Saturday, December 23, 2006

Home Is Where Heart Is For Wolf

New Dodger talks holidays in special Q&A session
12/23/2006; By Ken Gurnick; MLB.com

Life is good for Randy Wolf. His elbow is healthy, he's got a new team and it happens to be in his backyard. The Calabasas resident, who grew up a Dodgers fan, is ready for the holiday season, as he explained to MLB.com.

MLB.com: How will you spend Christmas?

Wolf: On Christmas Eve, the whole family goes to a local deli for dinner. On Christmas morning, my mom cooks breakfast and we exchange presents. Almost all of my family lives right around the San Fernando Valley. My mom lives near me. My brother Jim (a Major League umpire) lives in Arizona and he comes in with his wife. Later in the day, we go to my aunt's house in Valencia for Christmas Night dinner.

MLB.com: What does Christmas mean to you?

Wolf: It's all about family. With our travel schedule, being away from home all the time, we don't get to see our family much during the year. Christmas is a great opportunity for all of us to get together and catch up and hang out and be a family and eat a lot.

MLB.com: What is your best Christmas memory?

Wolf: This is a little weird, but something I always remember is that my brother drove a 280-Z and my mom gave him a key chain and she was really proud of it, except that it said 280 ZX and when my brother opened it, you could just tell that he just sank. It was the wrong car. We always video tape opening our presents and I can just see it replaying. It was just one of those moments you don't forget for some reason.

MLB.com: What is the best Christmas gift you've ever given?

Wolf: In 2003, I got my mom a car, a Nissan Altima. It was really cool, because the car she was driving could barely drive. I put it in the driveway and the dealer put a big bow on the hood and she was really surprised.

MLB.com: What is the best Christmas gift you've ever received?

Wolf: When I was 12 years old, I had a huge collection of baseball cards and I got an '87 Fleer set. I was so into collecting cards and that set was so cool. It was a great set to have.
MLB.com: How old were you when you realized the truth about Santa Claus?

Wolf: I was really young, like 5, when I figured it out. I was thinking that with all the people in the world, how could one guy deliver everything? No way. And when I saw the cards on the gifts saying it was from Santa, it was in my mom's writing.

MLB.com: Being from the valley, have you ever had a white Christmas?

Wolf: Not a white Christmas, but in '89, we had snow where we lived. My parents woke me up at 3 in the morning to see it. I knew if they were waking me at 3 in the morning, it had to be serious.

By Ken Gurnick, Courtesy of MLB.com

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