The day after the Jed Lowrie signing I headed over to the Red Sox team hotel for a private signing with their injured ace Josh Beckett. I must tell you there is nothing I hate more than bringing a lot of product into a Manhattan hotel to get signed by a current player at the team hotel (especially when he plays on a team as hot as the Red Sox). Hotel elevators are not meant for luggage carts loaded up with game used bases, pitching rubbers, and homeplates. There is always a crowd of fans waiting for the players to try to get autographs (and they always seem to want to help me carry my stuff...wonder why?)...and, lastly, because NYC hotels conviently do not allow you to carry your own boxes (union rules...they not only charge you by the box but you need to take care of the person bringing it up and down for you). Anyway, forty dollars and an elevator alarm later, I made it up to my small (and when they say small they really mean small) meeting room. I got set up in no time and Josh ended up walking in right on time. Beckett banged it out pretty quick and within an hour I was ready to pack it all back up (and go through the same process to bring it all back down to my car)....the car thing is a whole other story- Hotels will tell you to call a half hour in advance for them to pull your car around. I go ahead and do this yet when I get downstairs it is another fifteen minutes until my car finally arrives. So, it is fifteen minutes of me standing around guarding two carts of bases, pitching rubbers and homeplates (surrounded by that same crowd of fans waiting for Josh and his teammates to come out). Suffice to say there are awkard moments. Regardless, I finally did get my car back and made it back to the office pretty quick. The funny this is, as always, it took four times as long to pack up, unload, re-pack and bring back then it did for Josh to sign the product.
Anyway, we did get some relatively potent product signed including those game used bases, 2007 World Series balls and MLB baseballs. Once I got back from the signing I went to check out Beckett's post-season numbers...they are insane. He could arguably be the most money big game pitcher ever.
Check this out (all post-season): 1.73 ERA, 6-2, 3 complete games, 72.2 IP- 82 Ks, 14 ERs, 40 Hits
'Nuff said- that is ridiculous (no wonder all my Yankee fan friends hate him so much)

Check back later for more from the final week of the summer of 2008.