{"id":1133,"date":"2011-09-02T13:41:05","date_gmt":"2011-09-02T13:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2011-09-02T13:41:05","modified_gmt":"2011-09-02T13:41:05","slug":"larry-weiss-die-hard-yankee-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/after-hours\/2011\/09\/larry-weiss-die-hard-yankee-fan\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Weiss, Die-Hard Yankee Fan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Larry Weiss & Yankee GM Brian Cashman<\/p><\/div>\n

When Larry Weiss isn\u2019t selling office technology and solutions to one of the 150,000 companies in the New York city area who rely on his dealership, Atlantic Tomorrow\u2019s Office, for their technology needs, it\u2019s a good bet you\u2019ll find him in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium rooting for the home team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larry has been a Yankee fan since he was five years old and still has fond memories of one of his first games at the old Yankee Stadium, \u201cThe House that Ruth Built\u201d. \u00a0You would think a kid would be thrilled to be sitting in box seats behind third base, but not Larry. He would rather have been sitting in the bleachers, a much better place in the fifties and early sixties to watch his idol Mickey Mantle patrolling centerfield rather than Hector Lopez, a third baseman\/outfielder who was playing the hot corner that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told my grandfather, \u2018I don\u2019t want to look at Hector Lopez, I want to sit in the bleachers and see Mickey Mantle,\u2019\u201d recalls Larry.<\/p>\n

\u2018But there\u2019s no backs [on the bleacher seats] his grandfather told him. \u2018I don\u2019t care,\u2019 Larry replied, \u2018that\u2019s where I want to be.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I made him take me out to the bleachers and he moaned and groaned the whole time,\u201d laughs Larry.<\/p>\n

Since then he\u2019s been to hundreds of regular season games as well as some of the most memorable playoff and World Series games played at the Stadium. Remember the game where Chris Chambliss hit a home run off the Royals Mark Littel to clinch the 1976 American League championship and put the Yankees into their first World Series since 1964? Larry was there. Or how about Game 6 of the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs? Larry was there too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was just unbelievable, three pitches, three home runs,\u201d says Larry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t find a bigger Yankee fan anywhere in the New York metropolitan area than Larry. Over the years he\u2019s seen some of the greatest players in the game and watched his team make history time and time again. But there was one time when he had the foresight to take a pass on what turned out to be one the most memorable playoff collapses in the history of baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the game I wasn\u2019t at,\u201d he says. \u201cThe game I didn\u2019t go to, Yankees Red Sox 2004 divisional playoffs, game seven. I gave my tickets to my friend and his three sons because they were Red Sox fans. I said, \u2018I am not going to be at Yankee Stadium for this<\/em> game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

You would think a fan like Larry wouldn\u2019t have missed a game seven, but his instincts told him otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Despite seeing so many memorable Yankee games, the game he missed was the one where the Red Sox came back from three games to none to win the next four games and humiliate the Yankees in their home park before going on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series.<\/p>\n

