Oh, yeah . . . The three letters that came to mind were RSI, as in Repetitive Strain Injury. Steve Carlton used to keep a 5-pound lead baseball in his locker for various arm-motion drills. Now, Charlie Manuel's pitchers can eliminate the middle man, just slip on the World Series ring, go through a few dozen reps of their motions and count it as a bullpen session, right?
The biggest trophy ring I had seen before this one was presented to former Phils Minister of Trade Hugh Alexander by the Chicago Cubs. It commemorated his 50 years in scouting for the Indians, Dodgers, Phillies, White Sox and Cubs. The bodacious bauble had a huge diamond in the middle and the logos of each organization were assigned a quarter of the top surface. I never read all the writing and I suspect Uncle Hughie never did, either. But everything was on there but the six names of his seven wives (one, he married twice).
Well, that massive memento was a Cracker Jack prize compared to this one. You could easily envision King John of
England in 1215 dipping something similar in hot wax to seal the Magna Carta. Or the Founding Fathers, when sanctifying the Declaration of Independence, might have used a seal of such magnificence had there been such bodacious bling in the deprived 13 Colonies that rebelled against British rule.
