Saturday, May 29, 2010

Meeting Mick Kelleher

On a recent excursion to New York for a Global Traveler event, Louie and I went to a game between the Mets and Yankees at Citi Field. The Mets organization went beyond the call of duty to help us in our effort to do a piece on Citi Field. That piece worked out well and can be found here on GT's site.
One of the highlights was talking to Mick Kelleher (currently a coach for the Yankees). Kelleher played in the majors from 1972-1982. Five of those seasons were spent in Chicago and I was a big fan of his.
In the near future, I will be posting the interview with Kelleher. He talked about how he enjoyed Chicago (and this was before he knew we were from Chicago). I also asked him about his scuffle with Dave Kingman (who later became his teammate).
Before it ended, I told Kelleher that he had been one of my favorites while I was a kid. Kelleher seemed genuinely touched to hear that. I even asked for a posed photo with him (something I have never done on interviews). I figured I would never get this chance again.
This was a big thrill for me. I want to thank Nicole Chayet (Media Relations Coordinator for the Mets) for her valuable assistance. I want to tank the entire Mets organization for being so friendly and helpful. Finally, I want to thank Kelleher for taking the time to talk and for his years of effort in Chicago.
Mick Kelleher and me in Citi Field in Flushing, NY-May 2010.

2 comments:

Steve Gierman said...

The more I find out about Kelleher, the more I'm becoming a big fan myself!

Johngy said...

It's always great when people you have followed and liked turn out to be nice in person.