First, may I say that the baseball exchange had an even greater chance of having people sending gifties to fans of their arch rivals than did the football soccer exchange. My giftee is a Yankees fan. I live in greater Boston. Fortunately, I am not a Red Sox fan.

Now, my Santa is another story. If Santa ordered my baseball swag from somewhere near him/her, then we're neighbors. At the very least, Santa had just brilliant taste.

I love minor league ball. Love, love, love it. The baseball isn't always as good, but the total experience is much better than going to see a game in the majors. People are relaxed; kids are entertained; the experience is mellow; and everybody has fun.

This year, rather than going to see just the two closest minor league teams to us, we've been talking about going up to Portland, Maine, to see the Sea Dogs. They are a double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, and they have a wicked cool logo.

I have no idea how Santa knew. (We will be sweeping the house for bugs later this week.) Santa got me one of their caps, complete with shamrock (hey, Boston affiliate, even if the usual logo is red...we do shamrocks).

Extraordinarily cute.

Santa also understands that a true baseball fan needs to put their team's logo on everything. From where I'm sitting right now, I can reach out one arm and grab a St. Louis Cardinals cap, a 2011 World Series rally squirrel towel, and the logo iron-on patch Santa sent me. I love my Cards...and it's just very sad that the closest National League park to me is where the Mets play. (Oh, sigh.)

Finally, the company from which Santa got the hat (I'm pretty sure) also included a cap of their own. It's never a bad idea to toss an extra cap into the car (and my husband, a Cubs fan, won't wear any of my Cards caps for some reason), so this will also come in handy!

Many thanks, Santa! I've got my browser open to the Sea Dogs' page...it's about time we went to a game in Portland - and it's all your fault!