Recently the news media reported the death of former Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant . For those of you who are too young to know he pitched in the major leagues for many teams over a 19 year period. We who are Red Sox fans remember him during the 1970’s when he was with the Sox. He had an unusual wind up where he would turn his back to the batter swing around and release the ball from different locations which totally confused the hitter. He was extremely popular in Boston. I met Mr. Tiant long after he retired at a charity golf event where he was the guest of honor. It was after the golf event concluded when everyone retired to the clubhouse for drinks and dinner. I thought it was wise to visit the men’s room before we were due to eat. I was doing my business when someone joined me in the adjacent urinal. It was Mr. Tiant. It was somewhat awkward to shake hands considering the situation so we just nodded politely to each other.
Because it was a charity golf tournament everyone purchased chances for prizes, and a good amount of money was raised. Around the third round of picking chances from a hat my number was called. I was awarded a dozen golf balls which pleased me no end since it was a real practical gift. The final award was an autographed photograph of Mr. Tiant. You guessed it, my number was called again. Now I am not a collector of either autographs or photos of celebrities. I knew I would probably put it in a drawer never to be seen again. However I went to the head table and collected my prize, shook Mr. Tiant’s hand and headed back to my friends. Halfway back a hand reached up, grabbed me by the wrist and asked “would you take $25 for the photograph?” Hell $5 would have been enough. My friends were anxious to see the photo. I had to disappoint them by telling them “I sold it”