Getting the Dirt on Derek

("After 3000, Even Dirt Will Sell")

It stared at me mockingly. The green that was to have been preserved forever, much like the remains of Ted Williams, was a limp and very dead white. The Steiner people were contacted but the second piece of history proved no more durable than the first. The small clump of dirt and grass that was once part of the former Yankee Stadium seemed to be informing me more about my own mortality than about baseball immortality.

And now we await the marketing of everything Derek. If those in charge could, I am sure they would bottle the air he breathes. "Get your official DJ piece of oxygen". The muscle pull that sidelined the captain, but 6 hits short of the promised land, must have sent this entire cottage industry into massive depression.

But there will be unmistakable magic in the turf beneath his feet when 3000 is reached. You see, Derek and I go back over 15 years. We have a relationship to preserve. Thus, while my head will tell me "no", my heart will reach for my wallet. I know the old adage "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...". Count me as a fool.