Monday, August 15, 2005

Eckersley and Street --- Together!

My two favorite baseball players are Dennis Eckersley and Huston Street. And, this weekend, they met for the first time at the Oakland game where they retired #43. Sadly, we did not attend the game or watch it on TV, but the stories of them meeting are eck-citing as each wanted to meet the other. I have said that Street is the "new Eck", and am so happy others are seeing it that way now.
I saw Eck in the baggage claim area at the Phoenix airport when he arrived for Spring Training many years ago and have been a fan ever since. We saw Street at the Fall League World Series, met him at A's pre-spring training camp last year and cheered him at several games. The story of him eagerly waiting for Eck to sign his baseball tells you how genuine he is --- and how I felt while waiting for Street's autograph on the pre-spring training roster sheet next to his name and #51.
Street is destined for the greatness of Eck. I hope he has fewer personal trials and challenges, but we are rooting for him in our house. His parents are his biggest fans, but we are close behind. For more details on my two favorites and their meeting, please read the story "Street is Eck-cited to mix with Old Master" in the Aug. 14th issue of the Oakland Tribune (because I cannot figure out how to link it with this posting).