A Great Closer

Back home from Toronto. I'm not sure how long, or how coherent this post will be as I'm pretty bushed. But I wanted to check in with a few quickies.
The Yankees finally won a game. A good way to close out the series, even though the first 2 games were beyond ridiculous. Prior to the game, my friend and I each picked up signed balls by Mariano Rivera. He signed for the 20 or so people waiting for him to get on the bus. Others signed (a handful) but no one that either of us needed. I also caught a glimpse of Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger. He was in town and staying at the Yankees hotel. It was funny when they blocked off the streets and drove through with his motorcade, complete with a police motorcycle escort. Poor Chien-Ming Wang had to wait 5 minutes to cross the street while the po-po waited for him to drive buy.
Congrats to Johnny Damon on hit 2000. We were sitting out in section 104, which is in right-center. When he trotted out to CF after his 2nd hit, we stood up yelled his name, he looked at us, we clapped and gave him one of those "you the man points." He gave us a nod and a tip of the cap. That was cool. But let me backtrack for a second and tell you something cooler. On Monday, we sat in section 104, row 1, seats 7 and 8. Today we sat in section 104, row 1, seats 5 and 6. Damon's leadoff HR landed in section 104, row 1, seat 8. I was in seat 6 and there were people next to me so I didn't catch it. My wife tells me you can see us on TV so for those of you with DVR you might want to check the replay. I've got mine set up to tape. I'm rocking a grey Yankees t-shirt (kind of looks like the road jersey) and my friend is wearing the old BP jersey. But that's not all......
I knew before Tuesday's game that Damon needed 2 hits for 2000. And after his dinger, I couldn't for the life of me remember if he had a hit on Tuesday. I was pretty sure he didn't, but wasn't positive. During the Jays pitching change in the 1st, I slid over to the guy that had the ball and offered him another ball and 15 Canadian dollars for the ball. He had originally handed the ball to his female companion. They were Jays fans so i didn't think they'd care if they gave it up. The guy thought about it for about 2 seconds and then handed over the ball. So, I am in possession of Damon's 1st inning HR. It might not have been hit #2000, but it's still a deal I was happy to make. I'll eventually get him to sign it (Johnny signs all the time) and I'll ask him to put something on it like "Hit# 1999, HR#157, 5/30/07." Or something like that. Either way, I'm happy. It's my 1st HR ball. I'm not counting it as a "caught" HR ball though. That's still on my list of things to do. One of these days.
I got wind of the "Stray-Rod" story this morning when I was hanging outside the player's hotel. There was a reporter there from The Toronto Sun who had a copy of the photo from the Post along with a copy of the story. He was basically there to get a story. He actually took quotes from my friend Dan and I, along with a few pictures of us reading the story, and it's supposed to run in tomorrow's edition (I'll link it up when they put it up). I'm really interested to see if I'm "misquoted" in anyway. This was basically my take:

1. A-Rod's an idiot if he is actually cheating on his wife with the "mystery blond." Alex is pretty recognizable and I'm pretty sure that he's well aware that eyes are watching.
2. If he did cheat, who's to say what kind of "arrangement" he and his wife have. For all we know, they have an "open" marriage. There were reports of he and the missus being swingers a few years back, so who knows? But again, I don't think he's cheating on her. Guy ain't dumb.
3. The story itself was written like it was by an 8 year old. And notice that there aren't any reports of them being all over each other in the strip club or anything like that. The guy from the Toronto Sun was headed over to the strip club to see what he could uncover, so maybe things will change.
4. Guys go to strip clubs.
5. Nobody (at this time) knows who the mystery blond is. And honestly, we probably never will know. A-Rod shouldn't have to justify what goes on in his private life.
6. He stayed at a different hotel last year also. It really has no bearing on the story from a sexploit standpoint.

I can't wait to see if I'm misquoted. I believe I uttered the phrase, "If he did it, maybe he had his wife's permission." I can see them lopping of the beginning and end of the statement and it reading "Jay, a Yankee fan from Buffalo, says, "he did it." Anyway, look for me in the Toronto Sun tomorrow.
edited to add @ 10:55am 5/31- I checked out the e-version of the Toronto Sun's story and it looks like they didn't use any of my quotes. I'll have to look for the hard copy to see if the photo is at least in there.
All things considered, we had a pretty great time up there. Reggie's profanity filled tirade being the highlight of course. No a bad haul on the memorabilia tip:

1. Ron Guidry signed ball
2. Don Mattingly signed ball
3. Reggie Jackson signed ball
4. Robinson Cano signed ball
5. Alex Rodriguez signed ball
6. Mariano Rivera signed ball
7. Johnny Damon's 1999th hit

In addition to that, my friend Dan has signed balls from Joe Torre, Miguel Cairo, and Ken Singleton. Not too shabby. It was definitely more that I could have imagined.
Holy wow, it's just about 3:30 in the am. Tomorrow, I'll catch up on the comments and get reacquainted with my fellow Yankee bloggers posts. Right now, I need me some sleep.
edited to add @10:55am on 5/31- why am I up already??
So much for a few quickies.
J