In 25 years, our little baby will be a man

The other day it hit me that this is my 25th anniversary of being a Red Sox fan. Before Trent, this is something I would have realized months ago and had some kind of big, stupid build-up on the blog. (Actually, a check of the archives reveals that I did think about it last year.)

I apparently forgot all about it until Friday when trying to think of things to talk about with an almost 11-month-old over his oatmeal as I thought about my first birthday as a father.

This year's celebration was a bit different from last year's mini-cation in Baltimore. I fired up the grill and gave Trent his first taste of flame-charred goodness, and also his first taste of ice cream later. He helped open my presents, which included some baby Red Sox garb: reversible hat (red and blue), onesie and bib.

We also started getting the yard ready for a more important birthday celebration we're planning for June: staining the front porch, picking up a picnic table and assembling a little swing and slide for Trent. He loved it.

Christine and I did have a lingering adults-only meal on Saturday.

But back to Friday's oatmeal ... when I remembered the anniversary, I thought about all that has happened since Roger Clemens first struck out 20 batters and what will happen in the next 25 years: Our little baby boy will be a young man finding his own way in the world. Maybe he'll wear a Red Sox cap, but I doubt it'll be reversible.

Out of hibernation

Wow, I can't believe I've gone nearly a month without posting, but time flies with Trent, especially when all of us have been fighting an assortment of ailments, including routine colds, sinus/ear infections and other not-so-pleasant bugs. Not to mention a weekly blizzard that rolls through the area.

We're finally getting back to normal, preparing to celebrate Christine's birthday, as well as the first for one of Trent's little buddies.

Christine is getting ready for pitchers and catchers. I guess I am too; not so much for the baseball, but because it means this wretched snow and ice may end.

I did have my baseball juices flowing the other day when I saw MLB Network's countdown of the greatest games. It should have been ranked higher, but I enjoyed reliving Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. I'm not a big Kevin Millar fan, especially as a studio analyst, but I liked listening to his perspective on the game that changed Red Sox history forever.

On this date

I became a Red Sox fan on April 29, 1986. I can't believe it will be a quarter of a century next year. It's also my birthday. In February, we stumbled across an interesting story about a ballplayer who share's Christine's birthday.

My birthday doesn't have any interesting stories, but it does have better ballplayers, such as Hall of Famer (and Red Sox) Luis Aparacio, All-Star (and Red Sox) Rick Burleson and 130-game winner Noodles Hahn (not a Red Sox, but Christine is jealous that no one named Noodles was born on her day).

Other Red Sox born on April 29: Kelly Shoppach, Tony Armas, Wes Gardner, Steve Crawford, Tom House, Mickey McDermott, Johnnie Heving and Amby McConnell.

Phillies: Hector Mercado, J.R. Phillips, Steve Ridzik and Freddy Rodriguez.

Other names of note: Ron Washington (has he been in the news recently?) and Shag Thompson (just for the name).

Both our teams are off tonight, so Christine and I will just enjoy a quiet dinner.

Happy birthday

Born 33 years ago on this date was Chad Hutchinson, a former major league pitcher and NFL quarterback. He was neither a Sox nor a Phil, but he married Todd Walker's sister, so I guess he could be counted as a Sox-in-law.

Truthfully, I don't care about Chad Hutchinson. He only gets a mention because he is one of 38 major leaguers who share a birthday with my beautiful wife.

He is the only one who was born on the same exact day as Christine.

The best players with a birthday today (all still alive): Alan Trammell, Franklin "Death to Flying Things" Gutierrez and Jack Billingham (cousin to Christy Mathewson).

There wasn't much major league talent born on this date. There were no SoxandPhils and very few recognizable names who played for either franchise:

Phillies: Jim Olander (never played for the Phillies, but lingered in their minor league system for eight years), Ted Savage, Snipe Hansen and John Titus, better known as Silent John.

Red Sox: Joe Foy (third baseman of the 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox), Turkey Gross and Dick McCabe.

While you couldn't field an All-Star team of players born on Feb. 21, they do have some interesting names. Besides Snipe and Turkey, there are Marsh Williams, Dummy (real name Luther) Taylor and Jouett Meekin, whose 1867 birthdate is the earliest on the list.

Perhaps the most interesting story we stumbled upon is that of Adam Greenberg, who has played in one major league game and was hit in the first pitch thrown to him in his lone at-bat in 2005. He suffered a concussion from the tragic pitch, according to Wikipedia, which also notes that the only other player to be hit by a pitch in his only at-bat was a Phillie: Fred Van Dusen.

Here's an Outside the Lines piece on Greenberg from last year:


I hope Mr. Greenberg - who ended up in the Independent Leagues instead of the Royals minor leagues in 2009 - makes it back to the majors. I wish him a happy birthday and good luck. I really didn't think this fluffy birthday post for Christine would wind up this heavy.

[Photo credit: ioffer.com]