Fourth Time's a Charm?

Hey there everyone – As mentioned in an earlier entry, Dana, Erica and I are headed back down to the Sunshine State for our 4th Annual trip to the Yankees Spring Training Camp. Can’t believe it’s the fourth time for us crazy gals! Seems like just yesterday we saw Mark Teixeira for the first time and immediately fake-married him on the first base line… oh, the memories!

Anyway, I’ve been working mad crazy hours in an effort to get all my work done in the next week in order for us to properly enjoy our vacation, but I am more than happy to take a moment to work at what I consider my real job as a Pinstripe Lover to reflect on this way-too-long offseason and all the amazeballs times to come!

So, what else? AJ’s gone, Andy’s back (can I get an Amennnn?!), Mark’s been “juicing” all winter somewhere down on I-95, and Jeter’s still finding his way up I-95 to my house to sweep me off my feet so we can elope …he must be lost *shrug*.

Well, while I’ve been patiently waiting for my manz Derek, I’ve been watching every Yankees related thing that I could find just to get a taste of enjoying my fave boys again, but when I finally got to see a spring training game on live TV last night, let me tell you – I was totally buggin’ out! Like, just the sight of those fresh, well-rested faces and those lean bodies scattered about the infeld (no disrespect to the OF’s, but I’m an infielder junkie…) brought a tear to me eye – no lie!

Woo! Ok…As I pat my temples with a cool cloth, let’s talk about the 4th Annual – Four. Something about the number four … I feel like it’s special. It’s supposed to represent order, completeness, totality. Four seasons. Four cardinal points. A four leaf clover (says Dana and Erica). The Core Four. You feel it, right??

What does this all mean though? That, perhaps, we will finally meet Jeter at a local Tampa Starbucks? I mean, I think so. :D People have been mentioning to me lately that they think it’s “my time”… my time to meet him, to say what I need to say…to prove we’re soul mates!! With that said, I can only hope that the next time I am blogging, it will be from a king size bed covered in 900-thread-count sheets in a 30,000 square foot waterfront mansion overlooking Tampa Bay! Juuuust sayin’…

So, stay tuned for stories from our latest adventure – we will be attending three games…even making the trip with the guys to Kissimmee for an away game! We’re also staying an extra day this time and plan to go to the beach…which is a really big deal because the only time we get anything close to a tan while in Florida is when our faces and chests are beet red from seeing hot Yankees glance our way!

Oh, and we’ll be heading to the Bronx at least nine times this summer now that we are, ahem…. season ticket holders! We will be catching some rays – and hopefully a few A-bombs from A-Rod – in the bleachers and will, no doubt, have lots of fun stories to report…See you on the 4 train!

Love,

g

Yankee Stadium Tour, let me tell you something..that accent, will get you everywhere!

Erica here. I was asked by my loving sister Dana if I wanted to be a guest blogger this week, recapping our second Yankee Stadium tour (the first was at the old stadium) on a b-bitter cold day in February. With two days till Valentine’s Day, what better way to replace the chocolates and flowers with some Yankee pinstripe love? How appropriate, considering that’s the name of this blog…whoa, genius!

When you last saw Dana and Gina, Gina was creating her own version of 12 Days of Christmas (still laughing over that one)! So, with that in mind, we went to the Holy Land that is Yankee Stadium, and let me tell you, it’s never a dull moment when the three of us are together.

Let me first start off by saying that we consider ourselves traveling veterans to and from Yankee Stadium, but this time, we found ourselves a little lost…cut to the three of us (picture it!) chilling out (literally chilling) in the vestibule of Marble Hill train station taking videos and pictures and singing “That Thing You Do” all while looking at the beautiful view of the East River…clearly, this was NOT our intended destination. It looked nothing like Yankee Stadium. But, fortunately, the next train came along and we were on our way :))

I don’t know about my sister or Gina, but walking across the street to the Stadium, I couldn’t feel my legs or my feet. Did I mention it was b-bitter cold outside?? Yeah, keep that in mind throughout this blog: the dedication, the fanaticism, the reward (standing next to Mariano’s special door) That’s us in a nutshell.

