Hanni and I have a soft spot for those Yankees. Starting after this weekend.
The Yankees come to Chicago this weekend, and like always, I’m rooting for my White Sox to sweep ‘em. I must admit, though, that a story on espn.com this week has left me with a soft spot for those Damn Yankees.
Last Tuesday Manager Joe Girardi and pitchers David Robertson, Chad Gaudin and Joba Chamberlain surprised my fellow Seeing Eye graduate and baseball fan Jane Lang as she left her house with her dog Clipper on the way to that night’s Yankees game. From the ESPN story:
They didn’t have a limo. They didn’t have a fleet of Suburbans. They had only sneakers. They were going to make the journey with her.
“Oh my God!” Jane said.
“We think you’re amazing,” Girardi said.
“Follow me,” Clipper seemed to say.
You have to understand what a two-hour, one-way journey to a baseball game takes for somebody like Jane. She’s been blind since birth, and these trips have not always turned out well. Once, some kids decided it would be fun to spin her around a few dozen times. Another time, she fell onto the subway tracks and was nearly killed. But ever since she got a guide dog, she’s been intrepid.
Jane’s special trip to Yankee Stadium Tuesday was part of the Yankees’ “Hope Week.” When the whole thing was over, the Yankees gave $10,000 to The Seeing Eye in Jane’s honor. I’m wondering if they plan on taking advantage of a special deal the Seeing Eye provides to big donors: if you donate $5000 or more to the Seeing Eye, you have the privilege of naming a puppy. Just imagine. When I return to the Seeing Eye after Hanni retires, I might be matched up with Derek Jeter!
Please don’t embarrass the Yankees this weekend. Though I have a soft spot in my heart for your Sox because of the thrills they gave us when I was a Chicagoan, I am hoping for the opposite results, natch.
I think you ought to let Girardi and the Bronx Bombers know about the opportunity to name a puppy at The Seeing Eye! Jeter or Mo would make a terrific name, don’t you think? How about Yogi? Mr. October is too gender-specific, not to mention l-o-n-g.
Hadn’t considered that a gender-neutral name would be best, just assumed they’d use the Yankee name for a male. But wow, I really do like that name “Mo” and it works for both genders.
As for the series against the White Sox, I think you’ll have an easy time of it tonight, Freddy Garcia is pitching for us. The other two games, though…
That’s such a great story about Jane!
There’s a British pub near my place that has sponsored six pups.
They have names like; Ginnis, Basse, Molsum and my favorite (though not theme oriented,) Blarney.
Ha! Maybe my next dog will be Schlitz.
Sounds like this lady’s dog was named for the team: Yankee “Clipper.”
Bob, I was going to post the same thing. How ironic that her dog is named Clipper! Beth, how did that come to pass?
I have no way of knowing how Jane ended up with a dog named Clipper. The Seeing Eye matches you with the dog they think would work best under the conditions you live in – I’m guessing that when Jane went to train with a new dog, the Seeing Eye deemed that Clipper was the best in the string to work in a city and to get through subway stops and train stations. I’m also guessing that if there was more than one dog in the string that would have worked well withJane,
Maybe they took Jane’s love of the Yankees into consideration when they matched her with Clipper. You know, rather than giving her an equally suited dog from the string with the name “Boston” for example.
…!
Nothing beats listening to a good ballgame on the radio. Hoping this weekend doesn’t disappoint…
Joe works for either gender and Girardi has his Chicago connections….Go Cubs!
Oh that is so nice – great story! My son and son in law are big yankee fans so this gives us another reason to cheer for them. However, we have a very fun memory of going to a white sox game years ago so we’ll cheer for them too.
Oh, Becky, you are such a tease! Now you’ll have to tell us the story of going to that White Sox game…
Beth,
Well, Ms. White Sox fan, I’m happy to hear you have a soft spot for the Yanks after all!!! After that story, who wouldn’t? And when you meet up with Jeeter,
I want to be there. LOL
My guy’s dad wrote to tell me when the Today show would have that story, so I was able to catch it. Awesome!
Now if only I could get the Rays’ attention…yes, the Rays, the Tampa Bay Rays. Hey there, Yankees fans. 😉
I’m soooooo rooting for the White Sox this weekend. 😉
Thank God for Gameday audio since I’m a Rays fan in Arizona hehe!
And I have to say Jeter would be a great name for a guide dog. I have to admit, I like him. He’s the only Yankee I like.
I like the Cubs too, so hope they don’t get that Yanks manager. *evil grin*
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