I never got my taco.
During the World Series, Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians stole a base, and, because of that, Taco Bell promised everyone in America – all 319 million of us – a free taco.
(That’s 54-billion delicious taco calories!)
But, you had to be at a Taco Bell at a specific time on a specific day and, well, my nearest Taco Bell is 25 miles away.
I never got my taco.
Rats.
I’m still a little sore about that.
I love getting free stuff.
Which is why I love Secret Santa.
I once worked in an office.
(A long time ago. How long ago? Someone in my office once asked the office manager, quite seriously, if she put her document through the brand new, and a little scary, fax machine, was she going to get her original document back? See, it was a long time ago. You probably don’t even know what a fax machine is. Was.)
We decorated our office doors and had a party (spiked egg nog and the whole bit) and we did Secret Santa – picking a name out of a hat and secretly leaving gifts for the person whose name we got.
I loved the little things Secret Santa would leave on my desk for me, like reindeers made out of candy canes and pipe cleaners.
Adorable and delicious.
And, I loved being the sneaky Secret Santa who hid things – like reindeers made out of candy canes and pipe cleaners – on people’s desks. (Perhaps I was the person who once used an entire roll of packing tape to firmly attach the candy cane and pipe cleaner reindeers to my giftee’s phone receiver. Perhaps.)
But, for the past 15 years I’ve been a one-person office.
There are a lot of good things about being a one-person office.
Like no endlessly long meetings with well-meaning folks who want you to know exactly what they’ve been doing at their desk for the past five years. (I had a little nostalgic anxiety attack just writing that.)
But, it also means no Secret Santa for me.
Or, does it?
I’m Secret Santa’ing anyway.
And, hey, look. I got your name.
OK, so maybe there’s no taco for you. (Yeh, I know. Join the club.)
But, I do have something for you. Here’s your Secret Santa gift …
Ten minutes of extraordinary old baseball film from 1900-1920, including footage from the 1905 New York Giants, the 1909 and 1910 World Series, and the 1919 “Black Sox” Series.
Missing baseball in the winter makes my heart ache. Watching baseball that’s 100-some years old, and seeing that it hasn’t changed much at all, makes my heart ache even more.
(Your Secret Santa is such a softie.)
The Baseball Bloggess 
Aww, I love this post! “Nostalgic anxiety attack” Now I know there’s a name for that. Merry Christmas, Baseball Santa! May your stocking be stuffed with delicious ground beef-of-questionable-lineage-stuffed tortilla food products from the Bell! They are good, and I don’t get why! :-)
Thanks, Wendy! Happy Christmas to you and your family! I’m a vegetarian, but, thankfully, the Bell is veggie-friendly, so plenty of yum to put in my Secret Santa stocking. Ummm, does this 7-Layer Burrito make my butt look fat?
I never got my taco either! And speaking of faxes. I still have to fax one of our members our electronic newsletter.
Someone recently asked me to fax something and I just gave a blank stare. Ultimately, I scanned it, turned it into a PDF, and emailed it. It took 5 minutes. If I still had a fax machine, it would have taken 30 seconds.
You mean the goings-on (or in the Orioles’ case, almost non-existent goings-on) during the Hot Stove league aren’t satisfying the need for baseball all year long? Yeah, me either.
That said, it’s always fun that I can come chill with the Bloggess just to get that little bit of baseball that carries me through for a little while. Or at least until we hear those magic words “pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training.”
Thanks for sharing the baseball footage though. That’s good stuff.
Awww, you know Dan Duquette doesn’t start his Christmas shopping until January. But, he did tease us with a catcher last week, so there is that. I’m sure he’s got something magic up his sleeve. Well, something cheap up his sleeve. But, magic, too. Cheap and magic. I’m sure of it.
Glad we can chill together through the off-season! :)
Yes…cheap and magic. Emphasis on cheap. Lol
Loved that footage! Just right to keep one going until spring training. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Gloria … hope you’re still enjoying your Cubs Championship!
Loved the old clips. Had to laugh at the crowd just walking on the field…certainly not like that Now! I also missed the taco special. Perhaps next year our Rockies will allow us to take frequent advantage of the ‘Free’ ones after a win!
Thanks. For the gift and all your blogging. Happy holidays!
Thank you Mary … and thank you for your A Day Away Travel blog … it’s wonderful and an inspiration and reminds me that getting out to see the world doesn’t have to include 10 hours in a plane. Have a warm and happy holiday and I look forward to seeing you at Camden Yards well into October next season! :)
Hi, Jackie. I always wondered how those food giveaways worked, now I know! And thank you for the excellent footage of the bygone days of baseball. Watching the parts with some of the “Black” Sox, I wanted to somehow jump into the time machine and get back to game one against the Reds and implore them not to do it! Such a waste, but I suppose the times were ripe for it to happen. I’m sorry, though, that it involved players on my favorite team who carried it out and on into sports infamy. :-)
Thanks Mark. I had the same feelings as I watched the Black Sox footage. How strange to watch it today, knowing that something sinister was afoot. I am guessing that it is especially poignant for you — being a White Sox fan. I always have a bit of softness in my heart for the Black Sox (not Chick Gandil, but the others). It was a hard, low-paying job and I think the Sox really had been treated poorly by ownership. Cheating’s wrong, of course, but I kind of understand why they believed they were only trying to get paid what they thought was fair. I’ve always been so conflicted over it. But, then I’m a softie!
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