HEY, DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE ... THE ORIGINAL GIRL GONE WILD HAS KISSED IT GOODBYE.Byline: - Tom Hoffarth --The sports person: Morganna ``The Kissing Bandit bandit: see brigandage.'' Roberts. --Her claim to fame: Long before two shirtless idiots made all the sports shows by attacking Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa at Comiskey Park, this former nightclub stripper was a TV highlight favorite for bounding onto the field in search of a major-league smooch. Legend is the practice started in 1972 when she accepted a $5 bet and ran onto the field during a game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati to kiss Pete Rose. For that incident, she got her nickname. But there's evidence of her pursing Dodgers first baseman and eligible bachelor Wes Parker (pictured between Morganna and Houston third baseman Doug Rader) during a game at Dodger Stadium in 1970. She was arrested for trespassing nearly 20 times over 30 years, but charges were never filed. Among her regular victims were Nolan Ryan, Steve Garvey, Fred Lynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Steve Yeager, Don Mattingly and George Brett. She once nailed Brett during the 1979 All-Star Game at the Seattle Kingdome. And when Garvey tried to run away from her once, she remarked: ``I think he thought it was the start of a paternity suit paternity suit n. a lawsuit, usually by a mother, to prove that a named person is the father of her child (or the fetus she is carrying). Evidence of paternity may include blood tests (which can eliminate a man as a possible father), testimony about sexual relations between the woman and the alleged father, evidence of relationship of the couple during time the woman became pregnant, admissions of fatherhood, comparison of child in looks, eye and hair.'' --Her reported measurements: 60-24-39. --So where is she? Aside from an appearance in the 1996 movie ``Kingpin,'' she's vanished. Turning down recent interview requests by Sports Illustrated and Playboy (where she did a pictorial in 1983), Morganna last year left a message for a writer at the Seattle Post- Intelligencer when he tried to contact her for a story. ``I just got sick of talking about myself and always being the center of attention,'' she said. ``I just decided to quit being the Kissing Bandit on Jan. 1, 2000. ``I had a great time. All the fans were wonderful. All the players were wonderful. The road was wonderful. But I had just had enough.'' So, Morganna Cattrill, nearing 50 years young, lives with her husband of 26 years, Bill, and three dogs in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (Morganna ``The Kissing Bandit'' Roberts with Dodgers first baseman Wes Parker and Houston third baseman Doug Rader during a game in 1970) |
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