Bill Shaikin: Scott Boras is 71. How much longer does baseball's most famous agent plan to work?

"As a fan," he said, "I want you to love your team. I want you to come to the ballpark. I want you to be that person.

"And I fully expect that, by you feeling you want the best for your team, you're not going to particularly like that I want the best for the players that are on your team. And that dynamic should never change. It should always be there. We're happy about it. We think it's great.

"When you're a parent, I fully expect you to change course. That's all I ask."

It is possible that, if the World Series extends to a full seven games, Boras would turn 72 on the day of Game 7.

He has been a baseball agent for 41 years, never representing players in other sports, never entertaining the idea of running a team. His agency has a succession plan, involving a family trust and the retention of key executives.

He must have friends or family members who have suggested he consider retiring, or at least slowing down.

"I actually don't," he said. "They don't say that to me."

He thought back to one of his mentors, a labor lawyer who offered him congratulations, and advice, on winning his first salary arbitration case.

"He said, 'Kid, I'm going to tell you something,' " Boras said, " 'If you're representing your client correctly, 95 percent of what's said about you will be negative. And don't ever forget that. But, remember, your clients will love you.'

"He laid it out exactly how it is."

Boras told me this because the labor lawyer lived — and worked — into his 90s.

"He was writing books to the end," Boras said.

Also working into his 90s: Ted Lerner, the founding owner of the Washington Nationals, with whom Boras negotiated deals for Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Max Scherzer and Jayson Werth. Lerner died last year at 97.

"The thing I got from him," Boras said, "was how to handle that 60 to 95 bracket of your life. He always told me, 'The mind is a muscle. Keep going, keep going, keep going. Take the time physically to be in shape. Eat right. And never quit.' "You know what? He lived a great life. Good model to follow."