My love of baseball has allowed me to meet some colorful characters over the years and put me in some interesting situations. I’d like to share a few of those with you.
A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I absolutely love the Phillie Phanatic. I was naturally a huge fan of the loveable and hilarious green creature when I was a kid, but I never got to see him up close. That dream finally came true in 2009.
In the winter following the Phillies’ World Series title, the championship trophy was sent on a tour around the region so that fans could see it. At the time, I was a sports writer for the Gettysburg Times, and my editor was nice enough to assign me the story when the trophy made a stop in town that February. I obviously would have gone anyway, but this allowed me to get in for free and skip the line. It was also my first chance to cover an official event by the team I loved and had been supporting for nearly 20 years.
The cherry on top was getting my picture taken in front of the trophy, standing next to the Phanatic. He happily gave me a high five as I approached him for the photo. The sound of my hand hitting his…um…wing made a funny thud.
The Phanatic provided non-stop entertainment in that ballroom, of course. He stuck out his party-favor tongue for anyone who crossed his path, and the catering staff was so enamored by his antics that they all posed for a photo with him.
That was a magical afternoon, and I would get to have many more interactions with the Phanatic in the following years. Obviously, none of those held a candle to the first time.
Another Phillies personality I’ve gotten to meet multiple times is former relief pitcher and radio broadcaster, Larry Andersen. I received his autograph at a game in 1994, his last season as a player, and then 18 years later, he chose me to ask manager Charlie Manuel a question at a media luncheon. In 2013, I went to Fan Photo Day at Citizens Bank Park, where I basically met every member of the team, including the coaching and media staffs. I personally got a photo taken with Cole Hamels, and when ‘LA’ came by, I coyly asked him if he had a “Shallow Thought for the day,” like the late, great Harry Kalas used to do when they were broadcast partners in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Without missing a beat, he responded in his classic deadpan delivery, “We all know the speed of light, but what’s the speed of dark?”
I also had some fun with a Phillies player that day. When Delmon Young (remember when he was a Phillie??) made his way to me, I decided that I was going to flip the cliché home run request on its head. I told him I was sitting in the 400 section behind home plate and asked if he could hit a foul ball to me. He chuckled somewhat nervously and said, “Ok.” Sadly, Young was not able to fulfill my request. Oh well.
This last story is pretty short, but I know I’ll be telling it for years. Last year, I went to a Phillies game with some friends, and the one friend who secured the tickets managed to get us seats behind home plate only several rows up from the field. I took great delight in cheering and heckling louder than I ever had before. Another bonus about sitting that close is you might see a famous baseball face. A few innings into the game, I did a double-take when I realized that former, disgraced Phillies General Manager, Ruben Amaro, Jr., had taken a seat directly across the aisle. I believe at this point, he was a scout for the Mets. Over the next few innings, I worked up the nerve to say something to him, and when I got up to head for concessions, I extended my hand and thanked him emphatically for bringing Cliff Lee back to Philly in 2011. He accepted the handshake but gave me a bewildered look. I’m assuming he either thought I was being sarcastic or that I was drunk. My compliment may have been a tad in jest, but I was sincerely happy that he re-signed Cliff Lee a year after letting him walk. It was probably the only thing Amaro did right while he was GM.
No comments:
Post a Comment