REGARDING JORGE...

It all started with the N64 game system, (Read DEREK JETER'S ALL-STAR BASEBALL FOR N64: A LOVE LETTER.) In the nineties, my buddies and I were helplessly addicted to it. One game that got heavy play was “All-Star Baseball." Not only was it the best of the baseball games (I had them all) but Derek Jeter endorsed it, making it extra sweet.

We would spend hours playing it. We took the Yankees through season after season. We created players to represent ourselves and gave every New York player ridiculous personality traits and would speak in silly voices for all of them.

For whatever reason, we began saying, “Ah-riiiiiiiiiiii!" when Jorge Posada would come up to bat in the game. Nobody knows why, ask the beer. The explanation for singing "I want my baby back baby back baby back ribs" every time Chili Davis was up was elementary at least. Barbeque sauce!

Anyway, Jorge got, “Ah-riiiiiiiiiiiii!"

We would go to classic Yankee stadium a lot in those days, and call it out when Posada came up to bat. “Ah-riiii!" Jorge might have noticed a couple times just because it was weird; only happened with him; had nothing to do with anything; and made absolutely no sense.

It was wasn’t a bad thing as any time he would do something positive, offensively or defensively, we would call out “Ah-riiiii!" We were sitting close to first base one time, and when he singled I could swear he seemed to turn and grin at us when we did it.

Then, I moved to Toronto and started going to games with another Yankee fan who lived abroad, told him of the Jorge tradition, and we continued to call out “Ah-riiiiii!" whenever Posada would come up to bat.
The first time he heard us do it in Toronto, he seemed to be looking into our section for where it came from with a smirk on his face. Almost like, “Oh, THAT’s where they went."

Truth be told, Jorge probably has never registered any of our shout-outs to him. As years go by, my stories of calling out to him will become more filled with hyperbole. Jorge bought us all beers, and we happily cried out ‘Ah-riiiiiii" together. For instance.

I guess that’s just another nice thing about being a fan of baseball. You can make yourself happy just by talking about players, and even the memories of this get tinted with golden sunlight, like on a cornfield.

 
Chad R. MacDonald
BYB Writer
Facebook: New York Yankees the Home of Champions
My Blog: ChadRants



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