2004 Baseball

Yankees 3 White Sox 1

Thursday Afternoon
Yankee Stadium
With Mitch

A nice day, another home opener. Mitch and I headed to the Bronx so he could meet up with his latest Yankeeography subject Whitey Ford to pick up some pictures from his collection. Ford was throwing out the first pitch along with Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra. On the way, we were bombarded by a commuter on our train mightily impressed by Mitch’s carrots and celery in a small plastic baggy. He kept telling us how delis should sell them pre-cut and how they could make a fortune. He wouldn’t stop talking about all of the money that could be made with just a few vegetables.

When we arrived at the game, I waited outside the press gate for awhile as Mitch tracked down Whitey inside. I read the paper, I gawked at Mayor Bloomberg and his entourage as they entered the stadium. I snapped a picture of Dwight Gooden as he sauntered into view.

When the game started, I listened to the first half inning on my walkman before Mitch and Whitey made an appearance. Mitch introduced us and Whitey extended his hand. I’m not sure if I’ve shaken a Hall of Famer’s hand since Chuck Thompson during Fan Fest ’93. Whitey was very polite and we headed to his car so Mitch could pick out some photos for the documentary. On the way to the car, a parking lot attendant commandeered Whitey’s attention, “What you don’t say hi to me no more, Whitey?” Ford said hello and mentioned that this was his 55th straight Opening Day to which the attendant replied, “This is my 56th! Can you believe it? Looks like I’m number one and you’re number two, Whitey!” Um, yeah, whatever gets you through the day, pal.

Whitey and Mitch took a few minutes in the car looking through photos and then it was time for Whitey to go play golf and for Mitch and I to catch a few innings of the Evil Empire battle the Good Guys. When I relayed how nice Whitey was a few days later to Dave, he responded, “Fuck him. Asshole. What? Don’t get mad at me that he pitched for the Yankees.” See? I’m not the only one who hates the Yankees.

The Yankees already had a 2-0 lead as we found seats in the 2nd inning. Not much else happened. Javier Vazquez was magnificent in his Yankees debut throwing 8 innings of two hit ball.

The most exciting moment of the day came when Mitch got a call from a co-worker who told him that he needed an opening for John Sterling to read for the Whitey Ford piece. Apparently, Sterling was going to be heading to the YES studios to shoot in the next day or so. Mitch was not aware that he had to have a script ready so soon and was not very happy. He took the next few minutes of the game as we relaxed in our cushioned box seats behind first base to tell his co-worker on his cell phone what he thought Sterling should be saying. “Yeah, I don’t know. How about something like ‘Whitey Ford, no make that Edward Ford, was born in Manhattan, raised in Queens, but made his name in the Bronx as Whitey Ford, the Chairman of the Board as the winningest pitcher of the winningest team in professional sports.’ You got that?” Okay, something like that. What? I don’t know. I don’t even know if they like the treatment. I just turned that in last week and haven’t even heard any feedback.” And so on. I felt like I was a witness to a high powered business call. Coming to a YES affiliate near you.

Posted by dan at April 8, 2004 08:35 AM