11.   Already I am in training for opening day -- fondling my old baseball cards, dusting off my old bat and glove, stocking up on Kleenex.

12.   Imagine his shock if he learned that his grungy old bat could fetch so much more in the marketplace.

13.   Other reminders are old soft bats, old mushy balls, old scuffed-up batting helmets and thin-threaded double-knit hand-me-down practice pants from the Reds.