7 months ago
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FOR NEARLY A quarter-century, 1 of the astir celebrated location tally balls successful shot past sat connected a support wrong a lawsuit successful Neil Dunleavy's chamber closet gathering dust. Every truthful often helium would retrieve it and regard with admiration: the golden lettering, the circular achromatic smudge wherever the bat struck it and the signature that had faded to the constituent that it was imperceptible to the bare eye, prevention for 1 clue: "#2."
Dunleavy grew up connected the outskirts of New York City, but helium was raised astatine Yankee Stadium. His father, John, worked determination arsenic a vendor for 57 years. All 3 of John's sons did the same, including Neil, who connected Oct. 31, 2001, hopped successful his car and drove the 5 hours from Georgetown University, wherever helium was a sophomore, to the Bronx.
College had chopped into the fig of games Dunleavy could work, but helium was not going to miss Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, forthcoming integrated chemistry trial beryllium damned. Less than 2 months aft the Sept. 11 violent attacks, the New York Yankees were trying to triumph their 4th consecutive World Series, and adjacent if it meant selling $10 programs, Dunleavy simply wanted to beryllium wrong the stadium, to soak successful the mystique and aura of the spot and the moment.
As the timepiece neared midnight connected Nov. 1, Derek Jeter stepped to the plate. Arizona Diamondbacks person Byung-Hyun Kim was laboring. The Diamondbacks had won 2 of the archetypal 3 games and were primed to instrumentality a commanding 3-1 bid pb until Tino Martinez ambushed Kim for a ninth-inning location tally that sent the crippled into other innings. With 2 outs successful the 10th, Jeter dug himself an 0-2 hole. He fought -- ball, foul, foul, ball, ball, foul -- earlier Kim's 61st transportation of the crippled caught excessively overmuch of the extracurricular corner.
Jeter lofted the shot to the other field. It kept carrying and snuck implicit the obstruction conscionable to the near of the 314-foot marker nether the right-field foul pole, wherever Dunleavy happened to beryllium standing. As a antheral to his close flipped implicit the railing and those to his near jumped with joy, Dunleavy pounced connected the ball, securing it with his close limb amid the chaos.
The shot is simply a clip instrumentality to the heyday of the Yankees, baseball's past large dynasty, and adjacent much than that a relic of the vocation of The Captain. For each the indelible moments successful his vocation -- the Jeffrey Maier location run, the dive into the stands, the 3,000th-hit location run, the flip -- the shot that gave Jeter the "Mr. November" nickname is possibly the astir iconic, a information Dunleavy gladly shares with his 3 children.
"If idiosyncratic mentions it," Dunleavy said, "they're like, 'Oh, that's the shot daddy cares truthful overmuch about.'"
Never has Dunleavy spoken publically astir the shot and however helium came into its possession. In caller months, though, helium decided to merchantability it, and with the auction ending June 14, helium spoke with ESPN astir that magical nighttime -- and however adjacent if he'll nary longer person the carnal memento of it, he'll everlastingly ain thing adjacent much valuable.
"I'm selling the ball," Dunleavy said. "I'm not selling the story."
WHEN HE ARRIVED astatine Yankee Stadium connected Halloween night, Dunleavy figured helium would walk his evening astatine a merchandise basal with his begetter and brothers, selling hats and pennants and their best-selling item, shirseys with Jeter's No. 2 connected the back. The Yankees needed idiosyncratic to peddle programs that night, though, and due to the fact that helium was the youngest, Dunleavy drew the abbreviated straw.
Hawking programs wasn't the worst assignment. They outgo $10, which meant Dunleavy wouldn't request to fumble with alteration oregon hole an point similar blistery canine vendors. Programs were a high-volume business. He got to conscionable chill radical -- Dunleavy said helium gave programs to Adam Sandler and John Travolta gratis -- and manus hundreds of radical keepsakes of what helium hoped would beryllium a memorable night.
But by the 10th inning, Dunleavy was gassed. He had walked miles astir the stadium lugging reams of programs. He knew Jeter was coming up to bat and asked a adjacent information defender if helium could parkland himself successful the beforehand of the right-field stands and number his wealth -- conscionable successful lawsuit the crippled were to extremity there.
"Wouldn't it beryllium awesome if helium deed a location tally close to america now?" Dunleavy asked the information guard.
Dunleavy knew however Jeter operated. At 27, Jeter already had cemented his bequest with 4 World Series wins. His inside-out plaything had won them plentifulness of games, including Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series, erstwhile 12-year-old instrumentality Jeffrey Maier pulled a shot implicit the right-field obstruction for a tying location tally successful the days earlier replay review. The Yankees went connected to triumph their archetypal World Series successful astir 2 decades.
"I'm successful the right-field corner, and I cognize Yankees history, obviously," Dunleavy said. "I cognize Jeffrey Maier, and I cognize wherefore the defender who is lasting adjacent to maine is determination successful the archetypal place: to forestall Jeffrey Maier incidents from happening."
Dunleavy reached into his apron and grabbed hundreds of bills, preparing to signifier them, erstwhile helium heard the ace of the bat. As Arizona close fielder Reggie Sanders tracked the ball, it was fading toward the country -- close astatine Dunleavy. He played shot successful precocious schoolhouse and is definite helium would person caught the shot if not for the wads of currency successful his hands. It bounced to his near and caromed successful beforehand of Dunleavy. He dropped the currency and went for a antithetic benignant of treasure.
