REVISITING THE DENT HOME RUN BECAUSE OF MY PEANUT

As a kid, I appreciated the scrappiness of Bucky Dent. He did everything right for the Yankees, except managing I guess, but we all know that gig ain't easy. The point is I liked having Bucky there.  I recently told you about my son, the 10 year old trying to absorb anything "baseball" on his journey to try and succeed in the sport. I told him about choking up on the handle of the bat and how it helps with bat speed...stuff like that. Read WHY HE CHOKES UP LIKE BUCKY DENT for guidance on that.  Well, I'm not sure if I ever told you about my meeting with Bucky Dent and my (at the time) 2 month old. It was February 16, 2004. I remember it clearly because I was driving home from the event and heard Alex Rodriguez was just traded to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano. But it wasn't that trade that had me gitty. It was my meeting with Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez before that that really excited me.

I was at an event with my family. Mikey was there too and my current 9 year old was only a little baby in a carry-on stroller. Everyone was getting items signed, getting pictures, all that stuff.  As I walked up, I shook Bucky's hand and he looked and me and said "Grab the baby. Get him over here.". I was puzzled, "You're kidding right?" Then Mike Torrez who was sitting with Dent quickly jumped in, "Come on, it will be a story you can talk to him about when he's older." I smiled... they got it. I grabbed my little guy and put him in Dent's hands. He and Torrez were talking with him, laughing and I was in awe.  These were guys I watched play the game as a kid and yet, right now they're holding my kid for a picture, to be "part of history" as Torrez said. It was wild.

Years later, I am talking about it, to you guys, and to my son and I remember the moment clear as day.

You know, my kids surprise me every day. They do a lot of great things in life and accomplish a lot. They're also kids, and sometimes you have to put that into perspective. I forget that sometimes, many of us do.

But on this day, my son's 9th birthday, I have to say, I'm proud of all my kids and when my now 9 year old turns  21, maybe he'll get a bigger kick out of this picture than he does right now because he doesn't realize the rich history the Yankees and Red Sox has right now. One thing he can definitely say is, he was there for that moment and he'll have a photo to prove it. Sure the picture isn't great, my photography skills have never been good, but I got the moment I'll never forget. One day he can talk about it with his friends, and while he won't remember it, I know he'll like to tell people, and probably embellish a bit... he tells a good story after all.

So Happy Birthday Peanut. I know you're 9, but you'll always be my Peanut, remember that...I'm crazy about you.

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