Face to face with another one of the 25

I met Bill Mueller this weekend.

(My original plan was to make this entry nothing but that line….I’m still so happy about it! But then I figured it would be nice to actually share the story with you all so…)

I wish I had more to talk about in regard to the rookies (as well as Dan Wheeler and Jarrod Saltalamacchia) this year but I can’t lie…I spent the entire time at Jillian’s focused on the fact that I was going to meet Bill Mueller.

I didn’t know if I should say something (I brought something from 2004 for him to sign) or if I should just keep my mouth shut for fear of sounding like an idiot in front of him.  I figured I’d be a nervous, fidgety mess.  Instead, while Kelly engaged Jarrod Saltalamacchia in conversation over photos of him she was having him sign, I sat myself down next to Bill Mueller, said “hi” and started up a conversation.  I surprised the hell out of myself.

It will surprise no one to learn that he was friendly, pleasant and seemed genuinely happy to be sitting there meeting Red Sox fans.  At events like this, many is the time you see a player (or former player) look utterly disinterested in where he is…not Billy Mueller.  I got the opportunity I’ve waited over six years for – to say ‘thank you’ to him for 2004.  I admitted to him that he’d probably think it silly that the win in ’04 changed a lot of our lives, and he responded by saying he “got” it because it changed  his life too (“and….it was an awful lot of fun!”).  Taking advantage of the long conversation Kelly was having with Salty, I had the opportunity to ask him how he was feeling and how things were going with the Dodgers (“Great!”and “It’s going really well there”).  He was warm and polite and made me feel like we had known each other for years.  While I was feeling like a total fan girl on the inside, I’m happy to report that I acted a lot calmer on the outside than I had expected.

Truck Day is on February 8th…we’re that much closer to the beginning of “next year”!