When I was a senior in college, I purchased the first hot dog sold at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis and sold it for $300 on eBay – seriously. Although my $296.50 profit was impressive, it was nothing compared to the woman currently auctioning off a “rare President George Washington Chicken McNugget.”  Never mind that this delicious delicacy has been in her freezer for three years, what’s important is that it currently has 57 bids and is up to $4,350.  Since I know you’re curious, here is the actual eBay auction page.

Assuming you haven’t stopped reading because you’re suddenly craving McDonalds, we can move on to baseball.

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  Little known fact: Tek was a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team (Globe Staff Photo / Barry Chin)

  There haven’t been many captains in major league baseball history other than Jason Varitek.  As you no doubt have heard, the two-time World Series champion will officially announce his retirement on Thursday in Fort Myers.  Although his future role has not been disclosed, word is that he is expected to remain with the organization in some capacity.  ”Tek” suited up for the Sox from 1997-2011.  During that time he hit .256 with 193 home runs and 757 RBIs. In the 103 -year history of the Red Sox, only Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski (23 seasons), Ted Williams (19) and Jim Rice (16) had longer playing careers  without suiting up for another team.

• Over the Monster did a nice interview today with Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus and asked him his thoughts on PawSox catcher Ryan Lavarnway.

“I’m not sure about the bat; legit pop, but can he make enough contact for it to matter? Once the book gets written on his weaknesses at the plate, major league pitching will be able to manipulate those weaknesses for their own gain. I think you can attack Lavarnway up and in and dare him to generate enough bat speed to beat you. If he does, tip the cap and try another approach. But I’d dare him to hit quality velocity around the letters, especially if you can bust him inside. I don’t think he has the bat speed to handle it.”  Read the rest of the article here.

• As one fan suggested on Twitter early this morning, how great would a Varitek/Tim Wakefield first pitch be on Opening Day at Fenway Park this year?

• A total of 87,253 fans registered for the approximately1,000 available tickets in lottery for opening night at the new Marlins Park

• Thank you to my latest subscriber, dentalguy.  Although that’s a bit of a nerdy name, nerdy is a good thing when you make more money than everyone else.  You can be just as cool as dental guy by typing your email address into the empty box in the top-right corner of this screen and clicking “Subscribe.”  It’s so easy, even a dentist can do it.

• One thing every dentist loves is sugary maple syrup.  That means every dentist should love today, National Pancake Day.  Eat up!

-AG

@aaronmgoldsmith

agoldsmith@pawsox.com

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