Yesterday morning I woke up to another chilly, windy day, but the sun was shining and I was so happy to be in the vicinity of actual Yankees. 

My husband Michael went down to the lobby of the Vinoy to get some coffee. When he came back to the room, he said casually, “I just saw Nick Johnson.”

“Excuuuuse me?” I said. I mean, what would Nick Johnson be doing in the lobby of the Vinoy at 8 am? Granted, the Yankees had an off day, but still. The Yankees don’t spend spring training staying at hotels in St. Pete. “Are you sure it was Nick?”

“Not really.”

“On a scale of one to ten, how sure are you?”

“Maybe a two.”

“In other words, it wasn’t Nick Johnson. It was just a tall, balding guy, and you’re getting me all excited for nothing.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Oh, well. We spent the afternoon sightseeing in downtown St. Pete. I was strolling along in my Yankees cap when a woman said as she was passing me, “So you’re a Yankee fan.” I smiled and said, “Yes! Are you?” She gave me a withering look and said, “Nooooo.” It turned out she’s a Phillies fan who also roots for the Rays. We bonded over baseball despite our different team allegiances, and I asked if she’d take a sec to talk to you via the Cam. Here’s Gloria.

See? I told you it was windy. I hope it dies down for tonight’s game against the Astros, or we might see a lot of balls hit out of the park. Not a bad thing if it’s the Yankees doing the mashing.

Speaking of food, Michael and I drove to Tampa for dinner at Maggiano’s Italian restaurant, since John, Friend of the Blog, commented the other day that he saw Ramiro Pena there. 

There weren’t any Yankees in attendance, but we had a terrific Yankee fan waiter named Andrew who told us where the Yanks do eat – and when. What’s more, after serving us portions of food that would have fed a family of ten, he took a short break and submitted to the She-Fan Cam. It was extremely noisy in the restaurant, so you might have trouble hearing him, but give it a shot.

Some highlights in case you missed them:

He saw CC and Joba having dinner two nights ago while at his other job at a hot new eatery in South Tampa called Cheap.

Apparently, they’re a twosome. He said that other, better known twosome, Jeter and Posada, often have dinner together at P.F. Changs – especially on Wednesday nights.

He said the construction on Jeter’s 30,000 square foot house on Tampa’s Davis Island is now finished and the Captain has moved in…which prompted me to ask if he’d seen Minka around. Check out his reaction.

Oh, and he said Damon wasn’t much of a tipper. LOL.

A big thanks to Andrew for turning his back on all his customers just to be on this blog. Just kidding. He was a sweetheart.

More later from Steinbrenner Field. Go Yankeeeees!