Spring training prelude

Speaking of the Red Sox (yes, I did speak of them in the previous post), our first ever spring training game is Sunday, just 3 days from now. To get a jump start and to clean out the RV, we went down to JetBlue park yesterday to drop a few bags of clothes and other items at the Goodwill collection drive (which had been advertised on TV). Besides being good citizens, we were also intrigued by the possibility that some “pitchers and catchers” would be on hand to sign autographs. We also got a pack of 16 Topps baseball cards containing all of the big stars of the 2013 World Championship season, but figured the chances of any of those guys showing up at the dusty Goodwill collection site were just about nil.

So we packed the donations and the dogs into the Yaris and drove to the park. We dropped off the stuff and were a bit disappointed to see no Red Sox there. But the very friendly (and not very busy) Goodwill staff assured use that a couple of players would be there in about 30 minutes. So we wandered up to the Red Sox Shop with the intention of buying a couple of balls to sign. We expected the stuff to be expensive, but shall we say that the Red Sox exceeded out expectations? The baseballs were $15 each! So we got a couple of large Red Sox decals (for “only” $10 each), got a Fenway Frank (for “only” $5) and took a shot of the Ted Williams statue.

When we got back to the collection point, we found that a couple of players had indeed arrived. And, surprise, surprise, it was not two of the “pitchers and catchers” that had been promised, nor was it the rookies that I had expected. Instead they sent out two bona fide stars: Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli. So I quickly ripped open the package of cards, found their cards and had them sign them, along with the decals.

I asked Dustin if he would like to sign Jacoby Ellsbury’s card, too. Just kidding, because Jacoby is now a hated Yankee. Dustin smirked and said “Nope, I’m good.”

So not only did we do a good thing but I also got to meet a couple of my favorite Red Sox players.

This is what we call “a good day.”