What a day this has been!

Wow, where do I start?

We went to the ballpark today and I must say that both John and Bob are very good at keeping poker faces!

Our butts weren't in our seats five minutes when a young lady was standing in the aisle looking for Bob Scott. Of course, as soon as she asked for Bob Scott, the gig was up. I knew immediately that they had cooked up something!

She was a Blue Jay official and she was carrying a bag which she handed to me, but she seemed to know that photos were going to be taken.

As I was attempting to open the card that accompanied the package that was handed to me, Jennifer (I later learned the young lady's name from Bob) insisted that I bee-line for the box -- "that's the exciting part," she explained.

Bob was grinning from ear to ear.

John was trying to position himself to ensure he could capture proper pictures.

The story is:

Way back when I first bought the tickets for this venture, John and Bob hatched the plan to try to figure out a way to secure Joe Carter's autograph on something for me. Bob was tasked with the job of pulling it off -- he does, after all, live in Toronto, which is the home of the Blue Jays.

It would seem that after months of being harassed by one Bob Scott, the Blue Jays organization finally broke down and, failing in their ability (or willingness) to assist with the project, they eventually agreed to give me a "memento" of my weekend in Toronto. But they wanted Bob to pick it up at the courtesy desk and give it to me.

Bob would have none of that. If they would not co-operate in securing an autograph for me, the very least they could do is personally present whatever to me on the day of my birthday.

So, it was eventually organized that someone would deliver a gift to me at me seat, during the game on the day of my birthday.

Turns out we almost had a disaster though. There was a mix up in communication and an attempt was made to deliver my birthday gift to whoever was sitting in those seats at Friday night's game! Fortunately, whoever it was in those seats on Friday night didn't pretend to be Bob Scott when approached -- or Bob and John would have been the ones to have been surprised on Sunday.

Anyway, the Blue Jays management presented me with a Joe Carter 29 figurine as well as a very nice birthday "card" -- a handwritten greeting thanking me for spending my day with them (which I think was a rather nice touch).

I was quite upset though when, while I was trying to put the figurine back in the box, Joe fell and his right hand broke off. We searched the immediate area but could not find it anywhere. Later, I suggested to both John and Bob that perhaps the loss of Joe's right hand was symbolic: This past weekend very much marked the end of the "glory days" for the 1992/93 World Series boys (more on that topic in a later post).

It's time for Joe to "put his glove away" -- just as his "glove hand" was left somewhere at the Rogers Centre earlier today (notice, that not only is his right hand missing, but his left fingertips are chipped too!)