Pictures all around. First stop was the Yankee Stadium Museum…what’s better than checking out a whole wall full of signed b-baseballs, learning some already known history about the Iron Horse, (c’mon, look who you’re talking to here), and getting a glimpse of Thurman Munson’s locker, still in tact? Well, I’ll tell you what’s better, and I’m sure Gina will agree…it’s the once again, already known statement that Derek Jeter has two lockers in the clubhouse, one for him and one for his fan mail. The popularity is endless…nuff said.

Personally, the highlight of the day was stepping on the field. (I swore to never wipe my feet again). This was an event that didn’t happen way back when while on the old stadium tour because another team was using the field that day. So, this time around, our gaping mouths could be seen from Jupiter—if you check out the pictures (see below) everyone around us seems a little Debbie Downer if ya know what I mean. We, on the other hand, never take such things for granted. We took every possible picture at every possible angle and even had a signature “Original Peaches” photo shoot on the field. Footnote: if you don’t know what I mean by “Original Peaches” well, you really shouldn’t be reading this blog…”Batter up, hear that call, the time has come, for one and all, to plaaaaaaay ball!” Live it. Learn it. Love it.

We ended the day with some burgers and ice cream at the Hard Rock Café. Gina arranged her hot fudge sundae in the shape of Jeter’s head…haha, kidding people! But don’t think she wasn’t thinking about it. All in all, it was a nice reminder of things to come, namely, b-baseball in the sunshine, the roar of the crowd during a game winning homerun, the Swisher Salute, and let’s not forget, the return of Andy Pettitte. I think that’s a good way to end, more blogging on that subject later :)) Here’s to 28 in 2012!

--Erica

So long Jorgie!

As Gina, Erica and I gear up for our 4th annual spring training excursion, we need to take a moment to say goodbye to one of our childhood mainstays, Jorge Posada. I know, it’s a little late here, but I think we all needed some time to wrap our heads and hearts around this one, watch a few Yankees Classics, and reflect on the time we got to spend with #20.

First of all, we can add Jorgie’s press conference to the list of Yankees related, live-coverage videos that I cried at while watching at my desk at work. The Yankees organization, once again, knows how to get me and I’m sure a lot of other Yankees fans with their ridiculous displays of pomp and circumstance. I mean, rolling out Thurman Munson’s widow, families affected by craniosynostosis, World Series trophies, and of course, assorted teammates including Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The Yes Network covers these events with the solemnity and seriousness of a presidential state of the union address, and we all thank them for that, because if we were in charge of the network, that’s how we would do it.

The baseball season takes up almost the whole year for us Yankees fans. We start paying attention in late February and we’re always still in it come October, and sometimes, with a little luck in November too, so our favorite players pretty much become like family members. And Jorge was a crucial part of the latest incarnation of “our” Yankees dynasty that the three of us grew up with. We were always ready for him to step to the plate, no batting gloves, tapping the pine tar and guessing his pitches. Jorge always played the game right, with a fire in his belly and his heart on his sleeve. That’s why it was so hard to watch him be relegated to DH and then bench player last year. But he did an awesome job in the playoffs, even though everyone wrote him off and he proved something to us and to himself with that. So it was a fitting end to his career, and in my opinion, the right time for him to hang it up.

So, as we restart the hall of fame clock on our old friend Andy Pettitte, we also say goodbye to our dear Jorgie Posada. Thanks for the memories Jorge – threatening to punch out the lights of opposing players that throw at our guys, yelling at umpires from the top step, the phrase “painfully slow” coined by Michael Kay for your running skills that still remains in our vernacular to this day, throwing your catcher’s mask at the gut of too many umpires to count on the foul pop, but mostly for being a Yankee your whole career, and one of the greats at that. We’re raising a glass to Jorge Posada, yelling “Geeeorrrrgeee” like Betty Spaghetti in A League of Their Own and saying farewell to a major part of the Yankee family.

