A Tennessee Yankee

I grew up in Nashville, a city without Major League Baseball, where about everyone either rooted for the Atlanta Braves or the Cincinnati Reds, who were the closest teams. I happened to support the New York Yankees, because when I was a little boy, my parents took me to meet Jim Turner, the then longest serving Yankee and he gave me a lesson on how to pitch. He showed me the different grips for different pitches, and we tossed the ball around in Ed Fuller's field of tomatoes. I was so impressed that Coach Turner had roomed on the road with Babe Ruth, or as he said "Ruth's luggage" because Babe was usually out carousing. The Babe had played sandlot ball as a kid with my grandfather who was a semipro catcher among other vocations and avocations as both grew up in Baltimore. From that day on to now, I have favored Mr. Turner's team, and was rarely as sad about a sporting event as when they did not prevail in the World Series played after the September 11, 2001 tragedy that struck New York so hard. I am glad the Yankees are back in the Series after too long an absence.