Sometimes when you're asked to do a radio or TV game at the last minute, it turns out to be just another baseball game. But this time was very different.

When my boss in radio asked me to do a game last Monday at Fenway, Boston vs. Seattle, I said no problem -- not knowing that Pedro Martinez, my favorite pitcher in the bigs right now, would be on the hill, or that it was Carlton Fisk Day.

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Now anyone who grew up in New England and watched Jim Rice as a kid knows he's the man. ”

That's the best part about this job -- you are almost always surprised by just showing up for work. So off I go, jump in the wife's car and head up to Fenway on Monday morning. As usual, I'm late so I might be going a couple of miles over the posted speed limit.

I hardly ever break the speed limit, but I was late for work and I really like being on time. But for those reading this -- and since I am related to a Connecticut state trooper -- I must tell you, you should never break the law and disobey posted speed limits ... because you never know who's taking radar in Massachusetts.

And I don't even have to tell you, but anyone who knows me knows I got busted. Thank God the nice trooper loves sports and knew I was on my way to work and would never break the law without a good excuse. He's the man -- he only gave me a warning. So off I went, already ahead of the game and the day just got started.

Once in Fenway, I had to get a few interviews for the pregame show. So I went down to the locker rooms of both teams. Once in the Red Sox locker room, I started walking around doing my job. But as I was about to depart and go back up to the pressbox, one of my childhood idols came into the room: Jim Rice.

Now anyone who grew up in New England and watched Jim Rice as a kid knows he's the man. He was as cool in the batter's box as he was an awesome power hitter, finishing his career with Hall of Fame numbers like 382 homers, 1451 RBI, and a .298 batting average.

But I didn't really know his numbers, nor did I care. All I knew was that if I was facing an imposing figure like that, I would be scared to death -- now remember, I'm speaking from a 10-year-old's perspective, OK (so don't get the wrong idea).

I would've loved to have faced him during our primes, because that would've been too much fun. Thanks to my buddy Rod Beck, we were introduced, and the 10-minute conversation the three of us had was one of my Top 5 moments around the game of baseball.

I'll tell you why. When the real-life version of a person lives up to your own expectations, there is no way to put it into words. But I'll try -- Jim Rice really is the MAN ... and I'm now a bigger fan of one of the coolest players ever to set foot on a big-league field. Oh yeah, and I met Carl Yastrzemski too, and Pedro threw a good game. But just to get 10 minutes with your childhood idol, well that was really cool.

Man, I love this job...

Editor's note: Jim Rice is the Red Sox hitting coach.