Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

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While father was serving in Vietnam my mother and I remained in Ft. Devens. One day Tony Conigliaro sat in the stands and watched my little league team play a game. He was in fatigues and it was hard to believe it was actually him. He stayed and signed autographs for all of us and asked many of us about our fathers who were serving in Vietnam. I remember how proud I was when he called our fathers heros.

When I was kid my father took me to countless AAA games in Tacoma. My friends and I would wait in the parking lot chasing foul balls and playing wiffle ball. One day Lyman Bostock left the game early. He encountered us in the parking lot and asked to join us. He played with us for about 20 minutes before a crowd began to gather. When the crowd grew he thanked us and said he had to go. He signed autographs and complimented us on our swings. I was devastated when I learned of his tragic death a few years later. What an amazingly classy man.

Speaking of classy, My son was fortunate enough to have Ali invite him to sit next to him during a spring training game in 2002. He was 12 at the time. It was a surreal experience. He sat with Ali for two innings. They talked and shared a large oatmeal cookie. My son was an amateur boxer at that age and was thrilled to have such a story to share when he returned home. Ali signed his spring training program, thanked him for keeping him company, and threw a couple of jabs his way when my son left his side. My son is 27 now and when people talk about celebrity encounters he shares his, "I shared a cookie with Muhammad Ali" story. Hard to beat that one. Ali was as close to American royalty as it gets. The world is a lesser place without him