BOSTON -- Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, who hits so well opposing pitchers may think he has more than two arms, met a sea creature that certainly does at the New England Aquarium Thursday.

Lowell, who had a day off from baseball, took his children to meet and touch Truman, a 7-foot long giant Pacific octopus.

Truman, according to aquarium scientists, has a fondness for tactile interaction with people.

The octopus will come to the top of his tank and extend several of his tentacled arms to wrap around the hands of human visitors.

Truman also likes to be scratched like a dog, the scientists said.