Minor Leaguers tap into their Halloween spirit

What is your favorite Halloween memory?

"Last year we went to a haunted house in Fort Worth, Texas. I don't like the sound of chain saws, and these guys chased me out of the house and into the parking lot with a chain saw. I went with my brother Jamaal and his girlfriend Brandy."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Going to a much nicer neighborhood than mine growing up and getting a lot of candy and money."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

"My mother burning a cork to put my eye black on to complete my Yankees uniform, every year."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

What was the best Halloween costume you ever wore?

"Two years ago I went as Johnny Depp's character from Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow, and I went all out. I bought all these clothes at Goodwill stores."
-- Curtis Thigpen, C, Toronto Blue Jays

"I made a good soldier one year ... but have to say I was a great Yankee."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"One year I dressed up like a cowboy. I had the spurs, the boots, the chaps, the six-shooters. I had the whole get-up, being from a small town in Indiana. The only thing I bought were the spurs and the chaps."
-- Jake Fox, C, Chicago Cubs

"When I was about 13 years old I dressed up as a gorilla. It was so hot in Texas, but I was this huge hairy ape and I thought it was hilarious. And then last year I had a really tight leather police officer outfit with a nightstick and aviators, straight out of "CHIPs." The pictures were totally worth it."
-- Hunter Pence, OF, Houston Astros

"Last year, I went as Peter Pan. At college (South Carolina), it was the baseball team that threw the Halloween party every year. That was the one thing everyone would look forward to. We had a party last year and my girlfriend and I were trying to find something we could go together as, and we went as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Tight green tights and a little cutoff green shirt and the little hat with the feather. There was no teasing. Another year, I was Joe Dirt, I grew the chops and had a mullet wig and tight jeans and a flannel shirt. I couldn't grow the mullet."
-- Kevin Melillo, 2B, Oakland Athletics

"Probably Brandon Lee's character in The Crow. I liked that movie a lot."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"I was a '70s pimp in college (at UCLA, before transferring to Master's College). We had to practice on Halloween, and right after the game we went to the thrift store. I wore green slacks and a purple jacket and a flowery Hawaiian shirt with a big Afro, circular glasses and fake teeth."
-- Jerry Owens, OF, Chicago White Sox

"Last year as Prince."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

What was the worst Halloween costume you ever wore?

"I was a punk rocker three years in a row. I liked it then, but I look back now and think I was lame . . . but it was fun while it lasted."
-- Jerry Owens, OF, Chicago White Sox

"In fourth or fifth grade at school I went as a mummy. I was wrapped up in sheets all day, and I was so uncomfortable all day long. I thought it would be easy, but I couldn't move and it was horrible."
-- Curtis Thigpen, C, Toronto Blue Jays

"That was probably the Ninja Turtle. My brother and I dressed up that way when I was either 4 or 5."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"When I was about 12 I wore my dad's high school basketball uniform from back in the day when the shorts were up around here and you had the high socks. I looked terrible in those old school basketball uniforms."
-- Jake Fox, C, Chicago Cubs

"A last-minute costume with my buddy Brian. I threw on my football shoulder pads, a baseball helmet, and a skirt."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"One year, I was 5 or 6, my mom made me a slot machine costume. I had a box and you could pull my lever and candy would drop down. No one knew what I was. Everyone was, "What are you?"
-- Hunter Pence, OF, Houston Astros

"A trash bag ... I went as garbage."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

What was your favorite candy or treat to get when trick-or-treating?

"One year it was getting pretty late and a woman just gave me the rest of her basket of candy. She wanted to get rid of it, so I got a big load of candy."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Reese's. You gotta love Reese's."
-- Hunter Pence, OF, Houston Astros

"Anybody who gave out the full-size candy bars. The little ones are okay, but everybody knew the house that gave out the big candy bars."
-- Jake Fox, C, Chicago Cubs

"Crunch Bars, though I'm not usually a chocolate fan."
-- Kevin Melillo, 2B, Oakland Athletics

"One of our good neighborhood friends would always make my brother and me caramel apples and hide them in their mailbox. So everyone would go to their door to get regular candy, but we'd know not to go to the door but to go to the mailbox. We'd come home with a huge bag of candy and dump it on the floor and sort it all. The worst was stuff out of the wrapper like candy corn."
-- Curtis Thigpen, C, Toronto Blue Jays

"Snickers."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

"Snickers or Charleston Chew."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"Mini-Butterfingers."
-- Jerry Owens, OF, Chicago White Sox

"My favorite candy is and always will be Jolly Ranchers."
-- Travis Driskill, P, Houston Astros

What was the worst candy or treat you ever got while trick-or-treating?