He landed hard connected the ball, bruising his ribs. He held it choky arsenic others dove toward him hoping it would squirt free. The antheral who had gone inverted implicit the barricade, Jimmy Brunn, said: "It came close to me. My fingers were connected it. And helium pulled it away. There were astir 50 radical connected apical of us."
When the heap receded, Dunleavy stood up, looked astir and panicked. Not a azygous dollar remained connected the ground. Maybe the shot would beryllium worthy much than the wealth helium had procured that night, but his archetypal thought was: "My dad's going to termination me." Then Dunleavy's eyes gravitated toward a information guard, who, helium said, had "a soccer-ball-sized wad of crumpled-up 20s and 10s." When helium counted the money, each $2,120 worthy of programs helium had sold was accounted for.
Dunleavy celebrated by lasting connected a information guard's seat and holding the shot successful the air, overmuch to the delight of the fans inactive precocious disconnected the triumph -- including Brunn, who handed Dunleavy his concern paper and told him helium wanted to bargain the ball.
"The New York kid successful me," Dunleavy said, "realized, 'OK, I conscionable told 5,000 radical I've got a precise celebrated shot already. I amended get the hellhole outta here.'"
On the locomotion backmost to his father's stand, Dunleavy started reasoning astir what helium wanted to bash with the ball. He could merchantability it to Brunn oregon the highest bidder. He could support it. Neither seemed right. Jeter had provided truthful galore unthinkable moments for Yankees fans. This was Dunleavy's accidental to repay him.
"We each wanted to beryllium Jeter," Dunleavy said. "So I'm thinking, helium deed it, I'm going to springiness it to him. And hopefully he'll admit it."
He returned to Yankee Stadium aboriginal the adjacent day, shot successful hand, and went to close field, wherever helium posed for a photograph with the ball. "I thought I was giving the shot distant forever, that I'd ne'er spot it again," Dunleavy said. He met with Joe Lee, a batboy helium knew, and asked him to bring the shot to Jeter. He was hopeful that Jeter would look from the clubhouse, shingle his hand, possibly adjacent springiness him a signed shot oregon bat.
Lee returned without Jeter -- and with a shot successful his hand. Dunleavy noticed the achromatic smudge. It was the Mr. November ball, lone emblazoned with a faint signature, day ("11-1-01") and the No. 2.
"Had I known I was going to get it back," Dunleavy said, "I would've fixed him a amended pen."
DUNLEAVY RETURNED TO Georgetown and regaled his friends with the communicative of the Mr. November ball. It became a go-to communicative astatine parties. His aboriginal wife, Annemarie, heard astir the shot wrong the archetypal 30 minutes of gathering Dunleavy.
The shot stayed astatine his parents' location arsenic helium finished undergrad and remained determination during his clip successful aesculapian school. When Dunleavy moved into his ain spot during his residency successful New York City, it joined him. It went to Chicago erstwhile enactment took him determination and yet backmost to Connecticut, wherever helium settled and contiguous works arsenic an orthopedic surgeon who specializes successful knees and shoulders.
Dunleavy, present 43, inactive loves the Yankees and baseball. It taught him however to bash math, provided hours of amusement pouring done Beckett Baseball Card Monthly, filled his aboriginal adulthood with memories of his dada and brothers.
"It conscionable deed me," Dunleavy said. "Time's passing. I benignant of thought possibly I'd springiness it to [my children] erstwhile I'm aged and gray. One day, my woman and I are astatine home, looking astatine this ball. Literally the lawsuit is collecting particulate successful the closet. We've not, like, featured this prominently successful our location due to the fact that the kids could instrumentality it and propulsion it successful the mud. I'm like, 'You know, there's got to beryllium thing amended I tin bash with this.'"
Dunleavy's daughters are 11 and 9, his lad 5, and helium acknowledges that "someday, of course, determination is that accidental that they're like, 'What did you bash that for? We would've wanted it.' But I don't deliberation so." So helium connected with the auction location Goldin, which sent it to the authentication institution JSA. An investigation utilizing a video spectral comparator intelligibly showed Jeter's signature and the date, adjacent aft the ink faded, and the shot was deemed authentic. With a week left, the bidding was up to $110,000. Dunleavy said helium plans to donate a information of the proceeds to Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation.
Even though the Yankees mislaid the World Series successful heartbreaking manner successful 2001, it did thing to lessen the meaning of that shot and that moment. The clip astir Sept. 11 was devastating, and shot offered thing astir which the state could coalesce. Ten days aft the Twin Towers fell, Mike Piazza's go-ahead location tally for the New York Mets brought a sliver of normalcy and hope. The Yankees represented the spot of New York and the game's meaning to the metropolis and country.
Those feelings, and not the shot itself, are what endure for Dunleavy, who each these years aboriginal wants to convey Jeter for his inadvertent power connected Dunleavy's life.
"Please archer him I told this communicative to my woman and we are celebrating 17 years of matrimony adjacent week," helium said. "That changed my life, you know? And she says it didn't [convince her to day him], but who the hellhole knows, right? Maybe it did. Maybe she saw my enthusiasm successful telling a communicative and liked it.
"I beryllium this infinitesimal a lot. I person ever been capable to marque everybody grin erstwhile I archer this story. I tin archer this communicative to radical who don't attraction astir baseball, don't attraction astir sports. No 1 tin instrumentality the communicative away."
