I Randomly Got Served by a Boston Red Sox World Series Champion’s Cousin
What an absolutely random place to meet someone linked to a former Boston Red Sox World Champion.
2004 Boston Red Sox
You don't need to be a massive baseball fan or even a Red Sox fan to appreciate and respect what happened in 2004. After 86 years of not winning a World Series Championship due to what a lot of people thought was the Curse of the Bambino, the Boston Red Sox became world champions.
The roster included some legendary baseball players: David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Keith Foulke -- the list goes on.
The list also includes former Red Sox third baseman, Bill Mueller.
Aside from being a member of the curse-reversing Red Sox roster, Bill remains the only Major League Baseball player to ever hit two grand slams from both sides of home plate in a single game, a record he set back in 2003 against the Texas Rangers.
And while people still talk about former Red Sox greats like Big Papi and Jason Varitek, you don't hear Mueller's name come up in conversations much anymore.
Which is why I was shocked when it did come up over the weekend while I was down in Nashville, Tennessee for a quick getaway.
I stayed in the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown Hotel, a gorgeous (and gigantic) hotel about a 10-minute walk from all the Honky Tonk bars along Broadway.
But speaking of bars, inside the hotel was a posh-looking (yet comfortable) bar called The Library Restaurant & Lounge -- which I would've taken a picture of to include here had I realized I'd be writing this article, but anyway.
While sitting at the bar ordering a round, I got to talking to one of the bartenders working, and naturally, New England came up as a topic since he asked where I was from and mentioned loving visiting parts of New Hampshire and Maine. Then casually dropped this cool nugget.
HIM: Are you a Sox fan?
ME: Obviously.
HIM: I figured. That's cool, Bill Mueller is my cousin. He always hit the s*** out of the ball when they'd play the Yankees, huh?
So cool. So casual. And so random!