Huge Yankee Money On The Table For CC Sabathia...A Heartwarming Fenway Park Story (It Brought Tears To My Eyes)

Well, it looks like the Yankees are up to their old "Georgelike" tricks, courtesy of son Hankie. It seems that yesterday, the first day that teams could negotiate with free agents, they've offered pitcher CC Sabathia an obscene amount of money, a sum that they're fairly certain no team will come close to matching. That amount is said to be IN EXCESS of $140 million dollars!! Same old, same old Steinbrenner style, I guess. They also are said to be on the hunt for Derek Lowe and AJ Burnett. What happened to all their so-called "young pitching phenoms?" The mayhem is yet to come and you can be sure the Red Sox will be in the thick of the Teixeira battle. I hope Boston gets him...I already know how to spell his last name.

And now, a story that I found heartwarming. I read it in Saturday morning's Boston Herald, and with their permission, here it is. I know you'll love it.

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"She called from her home in Arizona because, a month after experiencing a moment “that happens only in the movies,” Linda Ballard still frets that her thanks weren’t fully expressed. So, Anthony, this one’s for you.
Ballard, 48, had flown here with her husband, Jim, 55, planning to leave the next day for Maine, where they were going to run a marathon in Bar Harbor.
Her spirits were low. Jim had just lost his job, and her best friend and running partner was undergoing chemotherapy. But they decided to come anyway, and since they always loved the Red Sox, they decided to swing by the park, “just to be a part of the excitement.”
It was Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.
“People were selling tickets on the street,” she said, “but there was no way we could have afforded them; we would have had to re-finance our house. So we took pictures of the Citgo sign and the Green Monster, then watched as the players began arriving.
“That was kind of fun. They all had suitcases, just in case they won that night and had to fly back to Florida. Do you know they all have the same kind of suitcase?”
Jim needed to find a restroom.
“So he went over to McDonald’s,” Linda recalled. “That’s when this guy walked up and wondered why I didn’t go inside to take my pictures. When I told him we couldn’t afford to get in, he asked, ‘Do you believe in miracles?’
“He said he had two tickets, but that he had just been called back to work. He didn’t want any money for them; he just wanted to give them to someone who’d really appreciate them.
“As Jim’s coming back he sees me crying and hugging this man, who then disappears. He asks, ‘What’s going on?’ So I held out my hand with the tickets and said, ‘Look at these!’ ”
The game they attended was historic as the Sox overcame a 7-0 deficit in the seventh to beat Tampa Bay, 8-7, escaping elimination.
“We sat there pinching ourselves, forgetting all of our problems, at least for nine innings,” she said. “I can remember every pitch, and yet I can’t remember what I said when he handed me those tickets; I was in such shock that I don’t know if I ever explained what they really meant to us.
“His name was Anthony and he was tall. That’s all I remember.
“So if he reads this, I’d like him to know that he didn’t just make our day; he touched our lives and we will never forget him.”

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Hi, Peter back again. Wasn't that a great story? I loved it and don't think I'll soon forget it. Thanks, Anthony, I hope you read this in the paper. Anyways, have a great Saturday and a wonderful weekend, my Constant Readers. And as always, BE WELL. Title click for the Sabathia story.