After the final game of the 2007 World Series, catcher Jason Varitek gave the gamee-ending ball (a strikeout) to relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon claims he doesn't have it anymore because his dog ate it.

Seriously.

Here's what he told the Associated Press:

"[My bulldog, Boss] plays with baseballs like they are his toys," Papelbon told the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American. "He jumped up one day on the counter and snatched it. He likes rawhide. He tore that thing to pieces. Nobody knows that. I'll keep what's left of it."

Red Sox spokesman John Blake says, "ball was in the hands of one of the players and we take his word at what happened to it."

OK, John, but I think you're going to be the only one...