26 February 2004 - 4:47 p.m.

I nearly burst out laughing while waiting for my shots today, because I saw AP report in the newspaper about tonight's sendoff for That Foul Ball:

Practicing for the big moment, Lantieri has tortured baseballs in various ways, concluding that ``they're harder than you'd expect to blow up.''

One year ago: ". . .if someone's playing checkers to win, they're clearly a novice at Southern-style play. . ."