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!