AaronGleeman.com

I said, "No, the ad is for MSNBC."

To which she replied, "What is BC?"

That is the sort of conversation that movies and television simply don't accurately capture.

By "interesting note" I mean interesting to me, because I was Little League teammates with Tony Cicalello. In fact, I'd probably rate him as the third-best player I ever played on the same team with, behind current University of Minnesota center fielder Tony Leseman and a guy named Travis Brown, who as far as I can tell has vanished from the face of the earth.

Although Cicalello may not remember this (or even having me as a teammate), he and I were double-play partners at one point. He played shortstop when he wasn't pitching and I played second base when I wasn't hitting pop ups to right field. I don't really have a point to this little bit of nostalgia, but it does seem weird to see a guy like Cicalello becoming a high-school coach.

I always think of high-school coaches as the gym teacher-types who wore those weird spandex biking shorts, aviator glasses, and a whistle around their neck. Not slick-talking Italian kids who once knocked me out cold with a feed from shortstop when we were practicing double plays and I wasn't paying attention. I guess I'm getting old.

Give up? I'll give you a hint ... he's the brother of the new assistant coach at St. Thomas Academy.

Lohse is 27 years old, made $2.4 million in 2005 while going 9-13 with a 4.18 ERA in 178.2 innings, and is eligible for arbitration. Padilla is 28 years old, made $3.2 million in 2005 while going 9-12 with a 4.71 ERA in 147 innings, and is eligible for arbitration. And here's how their career numbers match up:

               IP      ERA      W      L     K/BB
Lohse       844.2     4.72     49     52     1.95
Padilla     779.0     3.95     51     51     1.96