REGGIE & ME

In 1990, I did probably the worst thing that a Yankee fan could do.  I moved to Boston.  Actually, I moved to Boston to attend graduate school at Boston University, College of Communication.  I lived across the street from Fenway Park.  One early evening in late September, I called my mother because I needed money and she asked me what were those crowd noises in the background.  I told her that there was a game going on at Fenway.  She said, “Well, go over there and get a job.  You know baseball, they don’t have to know you are a Yankee fan.”

That is not necessarily true, because once I opened my mouth, they would know that I don’t say coffee like they do in Boston and I certainly don’t root for any red teams, especially the Red Sox.  But, like a good Italian girl, I listened to my mother, and stepped across the lines (or rather Kenmore Square), passed the T stop, to Yawkey Way, home of the Boston Red Sox and talked to a guy about a job.  By the time I walked back to my dorm room in Myles Standish Hall (ironically the place where Babe Ruth always stayed in town when he played the Yankees- Room 818 in the Myles Standish Hotel), I had a message that I could start tomorrow. 

Yes, I worked at the Souvenir Shop on Yawkey Way for my two-year stint at BU.  Twins Enterprise, who owns and operates the gigantic baseball toy store, is the second largest distributor of caps in the United States.  They run all of the souvenir concessions in the Park and they are the originator of the now infamous Bobble Head.  Now what does this have to do with Reggie and when I say Reggie, I know you all know whom I am talking about.  There is only Reggie in New York as far as I am concerned.

I remembered the day his candy bar came into my father’s drug store in Staten Island.  He brought us home a case; OK, OK, onto Reggie, and my experience waiting on him at the Souvenir Shop. 

Following a four game sweep in the ALCS against the Oakland Athletics in 1990, the Red Sox were feeling low during the off-season. The unfortunate Red Sox managed to score one run-and only one run-in each game of the games played. On top of that, Roger Clemens was ejected from the game in that last bout against the A’s and was suspended by then president Bobby Brown for five games and fined $10,000, read HERE.  I remember seeing Jose Canseco in one of the Kenmore dive bars following the series.  He acted like he owned this town and eventually he would play for the Sox toward the end of his career.  The reason this back-story is important is because of what happened during the summer of 1991.

Reggie Jackson was working as a coach for Oakland Athletics.  He came into the store one afternoon that summer, hours before game time to pick up what he called “some stuff.”  He called me over instantly.  There I was, 23, hair pulled back in a pony, t-shirt and shorts, and yes, an A’s cap.  I often wore the out of town team’s cap.  I looked into his eyes and knew he was my “Mr. October.”  I tried to compose myself, and it took every ounce of self-control to do so.  He asked me for some New Era official caps in a variety of sizes, what we now refer to as snap back caps, and some A’s tees.  While I was getting his tees, I managed to grab a pen and a baseball.  I remember clearly saying this to him, “Mr. Jackson, here are your tees.  Could I trouble you for an autograph? “  He gladly gave me one.  He had a great smile and he winked at me as he left without giving me a dime.  He called back to me, “Put this on my tab,” as he rushed out the side entrance, heading briskly toward the stadium.  My boss just looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.  "He’s Reggie Jackson, what can I say!"

Yep, that’s how I met Reggie Jackson and the ball, well, that sits on my brother Paul’s desk.  I gave it to him because Reggie was his all-time favorite player.  I didn’t need to keep the ball; I spent twenty minutes with Reggie in a place where no one would think I would ever be... Fenway Park, Boston!

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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