Wow, what a show last night at Yankee Stadium! If you are a real fan of baseball, I'm sure there were moments that brought goose bumps just as they did for me. You didn't have to be a Yankee fan to see Whitey Ford at 79 years old standing on the mound next to 79 year old Don Larson to appreciate what was going on. Behind the plate stood 83 year old Yogi Berra and I had the impression that if Yogi's body would let him, he would have started the game behind the plate.

For the Yankee greats that have passed away there was someone from their family which represented them in their old position. David Mantle, the son of Mickey stood at first base and could pass as Mickey's twin brother. Billy Martin's son stood at second base and the same thing was true, just a spitting image of the old man right down to the thin black mustache.

Graig Nettles was at third base and I have always considered him to be the second best fielding third baseman I have ever seen behind Brooks Robinson. Bobby Murcer's wife and two children stood in center field where Bobby roamed after he replaced Mantle. Bobby passed away from brain cancer just a few months ago. Willie Randolph, the starting second baseman for close to 13 years slid into second when he ran onto the field.

The biggest applause of the night seemed to go to Bernie Williams, the 17 year veteran that was "forced" into retirement in 2006. Bernie looked like he could still play!

The pre-game show lasted about an hour and 20 minutes, but I could have sat there for 5 more hours just reminiscing of all the great Yankee players and all the other fantastic players than played there in the past 83 years.

Derek Jeter, who looked like he wanted this to be the game of his life, ended up going 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. Jose Molina hit the last homerun ever at Yankee, Andy Pettit was the winning pitcher and Jason Giambi had the last base hit.

I did remember to record the event...who know, I may watch it again tonight!

I'm sitting here in my office looking at autographed baseballs by Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Ozzie Smith and Cal Ripken. Behind me are another 80 or so autographed balls that I have collected over the years. Most of these I was able to get in person by going to games early and getting balls at batting practice at Dodger Stadium, Angels Stadium and Qualcom. Over the years my sons and I have been able to get close to 100 balls. Our personal best was 9 balls in one day, it was a very lucky day and the balls were just finding us. That day alone Johnny Damon autographed 4 balls for me and was as nice as any ball player I have been in contact with. Randy Johnson autographed two balls one day back when he was playing for the Diamondbacks. The man is definitely tall! Frank Thomas had an ear to ear smile as he spent close to 30 minutes before a game autographing balls when he played for the White Sox. Jason Giambi was also very accommodating back when he played with the A's. Rickey Henderson was one of the most difficult ones as it took me and about 25 kids from San Diego yelling at him for 45 minutes to come over and sign. His teammates finally talked him into it. I have Barry Zito, Mariano Rivera, Tim Salmon, Louis Gonzalez, Jared Weaver, Andy Pettit and several from Ervin Santana.

Each ball is in a case with a note attached to the bottom listing the date and who actually got the ball signed. It has become a competition between me and my kids to see who gets the most; I think I'm winning. It's great when my friends come over and my kid's friends and they can see the collection. It is something the entire family treasures and something I can pass on for generations. We have a lot of memories of chasing down the balls and pushing our way through lines to get them autographed.

About a month ago I was at a meeting on the east coast and my best friend was there. We ate breakfast and spent about 30 minutes together before the meeting started. He didn't look well and he told me he thought he had the flu and his back was killing him. He did his presentation for about 90 minutes and then went to the airport and returned home. The following morning he went to his doctor to be treated for the flu or whatever ailed him. They ended up doing a full body scan on him. Later that day the doctor called him and asked him to come back to his office. He was informed that he had cancer in a kidney, his liver and one lung.

This man played Division I basketball for a large SEC school, worked out 4 times a week and ate very healthy. What he thought was the flu was stage 4 cancer. Last Friday he had the kidney removed and is now at home recuperating. The liver and lung will be treated with chemotherapy. Not an hour goes by when he is not in my thoughts and prayers.

A couple of months ago I spent the night at my friend's house while I was on a business trip. He also has an office full of autographed balls and memorabilia. Once again, it's kind of a competition thing between the two of us on who has the best collection. I really think I do since most of mine were in person. He just hates when I tell him that!

His birthday was a few days ago and I had been thinking for weeks of what I could get him that would make a large impression during such a difficult time in his life. He received his gift yesterday in the mail. About 6:00 last night while I was at my son's baseball practice I received a call from my friend on my cell phone. I was all smiles as I saw his name appear because I had not spoken to him in about 10 days.

