What is it like to be a Yankees Fan from Afar?

#TheGreatest #Legend @yankees https://t.co/Cni3B4Fmvc

— Scott Lee (@ScottLee80) May 3, 2015

As many of you already know I like to put the word social back into social media. I never understood these writers, bloggers etc. that have “made it” and simply refuse to respond to or interact with their readers and fans. You “made it” because of them, not in spite of them, but anyway that could be a whole other post for a whole other day. I was on Twitter one morning and between my lack of coffee and my lack of sleep I tweeted that I thought the Yankees would win that night. The Yankees were off that night and didn’t play until the next night, Friday, whoops on my part. One of our followers, Scott Lee, pointed out that it was almost Friday in Australia and that maybe my mind was in Sydney.

I favorited the tweet and went on with my normal 9-to-5 that day but the same thing kept going through my mind, what would it be like to live all the way across the planet in Australia and be a fan of the New York Yankees? I myself have lived in Atlanta, GA for a while now so I get the fan from afar thing pretty well but at least New York comes down here every once in a while and I can watch the games at a normal hour on MLB TV, ESPN, etc. I don’t think I could do that if I were in Australia though but I didn’t know for sure so I approached Mr. Lee about a potential interview about the topic and he was ever so gracious to accept. This interview took a little longer than I expected but it has finally come to fruition and for that I thank Mr. Lee for taking the time out of his day to do this for us.

Without further delay and babble from me here is the interview with our fan from down undah, Mr. Scott Lee.

Greedy Pinstripes:

How does one all the way in Australia become a fan of baseball and/or the New York Yankees?

Scott Lee:

I did play baseball when I was in High School and have always been a fan of the sport. As for becoming a Yankees fan, when I was younger (Approx. 13 years old) I managed to get my hands on a Yankees t-shirt and have been a massive fan ever since.

The more and more I learned about the team, and got to understand more about the history of the Yankees, the more my passion grew.

TGP:

How long have you been a fan of the New York Yankees?

SL:

It would be around 20+ years now. I never got to see or hear much about them years ago as games were never broadcasted or shown over here. With the joys of Fox Sports Now I watch as much as I can.

TGP:

Was there ever a chance of being a fan of another MLB team, say the New York Mets for example?

SL:

No, no chance at all. I have never been interested in any other team at all. I even have my father and my best mate, who know nothing about baseball, say that they are Red Sox fans just to get to me as they know how much I hate them, haha!

TGP:

Have you ever been to the United States and/or to Yankee Stadium?

SL:

I was in the States in 2002 (September/October) and as a part of my trip we finished off in New York City. I was excited as it was playoff time so I was hoping to go to Yankee Stadium and see a game but unfortunately we were knocked out by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim so I never got to a game or the stadium. This is one my biggest regrets especially now since the old stadium is gone.

TGP:

Describe a normal night if you watch a Yankees game. I assume these have to come on at odd times for you in Australia.

SL:

Haha, yes that is true. The majority of games I do get to watch are normally at around 10:00 -11:00 AM but if the Yankees are playing a day game that’s normally about 5:00 – 6:00 AM. I set the alarm for those games. My mood changes dramatically during Yankees games from the highs of a great out or a great home run to absolute frustration on an error or bad at bat. I yell at the TV, I cheer loudly and it’s always a mix of emotions during a game.

TGP:

Who was your favorite Yankee through the years and who is your favorite player on this current crop of Bronx Bombers?

SL:

My all-time favorite Yankee is Derek Jeter (shocker) and I even named my puppy Jeter after him. My favorite player of the current crop of players would be Alex Rodriguez. I know he had had his issues but I still like him as a ballplayer.

TGP:

In my time around social media I have noticed there are two types of Yankees fans, the “Prospect Humpers” (trademark pending) and the fans who want to trade those prospects (and their humpers) for the “sure thing” and veteran presence. Which category do you think that you fall into?

SL:

I would describe myself as a “Prospect Humper.” It is all well and good to get the 37 year old star but you only have him for one or two years, maybe, but with the prospects you can hold onto a few of them and get more years out of them. Maybe you unravel a star that could potentially end up better than the 37 year old anyways.

TGP:

We’ll end it here, if you could be the Yankees GM for a day what would you do? You don’t necessarily have to be realistic here either.

SL:

I would organize at least once a year that the Yankees traveled to Australia for a game as well as have one proven Yankees fan from Australia have a meet and greet with all the players and staff of the Yankees while watching the game from the dugout.

That ladies and gentleman is what you call true dedication and true love for the team. There are no bandwagon fans in Australia, I can assure you of that. I once again appreciate Mr. Lee for doing this interview for us and I hope that everyone reading enjoyed getting a little insight into what it’s like to watch a game so many hours away from the team you love. Don’t take it for granted if you’re in the Bronx, New York or the tri-state area because there is always someone out there wishing that they were you and rooting from afar.

Go Yankees!