Sean Casey didn't sleep much Monday night so he could feed the hungry:

When Sean Casey left Fenway Park [map] following Monday night's game against the Red Sox [team stats], the Detroit first baseman didn't return to the team hotel with the rest of the Tigers. Instead, he caught a ride to Lawrence in anticipation of a 6 a.m. wake-up call to prepare to feed the hungry at Cor Unum Meal Center. The center is run by the Labels Are For Jars organization (labelsareforjars.org) that Casey helped fund and found back in 2001 with his friend, the Rev. Paul O'Brien. The doors opened last autumn, but yesterday marked the first time Casey had been able to be in action and help feed, and then clean up after, more than 75 people.

"It was a dream five years ago and it was a reality today," said Casey before last night's game. "What for me was so special was that five years ago, Father Paul and I were talking about how wouldn't it be neat if we started the Labels Are For Jars group, and raise enough money with T-shirts and all to build a center to feed the hungry."

Casey met O'Brien through a mutual friend while attending the University of Richmond. The friendship grew when Casey played for Brewster in the Cape Cod League in 1994, when O'Brien was a priest in Concord. O'Brien officiated Casey's wedding and baptized his three children.

We hear so many bad things about ball players, it's nice to see them giving back to the community.

Father Paul is a friend of mine. His older brother Duncan and I played in the Harvard Band during our undergraduate years, and continued while Duncan attended law school. That's how I got to know Paul, who came in as a freshman the year after we graduated. (Middle brother Dan O'Brien is a tremendous baseball fan, I might add.) Paul is good friends with Conan O'Brien as well, although I don't remember if they were roommates or not.

Father Paul has an unusual talent. He gets his picture taken with famous people, but it looks like the famous person is meeting Paul, instead of the other way around. (Here's the Pope meeting Paul, here's Mother Teresa meeting Paul is the impression you get when you see the photos.) He's also one of the funniest priests I've ever met. I'm sure plenty of people attend his services just for the laughs. He's bright, he's funny and I fully expect him to be a Cardinal (Vatican, not St. Louis) some day, and it would not surprise me at all if he ended up Pope.