He was calling to thank me for what he had received; an autographed Bob Gibson baseball. A Gibson autographed ball is very hard to come by and he knew that. He said when he opened the box he had tears in his eyes and he just sat in his chair for 15 minutes holding the ball. It was his best day in the past month. I owe some large thanks to some very good friends of mine that were able to track down the ball and send it. They are great people that live up in Simi Valley.

My friend and I didn't talk about stage 4 cancer yesterday. We only spoke about our collections of autographed baseballs. I did concede that he now has the better collection.

I flew into Chicago yesterday afternoon; it's just a quick two day trip and then back home. I flew into O'Hare, which is larger than a lot of US cities. Luckily, I have flown in there about 100 times in the past 25 years so I knew what an adventure it can be.

I had the opportunity to stay at a very nice hotel on Lakeshore Drive. Before I went to the hotel I had the taxi driver take me by Soldier Field (where the Bears play). I saw several games there back in the early 80's when my best friend in high school and college played for the Bears for 6 years. This is where I first met Walter Payton and Alan Page.

I was able to spend a week in Chicago during their spring training in two consecutive years. It was great, they had two a day practices and after they were over we would all meet at local establishments until late in the night. That is the limit of the stories I can tell (I was sworn to secrecy!)

Last night I was working away on my computer and decided to just order room service. One of the many things I should never do without my reading glasses on. I ordered the hamburger, which sounded great by what I could read of the description. I also ordered an ice tea. After the very nice lady was finished taking my order she said- "Thank You Mr. Bockenstein for your order, your total is $88.65 and it will be there in 30 minutes or less". The "Bockenstein" I can understand as I have heard a thousand different versions of Bockenstette over the years.

However...$88.65 for a burger and an ice tea???? I didn't even feel slightly embarassed when I asked the young lady if she had made a mistake. She said she didn't and wanted to know if I still wanted to place my order. I asked her what was in/on an $80 burger. She read this off the menu... "The Kobe beef burger with poached lobster tail, shaved black truffles and white truffle mayo served on a buttery brioche bun". Ok, clearly nothing I have ever ordered from a drive thru! I may try it though when I get home..."yes, I'd like the McKobe Burger with the McTruffle sauce on the side."

I cancelled the order and sheepishly asked if I could order 6 french fries, 4 carrot sticks and a sprig of parsley.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/patbockenstette

In my other job I do a lot of traveling and entertaining of both employees and customers. One of my goals is to "break the ice" and get everyone at the table comfortable talking and establish some common ground. For many people, sports can be that common ground and if it's not; I quickly figure that out and incorporate a few other questions. The game I play is called "50 Questions". After I explain it to you, hopefully you'll know why that over the past 12 years I've never made it beyond 17 questions.

Here's the rules of the game: #1. It's my game, I made it up so I get to change the rules whenever I want. #2. My answer is always correct. Simple rules which after just 30 minutes will get people talking like there's no tomorrow.

I ask a series of questions going around the dinner table. I give everyone a few moments to think about their answer (you only get 1 answer) and the fun begins...

The first question I always ask is- "Who is the Greatest Rock & Roll band of all time"? Over the years I've heard it all, from Blue Oyster Cult, The Who, Santana, and one single voice at a Las Vegas dinner table insisted it was the Jackson 5!!! Wow, did she get a beat down from the rest of the table! I also had to remind her that I really didn't consider Michael and his brothers as real Rock & Rollers. I always answer last and I always answer the Rolling Stones (as any knowledgeable person would). This gets the next 3 hours going in just the direction I want it to...it's me against the rest of my dinner guests. As they are shouting out "no, it's the Eagles, it's The Beatles" I simply smile and remind them of rule #2 above.

By this time 20 minutes have passed and people are on the edge of their seat awaiting my second question and very eager to see what everyone else is going to answer.

So, question #2 is "What is the best automobile ever made"?
Again, I have heard it all and inevitably I always get a VW Bug in there somewhere! There's the Porsche, Lamborghini '68 Camaro and the '67 Mustang Fastback and so on...
It comes to me and once again I deliver the correct answer, why of course it's the 1967 Corvette. So here we are after only 2 questions I have people ready to throw the $10 drinks I'm buying them at me just because they don't know the right answers!

