A Day at the WCBS FanFest

That's pretty good form there, Jimmy.

Jimmy was one of the many kids at the WCBS Yankee FanFest at Mullalley Park in the South Bronx Saturday. He and several of his buddies were taking their hacks in the batting cage against the automatic pitching machine.

"Did you see that….I clocked one."

Even the Babe agreed. A gentleman who was a dead ringer for Babe Ruth-plump belly, round face, vintage 1927 wool uniform soaking up sweat in the 88 degree heat-walked around the batting cage shouting encouragement to Jimmy and all other kids.

The Babe even mesmerized fans with some magic tricks. There were lots of laughs all around, not to mentions some puzzled looks.

"How'd ya do that, Babe."

"Ain't telling…it takes 30 years of hard work."

I couldn't help but wonder how the Babe could stand the heat in that wool Yankee uniform. That  must be a magic trick too, I thought.

For those not interested in taking hacks in the batting cage or hanging with the Babe, there were autograph lines to stand in for Graig Nettles, Goose Gossage, Mickey Rivers Ron Blomberg and Mike Torrez.

At one point, after Torrez did his stint, he was circling behind me, talking on his cell phone. I had to resist the temptation of thanking him for serving up that pop fly homer to Bucky Dent back in 1978…I decided against it, not wanting to be rude. (To be fair, Mike Torrez was an important ingredient for the 1977 World Championship Yankee team, for whom he won 14 games. Billy Martin considered him a warrior.)

Torrez was impeccably dressed in pressed tan pants, alligator loafers, and a nifty silk shirt. For the record, I was sweating profusely in a FDNY T-shirt. My Yankee hat gained 7 pounds of sweat; the T-shirt, 11 pounds. The temperature was now 91 degrees.

The New York Knicks cheerleaders went on stage and danced; they were dressed in skimpy outfits that suited the hot weather just fine, but then Michael Bolton was announced. At that moment, I suddenly realized why I enjoy the movie Office Space.
 
I was enjoying the day so much that I was not prepared for the disheartening jolt that Bolton gave to my system, so I wandered out to the street to interview some fans and passersbys.

I walked into a bar below called The Dugout and ordered a Diet Coke (I was technically working since I was going to go live on the air on WCBS 880 in between games of the double header). There were four feisty youths there all wearing four different Red Sox jerseys: Varitek, Papelbon, Ortiz, Ramirez. They were smashed, boisterous, and stirring up the rest of the Pro-Yankee crowd as the Sox took a 4-2 lead.

I spoke to the guy in the Varitek shirt. He was in his mid-20s and his arms were heavily tattooed.

"Nice to see you guys haven't lost you edge, being 11 ½ games behind and all."

He replied, "Red Sox, baby. I'm diehard."

I asked why he wasn't at the game and he told me they were going to the nightcap and getting primed for it by watching the first game at The Dugout. 

"Ya, well just don't wander over to Stan's," I warned him. "They'll kick your asses over there."

As the four of them headed to Stan's Bar, I went back to the FanFest and walked behind the WCBS radio booth and got a chance to talk to Mickey Rivers.

"Hey Mickey, what made you realize that Bucky's bat was cracked?"

I was referring to the 1978 playoff game against Boston when Mickey's astute observation allowed Dent to change bats. The rest was history, courtesy of the dapper Mike Torrez.

"Man's bat was cracked." Rivers patted me on the back and smiled. I had never met Rivers before. It was good to see him at ease, having fun, kidding around with Nettles and Gossage.

A word about Goose: He went out of his way to greet and talk to as many fans as possible. He was sincere and outgoing and the fans really love him. Goose has this unique way of slightly cocking his head to his right and leaning in slightly when you ask him a question. This creates the perception that he paying intense interest in what you have to say. I thanked him for popping up Yaz for the final out of the 1978 playoff game. I hope he never gets tired about hearing about that one.

By the time that Goose and Nettles announced the winner of the "Most Passionate Fan Contest," the goings-on were being broadcast live on WCBS 880 radio. I'm not sure how the winner was chosen, but the guy was pretty darn happy about it.

WCBS News Radio 88 sports anchors Jared Max and KC Conners then did a live radio show that lasted until the pre-game for Game 2 of the doubleheader-it was about an hour-and-a-half of live air time. After Bill Madden was interviewed, Jared and KC put me on the air for about five minutes and I got to tell people from Baltimore to Bangor (880 has a long reach) that my biggest concern is that Torre can't handle a bullpen. I felt a bit evangelical spouting out stats and observations of how Proctor and Villone are being abused, just like those who came before them-Quantrill, Strutze, Karsay,  etc. It was therapeutic to vent about this on the air. The folks at NYYFANS would have loved it. Torre…not so much.

It was a long hot day at the park. But the FanFest was a great service to the community and I'm glad to have been part of it. 

As I was leaving, I overheard Goose say to Nettles, "Puff, c'mon. Let's go." Clearly, Nettles and Goose were heading out to dinner somewhere in Manhattan.

I got in my car and headed North on 95, tuning into the pre-game chatter of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Thankfully, the Yanks were only playing the Red Sox, so there was no angst.

After all, it's not like the Yanks were taking on a pennant contender like the Twins or Tigers. To paraphrase William Faulkner, losing to the Red Sox these days are defeats in which no one losing anything of value.