I knew ahead of time we'd be in the car on the way to CT during the on-sale of the Futures at Fenway doubleheader. Figuring we could always get tix later, since these games don't sell out too fast, I just kind of half-heartedly asked Kim to call the ticket office around 10, to see if she could get through. She did on the first try, and scored us four pretty sweet seats. It'll be fun to go again. We went in '06, but last year the team terribly scheduled it on a Camden Yards weekend, so we couldn't go, as we were in Balty. So maybe this'll be an "every other year" tradition for us.

We were going to CT for my dad and niece's birthday co-party. As I told you on one of my audio presentations, I got my dad the 1981 Topps Baseball Sticker Album. It was the inaugural edition, and he and I collected the stickers that year. I was only five years old, but even then I was shocked that they'd let the album go out to the public with a reversed picture of George Brett on the cover. (He's shown batting right-handed.) Anyway, I got us each a new album, and the deal I got came with four boxes of stickers. 100 packs each, four stickers per pack. There are about 250 different stickers, and we've got 1600. So we each should be able to complete the set, as we did 27 years ago. The cool thing about those stickers is that they had just a picture on the front. So we've been opening packs and quizzing each other. Some guys, I just see the stance or pose and I know instantly who they are. I spotted Butch Hobson in my dad's hand from just his forehead and hair. Other guys, I have to think a minute. It's rare I don't know a guy. Alvis Woods and Miguel Dilone stumped me. But I'll pull a Rafael Landestoy or a Sixto Lezcano outta my ass. I'm also noticing the stickers don't stick very well 27 years later...