In 1991, a friend of mine saw his Atlanta Braves have a magical season. When he wasn't kneeling before his Dave Justice shrine, all he could talk about was the Braves' pitching trio of Tom Glavine, Jon Smoltz, and Steve Avery. I thought to myself then, "maybe the Red Sox will get Glavine some day." He was a Boston-area kid, after all.

In '97, two years after my friend vanished from my life, Steve Avery came to Boston. He had just started to decline, a once-promsing career gone sour. The last thing I had seen him do was walk in the winning run to the Yanks in that horrible '96 World Series. Though my mind says he pitched for us for about the length of a Price is Right episode, he actually started for two full seasons. Not very exciting ones...

Now in '09, the Red Sox get Smoltz. Depending on who you talk to, this signing could be huge for us. It's good to get future Hall of Famers. By the time we play the Braves in Atlanta in June, he should be on the mound for us, hopefully giving us some solid innings.

But we never did get Glavine. Although I read he's "envious" of Smoltz for getting to pitch for Tom's home team. Who knows, maybe in another few years, he'll be our pitching coach.