The last month has been great! I’m tired and worn out and I’m still running around.  Without a doubt, my favorite part of the Hall of Fame induction weekend was the dinner after the induction.  At the end of the induction ceremony there is a dinner strictly for the Hall of Famers (the wives have a separate dinner).  It’s pretty informal and guys mingle and move around while having some wine and good food.  There isn’t a formal seating arrangement which allowed me to sit with some of the guys I knew well from my playing days: Goose Gossage, Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt, and Reggie Jackson.

This is the time when guys will ask other Hall of Famers for their autographs.  I saw some of the greatest baseball players in history walking around with autographed balls, books, and bats.  I have never been much of an autograph guy, but it didn’t matter because for the first time in years Rickey Henderson and I were rookies again and couldn’t get any signatures even if we wanted to.  The veteran hall of famers told us not to worry about autographs and sit down and talk.  It actually felt good to be a rookie again.

It was a great time to get together and share stories with guys who played throughout the history of the game and be surrounded by other grown men who are having fun and behaving like kids.  I’m really looking forward to going to next year’s induction ceremony.  It will be a lot less stressful and I won’t be a rookie anymore.

Watching the NFL draft this weekend illustrates how much draft has changed over the years and the difference between the MLB and NFL drafts. I was drafted in the first round of the 1971 draft and, though they had told me I was going to be drafted, I had little idea of what to expect. There were no draft parties in those days and it was hardly the media event that is covered in all phases by ESPN and other media outlets.

A scout had given me a sheet that listed some of the other prospects that were to be drafted. None of the names jumped out at me at the time, but George Brett, Mike Schmidt, and Frank Tanana did end up having successful careers.

On that day back in 1971 I went to the local billiard hall in South Carolina. I shot pool with one of my friends and eventually, someone told me that I had been picked up. I went home and my dad told me that I had been drafted by the Red Sox in the first round.