Thanks for the memories Jorge! You will be missed and we hope to see you at spring trainings, Old Timers’ Days, and if we can ever afford it someday, the Ladies Fantasy Camp where we will miraculously forget how to play so you and Tino can show us how to hold a bat!

--Dana

12 Days of Christmas - NYY Edition

Hello there! I know what you're thinking: Why have you girls been gone for so long? Well, here at Pinstripe Love, we're not all about stating the obvious. We like to take our time and be thoughtul with our posts. I mean, you already know that we won the AL East but nothing else, Tex popped up 600 times, Mo saved 600, and Jeter is still saving himself for, well, ....me.

So, for now, I would like to just round out the holiday season with a little "12 days of Christmas" - NYY Edition. And then, that's it! It's all about leaving 2011 behind and looking forward (because harping on the fact that Jeter wasn't under my Christmas tree for the sixteenth year in a row would just be wrong...gosh, I even left a dish of brown rice and a venti coffee from Starbucks...I'm sooooo unlucky).

Ok, enjoy!

Twelve beers for numbing, (to calm our nerves around hot Yankees)
Eleven games pinstriping, (mighta been more at the Stadium this year...)
Ten nights of weeping, (all due to DJ3K)
Nine hotties glancing, (ahh - Mark! ;) )
Eight innings chilling, (we wake up for the 9th...)
Seven weeks of gymming, (for spring training!)
Six hours of Michael Kay-ing, (including pre- and post-games)
Five World Series rings, (oh, Derek!)
Four slurrrrred words, (after 7 innings of booze)
Three blazin' men, (guess who...)
(at least) Two gold glove snubs,
And another season with my favorite Lees!

Here's to another slammin' season of Yankees baseball! Please note that Pinstripe Love will be visiting the Yankees Spring Training camp for the fourth time this March, so stay tuned for our recap and 2012 predictions...and maybe a sprinkling of ca-razzzy Tampa moments brought to you by yours truly (and my besties, Dana and Erica!!). I will leave you with some Jeter quotes that I've come across over the years to keep us all amped up for the good times ahead!!:

"God, I hope I wear this jersey forever."
"Yankee Stadium is my favorite stadium. I'm not going to lie to you. There's a certain feel you get in Yankee Stadium."
"My heroes, my dreams, and my future lie in Yankee Stadium, and they can't take that from me."
"I think everyone is ticklish. You just gotta find the right spots." <--- whaaaat? yes, please!!


See you next year, g

The Best Rain-Out Ever!

Gina and I ventured out to Yankee Stadium with the tickets we bought with our StubHub credit from the DJ3K rain out in July. Of course, we got rained out again! But not before we added to our repertoire of Yankee adventures. On the drive in, I was monitoring Twitter for the weather details and came across a tweet for Michael Kay's radio show on ESPN radio. It said he was broadcasting live from a bar across the street from the stadium. Gina and I were literally overcome...WHAT? Could this be for real? So, we parked and headed to the bar. Sure enough we walk through to the back of the bar, and there he is -- my man Michael Kay. I immediately clutched my heart (seriously) which is right when he turned and looked at the doorway seeing me acting a fool! Typical for me and G, especially when we're together.

I just have to say, I have always loved Michael Kay and his voice on the broadcast along with Bobby Murcer, Jim Kaat and Ken Singleton...it's what I grew up on. In my family, it's pretty typical to hear baseball quotes in regular conversation, such as: "that's the fallacy of the pre-determined outcome, you can't assume the double play in that situation" or "you study long you study wrong" or "he was not enamored with that call" or "keep it simple stupid" or the great standard "...the aforementioned New York Yankees." I could go on and on.

