He walked around the batting cage proudly, holding it like a trophy, bragging how fast the pitch came in before the 32-inch chunk of maple exploded into pieces. For my son, Brandon it was another one for his collection, and for me it was 85 more bucks out of my wallet.

He had at least three of them adorning his closet, like overgrown toothpicks, or primitive spears. All but one were his own late swings at inside fastballs, inside the batting cage at the NH Grizzlies facility in Litchfield. There was also one from a minor league Fisher Cats game with the Akron Arrows. "Can I have your broken bat," my son said as the Arrows walked into the dugout after the game. Not, "Can I have a ball, or an autograph." That's what I would have asked for. Ryan Goleski quickly handed Brandon what was left of his bat - just the barrel.

I finally convinced him the other day to feed his wooden sports memorbilia (kindling to me) to the fireplace (photo - above). He gave the bats a final look, as if to say goodbye to old friends, then layed them in the fire. One at a time, Brandon gave up his collection of bats, except for one. He kept the Goleski bat.

I told him it was worthless, but it didn't matter to him. He had seen the broken bats for sale at Fisher Cats games. I bet him it wouldn't sell, but that I would put it up on ebay if he paid .15 cents for the auction. With a sarcastic grin, Brandon handed me 15 pennies and the remains of the bat.

It was a nice bat, at least before Goleski shattered it. The handle is missing from the Easton Maple 243, but his name is visible on the barrel. Brandon Googled Goleski's name and told me he now plays outfield for the Cleveland Indians.

So up went the auction with the picture (photo - below). It was at .99 cents Thursday, with 2 days to go. That's a pretty good deal to somebody, somewhere who collects sports memorbilia (firewood). Who knows what this "game used" chunk of a maple tree will bring in!

 -Bob Hammerstrom