Thanks to his position at Atlantic and Atlantic\u2019s participation in charitable events, over the years Larry has had an opportunity to meet many past and present players, managers, and executives, including A-Rod, Joe Pepitone, Joe Torre, Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, and Nick Swisher to name just a few. Last spring Atlantic sponsored a Product Expo attended by 450 companies and 750 guests with Yankee GM Brian Cashman as keynote speaker. The one player Larry never had an opportunity to meet was Roger Maris.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate just meeting these guys and having good discussions with them,\u201d says Larry.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not a star-crossed fan and enjoys talking baseball with them. And this is a guy who knows his baseball and isn\u2019t afraid to let even the guys who do it for a living know what they\u2019re doing wrong. A few years ago Larry was at Derek Jeter\u2019s Turn 2 Foundation fund-raising dinner and ran into Bobby Abreu who was in the midst of a huge slump and was looking for his seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019\u201d says Larry. \u201cHe says, \u2018I\u2019m trying to find my seat. I said, \u201cThe way you\u2019re hitting you\u2019re lucky you were even invited and you want a seat?\u2019 Later on, I walk over to him, and say, \u2018This may sound forward, but I can help you get out of your slump.\u2019 He says, \u2018You\u2019re kidding me?\u2019 \u201cI said, \u2018The whole world knows you take the first pitch it\u2019s so obvious, what I want you to do when you approach the plate is make Vladimir Guerrerro look like a disciplined hitter. I just want you to swing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Two weeks pass and he\u2019s listening to a game and they mention that in his last 683 at bats Bobby Abreu has taken the first pitch 635 times. Now Larry is at a game at the old Yankee stadium 14 rows back from the batter\u2019s box on the third base side. Abreu is at bat and takes the pitch. Larry yells out, \u2018I can\u2019t believe you didn\u2019t swing, you\u2019ve got to be kidding! Abreu turns his head and looks at Larry, a glimmer of recognition in his eye. \u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just baseball that floats Larry\u2019s boat. In addition to living and dying with the Yankees he coaches youth sports and is involved in enforcing zero tolerance in all sports for the JCC in Rockland County.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWithout sports I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do because I really don\u2019t have many hobbies,\u201d he says. \u201cI love baseball and football, but when it comes to baseball, it\u2019s like Joe Garagiola says, \u201cIt\u2019s a game within a game. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he expects to be at the World Series this year, he quips, \u201cI sure do.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a fan!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Larry Weiss isn\u2019t selling office technology and solutions to one of the 150,000 companies in the New York city area who rely on his dealership, Atlantic Tomorrow\u2019s Office, for their technology needs, it\u2019s a good bet you\u2019ll find him in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium rooting for the home team.\u00a0 Larry has been a Yankee fan since he was five years old and still has fond memories of one of his first games at the old Yankee Stadium, \u201cThe House that Ruth Built\u201d. \u00a0You would think a kid would be thrilled to be sitting in box seats behind third base, but not Larry. He would rather have been sitting in the bleachers, a much better place in the fifties and early sixties to watch his idol Mickey Mantle patrolling centerfield rather than Hector Lopez, a third baseman\/outfielder who was playing the hot corner that day. \u201cI told my grandfather, \u2018I don\u2019t want to look at Hector Lopez, I want to sit in the bleachers and see Mickey Mantle,\u2019\u201d recalls Larry. \u2018But there\u2019s no backs [on the bleacher seats] his grandfather told him. \u2018I don\u2019t care,\u2019 Larry replied, \u2018that\u2019s where I want to be.\u2019 \u201cSo I made him take me out to the bleachers and he moaned and groaned the whole time,\u201d laughs Larry. Since then he\u2019s been to hundreds of regular season games as well as some of the most memorable playoff and World Series games played at the Stadium. Remember the game where Chris Chambliss hit a home run off the Royals Mark Littel to clinch the 1976 American League championship and put the Yankees into their first World Series since 1964? Larry was there. Or how about Game 6 of the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs? Larry was there too. \u201cThat was just unbelievable, three pitches, three home runs,\u201d says Larry.\u00a0 You won\u2019t find a bigger Yankee fan anywhere in the New York metropolitan area than Larry. Over the years he\u2019s seen some of the greatest players in the game and watched his team make history time and time again. But there was one time when he had the foresight to take a pass on what turned out to be one the most memorable playoff collapses in the history of baseball. \u201cI know the game I wasn\u2019t at,\u201d he says. \u201cThe game I didn\u2019t go to, Yankees Red Sox 2004 divisional playoffs, game seven. I gave my tickets to my friend and his three sons because they were Red Sox fans. I said, \u2018I am not going to be at Yankee Stadium for this game.\u2019\u201d You would think a fan like Larry wouldn\u2019t have missed a game seven, but his instincts told him otherwise. \u201cI felt it,\u201d he says. Despite seeing so many memorable Yankee games, the game he missed was the one where the Red Sox came back from three games to none to win the next four games and humiliate the Yankees in their home park before going on to sweep the Cardinals in the World Series. Thanks to his position at Atlantic and Atlantic\u2019s participation in charitable events, over the years Larry has had an opportunity to meet many past and present players, managers, and executives, including A-Rod, Joe Pepitone, Joe Torre, Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, and Nick Swisher to name just a few. Last spring Atlantic sponsored a Product Expo attended by 450 companies and 750 guests with Yankee GM Brian Cashman as keynote speaker. The one player Larry never had an opportunity to meet was Roger Maris. \u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate just meeting these guys and having good discussions with them,\u201d says Larry. He\u2019s not a star-crossed fan and enjoys talking baseball with them. And this is a guy who knows his baseball and isn\u2019t afraid to let even the guys who do it for a living know what they\u2019re doing wrong. A few years ago Larry was at Derek Jeter\u2019s Turn 2 Foundation fund-raising dinner and ran into Bobby Abreu who was in the midst of a huge slump and was looking for his seat. \u201cI asked him, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019\u201d says Larry. \u201cHe says, \u2018I\u2019m trying to find my seat. I said, \u201cThe way you\u2019re hitting you\u2019re lucky you were even invited and you want a seat?\u2019 Later on, I walk over to him, and say, \u2018This may sound forward, but I can help you get out of your slump.\u2019 He says, \u2018You\u2019re kidding me?\u2019 \u201cI said, \u2018The whole world knows you take the first pitch it\u2019s so obvious, what I want you to do when you approach the plate is make Vladimir Guerrerro look like a disciplined hitter. I just want you to swing.\u2019\u201d Two weeks pass and he\u2019s listening to a game and they mention that in his last 683 at bats Bobby Abreu has taken the first pitch 635 times. Now Larry is at a game at the old Yankee stadium 14 rows back from the batter\u2019s box on the third base side. Abreu is at bat and takes the pitch. Larry yells out, \u2018I can\u2019t believe you didn\u2019t swing, you\u2019ve got to be kidding! Abreu turns his head and looks at Larry, a glimmer of recognition in his eye. \u00a0 It\u2019s not just baseball that floats Larry\u2019s boat. In addition to living and dying with the Yankees he coaches youth sports and is involved in enforcing zero tolerance in all sports for the JCC in Rockland County. \u00a0\u201cWithout sports I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do because I really don\u2019t have many hobbies,\u201d he says. \u201cI love baseball and football, but when it comes to baseball, it\u2019s like Joe Garagiola says, \u201cIt\u2019s a game within a game. I love it.\u201d Asked if he expects to be at the World Series this year, he quips, \u201cI sure do.\u201d What a fan!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[77],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}