MLB’s All-Star Fan Fest is an event full of interactive games, autograph signings, and lots of baseball memorabilia. This year it was held at the Javits Center in Manhattan, and last Friday I stole a colleague’s kid and tried to experience the event through the wide eyes of a Little Leaguer.
In an attempt to sound big-brotherly I told his mother that I was going to reinforce to him that if he does well in school and works hard, he can get a job like mine that includes interviewing baseball stars while the rest of the country is doing hard labor or time behind a desk. In reality, I brought him because I didn’t want to embarrass myself in the batting cage in front of any of my colleagues. Anyways, I put the kid to work by telling him that it was his duty to be a journalist and feed me his thoughts throughout the day.
-While looking at an 1888 tobacco baseball card: “This is the oldest thing that I’ve ever seen.”-Checking out Thurman Munson’s World Series trophy: “My mom said this is from Tiffany.”
-Looking at a glove from the early 1900’s: “So that’s why they used to tell you to use both hands to catch.”
-Examining a scale model of the new Yankee Stadium: “Sick.” Ed note: he used ‘sick’ a lot to connote that something was sweet. He used it for the biggest baseball in the world, the faux locker room, the video gaming truck, the “strike Jeter out game” and his soft serve ice cream cone.
-“Where has this been all my life?” he said as we entered the hall containing shops selling baseball cards.
-“Who’s that?” When walking by the hours-long line to get Mickey Rivers’s autograph.
-“How many homeruns do you think you can hit?” he asked me before we both tried our hand at Home Run Derby. For the record on embarrassing myself in the batting cages- the kid only popped one ball up, I only made clean contact with two of my 15 pitches and neither had any distance.
Finally, his big debut as a reporter came during a press conference when he posed Harold Reynolds and Billy Sample a tough question: “Are you disappointed that they are knocking down Shea and Yankee Stadium?”
Reynolds: I am disappointed that Yankee Stadium is being torn down so they can build more skyboxes. By vacating the House the Ruth Built, though, it is going to allow younger players to make their own memories in the new stadium. And Shea, I’m not disappointed about.
Sample: They could use old Yankee Stadium for another ten years, but Shea was already ten years out-of-date when they first built it in the 60s.
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Comments on this entry:
Hi Rocky-
Thanks for taking me to the all star fest. i had so much fun. it was great being able to cut all the lines except for one. I was able to do everything i wanted and more. i even got a mariano rivera rookie card. thanks Rocky!
GO YANKEES!!!!!!