O's fans, you may still remember the story of Leslie Brea's age, but you may not have known how the club found out about it:

Leslie Brea, one of Syd Thrift's acquisitions during the 2000 purge, made an emergency start in Kansas City later that year. I was on the trip, along with Dave Sheinin from The Washington Post. We were suspicious of Brea's "listed" age - I believe it was 21 or 22 - since he looked much older and his voice sounded like he had a 12-pack-a-day habit.

I couldn't wait to ask him what it was like to pitch to Josh Gibson.

Rather than challenge Brea about his age and create a situation, I thought that I would ease into it. As our interview in the visiting clubhouse ended, I said, "Oh, by the way, how old are you again?" (note how I made it seem like I already knew, but needed a reminder. Veteran move).

Brea replied: "Twenty-eight."

Sheinin and I just nodded, thanked him and walked away. I'll always remember an Orioles official, who joined us for the interview, saying in a low voice, "Well, that was weird." Perfectly understated.

Sheinin and I rushed back to the press box, wondering if, perhaps, Thrift had acquired the wrong Leslie Brea.

There was only one. And he was 28.

Just like his ERA after that start.
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