For as long as I can remember, I have been an avid sports fan. I tend to root for teams associated with New York. I say associated since I am also a fan of the NY Jets, even though they play in New Jersey.

My favorite team plays baseball in the Bronx. I root for the NY Yankees. I have been lucky to experience many memorable moments associated with the NY Yankees.  The two moments I include in this column both happen to include the fans at the games joining in on a thunderous applause.

Like many baseball fans, I can still remember the first time I attended a professional game. My dad took me to Yankee stadium. Having listened many times to Yankee games on my transistor radio tucked under my pillow at night, I was finally going to see the stadium that had only existed in my imagination.

Our tickets were in the upper deck. My father walked behind me as I walked down the narrow ramp to our section, I stopped abruptly as soon as I saw the field. I was not prepared to see how it was so vividly green. The radio announcers had failed to describe it adequately. When we found our seats, I saw the monuments that were actually on the playing surface in centerfield. They were a tribute to Yankee legends Miller Huggins, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Many fans incorrectly thought that they were the tombstones of those legendary Yankees.

Like most fans my favorite player was Mickey Mantle. So, I was thrilled to see when he smacked a baseball that ricocheted behind the monuments as “the Mick” slid home with an inside the park home run.

Years later, I was crushed to hear that Mantle decided to retire in 1965. The club waited until June 8, 1969 to hold a retirement celebration for him. What I remember most was after some players spoke, it was time for Mickey to address the sold-out crowd. But before he could say a word the stadium erupted in applause. 

Everyone in attendance stood up applauded. Micky waved to the crowd. The standing ovation went on for over ten minutes before he was able to speak to us after he wiped tears from his eyes.

Speaking of applause, I will take credit for starting a tradition at Yankee games. My friend Stu and I often went to Yankee games by buying cheap ticketed seats in the upper deck. But we had developed methods to sneak down to grab field level seats a few rows from the action. 

So, on June 17, 1978 we sat in our purloined seats four rows behind the California Angels dugout. Ron Guidry took the mound and had one of those masterful pitching performances. He was striking them out in record numbers. By the third inning, Stu and I realized that something historical was happening. 

When Guidry had two strikes on Don Baylor, we stood up and began rhythmically clapping our hands. When Baylor struck out, he bowed towards Guidry and pretended to crawl back to the dugout. Every time Guidry had two strikes on a batter, we stood up while clapping our hands. 

Soon many people in our section joined us. By the seventh inning after every called second strike the hand clapping that we had initiated was widespread by fans in the lower decks. Eventually, the fans in the upper deck joined in.

Ron Guidry struck out 18 California Angels that day. It has become a Yankee classic and is often repeated on the YES network. If you watch the broadcast, when there is a right-handed batter, look near the visitor’s dug out. The camera angle reveals a much younger version of me, replete with a full head of hair, as my friend and I began the two-strike clapping gesture that has become a tradition.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.