Principal Richard Vernon, from The Breakfast Club, was once a Minor League Baseball player

Principal Vernon played in the Minors for two years

By Matt Monagan

March 25, 2015

The Breakfast Club was released on Feb. 15, 1985. In recognition of its 30th anniversary, the John Hughes film will be shown in theaters around the country on March 26 and 31. If you wastoids aren't excited by that, then you can all eat my shorts.

Although there wasn't any baseball played in detention that day, there is one interesting MiLB connection:

Paul Gleason, who portrays the ill-tempered Principal Vernon and sadly passed away in 2006, played in the Minors for a handful of teams -- including the Indians and Senators. He also spent time in the Red Sox organization, where he developed a friendship with Ted Williams and once debated hitting styles with the Splendid Splinter. That conversation took a turn for the profane, according to Bill Lee's book, when Gleason insisted that Paul Waner's favored downswing was favorable to Williams' slight uppercut. But Gleason didn't take Williams' tirade personally:

"'You've gotta realize," said Gleason years later, "that here he was talking to a baseball bum -- an out-of-work Minor League wash-out hitter talking to a future Hall of Famer."'

All that talk and practice seemed to help, though, as Gleason's Baseball Reference page indicates him tallying at least one professional home run.

Let's see if you can do that, Bender. Come on! One hit!