Anyone that's familiar with
Andy Van Slyke's playing or coaching career knows that the Tigers first base coach is not a terribly serious guy about much of anything. And so no one should be surprised that Van Slyke's reaction to having trouble with his subway tickets in New York City over the weekend was to just jump the gate. Unfortunately for him (and his wife, who jumped with him), he was easily spotted and fined $60. Also unsurprisingly,
Van Slyke was unphased:
"They had us standing there, and people were walking by pointing at us, and yelling, 'Jumpers! Jumpers!' '' Van Slyke said Sunday morning. "It's great. It's New York City. A guy walked by and said, 'Andy, I don't think I can get an autograph now, can I?' ''
This is coming from the guy who supposedly
wanted to be a TV weatherman when he was growing up. (He did a guest spot once on one of the Pittsburgh news channels as the weather guy and it was included on the Pittsburgh Pirates' 1991 highlight VHS, which I incidentally still have.) I suppose he settled for "all-star outfielder and eventual first-base coach," but he'd probably still tell you this was only his second choice.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-21-2007 @ 11:09PM
Mark1PT said...
I know how Andy and his wife felt...I was in NY with my family last week and the paper multi passes you buy kept malfunctioning sliding thru the turnstile machines and not opening the turnstile, saying you were out of funds ,etc......after getting ripped off for a few rides we went under and over as well....on another ride I gave the tix back to an attendant, he checked them, said they were ok and said to just keep swiping up to 7 times!!! They might yet work!!!! This is hard to do when 50 people are backed up at your turnstile waiting to go thru!!!!! What a joke this system is and what a joke for fining Andy.......
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8-23-2007 @ 5:53PM
Paul Moschetta said...
Rather than be deeply concerned about what Van Slyke says or feels, we should be focusing our attention on the criminal acts of Michael Vick. Who cares if Andy feels the NY Subway system is riddled with issues. If this were the sports world only problem, Vick wouldnt be facing a jail sentence for animal cruelty.
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8-22-2007 @ 10:28AM
EPJCzyz said...
I lived in Pittsburgh when Van Slyke played for the Pirates and had some acquaintances with children that delivered pizza to his doorstep. Each one of them related, "that he never tipped." One kid went to his houst six times with a pizza and never got a penny. So, I guess, Andy is still El-Cheapo with all the money he is making.
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8-30-2007 @ 9:38PM
jim cheek said...
I am not surprised by Andy's issue, or the other comments I ahve read here. I was a huge fan of Andy Van Slyke. I had the opportunity to meet him at an event for the Duke Childrens Hospital several years ago. What a complete jerk. I was so disappointed. He is and was so self absorbed, I can see how he thinks it's ok to jump the turnstiles. Did he also ask for a refund?
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