Many times there are total strangers at the dinner table, these could include new employess, even customers that have never met the rest of my staff. However, after just 40 minutes and 2 questions you would think everyone knew each other for years.

Question #3 is where you have to make sure you have a good understanding of your audience and if anyone is getting agitated. If there is...so what, you can't help if they keep giving you the wrong answers!

They are staring at me waiting for me to ask question #3 so I let them have it quickly- "Who is the greatest coach of all time". Oooh a sports question, this has them thinking for sure. I hear a lot of great answers- Vince Lombardi, Phil Jackson, Tommy Lasorda, Casey Stengel, Billy Martin, John Madden, Pete Carroll and the list goes on and on with great coaches. It comes around to me, I take a slow drink of my adult beverage, place my hands under my chin and quietly say... John Wooden. I never hear a word except... yeah I forgot about him.

So here I am after one hour and 3 questions down and only 47 more to go! By this time the entrees have been served and most everyone's meal is getting cold because all of a sudden I have a table full of politicians trying to explain to me why they have had better answers than me. I constantly remind them of rule #2.

Question #4 will typically take at least 40 minutes to get through when you have a table of 8 or more. Here goes... "Who is the GREATEST athlete of all time"? Silence, deep thought, soft mutterings, has to order another drink for this one. This is the question that could prove your worth at the table. Throughout the line of questions I let it be known that any answer can be male or female and in this question and the next it can be someone living today or someone that has passed away. A sample of what I have heard over the years- Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, Arnold Palmer, Babe Dedrickson, Billie Jean King, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem, Gale Sayers, Tiger, Michael Jordan, Ali, Joe Montana, Barry Bonds, Wayne Gretzky, Brett Favre and many, many more. It comes around to me and I sternly disagree (once again) with anyone not knowing the correst answer. This is the one question where I do have several others at the table that are thinking along the same lines...I hold my answer just long enough to once again get them on the edge of their seats... "everyone knows that Michael Jordan is the GREATEST ATHLETE of all time".

"What's the next question"? "This is BS, how come you're always right"? Please- see rule #2 above.

Five questions out of the 50 is about the farthest I can ever get on the list. However, about 4 years ago out in Maryland with a group of Accountants I made it all the way through question #17. Tough crowd that night!

We'll stop at question #5 tonight, but keep in mind that no matter if you think you have a better answer please read the rules one more time before you go on. Of course, you can always reply to this Blog and we can debate it in a public forum.

Question 5 and I have a warning...rule #1 will come into play here big time. "Who has been the most influential athlete in the world in the past 100 years"? Long pauses now... by this time we're into after dinner drinks. Here's what I hear most often- Pass (not an acceptable answer, you must answer)ok then- Babe Ruth (wrong,)Pete Rose(waiter, remove his drink), Jesse Owens (smile from The Fox), Tiger Woods (he's just a kid), Joe Montana (why, you from the Bay Area), Mickey Mantle (top 50 maybe), Bill Russell (always a favorite of mine), Ali (The Fox smiles again), Billy Jean King (because of a match with Bobby Riggs?), Wilt (come on, 20,000??), Bret Favre (who's he play for now?), Wayne Gretzky (The Great One IS hockey),Pele (I wish I saw him play more often) and there are many, many more.

The check comes, it always comes to me...of course it's the price you pay being a game show host.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER? WHAT IS THE ANSWER? You will notice that after 3/12 to 4 hours of debate and consistent reinforcement of rules 1 & 2 it changes from; What is your answer to WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

I sign the bill, leave a large tip because I have thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I slowly place both hands under my chin. There is complete silence as I announce; this one is a tie and I can't ever decide who was more influential as an athlete. They were from different eras of American history, both eras pivotal in the future development of our culture and the way we are still perceived in the world today.

The first is Jesse Owens; here's a man that went to Germany in 1936 and won. He beat the Germans at their own game and in their own backyard. Today we call that- "In Your Face"! Great courage for a man to produce at the highest level despite overwhelming odds.

In a tie with Jesse is Muhammad Ali. I am old enough to remember watching him fight in the 1968 Olympics as Cassius Clay. Of course, I was only 12 at the time, but I do still remember it vividly. Over the next 25 years he thrilled us, stood up for his beliefs and was a rallying and solidifying individual for all to identify with- both black and white.

So, game over! How did you do? Let me know how you answered!
The other 45 questions will be coming shortly...