Yankee Fan Fest 1996

Back by popular demand, I'm going to write more than 1 blog today, but it deals with the Yankees - which isn't a topic that some of my loyal readers like ChosenOne loves. Sorry ChosenOne, I hope you still idolize me. I'll keep it brief. I promise.

In early 1996, I attended the Yankee FanFest with my cousin. The FanFest was held before the season - which turned out to be the Yankees first championship in the 1990s dynasty years - and for a small fee you could stand in line for hours waiting for the signature of your favorite Yankee.

I managed to get some pretty sweet signatures that day, including one: from the new manager - who no one believed in -- Joe Torre; from Jim Leyritz - who had not yet hit the defining Game 3 1996 World Series home run of his career; Andy Pettitte - a young pup at the time; Don Zimmer - who hadn't pissed off George Steinbrenner yet; and Michael Kay - then of WABC Radio broadcaster and long before the YES Network was a twinkle in the Boss's eye.

This story though is about the biggest autograph I got and biggest line I stood in that day. The line wrapped around the FanFest facility where scores of people waited for the signature of an up and coming Yankee Rookie.

I still remember fans saying that day how he was going to become the next Yankee great. The Yankees sure believed it, as they gave the kid #2, a single digit number reserved only for such greats as Ruth, Gehrig, Berra, DiMaggio, etc. News camera crews believed it too. Fox was there and caught a glimpse of a young Paperboy, standing on the long line, who also believed that Derek Jeter was going to be something big.

After a long wait and a cameo on Fox News, I reached the front of the line and Jeter. I looked right at the young Jeter - he who was not yet soiled by Mariah Carey - and will never forget what happened next. ....He was wearing the exact same Aeropostle sweater that I was wearing at the time. I mentioned it to him. He said nonchalantly: "oh yeah, cool." He signed my ball and I went on my merry way.

Eleven Years Later that Derek Jeter autographed ball still sits on the bookshelf in my house. And last night, Derek Jeter hit a single in the 2nd inning for his 2,215th career hit as a Yankee. The hit vaulted him into fifth place on the all-time Yankees hit list in front of the great Joe DiMaggio. Guess Jeter turned out to be a great one, huh?