September 01, 2004
Sign That Delegate!
Posted by The Editors | 10:22 AM
Wow, the mighty New York Yankees endure the worst loss in their storied franchise when 15,000 journalists happen to be in town. Meanwhile, the lowly Mets, in a free-fall out of the playoff hunt, continue to make a splash during convention week.
Pitchers Tom Glavine and Al Leiter mingled with the media at the Saturday night party for journalists, then held court Tuesday at Shea Stadium (with teammate Todd Zeile) as numerous delegates and their families toured the facility, took batting practice, shagged fly balls, wandered through the dugout and, of course, eagerly sought autographs and photos.
But the real star of the day turned out to be delegate Jerry Collins, an accountant from Marietta, Ga., who cranked the afternoon's only home run -- a drive that just cleared the fence and bounced off the left-field foul pole. Collins quickly got a taste of fame as reporters swarmed around him, asking what he thought about going deep in a major league ballpark. Displaying a true athlete's hunger for more, the jovial Collins replied: "I'm a little sad the wind's blowing in."
Too bad George Steinbrenner wasn't watching. Collins might've received an offer he couldn't refuse. -- From Jason Thompson, NationalJournal.com
 |
