TODAY IS:
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Social Media Day: Otherwise known as Wednesday
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Meteor Watch Day: A good day to look up
A 70-year-old New York Yankees fan got to live out her life-long dream Monday night — by serving as the team’s bat girl. Gwen Goldman initially sent a letter to the team in 1961, asking if she could be a bat girl for one game. The general manager of the Yankees at the time sent her a response that said, “In a game dominated by men a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout.”
Goldman held on to the letter for all these years and earlier this year her daughter, Abby, sent a copy to the Yankees current general manager, Brian Cashman. He invited Goldman to be a bat girl and throw out the first pitch and said it wasn’t “too late to reward and recognize the ambition you showed in writing that letter to us as a 10-year-old girl.”
Speaking of women being recognized in sports … Former soccer star Mia Hamm broke her share of records during her playing career, and although she retired in 2004, the Hall of Famer still managed to set a new record last weekend. Her 1992 rookie card, which was made available in an issue of Sports Illustrated For Kids after her first World Cup appearance, sold at auction for $34,440 — making it the most expensive female sports card ever. Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin says, “It validates that there’s a legitimate market for women’s sports.” (ESPN)
Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s some doctors would wire patients’ jaws shut to help them lose weight. Sounds barbaric, right? Well, there’s a new version of that weight-loss method. New Zealand and U.K. researchers have developed a device called DentalSlim Diet Control that uses magnets affixed to the back teeth to restrict the person’s jaw from opening more than 2 millimeters, allowing for only a liquid diet. Volunteers who’ve tried the new gadget say they’ve lost 14 pounds in two weeks.
