Did I mention I'm on a 12-day business trip to Tampa, Florida?
I am.
Please don't be envious. These subsidiary systems audits in warm, sunny climes have a way of wearing down a fella.
So what's an overworked business traveler to do?
How about have his photo taken with two of the greatest ballplayers to don Yankee pinstripes.
What? No way Spartacus!
Yes. Way! Randal and Jimmy.
Now, I know this is not the type of photo a self-respecting Mets fan would sit for, let alone consider taking. But I became slacked jawed at the sight of Ron Guidry and Yogi Berra walking into the same restaurant where I was having dinner with my colleagues.
I mean seriously... passing on the chance to take that picture is like turning down an opportunity to have your picture with this guy...
Or giving up a point-blank chance to chuck your shoes as this guy...
I'll come clean here. I have been and always will be a die-hard Mets fan.
But in the truly lean Mets seasons of 1976-83:
When the Mets' All-Stars could be counted on the fingers of a man with severed hands;
When fans wished Willie Montañez would someday play firstbase with half the skill and heart of John Milner or Ed Kranepool;
When fans marveled at the majestic heights and distances of Dave Kingman's home runs while the team was being blown out by teams like the San Diego Padres;
When diehard fans held onto the delusional notion that the Tom Seaver trade to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15, 1977 for Pat Zachry, Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn, and Dan Norman would be good for the team...
Phew!
I did what any impressionable and vulnerable 14-year old New York City boy would do... root for the New York team that was winning.
Yes, god damn it. I rooted for the fucking Yankees.
My favorite Yankee then was Ron "Louisana Lightning" Guidry. How could you not root for this lanky lefty with the impossible-to-hit slider? This Cy Young Award winner was a master at painting the black of home plate with his fastballs.
He went 25-3 in 1978, winning #25 over the hated Red Sox in the one-game AL East playoff. Who else would you have sent to the mound?
And let's not forget that the great Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra. Not only is he arguably the greatest catcher to play the game; not only did appear in 15 All-Star Games, win the MVP 3 times, and win 10 World Series rings as a player, but was also a coach on the 1969 World Series Champion New York Mets, and took them within a game of winning the 1973 crown over the Oakland A's.
No siree.. It was an honor to have my photo taken with these fine gentlemen. They accepted my request with the courtesy and graciousness seldom seen in the sportsworld today. These guys are all class in my book, even if they are damn Yankees.
One More Article / Un Altro Articolo
-
Over the years teaching at La Scuola d’Italia NY, I have learned that
children are not just students; they are careful observers of the world,
full of q...
4 months ago
Great picture! And I sympathize with your escape to Yankee fandom. I was brought up as a Red Sox fan and in self-defense (being a Jersey girl after all, living near New York) I finally gave in and rooted for the Yankees - it is so much more fun to win!
ReplyDeleteI saw this picture on your Facebook page and just glanced at it and thought to myself that the other two guys looked familiar! Now I see why!
My husband and I used to attend a Catholic church in Montclair with a girlfriend of mine on Easter and Christmas Eve (that's the kind of churchgoers we were - twice a year) and it was the same one Yogi Berra went to. We used to see him in the back row every time wearing a camel colored overcoat.
I hate Rudy Giuliani's Girls and love the Mets as much as you do, but I agree with you. For all the many annoying Girls like Jeter and his crow hop and inablity to cover any ground to Paul O'Neill who glared back at the ump with every called strike to Bobby Murcer's strut to Robinson Cano whom I just don't like for no reason to the 2nd biggest Asshole, Andy Pettitte, and his Evangelical Extremist tv commercials to the most vile Yankee of all, Roger Clemens. The all suck. The players are annoying. The Owner is annoying despite earning every bit of my respect for being one of the finsest sports businessmen in US history.
ReplyDeleteBut I you're a New York, you cannot feel anything but great warmth for Yogi. When you adjust his career numbers from the park he was unsuited to hit in, Yogi comes up as the 2nd best all around catcher in history to Johnny Bench, just slightly better than Gary Carter. Gator's was cool because when he had his first cup of coffee in the big leagues his bayou accent was so thick no one could understand him. He sounded a little like a guy speaking Old Frankish with a Spanish accent.
