As I mentioned earlier in the week, I can’t tell if the baseball world is enamored with New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter or tired of him.
Let’s break this down.
First, everyone was upset that he was elected to start at shortstop for this past Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Then, on Saturday, dude becomes just the 28th member of the 3000 hit club and it appeared as though the Earth’s orbit was re-configured to circle the Yankees captain instead of the sun.
But then, hate presented itself once again when the guy no one wanted in the All-Star Game to begin with…bowed out.
Huh?
One thing is for certain, when I reached out to my new pal “Bald Vinny” Milano, the de facto leader of the Yankees famed “Bleacher Creatures”, he wasted no time cluing me in as to what his favorite moment has been while in the stands.
Without question…it was sitting with his family in section 203 witnessing Jeter getting hits number 2999, 3000, 3001, 3002 and 3003 this past weekend.
Here are his other favorite Yankees moments.
On September 11, 2009, Derek Jeter got his 2722nd hit as a member of the New York Yankees to surpass Lou Gehrig and become the team’s all-time hit leader.
Milestones are part of the game and luck plays a part in being there when they are achieved. That said, Milano was in the stands for Alex Rodriguez’s 400th (June 8, 2005), 500th (August 4, 2007) and 600th (August 2, 2010) home runs. So, what’s so remarkable about that? Home run number 400 was hit on the road…against the Milwaukee Brewers.
On May 17, 1998, David Wells pitched the 15th perfect game in baseball history, when he blanked the Minnesota Twins 4–0. A few years later, he would claim that he threw the perfect game while being hung over.
On October 16, 2003, the only thing that stood between the Boston Red Sox and going to the World Series was an 11th inning home run by Aaron Boone off Tim Wakefield. This homer was rated the ninth best home run of all time on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight”.
Just seven weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the 2001 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks. For only the third time in World Series history, the home team won every game.
“You watch the videos from 2001 and you remember what the city was like. You remember how baseball picked you up,” Milano told The Hall. “Those memories are all there…that’s the reason I go.”
Think back to all the games you’ve been to…what are your favorite memories?
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