So, Gina and I waited until the first commercial break, and after reading a lengthy promo, Michael took off his head-set and greeted some fans, including us. We were able to have a quick chat with Michael Kay and take a picture. He was witty and gracious and just really nice to us. I also got to tell him the story I always said I would tell him if I got the opportunity to meet him, and that is that I used the word "aforementioned" from his copyright bit in every single paper I wrote in college as an english major at Quinnipiac. True story. I'm literally laughing as I typed that last part, because I consciously did put that word in every paper, because I told Michael Kay that story to his face and because he actually knew what I meant! We shook hands again and that was that.

We walked into the stadium on cloud nine and were ready with our ponchos to stick out any length of rain delays to see our Yanks play. We took our first trip to Monument Park in the new stadium where we bowed our heads at Roger Maris' plaque, bowed to Donnie Baseball's #23 and rubbed our sweat on Babe Ruth's forehead. Then we visited Derek's 'Jeter's Flakes' poster in the food court and made our way to the seats. Shortly after we got to section 232, the announcement was made postponing the game. We took the nearest stairs out of the ball park, which let us out onto River Ave behind the bleachers. As Gina and I joked about how we might see Jeter leaving the ballpark, there was his Ford Edge, no tints. I think at this point Gina might have partly collapsed. I jumped up and down, waving and yelling, "Derek, Derek!" Then Derek Jeter actually turned his head, looked right at us and waved!! Really? We went to four spring training games this past March and not even a nod from DJ. So now this time, Gina was really overcome and just flat-out cried. So the night came to a close with us embracing under the subway tracks on River Ave, tears and raindrops streaming down our faces. Just the best rain-out ever! See our slideshow below:

-- Dana

DJ is single and ready to mingle......with us?

Sounds of Derr-ek Jee-terr chants rang through my house this morning....but it was 7am...no game on, infomercials were still playing on the YES Network, so no tear-jerker Yankeeorgraphies....nothing. Just me being crazy and displaying random love for Jeter on this Friday morning, perhaps? That wouldn't be a stretch, but there's something different about today.

We all awoke to reports that Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly, his womans of three and a half years, have split! As you recall, I recently wrote about the DJ3K documentary (see: Straight From the Heart: A Review of DJ3K special) and how 1. Minka Kelly sucks at life and 2. Jeter and I are soulmates. Wow. Did he hear me or something? Or was it just that she said really dumb things (in a fairly annoying voice) about how she didn't know anything about baseball? I mean, I'm SURE he knew about her lack of baseball knowledge from day one, but for it to be highlighted on HBO for the world to see...that had to be embarassing. I was pretty much embarassed FOR him! He joked about how she had posters of him on her wall in high school, which wasn't true...she didn't even know who he was!! What-ever - I STILL have Jeter posters on my wall...they help me sleep, ok?

My guess, among other outlandish things that I will keep to myself, is that he turned 37, re-evaluated life a little bit, and realized that maybe this isn't the ONE...it's not the chick he's going to marry and/or have kids with. And maybe she was pressuring him..who knows? (I would probably pressure him after 3 1/2 weeks, not years, but.......) But I mean, she ain't special...She's gaining popularity, doing movies in LA, probably meeting all kinds of other dudes out there...and, not to mention, is just a straight up annoying person in general. He don't want none of that! No diamond ring for you, chica. The only diamond he's thinking about is over near River Ave. in the Bronx...and we'd like to keep it that way! And Dana called this whole thing...she knew it. She said it many times this year. But if I told you that I thought we would all be sitting here in mid/late 2011 as single people, I would be lying. But, uh, since we are....call us, Derek...I am damn near going to Yankee Stadium and putting my cell phone number on a poster like that broad did for Ryan Braun in Milwaukee..I mean, he called her back, didn't he?

The point is, is that I looooove Jeter, with all my heart, more than anything in the world...and so, naturally, I only want what's best for him. And personally, I think that's me.

