The morning began very early (5am) with a bittersweet trip to the airport. Philly airport is pretty laughable. I think it took about 90 seconds for me to get from the sidewalk, through security, and to the gate. The guy in line in front of me getting a bagel this morning left his wallet on the counter and I tracked him down to tell him to go back and get it - hopefully a sign that karma will be on my side this trip!
Flight was great - exit row seats have their perks. Seems odd to me though...we took off 30 minutes late but still somehow landed about 10 minutes early. Grabbed a quick shuttle from the airport to the hotel (weird that I remembered the shuttle driver from last year? weirder that he remembered me too?). Checked in at the hotel and the shuttle guy, Mike, offered to drop me off at the complex...sweet.
Immediately went over to the side field just in time to see Jeter and Cano run by, soon to be followed by Arod, Tex, and many others. Batting/fielding practice was underway. I took the time to get to know the people around me - newly engaged couple to the left (I made sure to have them promise me if they got the baseball they were holding signed they would use a ball point pen and not a sharpie); grandma, mom, and kids to my right (the grandma was a Red Sox fan...but surprisingly not an obnoxious one!). We spend the afternoon yelling to the players as they walked by and talking about random stuff - the Yankees, the weather, restaurants around here, etc.
Yogi Berra was at camp today, too. Always good to see him getting shuttled around from field to field in a golf cart. Pretty incredible that he won 10 (10!!) World Series.
One thing I enjoyed about today was seeing some of the younger less well known guys. Soon after Jeter and Cano took the field, Jorge Posada came running on with another guy in uniform running next to him. Amidst the yells for Jorge (hip hip Jorge!), I made sure to get in a 'There we go Brandon Laird!' to which he turned right to me, gave me a thumbs up, and milked it for everything it was worth.
On the autograph front, nobody was really signing today...which was unexpected. Managed to get Brad Suttle (A Ball 3B prospect) on a card and that was about it. Went into Steinbrenner Field for a little after the side fields had ended and watched some of the younger kids practice bunting. As this was happening 'the line' formed. Anyone who has ever been down here to Steinbrenner Field knows about 'the line'. It's pretty much a line of people that begins right next to the Yankees dugout, goes up the stairs to the walkway and starts snaking around the stadium. Last year, I was there on a day when Reggie Jackson was at the end of the line signing autographs. Today I had no idea what the line would be for though. Needless to say, if you see a big line forming, you get in it. The guy behind even asked me what the line was for to which I told him I have no idea - but I told him my Reggie story. Turns out nobody was signing and the line was for nothing....sweet.
Started the walk back to the hotel and figured I'd stop at the Yankees lot exit and watch some of the players leave (I wasn't the only person there - don't think I'm crazy for doing this). Nick Swisher drives a nasty tricked out Camaro, Brett Gardner has a huuuuge SUV, Jeter has his red Corvette, Posada has a reddish (borderline pink?) Jeep type truck looking thing. The color really threw me off though. Finally, Curtis Granderson has a black SUV. How do I know this? Because he stopped his car while leaving the lot and signed some autographs for the few people who still remained there. Managed to get a ball signed and get a picture with him - he actually got out of his car and took pictures with us. Real chill dude and a class act. In reality, it only took about 2 minutes of his time, but it was very cool.That about wraps up Day 1. No success getting the Mariano authentic jersey signed...hopefully tomorrow.
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