Hours after being traded for each other, Grilli and Frieri met by chance at O'Hare Airport

Baseball has always been a game shrouded in superstition, its events and outcomes often attributed to curses and karma and various other occult phenomena. 

So maybe it only makes sense that relievers Jason Grilli and Ernesto Frieri, who were traded for each other this past Friday, randomly bumped into each other at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, just hours after the deal had been completed, and while each was on his way to join his new team. 

"I'm waiting for my next flight, so I just went to a bathroom to wash my face," said Frieri, who'd been dealt from the Los Angeles Angels to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and was on a layover in Chicago en route to Pittsburgh. "First thing, I look at this guy washing his hands next to me, and I thought, 'I think I know this guy.'

"I looked again, and he's looking at me and goes, 'Really? Well, I guess this is when we get to meet each other.'"

It was Grilli, of course, who himself was en route from Pittsburgh to Kansas City, to join up with his new club, the Angels.

"This is baseball. Life is crazy," said Frieri, who had apparently never exchanged a word with Grilli before. "That's a huge airport, and we just got traded for each other and that's how we meet." 

Brushing any potential awkwardness aside, the two gave each other cause for optimism as they headed to their new and uncertain destinations.

Grilli: "You're going to have fun over there. Great guys, great coaching staff, great ballpark. You're going to love it."

Frieri: "Congratulations, you're going to a really good team. Good teammates."

"I knew who he was," Frieri said, "but I hadn't talked to him before. Kind of funny. Seems like a really nice guy."

Kind of funny indeed. But hey, this is baseball. Life is crazy.