by Marty Appel<\/span><\/p>\n Any Yankee fan worth his (or her) salt who hasn\u2019t seen Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees at least 15 times, hasn\u2019t really passed the test of true belief. Sure the dialogue seems primitive, and yes, it doesn\u2019t run on TV that much anymore, but you still weep when Coop does his Lou Gehrig farewell speech, and you still feel good for the big lug when he finds romance with a fast Chicago girl named Eleanor Twitchell.<\/p>\n When Eleanor was still coming to Yankee Stadium regularly and I was the team\u2019s PR Director, I would call her to arrange for a car service. And sometimes I\u2019d tease her, saying \u201cI saw your movie last night on Channel 9!\u201d<\/p>\n And she\u2019d giggle and say, \u201coh, if only I really looked like that Teresa Wright.\u201d<\/p>\n A lot of people had a thing for Teresa Wright. It made her one of the most popular Hollywood actresses in the \u201840s, and an Oscar winner as Best Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver in 1942, the same year in which she was also nominated as Best Actress for her role as Eleanor Gehrig in Pride. But her wholesome picture on the Pride of the Yankees movie poster (it was presented as the great American love story), and her loving portrayal of the woman who stole Lou\u2019s heart, made her, for baseball people, a part of our world.<\/p>\n Current PR-director Rick Cerrone was slick enough to rediscover the 79-year old Ms. Wright in Connecticut in 1978, and to invite her to throw out a first pitch. It turned out that getting a phone call from the Yankees was the last thing she ever expected in her life. Not only was she no baseball fan, she did no publicity with the team for the movie\u2019s release, and simply went on her way to other films after wrapping up production.<\/p>\n But the simple first pitch ceremony lit a fire in her. Or maybe it was the kiss and the flowers from Tino Martinez on the day of her big pitch.. In any case, she was a Yankee fan waiting to happen. Now retired from movies (her last was 1997\u2019s The Rainmaker), she occupies much of her time by avidly following the Yankees, making up for the six decades between the movie and today, when she paid no attention at all, managing to miss two dozen pennants in the process.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the best theater I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d she told the Stamford Advocate recently. \u201cA baseball game starts off with fans enjoying themselves and you never know where the players are going to take things next.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking back to Game 7 of last year\u2019s World Series, she says, \u201cIf you wrote it in a script, nobody would believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n Pride of the Yankees featured Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey, as themselves, but Teresa, just beginning her great career, was not that interested in the celebrated ballplayers. \u201cTo tell you the truth,\u201d she said, \u201cI don\u2019t remember whether I was on the set the day their parts were shot. I guess I knew who Babe Ruth was, but surely not Bill Dickey.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, she can tell you David Wells\u2019 stats (she claims to have cried when he was traded) and all about Bernie Williams, who \u201chas a presence,\u201d she says. This from a woman who co-starred with Gary Cooper and Matt Damon. Nice compliment, Bernie.<\/p>\n Sharp of mind and full of strong political thoughts, the slight woman has the same pretty face that captivated movie goers but now finds great joy following her Yankees. When she calls Cerrone now to talk about a recent game or concluding home stand, he can\u2019t help but think that after all this time, the team has a fan with a special tie to the team that it can be proud of. Sort of the Pride of the Yankees, all over again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Marty Appel Any Yankee fan worth his (or her) salt who hasn\u2019t seen Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees at least 15 times, hasn\u2019t really passed the test of true belief. Sure the dialogue seems primitive, and yes,… Continue Reading