Remembering Scioscia

Boomer and I will never forget the day we met Scioscia. The beach was quiet and eerily still. Boo was age three at the time, and needed a lot of dogercising, especially this particular morning. I was distracted and in a hurry. The goal was to quickly exhaust him so he would sleep the rest of the day.

We found ourselves alone at the shore until a dark mutt Boomer's size limped up to Boomer's nose. Politely, they exchanging pleasantries, tails wagging.

“They get along,” said a surprised young woman with an accent foreign to me. The two dogs launch into a seemingly pre-choreographed form of play, as if happy to finally meet.

"Boomer was the only dog Scioscia allowed in her house."

In the time it took to smell one another, my dog had a new playmate. Linda, Scioscia's owner, was a native of Sweden. Through our pets, I became good friends with her and her husband, who named their dog after baseball icon Mike Scioscia.

Scioscia the canine was rescued by Linda, an animal lover and aspiring dog trainer, who found the female puppy chained to a fence, abandoned and abused, with a very debilitating front club foot and uneven temperament.

Not the most social, prone to aggression and “she hates men,” said Linda the day we met.

None of which mattered to Boomer. The two dogs instantly bonded and became best buds during their time living in the same beach-side neighborhood. Boomer was the only dog Scioscia allowed in her house, the only dog to whom she was submissive, and the only dog cool enough for hanging at the beach or going on hikes and excursions.

Boomer and Scioscia got one another though challenges unforeseen and unimagined. Scioscia and her mom were there on more than one occasion during Boomer's initial bouts with seizures, a condition that eventually became chronic. And through Boomer, Scioscia was able to let down her guard and be a dog.

Scioscia even accepted me, or so I'd like to think. Either way, I'm grateful for the camaraderie, exercise and distraction she brought to Boomer's life. I'm also grateful for my friendship with Scios's owners. Linda became a dog trainer and inspired the character Linda the Swedish Dog Trainer in Walt Loves the Bearcat.

Approaching old age, Scioscia didn't fare so well. She had to be laid to rest.

Boomer and I will never forget Scioscia. Years have past, yet I can still say her name and evoke a reaction from my dog. I myself will never forget the day we met, and why I was so distracted and in such a hurry to exercise and exhaust my dog, having just awaken to the news of the day.

That day was September 11, 2001. 9/11.

• DATELINE: 9/11/10: My dog's eyes still light up with recognition upon hearing the name Scioscia. Boomer, age 12, still remembers Scioscia.