On April 13, 2016, hundreds of people lined the sidewalk at a strip mall in North Jersey donning their pinstripes and clutching precious items to be autographed by one of the pillars of the Yankee Dynasty. In fact, according to Christopher Jones, co-owner of All Star Collectibles in Pompton Plains, the first excited fans started lining up at 5pm to meet Andy Pettitte, scheduled to arrive at 7pm. He told me: “[Today] brings a star athlete to a community that hasn’t seen many star athletes in a while”. Actually, according to Eric Levy, a representative of Steiner Sports, also in attendance, Pettitte has not made a public autograph appearance in New Jersey since the late 90’s.
“Andy is fantastic with all of the fans. He a classy athlete that appreciates all the fans he’s around” added Craig Boone, co-owner. The love from the fans is mutual for a man, affectionately known as part of the Core Four (Pettitte, Jeter, Rivera, and Posada), that was a major fixture in delivering five World Series championships to the New York City metro area.
Listen to my full-length interview with humble Yankee legend Andy Pettitte. We discussed:
- The commemoration of the 1996 World Championship team this August at the Stadium
- Pettitte’s perspective in jogging to the mound with Derek Jeter and taking out Mariano Rivera in his final game
- The current state of the Core Four: Do they still keep in touch? Does he have plans to attend a certain… wedding?
- Emotions evoked when seeing his #46 in Monument Park alongside Babe Ruth‘s #3, Mickey Mantle‘s #7, Yogi Berra‘s #8, etc.
- Advice he’s given current Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia
- The state of the 2016 Yankees
- What he is doing post-retirement
- Thoughts on fans still wearing his #46 to Yankee games
You can also listen to the audio file here:
