Last Night's Winner: Ex-MLB Managers Who Take Down Nutjobs on Planes

In sports, everyone is a winner - some people just win better than others. Like former Red Sox and Rangers skip (and current Rays broadcaster) Kevin Kennedy, whose moustache isn't the only part of him that kicks ass.

Kennedy was part of a group of eight men who sprang into action when, on a flight from Los Angeles to Tampa, a mentally ill passenger began speaking and acting scary. The passenger, Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, started advancing towards the cockpit, splashing fellow travelers with water and screaming about "blowing up the plane" and "taking everybody down with him". That's when Kennedy et al. took matters into their own hands:

"When I stood up, he kind of stared me down," the 55-year-old Kennedy said. "I was probably 4 feet from him. As soon as he started to go for the cockpit door, we charged. We took him down. We tied him up. But it was not an easy takedown. We finally got him hogtied with seat belt extensions from the plane."

The flight was ultimately re-routed to Albuquerque, and the FBI took over from there.

I always question myself as to how I would react in a similar situation. I'd like to think I'd react as Kennedy did, but until you're put in that spot I guess it's impossible to know for sure. What I do know for sure is that, if I did take part in such a takedown, there's no way I would come up with a cooler statement to the media than this:

"I elected to get unbuckled and take him out, as did the other guys," Kennedy said. "That's the choice we made without talking."

Kennedy then stroked his moustache, spit out a wad of chew, and walked away with all of our girlfriends.

Rays broadcaster Kevin Kennedy helps subdue troubled Stanley Sheffield on Tampa-bound Delta flight [NY Daily News]