I’ve never been much of a baseball superstition guy… well, except for not talking about a no-hitter when one is in progress, or wearing the same hat or T-shirt while winning, or stepping on the lines when going onto or coming off the field, or sitting in the exact same spot in the dugout during a winning streak, or eating the same food items when winning, and so on – but I am not superstitious about baseball.

When the Dodgers traveled east this past June to take on the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, their first regular season visit to the Bronx since moving to Los Angeles, I attended the brief two-game series. Now granted, my trip to the Big Apple was also to spend 10 days visiting my daughter who lives there, but attending this series was an absolute must. (I confess that the timing of my trip was not a coincidence).

Yankee Stadium
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Because the first game of this short series was rained out, the Dodgers and Yankees were forced to play a doubleheader on the second day. Being from sunny Southern California where we rarely have rain outs (or doubleheaders), it was a pain in the neck to have to exit Yankee Stadium after the first game and then re-enter for the second game, but I get it. But in doing so, I had no idea who I would be sitting next to for the second game, having sat next to a group of Dodger fans from my home town for the first game (now that was a coincidence). As it turned out, the guy who I ended up sitting next to for the second game is a story in and of itself – hence this article.

His name is Tom Eldridge and he and I are roughly the same age. Ironically, like myself Tom is a retired police officer  – he from Hartford, Connecticut and I from Burbank, California. Like myself, Tom worked for the police department in the town in which he was born and raised. Like myself, Tom is a die-hard lifelong Dodger fan. Like myself, Tom has a daughter named Christina (although mine was with me at the game and his was not). Like myself, Tom collects Dodger baseball memorabilia, although his passion is baseball cards and mine is autographed baseballs. And like myself, Tom loves to talk baseball, especially Dodger baseball.

Tom told me that he had been given the ticket for the second game of the Dodger/Yankee series by his kids as a Father’s Day gift. He said that he actually wept when he received it. (Did I mention that Tom is a die-hard lifelong Dodger fan living in Connecticut?). Tom was at the game with several friends who, of course, were Yankee fans. He added that he had become a Dodger fan as a very young boy because his father was a huge Brooklyn Dodger fan and things like that just seem to happen. (My daughter is an avid Dodger fan in spite of the constant ribbing she takes from her Yankee and Met fan friends and co-workers).

Because the drive from Hartford to New York City takes upwards of two hours and because of ticket prices, Tom could attend only one of the two games (not knowing that the first game would be rained out, of course). As luck would have it, his ticket was for the second game of the series – lucky in that had it been for the first game he would have had to drive back home after the game had been postponed and then drive back again the next day for the make-up game – something that he says he would not have done with gasoline prices being what they are. This was not an issue for my daughter and I because we already had tickets for both games and we were going to both games rain or shine (literally).

Needless to say, with so much in common Tom and I hit it off really well and had an absolute blast together at the game. We have also remained in contact with one another almost daily since that day. By the way, that day was Wednesday, June 19, after which the Dodgers traveled to San Diego for a four-game series against the Padres while I remained in New York until June 22 to be with my daughter.

If the date June 22 doesn’t sound familiar to you, you are definitely not a true Dodger fan. After losing the first two games in San Diego on June 20 and 21, the Dodgers won on June 22… and June 23… and June 24, 25, 26 and 27. In fact, since June 22, the Dodgers are 36-8 (.818) – and if you think this has gone unnoticed by Tom Eldridge and myself or think that we don’t talk about it daily since our chance meeting on June 19, you would be mistaken. It is what Tom affectionately calls our ‘East meets West connection.’

Dodger Stadium
(Photo courtesy of jdbaseball.com)

Now whether or not our ‘connection’ has anything to do with the Dodgers historic rise from worst to first is certainly debatable, and even though I am not a baseball superstition guy, it is safe to say that Tom Eldridge and I will continue to communicate with one another daily for the remainder of the season (and beyond)…

…because you just never know.

By the way – I recently met another die-hard lifelong Dodger fan who hails from Chicago. His name is… you guessed it – Tom (Jackson); but that’s another story for another day.