CANTON, Ohio -- The woman stood before a crowd of 400 people Thursday and asked a question that was, shall we say, unique.

"I'd like to ask Grady what he's doing next Saturday," the woman said, "because my daughter has to go to winter formal and she needs a date."

We'll leave the woman's name anonymous to protect the innocent -- or, more accurately, to protect her embarrassed daughter.

Nonetheless, you have to admire the courage she displayed in, essentially, asking Grady Sizemore out on a date, in front of a room full of people who came to the McKinley Grand Hotel for one of the Indians' final Winter Caravan stops.

"I don't have a date for the winter formal either," Sizemore replied.

That's certainly not the first time the popular Sizemore has been asked out by a total stranger. Such is life when you're a ballplayer with the good looks to match your enormous talent.

Predictably, the girls flocked everywhere the 25-year-old Sizemore went on the last two days of the Caravan. They snapped his picture, begged him to sign their paraphernalia and, if they were lucky, got a smile or a wink.

Think of Elvis in his prime, but substitute a Gold Glove for the guitar.

Of course, this celebrity does nothing to aid Sizemore's attempts to stay out of the spotlight. One would be hard-pressed to find a professional athlete less inclined to draw attention to or talk about himself.

Sizemore's popularity, then, is a paradox. But he handles it pretty well.

"I don't make it a point to not go places where I might get mobbed or anything," he said before Thursday's event. "I spend the majority of my time at the field. But I don't go out of my way to avoid people."

That was evident by Sizemore's mere presence on this swing through towns that tout the Tribe. And at the Canton stop, the women were particularly forward with their questions for him.

Following the winter formal proposal, another woman asked Sizemore, reliever Jensen Lewis and prospect Scott Lewis how they handle all the attention they receive from girls.

"The fans have been great," Sizemore said after a pause, drawing a roar from the crowd. "We appreciate your support. But we're all professionals. We try to focus on baseball."

No one bought it.

But it is easy to buy into the elements that make Sizemore one of the Indians' elite players. Good looks and good skills will get you by, but Sizemore is never satisfied. He's a tireless worker, respectful of the game and its history and mindful of his role-model status.

Such qualities added up to a third woman (yes, the women of Canton did not waste this opportunity to talk to Sizemore) standing up to tell the crowd that her daughter's room is covered with pictures of Sizemore. And she credited him with inspiring her daughter to get straight A's in the classroom and to show dedication in honing her softball skills.

Date requests aside, this was as high a compliment as a ballplayer can receive. A humbled Sizemore nodded in appreciation.

Once the luncheon question and answer session was complete and Sizemore was done signing autographs for the throng of fans, it was time to board the bus back to Cleveland. As he did so, a steady stream of well-wishers -- mostly girls, naturally -- followed him to the door.

Observing the mob scene from the comforts of the bus, Tribe manager Eric Wedge summed it up best:

"Elvis has left the building."