Aaron Judge is definitely a great Yankee player and a classy person.
This week when Judge found out that rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe was going shopping at the popular midtown clothing store ZOHREH for clothes for the road this season he called ahead to store manager Sean and instructed him that Anthony Volpe was not to pay for anything.
Knowing Volpe I can guarantee you that there was words exchanged about Volpe insisting on paying however when the Yankees captain gives an order, he has the last say.
To hear this story about Judge & Volpe touched my heart because it reminded me about a time in 1978 when during my Batboy years I walked into Reggie Jackson’s apartment to do some errands for the team superstar which included answering fan mail running to the food store and answering his very busy often ringing telephone.
On this particular day as I walked in the door Reggie said don’t take your coat off because we are going shopping.
We went to a popular men’s clothing store of the time called Jean-Paul Germain. I didn’t find this odd because at any time during the week, Reggie would like to go shopping for various items at different stores around the city and I would always help with the bags.
When we walked into this fancy shop Reggie yelled out get him some pants, shirts, and a couple of nice jackets. Also, get him some belts to hold those pants up. Naturally, we all laughed because I was a skinny kid.
This was a time when Mr. Steinbrenner thought that it was important for me to always be with the team on the road.
As they were packing all my new clothes I asked Reggie why he did this for me and he said with a smile, if you’re going to be traveling with the Yankees then you have to look like a Yankee.
Reggie Jackson was very generous to me during his five years with the Yanks. He taught me a lot and helped me grow up during a very difficult time in my life. I am forever grateful to Mr. October and glad that Aaron Judge is there to help the young players and I’m sure he is also there for the Batboys the way Reggie and Thurman Munson and so many of those players were always there for me.