"One year we went to this woman and she was giving out school supplies, stuff like pencils and paper. We were like, "What is this?"
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Some people used to give out stuff other than candy ... They'd give out house appliances and stuff like kitchenware."
-- Curtis Thigpen, C, Toronto Blue Jays

"School supplies. I was a terrible student."
-- Travis Driskill, P, Houston Astros

"We had a dentist in the neighborhood who always handed out toothbrushes, and if you were lucky you'd get some floss too."
-- Kevin Melillo, 2B, Oakland Athletics

"Candy corn."
-- Hunter Pence, OF, Houston Astros

"I hate candy corn. It seems to be popular for some reason."
-- Jake Fox, C, Chicago Cubs

"Fruit. We had an old lady on our route who used to give away apples and things of the sort. We skipped her house often."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"Apples."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

"The little generic candies in orange wrappers that don't even have any writing on them."
-- Jerry Owens, OF, Chicago White Sox

Does your family have any unique Halloween traditions?

"We couldn't really trick-or-treat in my town (Greenfield, Ind.) because it was a rural community and so spread out. But I went to Catholic school in Indianapolis and would go to my friends' houses there in real neighborhoods."
-- Jake Fox, C, Chicago Cubs

"No. My mom just gives candy away."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Our neighborhood (Forney, Texas) used to have big holiday parties. Each family would host one holiday, and we actually had the Halloween party. All the kids would go on a hayride around the block. Everyone would go to the same house at the same time. We had a bonfire in the backyard with all the dads grilling hot dogs. And there was this old man who lived in our neighborhood that everyone loved and he'd tell ghost stories around the fire. It was cool."
-- Curtis Thigpen, C, Toronto Blue Jays

"All the kids get together and go out together terrorizing neighborhoods."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

"Halloween over the years has become less and less important or celebrated in our area. It's too bad, because it was always fun to see everyone's costume. As kids we always made an early tour of grandma's house and a few others to show off the costumes."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"I would go out with my friends. We knew the neighborhoods where they gave out the full-sized candy bars."
-- Jerry Owens, OF, Chicago White Sox

When was the last time you dressed up for Halloween?"

"It had to be a long time ago."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Senior year at UMass. We had some great Halloween parties in college. I actually threw on a cheerleader outfit for a faculty Halloween party a few years ago while I was a substitute teacher."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

If you had to wear one of your childhood costumes this year, which one would you pick?"

"I've seen one picture of a costume my parents made for me one year when I was little, maybe 4. I don't even know what I was. I'm wearing clown makeup with a shirt and tie ... it was hideous."
-- Kevin Melillo, 2B, Oakland Athletics

"My Don Mattingly costume. I had the cork eye black and a mascara handlebar moustache."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"Probably The Crow costume."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"The Superman Under-Roos."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

What was the best Halloween costume you've ever seen?

"I've seen someone dressed up like a pirate. It was really creative, so that was probably the best one I've seen."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Someone sent me an email with a link to a website with some great costumes. One was a runway wardrobe malfunction. But the coolest one I saw was like those little army soldier toys, the little green plastic army men? This costume is all green, you paint your body green, and around your feet are little squares, so when you stand still with a little gun you look like one of those toys. I won't be the wardrobe malfunction, but I might be the little plastic soldier."
-- Curtis Thigpen, C, Toronto Blue Jays

"I spent two years in the Arizona Fall League, so let's just say that anyone who has been out on Halloween in Scottsdale knows that all of the women there have nice costumes."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

"My Prince was pretty good."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

"The best costumes are of any child in their first outfit on their first Halloween."
-- Travis Driskill, P, Houston Astros

What was the worst Halloween costume you've ever seen?

"When adults try to be someone of the pop culture."
-- Travis Driskill, P, Houston Astros

"As long as you show some effort they are all good ... but the trash bag was pretty bad."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

Which of Halloween's fabled creatures -- ghost, vampire, witch, werewolf, black cat, mummy, Dracula, etc. -- would be the scariest one to meet up with in an alley?"

"Probably a werewolf ... that thing just looks scary."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

Have you ever created mischief on the night before Halloween?

"No. I might have smashed a pumpkin once, but it was our own pumpkin. I'm not a troublemaker."
-- Hunter Pence, OF, Houston Astros

"No, I don't get into it that much. I've gone to a couple of parties, but don't get into it like a lot of people do."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees

"Unfortunately I did once, and I got in trouble for it. I was a sophomore in high school and my buddy had some people over, and we would hide in the bushes and slit the bags of the trick-or-treaters and pick up their candy."
-- Jake Fox, C, Chicago Cubs

"No, I was always the polite kid who would even walk on the sidewalks instead of trampling the grass to get to the front door. I was a well-behaved kid. If they gave me one piece of candy, that was fine."
-- Kevin Melillo, 2B, Oakland Athletics

What are your plans for Halloween this year? What are you wearing?

"Every day of the season I dress up as a pitcher and sometimes I manage to fool a few people."
-- Travis Driskill, P, Houston Astros

Should be interesting here in the Dominican Republic. I'll keep you posted."
-- Nelson Figueroa Jr., P, Washington Nationals

"I'm in Venezuela, so I'm probably going to play a game and maybe go have a bite to eat at a nice little local eatery."
-- Ryan Cameron, P, Philadelphia Phillies

Haunted houses: scary or cheesy -- and why?

"I went to one recently, and I think I'm a little too grown up for haunted houses now. I think they're cheesy now. I don't know why I was scared of stuff like that."
-- Austin Jackson, OF, New York Yankees