HE, not Jim Rice, was the true MVP of the 1978 AL season and he should have gotten two trophies.
The Mets had trouble finding 3B's not catchers. They had an excellent catcher bridging the Grote and Carter years: John Stearns.
Shit&Whiskers!! What fun! Forgot you were in Tampa... hope you had a chance to check out Ybor City....Man, I saw Guidry pitch in Milwaukee, ages ago.... but the chance to meet Yogi???? Boy, if I could talk like Yogi, I would be mute in humility forever!!!
ReplyDeleteMy son was in NYC a buncha years ago with his Mom and Grandpa....their in a Sporting goods store and Granpa said, "Max, that's Walt Frazier over there....."
"Walt who," said the kid. Grandpa explained and now the kid has a photo of himself and Clyde.
But, Yogi?!!! Shit,,,,, that IS the stuff!!!!
Oh, I am torn over this. If you had thrown up some rabbit ears behind both, I might be able to forgive you. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI know how excited you were. I could hear it in your voice. You sounded like a giddy teenage girl who just got kissed by one of the Jonas Brothers. I am really jealous that you got to meet Yogi Berra!! Ron Guidry is really a handsome guy... but he has nothing on you.
ReplyDeleteYogi rules.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea he played baseball, though.
Funny the things you learn on the telegraph wire.
Regards,
Tengrain
What a great picture.. and a great catcher and pitcher too. I saw this and had to run upstairs with the computer to show my husband. He thinks it's great too. Yogi is ancient now and I do hope he's well. Guidry is looking wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI arrived in this country from Canada in the summer of 1977 knowing very little about baseball. Happily for me my husband and his father took up the challenge of teaching me about the game. Since we lived in RI, a state pretty much equally divided between Irish and Italian, the Boston and NY teams were well represented on TV so I got to learn about the game going on outings to Fenway and watching most all the Yankee and Red Sox games the rest of the time. What can I say and still keep this short but that they were wonderful years for baseball - perhaps the final flowering before Bud Selig and steroidal madness. We tended to root for the AL but watched widely just to know about the competition.
Before we left RI we even got to meet Phil Rizzuto and deliver him freshly made canolis from a N. Providence bakery.
Thanks for re-igniting the memories and btw - you look absolutely delighted too. Cool.
A nice pic. I know who Yogi Berra is, but, um, sports isn't my thing. But it's yours and they were very cool to agree to the photo. So good to them. Glad you got to have a nice surprise on your bizness trip.
ReplyDeleteMG - I think at some point anyone living in the New York area counts themselves a Yankees fan. My era of Yankee fan-dom ran from 1976-1979. As for the church thing, did Yogi stare at you and call you a heathen under his breath?
ReplyDeleteKelso - I totally agree with on the current Yankees. It's a question of class and Yogi and Gator have it in abundance. How lucky was I to catch them both in the same room?
okjimm... Clyde is another class guy -- weird sense of style, but very very classy. I think the thing with Yogi, Gator, Clyde and other athletes like them is that they're real, down-to-earth people. I never got the sense the other night that they were being put out by my request.
Randal... were I a devious man much like yourself, I would have photoshopped black eyes on both of them... and flashed the rabbit ears.
Skippy.. was I really Jonas Brothers giddy? Oh no. I've got re-think this whole celebrity crush thing.
Tengrain.. Gator rules, too. And yeah, Yogi did play baseball, but his calling and claim to fame was doing those AFLAC commercials.
Susan... I'm so happy my picture evoked such fond memories. I went to Fenway for a game once and loved it. Yankee Stadium, even after it was renovated in the mid-1970s, it still emitted an electric energy. And it's funny you should mention Phil Rizzuto. He is a native of the same section of Queens, NY in which I lived as a teenager and young adult -- Richmond Hill. And I'll bet those canolis were yummy if Phil ate them.
Thanks PiNYC. I got lots of compliments on that pic. Yogi and Gator were very cool to let me have my picture taken with them. In fact, they didn't even think about it. They just said sure. Guidry skooched over as did Yogi. My colleague took the shot and it was done in less than a minute. Probably one of the most amazing 30 seconds in my life.
Oh, i`m sure you`ve had other exciting 3O second episodes... Just ask Skippy ;)
ReplyDeleteI`m still groovin on you meeting Yogi.