From: BigEdTheFireman@aol.com
Sent: May 4, 2001 • 10:10 A.M.
To: AZarzour72@earthlink.net
Subject: Thanks!
Hi Andrew, this is "Big Ed" here from Brooklyn. Just wanted to thank you so much for the tickets to the Mets-Dodgers game the other night for my wife, my dad and I. I haven't seen my dad this excited in a long time. The chemo treatments have been pretty rough on him, but he was like a kid again at the baseball game. He looked so good and had a smile that had been missing for months.
I've told you how he and my grandpa swore off the Dodgers when they left Brooklyn for Los Angeles. We were forbidden to even talk about the Dodgers when we were kids. But I caught my dad cheering for your team some last night (and Marcie and me did as well, I confess). Part of that is because the Mets are absolutely horrible this year (4-24 after the latest loss -- I can't believe it). But some of it, too, is because of your generosity and because we all have a link back to the team through you.
We were all amazed at how well you pitched and how poised you were out there. My dad still doesn't believe you're only 20 years old. He told me he thought you were at least 28!
You were right about Mike Piazza. It seems he always has a big game when you pitch. His three-run homer in the top of the first was a beauty. A sky shot to deep right! He was an obvious choice for game MVP, finishing with five RBIs. You've got to hand it to your defense as well. Josh Hamilton and Rod Lindsey both had nice throws from the outfield to gun down runners trying to stretch doubles into triples.
All in all, it was a blessed night for my family, and I believe yours had a blast as well. I was glad Timmy got a chance to come up even if it was only for the night. Hope you don't mind, but he's likely going to come to New York for an extended stay this summer. He really wanted to see the inner workings of a "big city" fire department and I think he was entranced by New York City in general. Don't worry, we'll take care of him up here.
Anyways, just wanted you to know you made it a great night for all of us. Best of luck the rest of the season. Hope you guys can make the playoffs so I'll have a team to cheer for. I think the Mets could win the rest of their games and still not make the post-season.
Take care,
Big Ed
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The Dodgers beat New York 8-2, moving Andrew Zarzour's record to 4-1 after six starts. Zarzour went 6.1 innings against the lowly Mets, giving up six hits and two runs (a two-run HR to Jeffrey Hammonds). Piazza finished 3-for-5 and Johnny Damon was 4-for-5 ... Dodgers are 17-10 overall and leading the NL West by a game or so ...