It turns out that my in depth knowledge of first basemen who played for both the Twins and the Red Sox comes in handy once in awhile. Last night I went to the Pour House where Sheila Longo had won a “VIP Party” when they drew her business card out of a bucket. As luck would have it, the date of her party was also her birthday.
At some point in the middle of the free food for the three VIP parties happening, one of the bartenders announced that there would be a trivia contest consisting of three “Red Sox October baseball” questions. To answer, you had to race to the front and be the first to touch a sign, which I was conveniently already standing near.
A couple of guys in Red Sox hats pushed their way towards the front and I figured that my only chance would be if they asked who the Red Sox lost to in the 1946 World Series or something else older than those of us at the bar. But, as I actually expected, all three of the questions were about either the 2007 or the 2004 playoffs. However, the first question was right in my wheel house.
“Who caught the last out…” and before she even finished the question, I slapped the sign and said, “Doug Mientkiewicz.” Luckily, she finished with “… of the 2004 World Series?” or I was going to look mighty silly.
I knew the other two questions too, but you were only eligible to attempt one answer (to “prevent Red Sox trivia ringers from standing at the front and taking all the prizes” — I guess that was me). “Who won the 2007 World Series MVP?” and “Who won the 2004 ALCS MVP?” were much more familiar to the crowd and actually resulted in fights to get to the sign first. But I had my $10 gift card already… and I gave it to Sheila for her birthday.