Last night I went to a hip Sushi place near my home in Tampa. To my surprise, sitting within five feet of me was no other than Yankee Shortstop Derek Jeter and Second Baseman Robinson Cano.
Being a New Yorker and long time Yankee fan, I simply couldn’t let the opportunity go to dialog with him face to face. My father was also with me whom has loved the Yankees for over 60 years!
So we waited towards the end of our meal to approach him. My six year old daughter was all excited, dancing around asking what the big deal was saying “daddy does he build speakers or something like that?” No honey, I replied. He plays baseball on TV.
I could see Derek and Robinson were getting ready to leave despite the fact they barely touched their sushi. So I approached him calling out his name. He turned around. Towering me, I said “Hey Derek, sorry to disturb you but my dad and I are long time Yankee fans and would love to take a picture with you, if you don’t mind.” (Looking exhausted), He shook our hands and said “no problem, wanna go up front to take it? “ As I rushed to get my camera phone, my nine month pregnant sister-in-law pulled a digital camera out of her purse and raced to give it to me. I had no idea she was still so mobile. Amazing.
My brother-in-law took our picture but also wanted to get in on the action. Realizing Derek was about to bolt he quickly interjecting saying “Derek, how about one more for our soon to be born daughter?” He obliged. Almost instantly, folks in the restaurant began to swarm around him acknowledging his baseball greatness. He discretely and graciously flew out of their quicker than I could stick my hand in my pocket to grab him one of my business cards.
Soon after the owner of the restaurant approached me smiling as we watched the whole event unfold. I asked him why Derek barely ate as the food here is so good. It’s a sin (crime) to waste such superb sushi. He told me Derek and crew tend to over order and that he was extremely exhausted from the spring training game they played today and had to catch a flight to NY early tomorrow morning. I asked if it was common to get famous athletes in here from time to time. He said Derek is a regular here during spring training and people like Hulk Hogan, Macho Man and many pro basketball players also frequent his establishment. With card in hand, I told him to call me anytime he needs home theater advice or when he gets another visit from a cool athlete.
It was a nice night out with the family. Good food, lots of laughs and a memorable meeting of one of our all time favorite baseball players. Next time I will have a baseball in pocket (or perhaps plant it in my sister-in-laws purse) just incase Jeter gets a craving for sushi again.
