Baseball wisdom: You don't get rid of a star player during the stretch drive, but if you do, you send him to the other league so he can't come back and hurt you.

The media verdict was quick. I had not only unloaded a Cy Young winner, I'd kept him in the league! Plus I hadn't gotten anything in return for him! (They didn't know about Renee yet.)

World Series title? Kiss it good-bye, John Courtland. Forget it. You can't do it without Shane London. Look at the stats, Courtland— Shane's E.R.A. is 2.06 since June 1st.

Shane's reaction: The Red Sox have a great team, and they have 47 games left on their schedule. There's plenty of time for them to vault to the top of the East, and he looks forward to leading the Sox into the playoffs. After these lofty remarks, Shane reverted to form— called my GM a gutless wimp who was afraid to stand up to John Courtland, then launched a diatribe against me.

Shane's fans were indignant. They said it was unfair. They said he had something to prove after last year's 0-2 playoff performance against Seattle. They said he should get a chance to redeem himself. They said he deserved a second chance.

I agreed with them. It was unfair. Shane should get a second chance. But that's life, I said. That's how life is. Many of us don't get that second chance. As a matter of fact, I added, lots of us don't even get that first chance.

I was at my smarmiest.

At least Shane got that first chance. It's a shame he couldn't do much with it, but maybe he'll get his second chance in Boston. Then I got in one last dig. I warned the Boston fans to get out their wallets. "Forty dollars," I said. "That's what Shane charges for his autograph."

That's for you, Jordan. That's how I felt when I said it. I still didn't know just what exactly a grandpa does— I wanted to research the idea first— but figured this was as good a way to start as any.