BALTIMORE — John Kruk doesn’t come to Camden Yards often. In fact, he said the Phillies’ series against the Orioles this weekend is only the second time he’s been back since July 30, 1995, when he played the last game of his 10-year career.
It’s not a place that holds any sentimentality for him. Kruk didn’t care about where he retired. He was much more focused on whom he spent that final season with, and in the offseason of 1994, the former Phillies first baseman/outfielder decided he wanted to spend it with Ozzie Guillén.
“I started my career with you,” Kruk told him. “Now, I want to finish my career with you.”
They first met in 1982, when they were teammates on the Padres’ single-A affiliate, the Reno Padres. Kruk was a 21-year-old outfielder from Keyser, W. Va. Guillén was an 18-year-old shortstop from Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela.
So, Kruk decided to help. He began to teach Guillén English in the dugout between innings. They covered everything from different types of food to how to congratulate a teammate after hitting a home run, with a special emphasis on expletives.
“The first word I taught him started with an F,” Kruk said. “And I told him, ‘There’s all kinds of ways to say it. You can add an “-ing.” An “-ed.”’ And he was like, ‘Oh, that’s good, that’s good!’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, it is good.’”
Added Guillén: “I learned how to curse before I learned how to say ‘Hello,’ and ‘What’s your name?’ ”
