroom. The person that happened to be using it was taking a long time. Our buddies decided to take matters into their own hands ... and start rocking the Port-A-Potty. Needless to say, the person inside was none too happy and told them that he was going to "kick their ass." Of course, this led to further taunting/rocking.

Well, guess who was in the Port-A-Potty? World Series champ/National Football Champion Darin Erstad. He stared at them both, and they, both being sports nuts, instantly recognized him. After they got done laughing, they (thankfully) were drunk enough to ask him to come over to our tailgate and take a couple beers and a burger as an apology. Not only did he come over, but he hung out for a while — turns out he is a pretty solid guy.

All in all, it was a great tailgate, and we learned a valuable lesson: You can meet cool people by acting like you're going to tip the Port-A-Potty they are currently using.

We would not suggest this with, say, Albert Belle.

Athlete Run-Ins: Steve's Sax [Deadspin]