Christine got Chooch!

Last year, Ken Ryan found himself under the official SoxandPhils Christmas tree. This year, it was Carlos Ruiz's turn to be a gift.

Christine normally doesn't like Phillies garb specific to a certain player. But she has developed an affinity for Chooch, and I figured she would get a kick out of a Ruiz shirt.

Unfortunately, the only official Ruiz shirts for women come in red, and Christine doesn't wear red. So I did some searching and found some customizable Carlos Ruiz shirts.

Before discovering CafePress (yes, I was the last person on Earth to have heard of it), I came across a Phillies canvas chair while looking in a sporting goods store. I picked up one because we recently got a canvas chair as a prize from a charity walk. Christine had mentioned that it seems wrong to have just one chair, so now we have a pair: one that's bright orange and one that's Phillies. We won't stick out at all at the next parade.

I also got Christine a transistor radio (yup, they still sell them) so that next summer she won't have to choose between taking a walk in the neighborhood or watching the beginning of a Phillies game. We can stroll around the neighborhood while listening to the start of the game.

In my pile from Christine was The Bill James Handbook. It's been awhile since I've had a copy. So long, in fact, that Christine thinks the last one I had was used to try to settle our debates over who was better, Scott Rolen or Nomar Garciaparra, who both seemed destined for the Hall of Fame way back then.

At my parents' house, I got a Red Sox vs. Yankees checkers set. It's nice, but who is going to want to play as the Empire? Christine and I joked that we will buy Phillies vs. Mets so we can put together a SoxandPhils game.

I also got Boston Red Sox Yesterday & Today. It's rare for a new Red Sox book to come out without my knowledge, let alone one authored by one of my favorite columnists, Nick Cafardo. I was very surprised.

Actually, Christine got me a non-baseball book that I was also unaware of. It's not actually out yet, so Christine had to print out a picture of it to put under the tree. At first, I thought it was going to another baseball-reference sponsorship, just like Ken Ryan last year.

Hope you all had a nice holiday and that next year we all get our Christmas present in October: Sox vs. Phils.