Name dropping

On today's card we see Travis Hafner. He appears on card number T210 of the Topps 2001 Traded set. For some Texas fans Hafner invokes regret. For most Cleveland fans he is a source of team pride. For my wife and I he is an ongoing inside joke.

Several years ago our church was in the middle of a pastor search. Different candidates came in over various weekends and spent time with the congregation. Most brought their wives. Mrs. Spiff and I usually did our part in hosting the candidates and their wives for a meal or two. One couple that we had the opportunity of hosting was unusual to say the least.

During the course of the meal the lady had done most of the talking. Attempts to interject comments or to engage her husband in conversation were futile. She so dominated the visit that it wasn't until almost halfway through the meal that she found out that I am a baseball fan. Immediately she brightened and asked which team I followed. I answered that it was Texas. Her response was unexpected. She asked if I had ever heard of Travis Hafner. I stated that I did and believed that he had started with Texas but had been traded to Cleveland. She stated that was the player she meant and went on to inform us that her daughter had previously dated Hafner. No interesting tidbits on Pronk, just that factoid left hanging. I didn't (and still don't) know the daughter at all and could care less about her past romantic interests.

It was a rather clumsy attempt at name-dropping to say the least. Mrs. Spiff and I still chuckle about it and whenever either of us pull a Hafner card we say, "My daughter used to date Travis Hafner!"