(Larry, overcome with emotion while displaying his ball).

How is this a story? Has anyone, short of Charlie Sheen, cared either way about the fate of the last ball in play at the end of a World Series, other than a Joe Carter or Bill Mazerowski type-thing. Would the Red Sox have made as big a production out of this had Doug Mientkiewcz not threatened to keep the damned thing? It isn’t like someone stole the Stanley Cup, I mean, there was an genuinely impressive trophy awarded to the World Series champs and Boston have already made great hay out of dragging it around the state of Massachusetts.

Seeing as the season is still two months away, there will hopefully be more opportunities for the Red Sox ownership to exploit every last possible artifact associated with the night they clinched the series. Enough time to claim a DNA sample from Gabe Kapler before he flies to Japan. A few locks of Pedro’s perm. And most importantly, how about the infield dirt from Busch Stadium? Not just a jar, either, Boston need to claim all of it.