upon meeting me for the first time, the first thing you will probably learn is that i love baseball, and i love the new york yankees.  i can’t help it.  it’s an addiction, an obsession, and the only thing i’ve ever really known.

i’m convinced i was born with a baseball glove on my right hand – yes, i’m left-handed, and have some quirky pride about that as well.  sometimes when my friends quote pop icons from the 90’s [john hughes movies, the goonies, wonder years, etc..), i feel lost.  yeah, i’ve heard of them, but i never really watched that stuff in ‘real time’.  i ask myself, what the heck was i doing as a kid where i don’t get these pop culture references?  and then i remember.  i was outside.  always outside.

i remember mom had a triangle on the back porch, and she would ring it when it’s time for dinner (yes, i’m not making this up!).  summers were spent sleeping in, waking up, and playing baseball.  i would come inside and eat a toasted cheese sandwich for lunch, then go back out for more baseball.  i would wait for dad to get home from work, come back inside to eat dinner, and then, you guessed it – outside for more baseball. it would get dark and i would come inside to watch the yankees on TV – with my dad.

i was a tomboy, still am, and i am ok with that.  i feel baseball builds a special bond with my father and grandfather, and that’s something that can never be broken or changed.  sometimes i feel maybe i’m in love with baseball for that very reason.

anyway, thousands of kids and adults share similar stories like this.  today george steinbrenner, the long-time owner of the new york yankees passed away.  he bought the yankees for about $10 million bucks and turned it into a 1.2 billion powerhouse.  you can hate the yankees for all of their money, but the truth is they were winning before free agency, they sucked, and The Boss brought them back.  their 27th championship was for him, and it was one of the highlights of my life to be in NYC when it happened.  rest in peace george, you will be missed