Bronx & Beans

Kevin Dennehy, seen on the Monster seats in 2003, somehow manages a smile even though banjo hitter Bucky Dent, still basking in fame for tapping the most famous lazy flyball in history, sits 10 feet away, and Roger Clemens outduels Tim Wakefield on the Fenway field behind him. (Back when we all marveled at Clemens' maniac workout regimen. How does he keep DOING IT?!?)

Of course, that's all history now.

Dennehy, a native of Boston's South Shore, last on the Red Line and first in your heart, demanded number 8 on every uniform he ever wore in honor of the loveable crank Carl Yastrzemski. (You remember him, Bridgehampton. 'There's no stahhs on a potato fahhm.')

Like so many in his generation, the 1986 postseason meant more than he'd care to admit. And there was a time when he took ball games in April way too seriously.

But he's grown up now. Never again will you catch him jumping into an ugly shouting match with a Bronx vendor selling t-shirts with obnoxious references to '1918.'

Oh, wait. He doesn't have to.