My favorite story of meeting a ballplayer

[ls7plus]

I don't usually collect autographs (have just a few favorites--Mays, Aaron, Killebrew, Ryan, Schmidt, etc.), but I was going to be in Boston in 1999 about the time of the All-Star Game, and thought what the heck, I'll take a ball along in case I happen to run into any of the players. As it turned out, I happened to take a walk right by the hotel where the players were staying the day after the game, about the time they were checking out and the valets were bringing cars around. Joe Torre and Tony Gwynn were most gracious signers. And then I saw Jeter. I very politely asked if he would also sign the ball, and will always remember his rude, gruff response: "I only sign for da kids!" And indeed, he did sign a few balls that kids brought up to him for his autograph. Only trouble was, these kids he signed for were being fed baseballs by a couple of dealers off to the side, over by the curb! Every time I've seen him since on TV, the same derogatory thought goes through my mind: "Jeeeeter Jerk!"

When you think about it, Jeter's very premise was extremely insulting: If you're an adult and you're asking for my autograph, you're just going to sell it. I suppose that when he gets older, he'll come to realize that a lot of the little boy fan remains inside all of us that love the game, and maybe even realize what a tremendous jerk some of us will always remember him as because of his prior actions. Sure, some adults might just put the autograph on e-bay, but I wouldn't have been one of them, and even if I had, what would it have cost this jerk but a couple of seconds of his time? He needs a few lessons in manners from guys like Frank Howard, Harmon Killebrew, Cal Ripkin and Brooks Robinson, and after the way this memory has ingrained itself in my mind over the years, I'd absolutely relish the opportunity to tell him exactly that, right to his face!

Jeeeeter-Jerk!

Larry