Serendipity is not only the name of a movie that features me in the opening scene. It also describes the unexpected and fortunate times that I have met sports superstars. In a previous column, I wrote about going to the game where Derek Jeter got his 3000th hit and the interaction I was fortunate enough to have with him weeks later.

In 2001 my friend invited me to join him in a box seat ten rows behind the dugout for a playoff game between the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners. The game was a sellout with not an empty seat in the house except for the four seats in the box right next to me.

In the fifth inning an usher escorted four guys to the box next to mine. They were loud, boisterous and obviously had enjoyed a few beers. They also were in great shape. My friend leaned towards me and whispered, “Do you know who they are?” I looked at the group as he told me “They play for the New England Patriots.” 

I recognized linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Andy Katzenmoyer. Nearby fans were pointing to the two closer to me.  I realized next to me was Drew Bledsoe, the quarterback for the Patriots who was recently injured and ruled out for possibly the rest of the season. 

When I heard Bledsoe say to the guy next to him, “Tom, even though you’re taking my job, we have to talk,” I realized he was talking to Tom Brady. To paraphrase, he told Brady that he would totally support him and help him at practice, in the quarterback room meetings and on the field during games. That season Bledsoe lived up to his word and Tom Brady was on his way to becoming a legendary quarterback who many consider a GOAT, the greatest of all time.

Being able to overhear Drew Bledsoe announcing for the first time that he is passing the torch to Tom Brady was a moment that I was fortunate to witness.

However, on September 6, 1995 I was disappointed that a baseball superstar missed the opportunity to use the spotlight to announce what would have been the most famous gesture in sports history.

I had met Cal Ripken years earlier when I had full press passes to Yankee Stadium. My business partner and I had successfully procured the exclusive right to develop a National Wiffle Ball tournament. So, before the game we interviewed Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken about their experiences playing Wiffle. Mattingly told me that his house had a big tree in the middle of the backyard. He told me he learned how to pull a pitch into a homerun to right field by adapting his swing playing Wiffle Ball.  

In September, sports and news programs began to countdown when Cal Ripken would be playing in his 2131st consecutive game that would break Lou Gehrig’s record. I wrote the first of many letters to Ripken about his attempt to break Gehrig’s record, urging him to do something unique. When Gehrig announced his retirement in 1939 it was not because he was tired of the game or wanted to do something else with his life. He was dying from ALS, a lethal disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Before a sold-out crowd, Gehrig announced his retirement in a famous speech. Eventually, ALS came to be known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

With all the media coverage ready to witness Ripken breaking Gehrig’s record, he had the opportunity to do the grandest gesture in the history of sports. He could have walked to home plate before the game with a microphone and said, “Today I too consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. I choose to not play today and am proud and honored to share the record with Lou Gehrig.”

That moment would have made Cal Ripken immortal!

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