Love,
G

Welcome Back Chuck Knoblauch

Recently, Gina and I made our triumphant return to Twitter. We signed up a few years ago, but never really got into it. So around April of this year, we came back. Gina starting following the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block and I starting following the Glee cast and all the nerd outlets, but most importantly, we both started following all of our Yankees guys: Teixeira, Joba, Swisher, DRob, Hughes, Martin, Granderson, Robinson, Bernie, and Chuck Knoblauch.

Most of the time, none of the celeb/athlete’s answer you back.…except of course for Chuck Knoblauch. #11 is always good for a response, even if it’s just “good morning.” So, every once in awhile, we get on Twitter and tell Chuck how much we love him…and he says “thanks.”

Lately, Knobby has been having contests on Twitter. Each time he reaches his next 1,000 followers, he gives out 10 autographed photos. When he hit 10,000 I won one. Here’s a pic:

Sidebar: This Chucky Knobs resurgence prompted Gina and me to head to the archives, namely the storage boxes in my closet at home labeled, “Yankees clippings & school papers.” We found stacks of New Haven & New York papers from the 98-00 World Series runs, as well as clippings and home-made collages of Yankees that used to hang in our lockers in high school. At one point, we found an old student planner of mine that amongst the homework and due dates for assignments had the score of each playoff game. Bottom line: we were just awesome!

So, let’s talk about Chucky Knobs. First of all, as much as I L-O-V-E Knobby and all the guys from the dynasty teams, I can’t pretend that he was MY MAIN MAN back in the day, that honor goes to Tino Martinez and is for another blog post (I played 1st base all through little league and school). But he was definitely my sister’s #1 man. I told her I was writing this, so she submitted a little piece. Here it is:

“Upon hearing my sister had won Chuck Knoblauch's autograph...what can I say? I was happy for the broad. If I was Twitter obsessed I'm sure I would have gone after it too...so Dana, congratulations, I can't wait to see your Chucky Knobs autograph on display in your crib...besides, I'd much rather have Chuck, circa 1998, in his chunky white turtle neck sweater that he wore on Good Morning America after the Yanks won the World Series...talk about drool, that image is forever burned in my memory. And besides that too, I honor Chuck every time I step to the plate, curl my fingers around the handle of the bat and cock it ever so slightly towards the umpire. Yes Chuck, sincerely, Your Biggest Fan, Erica :))”

I swear everytime we have a conversation about Knoblauch or the Yanks, my sister and my mom mention that GMA interview! But I think it is really cool that Erica bats like Knobby. In fast-pitch softball, all the girls are sort of expected to have the same quiet stance -- bat rested flat on your shoulder until the pitch is on its way and you lift it ever so slightly -- but try as the coaches would, they couldn't get her to stop batting like Chuck :) Here's a pic of Erica still at it in her slow-pitch league:

Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, All Star and World Champion. When you play professional baseball, those are the things that you’re striving to achieve, and Knoblauch has gotten all of them. Knobby was a great player for the Yanks, he fit into the hotness of the infield (I swear that’s part of the Yankee contract) and was a staple in the lineup during our most recent “winning” years. A hottie among hotties in New York when it was standard fare to see our guys jumping all over each other on a big pile of pinstripes in the middle of the field, champagne flowing and ticker tape streaming through the air.

During the recent Yankees dynasty years, Gina and I were 12-16 years old. So, when we think about all that was awesome in our lives...no work, no bills, summer vacations, being a kid...we think about baseball and hotdogs, perfectly manicured green grass and a bright blue sky, we think about the Yankees...and we think about Chuck Knoblauch. We do, we think about Chuck…and Tino, Derek, Jorgey, Paully, Bernie, Andy, and the rest, because those were “our” guys -- as I’m sure everyone thinks back to the times when they just used to watch and enjoy baseball without worrying about the trade deadline or the DL or whatever topic was hot news on talk radio, and just tuned in for the players that they watched and loved every day as a kid. So, we just want to say: “Thanks Chuck” for putting yourself back out there and coming back into our lives. We truly appreciate it.

Follow Chuck on twitter: @chuckknoblauch and visit his website

-- Dana