My wife and I were driving around down on Cape Cod some years ago, and we pulled into a 7-11 and parked next to a beat up, old, faded yellow Mercury.
A chunky, older guy with a goatee came out wearing a bright yellow shirt and blue plaid pants, lit up a big cigar, and I laughed...
It was Luis Tiant, decades past his prime, but...still, inexorably and recognizably...Luis Tiant!
I grew up on the Cape, but met Luis Tiant at the Savannah College of Art and Design in the early 90’s. He had just been hired as the Head Coach of the yet-to-be-formed varsity baseball team. What I remember was his hands. Shaking them was like grabbing onto piece of driftwood.