Wayne Soares has been on Fox TV and ESPN Radio, and he's traveled halfway around the world to entertain troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But he still remembers the time when Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski was a jerk to him, even though he was only 11-years-old.

Soares was at the Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday to talk to the kids about bullying, and the importance of taking the time to say a kind word, when he told the kids the story of how his idol shut him down.

After what was meant to be a trip to an autograph signing in Boston turned into a detour to New Hampshire — due to his grandmother's less than keen sense of direction — they went to the hotel where the autograph signing was just to check it out.

"She said, 'we missed the whole thing, but we'll give it a shot,'" said Soares.

Upon arriving at the hotel, the receptionist told him the signing was long over, but pointed out a nearby restaurant where he might find Yastrzemski.

"My idol was sitting all by himself," said Soares. "I'm talking to him for 30 seconds and he's not looking at me."

Being a persistent kid, Soares decided to try to talk baseball with the guy.

"So I ask him, 'What's the best way to hit a curveball?' He looked at me … and said, 'With a bat, kid.'"

Factual, but ouch!

Soares' point of telling the story was that it only takes seconds to say a kind word to somebody, rather than ignoring them or treating them like dirt on your shoe.

"I hope when each and every one of you kids has a chance to make an impact with your words, you do it," said Soares.

Eleven-year-old Natalia Moulding just moved to Wareham from Taunton, and says that at her old school, she learned first-hand how it feels to be a target.

"There were a couple of kids I was in class with for a couple of years … it was normally at recess" that she'd be taunted, she recalled.

She said she'd ignore it, in part because she was outnumbered, but says that currently she's working on a project with her Girl Scout troop to try to prevent bullying.

Ten-year-old Amirah Elsayed said she's had similar issues as a student in Wareham.

"People would call me names," she said, adding that things like that make returning to school in the fall a bit daunting.

One piece of advice from Soares was: "Use a strong voice and say 'No! you won't bully me!'"

Simple, but it just might work.