The Day I Met Billy Wagner

I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was April 16, 2004, and it was one of the best days of my life. My dad had recently won four passes that would allow us to go onto the field at Citizens Bank Park and meet some of the players. The Phillies were taking batting practice. Larry Anderson had given me a ball to get signed by the players. Randy Wolf, Ed Wade, and Mike Lieberthal had signed the ball, but the guy whose autograph I really wanted was my favorite ballplayer (at the time), Billy Wagner. I walked up to him and asked for an autograph, and he signed the ball. He started talking to me and asked if I played baseball. I said yeah, and then he asked if I was a pitcher. I again replied yeah and this is what he said. "Yeah? That's good. You're a little big, and you'll to slim down a bit if you wanna be a good pitcher. If you work at it, you'll be good, okay?" Obviously, I said yes. Now, I'm not gonna lie. When I was in fourth grade, I was a little tubby. Alright, fine, I ... (link)