The Great One brings great karma

Like most red-blooded Americans, we at IDWT don't follow hockey. It's a little sad, we know. The sport requires such a tremendous combination of athleticism, technical skill and freakish hand-eye coordination -- we know this from playing broomball, quite a painful experience -- that we find it easy to appreciate. But to love... well, that's not the same. It's not in our blood.

Still, when The Great One visits your favorite baseball team, and says, "I grew up wishing I could be a baseball player," that grabs your attention.

From Dick Kaegel of MLB.com:

"So she was out there battling today. She had more fun than anybody," Gretzky said. "I was just sort of out there. I felt like a manager just walking around yelling. You know, I haven't picked up a ball in 15 years. The last time I went out and actually went out and threw and hit, I was with Kirk McCaskill of the Angels back in '93. I'm 47 now, so I was just kind of out there."

Apparently he was invited by George Brett and senior director of team travel Jeff Davenport. Hey, if we can get some of the mojo in the following video going for the Royals, Mr. Gretzky can swing by anytime he wants.



POSTSCRIPT: We're all following the exploits of Joey Gathright this spring, right? How's this for a day: 3-for-4, two runs, two RBIs, stolen base. This month: .354, 10 stolen bases.