When the season’s over and your team’s gone fishin’ … or gone off in search of multimillion-dollar paydays with other teams (No, Chris, No! Wait, don’t go!) … it’s time to see what’s been going on in the non-baseball world.

Good grief, the Wildlife Center of Virginia Gala is Saturday, October 17!

I’m only telling you this because the Wildlife Center is awesome and cares for thousands of wild animals each year and because there are some baseball-related auction items that you really need.

And, since you can bid online and have things shipped to you, it would be just plain greedy of me to keep all these nice things for myself.

Every single item was donated directly to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Every single penny of your winning bid will go toward saving the lives of ill and injured wildlife, including Black Bear cubs (go Cubs!), Northern Cardinals (go Cards!), and Blue Jays (go … uh, errrr … uh, go Blue Jays, whoo.<- – – half-hearted whoo.)

(No worries, O’s fans. They care for Baltimore Orioles, too.)

The Wildlife Center of Virginia relies entirely on the generosity of people like us.

They have lots of cool things to bid on this year; you can see some of them here.

Here are a few:

CHRIS DAVIS BASEBALLS.  Current (and hopefully future) Baltimore Oriole Chris “Crush” Davis hit more home runs than ANYBODY in 2015 (and in 2013).

Here’s a “Crush” homer against the Oakland A’s in August.

Because Davis is a big guy, you don’t get one signed ball, you get two.

(IDEA: Keep one for your collection and give one to me!)

These balls were signed during an Orioles series in Texas this season and donated to the Center by a member of the Davis family.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES 2015 PRINT.  They’ve been playing baseball at the University of Virginia for 126 years, but only once – ONCE! – have they won the College World Series. And, it was this year. Local artist Jeff Curry documents many UVa sports and events and this print celebrates the Hoos’ unlikely, amazing, and historic victory in the CWS, defeating Vanderbilt for the crown.

This limited edition print has been framed and is signed and numbered by the artist.

Another lovely auction piece: this rare, limited-edition P. Buckley Moss lithograph of the University of Virginia:

FOUR RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS TICKETS. First of all, they’re the Flying Squirrels – and any team named the Flying Squirrels is awesome. Second, they’re the Double A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and some of the best players in the majors today have been Squirrels, including Matt Duffy (my Rookie of the Year pick), and All-Stars Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford.

Choose any game during the 2016 season (except Opening Day or July 4).  Why, yes, I am available that day and I would love to go with you, thanks for asking! :)

AEROSMITH SIGNED CONCERT-USED DRUMHEAD. Aerosmith is from Boston. So are the Red Sox. (OK, that’s all I got.)  But, this drumhead, used during Aerosmith’s 2015 “Blue Army” tour, has been signed by the entire band and comes with a pair of Joey Kramer’s own drumsticks, so it is both a rare piece of rock history and a quite usable noisemaker.

The production manager on Aerosmith’s summer tour is a friend of the Wildlife Center (and, I kid you not, he predicted right here on this blog last spring that the Rangers would go to the post-season. I laughed at him then. Sorry, Chris. You were right.)  Chris had this drumhead signed exclusively for this event. Hang this in your house and your world will change for the better, I’m quite sure of it.

90-MINUTE HOT STONE MASSAGE. Yes, I’m going to brag. My hot stones are like a steamy, sweet hot chocolate at a cold, October baseball game. They’ll warm you up inside and out and your team will always win. My hot stones rock. (<- – -massage humor.) I promise you, the massage is pretty sweet, too. No shipping on this item, but if you’re near Madison, Virginia … you really oughta bid.

I’ve also put together a “YOGA IN A BASKET” filled with DVDs, music, and other Yoga-riffic treats. (More info on all I’ve tucked in it is here.)

If you have questions or are ready to bid, email auctionbid@wildlifecenter.org.

The deadline for absentee bids is Friday, October 16, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

Bidding info can be found here.

Bid generously. Make a difference. Save a wild animal’s life.

Thank you!