Few things in life are as exciting as going to Cincinnati. Am I right people?

You got yer cinnamon chili forced on to a plate of pasta, you got yer fantastic industrially financed art museums, you got your gritty downtown, and you will almost certainly run into Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong in a Greek Hat Shop.  Or, at least I did a few hours before the Reds Vs. Giants game on Thursday.

I was dragging my wife on a must-see speciality tour of downtown Cincy, which must include Batsakes hat shop on 6th Street.  I had already been once the day before but figured that she must also see it as she is Greek-American and it is owned by the friendliest Greek people in the state of Ohio. Greek people always seek out each other and I was just doing my part to continue that fine and mysterious tradition. Plus, they had lots of fabulous autographed baseballs I needed to inspect a little more closely.

When we got to the shop and I decided to give my kind wife an out, which she took. Which was not the expected response. So, I vetoed my own offer and counter-offered with a ‘just peek in variation’ that was ratified by a 3/4 majority.  (1/2 of me was feeling a bit of guilt and abstained on voting.)

As we walked in I immediately spotted the first San Francisco Giant I have ever seen that wasn’t on a baseball field.  It was Ryan Vogelsong. Pitcher.  All-Star Pitcher.  Nice human pitcher. Just standing there. Talking to Gus the hat salesman. Actually, Gus was doing most of the talking. Ryan was politely listening but seemed to be anxious to get out as Gus spouted on about cold war politics.

He got even more anxious (in a nice, professional sort of way) when he saw my Giants hoodie.

Oh crap, here we go... I could almost hear him thinking.

And this is where my inner dialogue took over between the fan in me and the man in me.

Fan: GET HIS PHOTO! NOW! YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THIS CHANCE AGAIN.

Man: He clearly doesn’t have time for this. I’d rather him focus on getting to practice.

Fan: HE’S A CELEBRITY, THIS IS PART OF HIS JOB.

Man: He’s a regular guy who’s in a hurry.  He’s a quiet non-celebrity type. He surely gets this all the time and I don’t want to add to the long list of people bugging him for no good reason.  It’s enough that he gives his all on the mound.  We have gone this long and never asked a celeb for a selfie.  Remember Mickey Rooney at the ice cream shop? Remember the guy from The Big Lebowski at the airport?  We let ’em be. And we felt good about it.

Fan: I DON’T CARE. THIS IS BASEBALL. It’s different.

Man: Isn’t enough that we got to run in to him? These guys work like dogs, give him some peace on his day off. Let him just have a normal run to the hat shop.

FAN: Yes. I guess you are right.  Hey Man, look out the window…..isn’t that Romo going in to Skyline Chili?

Man:  Where…? Wha…

FAN: Excuse me Ryan, do you have time for a two second selfie?

And he did. He was pretty gracious about it. I felt guilty about asking, I feel guilty about it now. And I will probably always feel guilty about it.  But I love the photo– even though I look like a what I was at that moment, a fan dweeb with no clue of what to say to him.

And I’ll never do it again. You know, unless, say…Duffy in a Mexican Restaurant. He looks like he’d love the attention.

Vogelsong with Dweeb