Hangin' With the Yankees

In January of 1997, a 20-year reunion of the great 1977-78 New York Yankees World Championship teams took place in Atlantic City for the players to sign baseballs, bats and other memorabilia of that unforgettable era.

I had a number of theme balls in my collection and wanted them to be signed by many of the players, including Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent, Ron Guidry, etc. I packed my bags with about forty theme balls and flew from L.A. to Philadelphia, but the snow and sleet were so intense that all buses to the two-day event were cancelled.

Members of the '78 Yankees congratulate Bucky Dent after his memorable homer against the Red Sox on October 2, 1978.

When a cabbie finally stopped to pick me up, a guy in the back seat said: "If you're going to Atlantic City, we can share this cab." I threw my bags into the trunk and got in, only to realize that there was one guy in the back and one in front seat: Cliff Johnson and Brian Doyle, both prominent members of the 1977/78 Yankees team! Doyle was the 1977 World Series MVP that year.

During the long cab ride down to "A.C.", the three of us reminisced about Reggie, Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner. They told me great inside stories about what it was like to be a Yankee during those winning years, for instance, that Reggie Jackson, the star of the team could be your best friend or your worst enemy at the drop of a dime. It was clear that they enjoyed hearing a fan's perspective about things such as what it was like to witness Bucky Dent's stunning homerun against Boston in their one-game play-off on October 2nd 1978.

The next day, during the autograph session, they introduced me to the rest of the Yankees team, all whom were enthusiastic about signing my theme balls. Ironically, meeting and reminiscing with guys I rooted hard for turned my travel woes into an incredibly fun experience.