Goombah, I have a bit of a remote connection with one of your Cleveland Indians, Michael Brantley. His dad (Mickey) played a few years with the Mariners in the late 80s, and was from the same hometown, Catskill, NY, as one of my roommates in Boston, Larry. Larry's brother was a friend of Mickey Brantley, so often when the Red Sox were in Boston in '88 or '89, he'd set us up with tickets.

I never met Mickey, who had a couple decent years, but he'd always leave Larry a message as to where we can pick up the tickets and for what day. We'd sit in a section where some of the players' wives and family would be, and on one occasion Mickey's wife introduced herself to us. She was with her baby, who had just started to walk. The baby boy was Michael Brantley, whom I held on my lap for a little bit.

I recently heard Michael Brantley interviewed and only when he mentioned his dad, did I put two and two together.