My Farewell to the Captain.

This past week, ended an era for me.

Since I was 10, I have been going to Yankee’s games every summer in order to see my favorite player, Derek Jeter… and the Yankees play. I have been very lucky and fortunate to have once in a lifetime opportunities with great seats, field access for batting practices, dugout suite seating and even going to both Yankee Stadiums.

I can’t explain why I am so fond of Derek Jeter, but ironically one word does come to mind and that’s Respect.

Derek Jeter has played this American pastime with integrity, loyalty, and the utmost respect for  the game and his team.  Derek has played for the Yankees for 19 years… 19 years! I can’t recall any baseball player, ever, in history of baseball who has played on one team his entire career.  He has stayed out of drama and the lime light, off of social media and on top of all of that, he has broken countless records.

Here is a run down of a few:

14 – All Star Games
12 – time MVP
1996 Rookie of the Year
3,408 hits to date
5 – World Series Rings

On top of all of that he is a stand-up guy, especially to his fans.  I have had a few close encounters with him and he responds and acknowledges very politely. Even this season he has been signing autographs before games at each of the stadiums for his fans.  I’ve been lucky enough to get his autograph twice, and he even handed me his sweaty-wrist band after a blow-out against the Indians in 2006. And then the occasional, “Hi, how are you doing tonight?” with the hat tip or a wave. (Because I am that person decked out in Jeter gear, yelling to him!)

There is another thing to be said about him. As much as you may hate the Yankees, for whatever reason, most people find it hard to hate Jeter.  I heard countless people at the games this past week saying just that, adding that they had to come see Derek Jeter play in person… one last time.

This past week, I was extremely sad, yet very happy and lucky to be able to go to all 4 games for the Indians vs. Yankees series.  It was bitter sweet. I have had so many unforgettable memories and great times watching Derek and the Yankees play – it’s been a yearly tradition for nearly 14 years, and it’s now sadly ending.

Derek is truly one of the best baseball players of our time, he is a stand-up role model. The game of baseball won’t be the same without him, at least not for awhile.

So, if I could say one last thing to Derek Jeter, although I would love to say many… one thing would be… Thank you.

xo -eb

That time Derek Jeter slipped off his sweat band and handed it to me after a game. 2006

2009

Derek playing catch – 2010

Batting Practice – 2010

Autograph. 2010

2011

Batting Practice 2012

Yankee Stadium 5.31.14

7.7.14

7.8.14 – Hat nod to me

7.8.14

Ceremony at the last game in Cleveland 7.10.14

My last game. 7.10.14

11 hours in the City

First: To get you into the empire state of mind… queue Jay-Z and Alicia Keys…

One of my NYE resolutions was to travel more…

This past weekend, B and I went on a whirlwind trip to New York City.  For my birthday, Bentley got tickets to a Yankee’s game in NYC. So we could see Derek Jeter play one last time at Yankee’s Stadium before he retires… I have been waiting since March for this!!

So we decided to take the Megabus from Rochester, NY (that way we got to see my parents too!) over night on Friday. We were suppose to leave at 11:50pm, but didn’t end up leaving until 12:50pm, Megabus was late!  We arrived in NYC around 7:40am on Saturday.  Our bus back to Rochester would be leaving at 6:40pm that same night!  That gave us 11 hours to explore the city.

This was Bentley’s first time visiting NYC, and only my second.  I was last there when I was 13 for another Yankee’s game at the old stadium.  Our goal of the day: explore and see as many landmarks as possible!

First stop off the bus was Starbucks for some coffee and breakfast!

Next stop was the Empire State Building.  After doing some research prior, we knew roughly how much it would cost and that we wanted to go up to the 86th floor and the 102nd floor and that there was an express option to avoid lines. Well we got talked into doing this “Sky Ride” flight simulator through NYC (#tourists), thinking we would have express access to the 86th floor and102nd floor.  Well that didn’t end up happening (86th floor only) and the Sky Ride was horrible. BUT… when we got to the 86th floor and saw the panoramic views of the city, it was absolutely incredible.

From the Empire State Building we walked to prime spots including: Time Square, Broadway, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, NBC Studios, Madison Avenue, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Park Ave., Trump Tower, Tiffany’s, Central Park, and of course Yankee’s Stadium.

We found a nice cafe in Central Park that we could sit and enjoy lunch, before heading up to the Yankee game. We caught a cab and got to Yankee’s Stadium.  It was so surreal and amazing to be there, not to mention Jeter played great (disclaimer: born and raised in NY, Yankee fan since birth).  I also got a Derek Jeter foam finger, and collectors baseball… of course.

Before heading back to the bus, we found a classic New York styled pizza restaurant (John’s at Timesquare) and chowed down on some pizza!

Overall, the trip was so much fun, just walking around the city, exploring, and site seeing with B.

We arrived back into Rochester around 2am, arriving back to my parents around 2:30am… and hit the sack.  It was long, but so worth it.  I mapped our walk around NYC and we probably walked about 10 miles, only catching 2-taxi rides – my feet and legs were killing me on the bus ride back!

We got to spend time with my parents the rest of Sunday before heading back up to Cleveland. It was a perfect little weekend.

xo -eb

Now to end… classic Frank (and some pictures!)