Yankee Boys and Girls Club Lunch Tampa

[bigfanNY]

Yesterday I went to the Yankee's Boys and Girls club Lunch. It was advertised that everyone on the current Yankee Roster would attend as well as some past Yankee greats. There were two levels of Tickets General admission for $300 and VIP admission for $1,500. For My Birthday my wife gave me Two General admission Tickets and we went Together.
The Crowd was a very diverse mix of folks From local Businessmen to Autograph collectors from all over the US to local Yankee fans. We got there at 8:00am and there were about twenty folks ahead of us by 11:00 am when the autograph session started there were about 250. The VIP line was allowed in 20 minutes ahead of the General admission line so had 40 Minutes to get autographs where we had 20.
In attendance were Reggie, Goose, Guidry, the Yankee current coaching staff and MGR Joe Girardi, against one wall and then the current Yankee team against another wall, each player had a line with a person to hand your item up to them and another to hand the item back. VERY well Organized.
My goal was to get Arod on my 500 HR ball and a Tanaka Single and hopefully two or three other singles like Tex etc. I had heard from folks on line that it was normal to get your first choice and two or three others.
We were let in and My wife got on the Tanaka line and I went to the smaller lines. Big lines were Tanaka, Arod, Elisberry, Beltran and Reggie. I quickly got about 8 auto's on a single ball Started with Brian McCann and new shortstop Didi Gregarious, Tex, Drew, Pineda etc and Giradi. I checked on my Wife who waited 5 Minutes for a Tanaka Single She got on Arod line and I got on Tanaka she we both got them on our team ball. She got on Elisberry line with our team ball I got Arod on my 500 Ball. Then he got on Beltran line I grabed Gardner and about 5 others and handed off the team ball for Beltran. The whole Time there is a big clock projected on the back wall counting down the 20 Minutes. I get back on Arod Line with about 4 minutes left and after that Bell rings and they shut down. I have a team ball with 19 sigs a single Arod and a Single Tanaka and Arod on my 500 HR ball. and am smiling ear to ear.
Presentation from a young Girl who came from Cuba at age 9 and spoke no English and how she came to Boys and Girls club and was mentored and Tutored and felt safe bought the crowd to their feet.
If you ever get the chance to come to Tampa and attend this event you really should lots of fun and a very worthy cause.

Jonathan

[JoeDfan]

Awesome!!!!!!!!

[Kco]

I've heard great things about the event, maybe next year I'll jump on that and take the trip down!

[MGHPro]

Jonathan
Thanks for sharing. My wife and I went last year.. It was the first time we attended and the primary reason was to get Jeter. We had met people who had attended in the past and they said to get there by midnight to guarantee you get Jeter. They called us at about 10 PM and said 20 people were already in line and for us to get there asap. We were there by 11pm and ended up sitting on the ground the entire night. That was a long night. The Jeter line went all the way to the back of the room and then across the front.. it was insane. Jeter signed 2 items for each of us and by the time we were done with him we only had a few minutes left to get anyone else (that clock puts a lot of pressure on you). My wife went to get Teixeira and I grabbed Cervelli.. Then I was only able to get a few coaches. Tanaka's line was still long or I would of tried to get him. The luncheon was a cool experience. Glad you didn't wait as long as us! And congrats on getting the autographs you got.
Matt

[rsn1661]

Sounds like a great time!

[bigfanNY]

Some folks around me had been there previous years and the Jeter Factor certainly played a big part in the LONG lines in the past. They said in the past they never even had the opportunity to purchase VIP tickets they sold out so fast. This year both VIP and General admission tickets were available until last week.. And many folks on the line had never seen so few people in line when the convention center Doors opened at 8:00 am. Like I said at 8 there were about 10 in the VIP line and 20 some in the General admission line. If there is interest As a previous Donor this fall I should get a notice to buy Tickets before they go on sale to public. If you purchase a table of 10 for $10,000 you get 10 VIP tickets and 40 minutes to get autographs. Considering how well a little coordination between my wife and I helped I can imagine 10 Net54 guys would be an autograph getting Machine...
Regards
Jonathan

[almostdone]

Personally I don't like the Yankees but I think it's cool they would do something like this every year with the entire team. Good cause. Good for them. Sounds like a great experience.
Drew

[frankbmd]

Standing in lines has always been a passion of mine, particularly if I have to pay a lot for the privilege of doing so.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Standing in lines has always been a passion of mine, particularly if I have to pay a lot for the privilege of doing so.

Right on! And don't forget the countdown clock. Each tick seems to say "You'll never get Jeter. You'll never get Jeter. You'll never get Jeter... "